Moonlight in the Morning (Edilean 6)

After that night they fell into a companionable routine. Jecca and Nell were in charge of breakfast, while Tris did lunch. “If you call getting stuff out of the refrigerator making a meal,” Roan said.

Dinner was Roan’s job, and he took the opportunity to show off his skills. There was an old chest freezer in the back and it was full of meat and vegetables.

“You missed your calling,” Jecca said as she ate a chicken leg that had been marinating in some secret sauce. “You should have been a chef.”

“And hide away in the kitchen all night?” Tris said. “You don’t know my cousin very well. He wants to be in the middle of the action, entertaining people with his verboseccme

Jecca looked at Roan, wondering how he’d take that remark, but he laughed. “Why would I miss the chance to share my great wisdom? The world needs me.”

They all laughed together.

During the day, Tris, Jecca, and Nell went hiking. Tris and Nell knew all the trails around the cabin, and they wanted to show them to Jecca. Sometimes Tris fished, but some days he just stretched out on a blanket and dozed.

Jecca painted everything she saw, including Nell and Tristan. Her sketchbook filled up, and between her and Nell taking photos, she filled an entire digital disk.

At night, Jecca and Tris made love. They slipped out of the cabin and into the moonlight and came together with all the pent-up desire they’d suppressed all day. There would be a first explosion, hard and fast, urgent with their desire for each other. Then they’d go more slowly, taking their time, touching and caressing.

Afterward, they’d lie in each other’s arms and talk of the day. “Do you think Roan minds that we’re taking up his time for writing?” Jecca would ask. “What were you and Nell giggling about this afternoon?” Tris would ask.

On the fourth day at the cabin, it rained hard and they stayed in. As a result, the four of them settled into a quiet domesticity. Tris had brought some medical journals, so he sat on the end of the couch and read. Jecca took the other end, her feet entwined with his, and sketched. Nell made herself a nest in one of the big chairs. She arranged her many dolls and animals into a horseshoe shape, backed into it, and curled up to read a paperback of some sci-fi adventure. Roan took the chair across from her and read an adult sci-fi adventure.

Jecca couldn’t help smiling at the peacefulness of it all. This is how it had been with her dad and brother when she was growing up. If her father was occupied, they were a very calm family. But after Sheila came into their lives, the peace was gone.

After lunch the rain came down harder. Nell went to the bedroom to, she said, give her dolls a rest. Jecca checked on her later, and Nell was asleep. Jecca went back to the couch.

“What are you drawing?” Tris asked. “Something for Kim?”

Jecca looked at him and smiled. She knew his look. If Roan hadn’t been sitting a few feet away, they wouldn’t have any clothes on right now. “Actually,” she said, “I’m designing an outfit for Nell to wear to her cousin’s birthday party.”

“That’s good,” he said, “because it’s a fashion show this year.”

Jecca lowered her sketchbook and stared at him. “A fashion show? What are you talking about?”

Tris put down his medical journal and stretched.

“He means,” Roan said as he got up to stoke the fire, “that those parties Savannah puts on for her kid are extravaganzas worthy of Versailles.”

“They’re not quite that bad,” Tris said. “But they are spectacular.” Jecca was waiting for an explanation. “Every year for Becca’s birthday, Tyler, her dad, shells out for whatever kind of tev#82party his wife can come up with. They run for two days, and lots of kids and adults are there for the events. Savannah plans them and—”

“And Tyler pays for them,” Roan added. He didn’t seem as enthralled with the parties as Tris was.

“That’s his problem,” Tris said. “I’m just happy that Nell is always invited to the sleepover part, even though I don’t think she and Rebecca are buddies at school. Becca is a good kid.”

Jecca didn’t comment on that last statement. “What does Rebecca wear?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Tris answered, and Roan shrugged.

“Is it possible that Rebecca’s mother takes her to New York twice a year to buy clothes for her?”

Tris gave a little smile. “If you told me that Savannah flies to Paris to have Becca’s clothes made I wouldn’t be surprised. Tyler never stops complaining about how much she spends.”

“If he didn’t have family money, he’d be bankrupt by now,” Roan said.

“What kind of parties has she given?” Jecca asked as she went back to sketching.

“Last year she hired some circus people,” Tris said. “They set up a trapeze and the girls swung out over a trampoline.”

“How did Nell do with that?”