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Jecca looked out the window. At the moment she couldn’t imagine not being with him. In a short time their lives had become completely involved with each other’s. But she reminded herself that now wasn’t her real life. Her family was elsewhere, and there was no way she could be true to her own nature, to who she really was, in the small town. She couldn’t live without something creative to do with her life.
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“All right,” Tris said into the silence. “No more seriousness. Talk to me about your plans for Nell.”
Jecca was glad for the reprieve. She didn’t want to think about sad things. “How well do you know this woman Savannah?” she began.
By the time they got to the fabric store, Nell was awake and asking questions. Jecca told her of Lucy’s idea of putting on a show within a show.
“For the Davies of the school,” Nell said, and Tris laughed.
Jecca looked at them in question.
“Remember the people whose interiors and exteriors don’t match?” Tris asked, then Nell started explaining.
Jecca picked up her sketchbook off the car floor. “Think Davie could model a shirt and a pair of shorts that are perfect for an afternoon at the beach?”
“Yes!” Nell said.
It took hours at the fabric store to get all that they needed. Lucy and Jecca hovered over the pattern books to find ones that closest matched what Jecca had in mind, while Tris took Nell to the nearby deli and bookstore.
Jecca texted Tris when they were ready to start choosing fabric, and he and Nell walked back to the store. There was a great deal of discussion among the three females as they planned dress after blouse after trousers.
“And hats,” Nell said. “Hats to match everything.”
“I think she’s going to be a fashion designer,” Jecca said to Tris.
“No,” he said as he leaned over the cart they’d already filled with fabric, notions, and patterns. “Nell is going to be a doctor.”
Jecca frowned at him. “Don’t you think she should choose her own career?”
Tris shrugged. “Sometimes they choose us. In our family, medicine makes the choice. I got it; my sister didn’t; Nell did.”
Jecca could only stare at him. She hadn’t seen the slightest evidence that Nell was interested in medicine. The child seemed to like art better than anything else.
Tris was watching her and he smiled. “Nell, what’s this?” He put his finger on the base of the back of his neck.
“The medulla oblongata,” she said with barely a glance up from the bolt of fabric Lucy was holding.
“I didn’t teach her,” Tris said, “but now you see why my sister lets her spend so much time with me.”
“You’re kindred souls,” Jecca said, knowing that she’d only recently said that about her and Nell.
“Yes, but I want her to have more in life than just medicine. I don’t want her doing what I did—teething on a stethoscope and reading medical texts instead of kids’ books. I want—”
Jecca put her hand over his and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I understand,” she whispered.
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“No kissing!” Nell said, making Jecca and Tris laugh.
Jecca gave her attention back to the fabric, matching white with pink and green trim.
Tris, bored with his job of holding on to the carts, used his phone to take a photo of the three females bent over a pile of remnants.
“I’m sending this to Grandma,” he told Nell. “Think she’ll believe that I’m in a fabric store?”
“Tell her you’re practicing your sutures,” Lucy said.
