"They're still asleep," he whispered. Then he leaned forward to kiss me and slipped out of my room.
After I got out of the damp sari and into a nightgown, I crawled into bed and fell asleep again, not waking until I heard Uncle Jacob shouting in the hall, complaining about our getting into the house through a window. Obviously he had gone out and seen the ladder still leaning against the house.
"Like common thieves, Sara. They used the ladder and broke into the house. Like thieves in the night!"
"Shh, Jacob. Let them sleep," I heard her say.
"Let them sleep? Where were they? How dare they climb up a ladder to get into the house?"
"You locked them out, Jacob," she reminded him. "Now hush up," she said sharply.
I heard him mumble loudly and then stomp noisily down the stairs. Not ten minutes later, there was a gentle knock on my door and Aunt Sara entered.
"Melody?" she said. "Are you asleep?"
I turned to face her.
"No, Aunt Sara. I'm sorry about climbing up a ladder and through a window, but we couldn't get into the house without waking everyone otherwise," I said.
She nodded, but looked dreadfully sad.
"Where were you?"
"We got caught in the storm and spent the night in the lobster boat," I said. It was the truth, albeit not all of it.
"What were you doing last night when we came back from the Wilson's?" she asked.
I explained meditation the best I could and apologized if I had caused any trouble. I emphasized that it wasn't Cary's fault.
"Laura never did anything like that," she said, shaking her head woefully.
"She might have if she had lived to learn more about it," I said and Aunt Sara nodded, pleased with that thought.
"Yes, that's true. She might have," she said. "She might even have worn that dress, just for fun once. Yes," she said. Her face brightened. "Well, do you think you'll be up and about soon? We do have the brunch at Olivia's today."
"I don't feel up to it this morning, Aunt Sara. Please give Grandma Olivia my apologies," I said.
"Oh dear. I just hate when we have to do that. Olivia gets so upset. What will I tell Jacob? He'll just get even more riled," she moaned.
"If he has to know, tell him I'm having cramps," I said.
"Cramps?"
"Time of the month," I said but shifted my eyes quickly so she couldn't see I was lying.
"Oh." She brought her hand to her mouth. "I see. Well, will you be all right by yourself?"
"I'll be fine as long as I can rest a while, Aunt Sara."
"Yes, yes. It can be debilitating," she said. "I'll tell him. I'll look in on you before we go," she added and left.
I just hated lying, especially to Aunt Sara, but I could see that this time it was the better thing to do. It got her off the hook as well.
I was still in bed when Cary came by, knocked softly, and peeked through the opened door.
"Hi," he said smiling.
"Hi. What's happening?"