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As soon as she’d been told the news, Jecca called Kim to say she was going to be off for three whole months, and it started in just two weeks.
“What are you going to do?” Kim asked.
“I don’t know. I dread telling Dad because he’ll want me to go home and work in the hardware store.”
“And introduce you to eligible young men in tool belts?” Kim asked.
“I hadn’t thought about that. Hey! I gotta call Dad. Remember that guy I lost my virginity to? He used to run around shirtless with jeans and heavy boots. Maybe I could—”
“Come here,” Kim said.
“You mean to Edilean?”
“Yes! Come here and paint. Or draw. Or weld steel pieces together. Whatever. Just come to Edilean and do it for the whole summer.”
Jecca knew she should think about such a big change, should consider it carefully, but she’d never been one to dawdle over decisions. “Yes,” she said. “That’s exactly what I’d like to do.”
Kim gave a yelp of happiness and said, “I’ll take care of everything. Oh. Mrs. Wingate.”
“What about her, whoever she is?”
“She has great apartments and somebody told me one of them is available. I have to go to her store and talk to her. Now. I’ll call you back.” Kim hung up.
Jecca had clicked off her phone, smiling. Kim liked to make things happen, and Jecca knew her friend would make all the arrangements.
At nine that night Kim called back and said it was a done deal. “Mrs. Wingate only has three apartments . . . Actually, technically, they’re not really apa220t reallrtments because they have no kitchen, but anyway, I got one of them for you.”
Her triumphant tone sounded as though she’d had to do battle with a few dragons. “Was it difficult?” Jecca asked, knowing that Kim was dying to tell the story.
“Awful, but my cousin Tris talked her into it.”
“Tris?” Jecca asked, trying to remember who that was. Everyone in Edilean seemed to be related to Kim.
“He’s our local doctor and he lives next door to Mrs. Wingate. I’ve told you lots about him, and you met him.”
“I’ll have to meet him again before I’ll be able to remember,” Jecca said. “What did he say to persuade her?”
“Mrs. Wingate is a second mother to Tris, so he has a lot of influence over her. Besides, she was going to rent the apartment to a man who is eighty-two. Tris said she’d be delivering breakfast in bed to him.”
“You mean I don’t get that? No trays with brioche and homemade jam?”
“Nope. But you do get to share kitchen privileges.”
“That’s good, as you know what a great cook I am.”
“Do you still put potato chips on top of everything?” Kim asked.
“I live in New York. I now crumble bagels on everything.”
As she drove, Jecca smiled in memory of the conversation. To her left, through the trees, she could see a house. It
was quite far off the road and there was a pond, or maybe a lake, in front of it. At the head of the drive was a sign DR. TRISTAN ALDREDGE.
Jecca stopped and checked the directions Kim had sent her. “Go past Tris’s place to the end of the road and you’ll see Mrs. Wingate’s house. Park in front and I’ll be there to meet you.”
Jecca started driving again but couldn’t help wondering if Kim could have been wrong, as the trees seemed to be getting closer together. She could believe that the world ended at Aldredge Road. But then there was a sharp left turn and the space opened up in a striking way. Before her was a big white house, two stories, with dark brown shutters at the windows, and a green roof with dormer windows. Surrounding the house was a perfectly mown lawn with enormous shade trees that looked like they should be in a botanical garden.
She slowly drove over the gravel to the front and stopped her car. “Hello?” she called as she got out, but there was no answer. She looked around for a moment and had that age-old feeling that someone was watching her, but she saw no one. Probably her imagination. Stretching, she breathed deeply of the fresh air. It certainly wasn’t New York!
