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Jecca didn’t want Nell to know she thought the same thing, but then Tris said, “What was the quote from Heidegger that was so profound that the psychotic criminal gave himself up?”
Jecca’s reserve broke and she started laughing. “Your poor cousin. No wonder he gets writer’s block. Doesn’t he know that the book-buying public isn’t interested in some guy who can outtalk the bad guys? People like action!”
“None of us has the heart to tell him,” Tris said. “So who’s ready to go hiking?” He looked at Nell. “Shall we take Jecca up to Eagle Creek?”
“Oh yes,” Nell said as they got up from the table and began clearing it. “But you’ll have to carry me for the last half.”
“In that case, only one.”
“Six,” she said.
“Then you can walk the whole way.”
“Okay, four,” Nell said in resignation.
“What . . . ? Jecca asked, but then she knew. They were negotiating how many animals and dolls Nell could take with her. “I’ll carry a couple of Rileys,” she said, and Nell beamed at her. “But your uncle has to carry every one of those boxed sets of art supplies that he bought for you.”
Tris quit smiling. “Those things weigh more than Nell.”
Jecca shrugged. “That’s what you get for having a charge card bigger than your back muscles.”
Nell looked at her uncle for the next volley.
Tris shook his head. “I am outnumbered again!” He went to Jecca, bent over, put his shoulder into her stomach, and lifted her. He twirled her around while she was laughing. “Who has strong back muscles?” he asked.
“You do!” Jecca said, laughing. “But you do need to be put on a budget.”
He put her down so that she slid over the front of him. “I agree,” he said softly. “I think you should stay and put me on one.”
“Not again!” Nell said. “No more kissing. Let’s go!”
“Five,” Tris said, his face inches from Jecca’s, “but only if you disappear for ten whole minutes.”
Nell ran into the bedroom and loudly shut the door.
Tris’s mouth was instantly on Jecca’s, and she was as hungry for him as he was for he heshut the dr.
“I wanted you with me all night,” Tris said as he kissed her neck.
“I wanted to be with you.”
“Stay with me,” he said. “As long as you’re here, live with me.”
“Lucy and—”
“Then I’ll move in with you,” Tris said, his lips on her throat. “I want to come home to you. I want—”
“Time’s up,” Nell said.
Jecca pushed away from Tris and he turned from his niece so she wouldn’t see his physical condition.
“How do couples ever have the privacy to make a second child?” Jecca murmured.
“They sneak,” Tris said. “One time I had to extract the sharp end of a coat hanger from a woman’s hip. They were—” He broke off because Nell was listening. “Who’s ready to go painting?”
It was a two-mile hike up to where Tris and Nell wanted to go, and Jecca enjoyed every minute of it. They took their time. Jecca showed Nell how to use her little camera to make closeup photos, and Nell stopped often to snap pictures of whatever interested her.
Jecca knew that if she and Tris had been alone they would have indulged in only the physical side, but with Nell there they had to behave themselves.
