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Smiling, Tris typed out a message to his mother.
“Send a copy of that picture to my dad,” Jecca said and gave Tris the e-mail address.
Tris wrote a little generic message to Jecca’s father, but then he erased it. What was the saying about a faint heart not winning fair maiden? He took a deep breath to give himself courage, then began to type: DEAR MR. LAYTON, MY NAME IS TRISTAN ALDREDGE. I’M THE ONLY DOCTOR IN THIS SMALL TOWN AND I’M IN LOVE WITH YOUR DAUGHTER AND WANT TO MARRY HER. BUT SHE SAYS SHE’S GOING BACK TO NEW YORK. HOW CAN I PERSUADE HER TO STAY?
Before Tris lost his nerve, he sent the message.
“Did you send it?” Jecca asked.
“Oh yeah,” Tris said. “I did. I may have sent the message of my life. Forever.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. Should I pay for these?”
“Sure,” Jecca said, then Lucy asked her to look at some blue cotton.
When Tris got to his car with the bags of purchases, his phone buzzed. It was an e-mail from Joe Layton, and Tris hesitated. The man would either bawl him out or—Actually, Tris couldn’t think of an alterative. He pushed the button and read: MY JEC NEEDS HER FAMILY AND AN ART JOB. I’M FED UP HERE. YOUR TWO-BIT TOWN NEED A HARDWARE STORE? SEND MORE PHOTOS OF LUCY.
Tris read the message three times before it sank in, then he leaned back against the car and laughed. If Joe Layton wanted photos of Lucy he’d send all he could get, including her chest X-rays.
Tris went back into the store. “Do you have your camera with you?” he asked Jecca. “And that cord that connects it to the phone?”
“Yes.” She looked hard at him as she got her camera out of her bag. “Did something happen? You look awfully pleased with yourself.”
“It’s just that Nell’s going to have a good time. I feel bad that I never realized how awful these parties have been for her. Add that to my neglhat">
“Why are you talking so fast? And you don’t feel any guilt about the playhouse. You want me to spend a year here working on it. What’s going on?” Jecca asked.
“I, uh . . . I . . . I need to call Roan.” Tris turned away so Jecca couldn’t see the smile that he couldn’t remove from his face. He stepped outside, and Roan answered on the first ring.
“Miss me already?” Roan asked.
“You know that place you own out on McTern Road?”
“Which one?”
“Used to be a brickyard,” Tris said.
“Yeah, about a hundred years ago.”
“Is it in good shape?” Tris asked.
“Hell no! It’s falling down. If you want to buy it I’ll give it to you cheap.”
“Get Rams to draw up the papers,” Tris said.
“Whoa! Why do you want that old place?”
“Jecca’s dad’s thinking about opening a hardware store in Edilean.”
“Since when?” Roan asked.
“Since he sent me an e-mail about ten minutes ago.”
“Is Jecca going to stay in town and repair chainsaws?”
“I don’t know,” Tris said. “I’m just trying to make it easy for her to stay. Drop off the clothes at my house, then go to Rams and get the papers drawn up. Better yet, go to Rams first. Got it?”
