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Mr. Chambers looked from one to the other. “Give me three years, then you can live wherever you want. If these things sell, that is. It’s all based on that.”
Jecca didn’t say much, just nodded. The more work, the better. She didn’t want time to think about Tristan and what she’d left behind. Her dad had asked Lucy about him on his nightly calls, but no one in Edilean—not even Mrs. Wingate—knew where he was or what he was doing.
“Livie says Jecca broke Tristan’s heart and he’ll never recover,” Lucy told Joe.
“Yeah, well, Jecca’s heart ain’t exactly healthy,” Joe had replied.
Jecca had formally accepted Mr. Chambers’s offer twenty-four hours after the meeting, but she wanted to talk to Mr. Preston before telling anyone else. She wanted to keep the apartment and to tell him that even though Della was young, she could handle the gallery. Besides, Jecca had seen Della’s oils and they weren’t going to sell; she needed a job.
Jecca had an appointment to see Mr. Preston tomorrow when he returned from some overseas trip, and after that she’d start her new job. She’d already spent hours sitting in Central Park and sketching ideas for clothes. Paris meets Edilean was what she was after. Small town America flavored with high fashion.
The night after she talked to Mr. Chambers, Jecca knew the person she most wanted to talk to was Nell. She called her home number and was glad when Nell answered.
Nell wasn’t happy. “You left me,” she said, her voice a mixture of anger and tears. “I thought we were together, but you and Uncle Tris left me.”
It took Jecca a while to calm Nell down and reassure her that she hadn’t been left behind, at least not permanently. She told Nell about the job and how she’d be in New York for about three years. “Then Dad wants me to go live in Edilean. Have you met my father?”
“Yeah,” Nell said, but her voice was dull, spiritless. “He doesn’t look like you.”
“I take after my mother’s side of the family. Nell, I’ll come visit you as soon as I can. I promise.”
Nell said nothing.
“If your mother will let you, you can come here to New York and help me design clothes and buy fabric. How does that sound?”
“Okay,” Nell said, but still without much enthusiasm. “Do you know where Uncle Tris is?” There was a hiccup in Nell’s voice, and Jecca winced. It was one thing for Tris not to contact Jecca, but it was deeply unkind of him to leave Nell!
“No,” Jecca said softly, “I don’t.” If she didn’t change the subject, she’d start crying and that would make Nell cry, then . . . “I have to go,” Jecca said. “Think of things you’d like to wear and let me know.”
“I will,” Nell said, but the sadness was still in her voice.
When Jecca hung up, she cursed at Tristan. How could he do such a thing to Nell?
Jecca opened the package that had just been delivered, but it wasn’t some would-be artist’s work, as she’d thought. Instead, inside was one of those art kits in a shiny wooden box.
She couldn’t help but remember the last one she’d seen. Tristan had bought just such a set for Nell—and Jecca had let him know what she thought of it.
Frowning at the memory of all that had happened since then, she set the big box on her desk and opened it. It was all colored pencils, a goodencv>
It was a moment before she saw the business card stuck inside the lid.
Dr. Tristan Aldredge
Family Medicine
480 Park Avenue
New York, New York
It listed his phone numbers.
Jecca stood there for a full minute staring at the card, not understanding what she was seeing.
“What do you think?” Della asked from the doorway. “I think he matted it wrong and this is the top.”
Jecca didn’t answer, just kept staring at the card.
r /> “You okay?” Della asked. “You look like you’re about to faint.”
