Lavender Morning (Edilean 1)

Even as exhausted as she was, she took a shower, washed her hair, and put on a clean nightgown. As she climbed into bed, her mind seemed to be a kaleidoscope of thoughts and images. She could almost see Miss Edi as a beautiful young woman, pursued by an entire military force. But her icy exterior seemed to have been penetrated by only one man, a sergeant named David Clare. The David she’d come to love more than her own soul.

Jocelyn heard a noise downstairs and thought that Luke was still down there, locking doors, maybe still boxing cookies.

Two gorgeous men, she thought. There were two beautiful men in her life and neither of them had so much as tried to kiss her. She’d kissed Ramsey, but she had initiated it. There was certainly no banner stretched across a building declaring love for her.

14

RAMSEY’S SISTER’S “BACKYARD” was about four acres of manicured garden, tended daily by four gardeners, only one of whom spoke English. There were tables set up under the trees, all with snowy white tablecloths and attended by uniformed staff. The guests were straight out of a Talbots catalog, the men in crisp blazers and even crisper trousers. The woman had on linen blouses and skirts, with hats with turned-up brims, and the children were as clean as their parents, with the girls wearing smocked cotton dresses. The place reeked of money and Old World etiquette.

“Having fun?” Sara whispered to Jocelyn.

“As opposed to being shipwrecked? Falling into an ice crevasse?” she said out of the corner of her mouth.

“At least your cupcakes are giving me lots of work. Tomorrow I’ll be called to let out a dozen dresses.”

Smiling, Jocelyn handed a gray-haired man a cupcake with three nasturtium blossoms on top of it.

“Do you have any more of the lime cakes?” he asked.

“Sorry, they’re all gone.”

“Did you think no one would recognize the flavor of booze?” Sara whispered, making Jocelyn smile. “Come on, let’s take a break. Have you seen Viv’s house?”

“I haven’t seen anything or been allowed to talk to anyone,” Joce said with a groan. “In fact, every time a good-looking man approaches me, one of your thousands of cousins cuts me off from him. Ramsey’s so busy talking to the Williamsburg big shots that I haven’t said a word to him, and Luke seems to be stealing plants from the garden. Plus, the church women come up with something they just have to ask me whenever a man under fifty gets within ten feet of me.”

“Come on inside, and let’s talk,” Sara said as she took Joce’s hand and led her away from the tables, across the lawn, then the patio, and through French doors into a long, narrow garden room. It was furnished with white wicker and several patterns of blue and white fabric.

“Beautiful,” Jocelyn said.

“This is what limitless taste and money can do. You know, don’t you, that you’ve put Viv in seventh heaven today? Everyone is raving about the party.”

“I was introduced to her and about a hundred people. If she weren’t so pregnant, I’m not sure I’d recognize her if I saw her again.”

“That’s all right. She knows you and your cupcakes, and those purple cookies have so impressed the ladies who run the charities that they’re going to ask you to cater another party next week.”

“I do not want to become a caterer,” Joce said firmly.

“I know that, but they don’t. Come on, let’s go upstairs and see the bedrooms.”

“Shouldn’t we ask permission before we go snooping?”

Sara glanced out the windows. “There are four old people headed this way and I think they’re looking for you.”

“Let’s go!” Jocelyn said as she ran out of the room. She followed Sara up the back stairs, where they hurried down the hallway.

“Kid, kid, kid,” Sara said as she passed bedrooms. “Master.” She opened a door. “Guest bedroom. Have a seat.”

Gratefully, Jocelyn sat down in a big club chair while Sara stretched out on the bed. “So what’s up with you and Rams?” Sara asked.

“Did you bring me up here to get the latest gossip?”

“Of course. Did you think I wanted your recipe for bourbon cupcakes?”

“I used tequila.”

“Whatever. So? What about you and Ramsey?”

“I don’t know. I told you that I’ve seen him today, but we haven’t talked. He’s a bit like a politician, isn’t he?”