Lavender Morning (15 page)

Sara looked at Joce to make a decision.

“I like it,” Jocelyn said. “I like the idea very much.” As she looked at Sara, she opened the cabinet where

Luke got a plate last night. It was empty. She knew there was a plate in the dishwasher, but they needed more.

“Do either of you know if I have any plates?”

“Luke’s outside, he knows,” Tess said.

“Invite him and have to listen about Ramsey?” Jocelyn asked.

“You catch on fast,” Tess said, sounding surprised.

“I vote that we don’t invite anyone. Let’s have a feast by ourselves. Women only,” Sara said as she opened

a cabinet on the far wall and took out three plates. “There’s not much left that Bertrand didn’t sell. My mother

bought a gorgeous set of Wedgwood from him.”

“She’ll give it to you when you get married,” Tess said.

Jocelyn looked at Sara with interest.

“And where am I going to find someone?” Sara asked. “I never leave this town except to deliver a dress to

some woman.”

“They have any sons?” Jocelyn asked.

“Not any that I’d have.”

“Sara is known around town to be the pickiest woman in the state,” Tess said. “Look at her, she’s a man’s

dream. Beautiful and virginal.”

“Not hardly,” Sara said.

“It’s the look of the package that matters,” Tess said as she heaped a plate full of food. “You look

innocent, and I look like I’ve done everything.”

“And everyone,” Joce added as she filled her plate. “Sorry, I was just agreeing with you. So what about

me? I’m not either one of those things.”

“Wife,” Tess said. “You look like a wife and mother. So how come you don’t have a husband and three

kids?”

“Tess…,” Sara said in warning.

“I had responsibilities,” Joce said as she made a place on the table and sat down. “I couldn’t go far away

from…what was going on in my life.”

“The old woman,” Tess said.

Jocelyn shrugged but said nothing. She didn’t want to tell this woman more about her life than she already

knew.

The three of them sat down at the table, the food all around them, and for a while they didn’t speak.

“I hear you bake cupcakes,” Tess said in a way that made it sound like an accusation—and frivolous.

Joce looked at Sara. “Is it me or is everything she says touched with a nasty edge to it?”

“It’s her,” Sara said, then looked at Tess. “Sorry, but it’s true. Usually, Tess, you save your hatefulness for

D:/…/Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.…

57/176

3/16/2010

Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html

the men you work for, so what’s made you get it in for Jocelyn?”

Tess just looked about the kitchen.

“Ah,” Sara said.

“What does that mean?” Joce asked. “Did I miss something?”

“You inherited this house. You inherited…What is it, Tess? Millions?”

“I’m not allowed to say.”

Both women looked at her, not blinking, and waited.

Tess shrugged as she bit into a chicken leg. “You tell Rams I told you and I’ll burn the house down with

you in it.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Joce said.

“The money stays with the house. If you stay here, you control it all, but if you leave, both the house and the

money go to some foundation.”

“The Great Sin,” Jocelyn said. “If I leave, strangers will come into Edilean. How will the townspeople stand

it?”

“They have to have strangers to breed with,” Tess said. “To give variety to the gene pool.”

“Cut it out,” Sara said. “I’ll have you know that Edilean is a very nice place to live.”

“It is since they put in the outlet mall in Williamsburg,” Tess said.

“Outlet mall?” Joce said. “Why did no one tell me that oh-so-vital piece of information?”

“Because you’ve spent all your time with the best-looking men in this one-horse town,” Tess said.

“Meow,” Sara said.

“You’re just jealous because we can have the men here and you can’t. They’re all your relatives.”

“So what’s with you and Ramsey?” Joce asked Tess. “I saw the photo of you in the red dress.”

Tess gave a little smile. “That was a day! I was in the best shape of my life, and here was this jerk telling me

I was to dress more conservatively. Did he think I didn’t know that all those men were watching every step I

took? If I started wearing dresses, they’d do the John Candy.”

Joce looked at her in question.

“Drop something on the floor, then look up as they pick it up?”

“I hope you’re exaggerating,” Joce said. “Surely they wouldn’t…”

“Maybe not, but they’d think about it. That was more than I wanted.”

“Okay, so men are men. You certainly showed them, though.”

Tess shrugged. “Maybe. I paid the price by having photos of me posted all over the Internet. Ken wanted

to put the picture on a brochure about the law office, but his wife wouldn’t let him.”

“Where did he get his wife?” Joce asked.

“Massachusetts,” Tess said quickly. “Mail order.”

“You two are bad,” Sara said. “You’d think you didn’t like this town.”

“What do I know?” Joce said. “I just got here. So far I’ve had a lawyer make me a very romantic picnic on

the floor, but he left after only an hour and a half. And I have a surly gardener who likes to show up and make

me feed him.”

“Luke,” Sara and Tess said in unison.

“What’s his problem?”

Tess and Joce looked at Sara.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know. Yes, I grew up with him, sort of, but he’s years older than I am, so I

never really knew him. Big high school athletic superstars don’t pay much attention to little cousins in elementary

school. After high school he left town, and…” She trailed off with a shrug.

“And started a career mowing lawns. He seems intelligent, so why doesn’t he have a proper job?” Joce

asked.

D:/…/Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.…

58/176

3/16/2010

Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html

Sara kept her head down and didn’t answer.

“Why are you just a teaching assistant and now don’t even have that job?” Tess asked. “If Miss Edi hadn’t

left you a fortune, where would you be now?”

“Is it really a fortune?” Joce asked, avoiding the question.

“I think that’s a good question,” Sara said, looking at Joce. “What
would
you be doing if Miss Edi hadn’t

been in your life?”

“I really and truly have no idea,” Joce said. “And I can tell you that I’ve given it plenty of thought.”

“What about you, Tess?” Sara asked. “You work for MAW, but you can’t stand any of them, so what

would you like to do?”

“Have an old lady leave me millions.”

“That’s not fair,” Sara said. “You should—”

“No, let her talk,” Jocelyn said. “Okay, so if you were left a big old house and a fortune, what would you

do all day? Would you become a lady who lunches?”

“Lord no! That would make me insane. I’d…”

“You’d what?” Jocelyn asked. “I’d like to hear your ideas.”

“I don’t know. Start a business of my own?” Tess said.

“What kind of business?” Sara asked.

Jocelyn looked at Sara in speculation. “You have something you’d like to do, don’t you? I can hear it in

your voice.”

Tess picked up an olive and sucked out the red pimento center. “Have you seen the clothes she designs?”

“You didn’t tell me you design clothes,” Joce said, and there was hurt in her voice.

“I’ve had one conversation with you. I couldn’t tell you everything.”

“A dress shop would be a business,” Joce said thoughtfully. “Not a bad idea. What about you, Tess?”

“Don’t look at me. I haven’t a creative bone in my body. I’m good with numbers and organizing.”

“You must be good with men,” Joce said. “That’s why so many of them visit you.”

“Do they?” Tess asked, as though she’d never before thought of that.

“Tess,” Sara said, “be fair. Both Ramsey and Luke were in your apartment yesterday.”

“And how would you know that? They told you, didn’t they? So what did Ramsey say about me?” Tess

asked.

“Nothing. It was Luke who told me,” Sara said.

“And when did you see him?”

“This morning. He was out there digging. He wants to put in an herb garden, but now he has to get the

owner’s permission before he can do anything.”

“He told me that too,” Tess said.

Both women looked at Jocelyn as though expecting an answer.

“He can put in any kind of garden he wants,” Joce said. “What does it matter to me?”

“This house is now your responsibility,” Tess said. “You owe it to the townspeople, the state, and most of

all to your country to honor its long history and to cherish what it means to the American people. You should—”

Joce threw a piece of bread at her, and they all laughed.

7

D:/…/Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.…

59/176

3/16/2010

Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html

H
I,” JOCELYN SAID to Luke as he lifted the shovel and threw the dirt onto the pile. He glanced at her but

said nothing. “So what is this? You’re not speaking to me?”

“I talk when I have something to say.” He picked up a big bag of mulch and threw it on the back of his

pickup.

She thought maybe he wanted her to leave him alone, but she didn’t go. It was late Sunday afternoon, and

she was exhausted from all that had happened in the last two days. “Did you see the food in my kitchen?”

“I haven’t been in your house since you threw me out last night. And I haven’t checked any door locks or

windows.”

“Thanks for not telling Sara that you and I were alone in the house late last night. I know you told her that

you went to see Tess, but you didn’t tell about me.”

“So it’s all right for Tess to get a bad reputation but not you?”

“I think that Tess could stand still and do nothing and she’d get a bad reputation. To look at her is to have

carnal thoughts.”

Luke turned away quickly, but she saw his smile. “I saw that! If you can smile at my jokes, you’re not

totally angry at me.”

“See Rams at church?”

“He sat by me, asked me to marry him, and I accepted.”

“I congratulate you. You two will make a fine couple. This time next year all you’ll want to talk about are

curtains.”

“If you can see the future, would you ask it what I’m supposed to
do
?”

Luke began shoveling again. “What do you mean ‘do’?”

Joce looked around for a place to sit, didn’t see one, so she sat on the grass. “Miss Edi—” she began.

“What about her?”

“She was a very important person in my life.”

“We all have important people in our lives.”

“Yeah? So who’s important to you?”

Luke held a shovelful of dirt for a moment. “The usual: parents, friends, relatives. My grandfather was very

important to me until he passed away.”

“He’s not important now?” Joce asked softly.

Luke gave a bit of a smile. “Sometimes I think he’s more important to me now than he was when I was

growing up. I was a bit of a…Let’s just say that as a kid I was a little bit obstinate.”

“Bullheaded stubborn, had to do everything your own way or you wouldn’t do it?”

“Were you my first grade teacher? The one who stood me in the corner half the day?”

“No, but I’m on her side,” Joce said. “So what about your grandfather?”

“He was a solitary man, liked to do things by himself, and so do I.”

“If that’s a hint for me to go away and leave you alone, I’m not going to do it. That house is too big, too

empty, and too…Anyway, it’s nice out here. Tell me your story.”

“There’s nothing to tell. My grandfather and I were alike, that’s all. He liked to be alone and so do I, so we

were often alone together.”

“‘Alone together.’ That’s the perfect description of Miss Edi and me. The kids at school thought I was

crazy to want to spend time with an old woman with scarred legs. They used to make up stories about how her

legs got that way. They—”

“What happened to her legs?” Luke asked.

D:/…/Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.…

60/176

3/16/2010

Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html

“World War II,” Joce said. “She was in London in a car that was one of several hit by a bomb. Her side of

the car exploded and she was…” Joce hesitated. “She was set on fire. There wasn’t much of her legs left from

about the knees down.” Joce shrugged. “No one thought she’d live. She was moved from one hospital to

another while they waited for her to die, but she didn’t. By sheer force of will she not only lived, but she walked

again, and after the war, she went to work for a doctor. They traveled the world together. After they returned, he

used to visit her often, and he was a great storyteller. I used to listen to him for hours.”

She paused for a moment as she thought. “Miss Edi had told me about Dr. Brenner and I’d seen him in

countless photos, and I’d always had romantic thoughts about the two of them. I knew he was married and had

two daughters, but still, I thought there was some great, unrequited love between them. But five minutes after I

met him I knew there was nothing between them like what I thought. They were like a well-oiled machine in that

he knew when her legs ached and he never even paused in his talking as he ushered her to the couch, covered

her legs, and got her a cup of tea. And she did the same kinds of things for him. At the end, his heart had given

out and she made sure he took his medication and didn’t do too much.”

Jocelyn paused as she tried to control her emotions. “But the kids didn’t care about any of that. All they

thought about was that her legs ‘looked funny.’ She used to wear thick black hose even in the summer, but you