Lavender Morning (24 page)

“This town says everything.” When the garage door opened, he said, “He took the car.”

“Luke has a truck
and
a car?”

Jim gave her a sharp look but didn’t answer. “He must have gone into Williamsburg to see his grandfather.”

“I thought his grandfather passed away.”

“Told you that, did he?”

“Yes,” Joce said cautiously as she got into the passenger side of the truck. Was there some secret about

Luke’s grandfather?

“My guess is he went to see the other one, my wife’s father.”

“Oh,” Joce said but said no more. Just as she’d suspected, in front of the truck were three motorbikes: a

muddy Honda dirt bike, an old Indian, and a sleek red Kawasaki made for the road. As she got into the truck,

she wanted to ask more about Luke, but Jim didn’t seem to want to say much about him. Actually, the man

didn’t seem to want to say much about anything, so they rode in silence for a while. “You wouldn’t like to fill me

in on what’s going on with all these cakes, would you?”

“Beats me,” Jim said. “Luke said he wanted me to organize a big party for Saturday where you sell

cupcakes for twenty-five dollars each—or thereabouts. Sounds good to me. What kind of equipment do you

need?”

“The kind that comes for free,” she said without thinking.

“How about if I get you time payments that don’t start for eighteen months?”

“To get terms like that you must have sold your soul to the devil.”

Jim gave a little chuckle. “Worse than the devil, I owe my soul to the company store.”

“Whadaya expect when you load sixteen tons?” Joce said without so much as a smile.

As Jim backed the truck out of the garage, he gave her a smile that almost cracked his face. “Anybody who

can quote Tennessee Ernie Ford is my kinda gal. How does a forty-eight-inch six-burner with a grill and two

ovens sound to you?”

“What are the BTUs?”

“At least sixteen thousand.”

“I’d say that no wonder you were so good at your job. You talk porno to women.”

He took her to a warehouse outside Richmond and introduced her to what seemed to be a hundred men,

all of whom he’d trained, and all of whom were still in awe of him. Jim had been regional manager for the entire

southeastern United States and had always topped his yearly sales quota by at least 4 percent.

What he was able to get for Jocelyn were damaged appliances. The huge range had a dent in the back of it

that wouldn’t be seen, but no customer paying top dollar would want it. He also got her a giant freezer that was

in a discontinued color of pale yellow. “It looks like butter,” she said.

“That’s the problem,” Jim said. “Today people don’t even want to think about butter. They want to think

about lettuce.” The way he said it made her laugh.

By the time they got back to Edilean Manor, there were three cars in the driveway. “It looks like my wife is

working hard to get rid of me,” Jim said. “Maybe you and I should go into business together.”

D:/…/Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.…

91/176

3/16/2010

Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html

“Doing what?” Joce asked.

“I haven’t figured that out yet, but if I come up with something, I’ll let you know.”

“What about Luke? Maybe you two could—”

“We’d kill each other in the first week. He likes to work alone.”

“But he can’t make much money at gardening. I’m no Realtor, but that house of his looked as though it cost

a dollar or two.”

“He just needs time to lick his wounds,” Jim said as he got out of the truck. “He’ll be fine. He likes you a

lot, I know that. I haven’t seen him less miserable in a long time.”

Jocelyn sat in the truck and watched Jim as he went into her house. Miserable? What was Luke unhappy

about? He’d never seemed “miserable” to her.

In the next minute the red-haired woman who’d been at her door the day before came out, opened the

trunk of her car, and pulled out a huge mixer. Joce jumped out of Luke’s pickup. “Let me help you with that.”

She slipped her arm under the top of it, then took the other box the woman handed her.

“I met you at church, but I’m sure you don’t remember me. I’m Mavis—”

“Ken’s mother.”

“That’s right,” she said, pleased. “Where have you and Jim been?”

“Buying things. They should be here tomorrow.”

“Ha! If I know Jim Connor, they’ll be here any minute. There’s a man in there disconnecting the gas lines

already. Are you really going to open a cupcake store in Edilean and sell all over the U.S. by mail order?”

Jocelyn took a moment to digest that. “No. I can’t think of anything I’d less like to do than bake cupcakes

for the rest of my life. Actually, I’m thinking of writing a history of Edilean. I’ve heard so many delicious secrets

that I thought I’d share them with the world.”

Mavis gave Jocelyn a weak smile, then hurriedly started for the house. “If I were you, I wouldn’t tell

anyone that or you might find arsenic in your own cupcake,” she said over her shoulder.

Joce followed her into the house. Interesting, she thought. She’d certainly hit a nerve with that remark.

Mavis was right, and the appliances showed up about two hours later. Jim was frowning and asking what

the hell took them so long to do one simple job.

“Did they celebrate when he retired?” Joce whispered to Tess.

“Actually, they cried. He got the best out of them.”

“Like you do with your lawyers.”

Tess shrugged as she twirled a lazy Susan around. “You mind if I help on this? Sometimes I get sick of

paperwork. It might be interesting to do something different.”

“I don’t know how big this thing is getting to be, but it’s my guess that I’m going to need all the help I can

get.”

Later, she thought that truer words had never been spoken. At first, some of the women from church

stopped by to see what was going on, and now and then one of them tried to decorate a cupcake, but between

Tess and Jim giving orders, they soon left. “See what I have to put up with,” Jocelyn heard Luke’s mother say to

one woman as they both left.

In the end, it was just Tess, Jim, and Jocelyn in the kitchen. Jocelyn baked and put the cakes in the freezer,

then Tess decorated them. Jim made sure the women had everything they needed and he kept the bowls and

bags clean. Tess soon learned that she didn’t like parchment paper bags, so Jim got on the Internet and found

huge canvas bags for her. They also ordered so many tubes, holders, paste colors, and rose nails that they

arrived in a three-foot-square box. In the bottom was a DVD showing how to use the equipment. Tess used her

portable player and caught on as though she’d done it all her life, and soon there were icing roses everywhere.

Late on the second day, Ramsey showed up with a briefcase full of papers and a list of questions for Tess.

Most of them started with “Where is…?”

D:/…/Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.…

92/176

Most of

3/16/2010 them started with “Where is…?”

Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html

Tess was piping butterfly wings on parchment paper. When they were dry, she’d peel them off, stick them

together, and put them on top of the cupcakes. “I don’t know,” she said to Ramsey. “Ask one of the girls to look

for whatever you can’t find. Or have they finished their learn-to-read courses yet?”

“Tess, this is not funny. I’m due in court at nine tomorrow morning and I don’t know what happened to the

deposition.”

“Did anyone type it?” Tess asked without looking up.

“Of course it was typed. When it was transcribed it was…” He trailed off. “Please tell me it’s not still on

tape.”

“I didn’t tell the girls to do it, so unless you did, my guess is that it
is
still on tape. And it’s probably still in

the recorder. I hope you checked the batteries. Did you make sure that the little wheels inside were going ’round

and ’round?”

“I have to go,” Ramsey said in a voice that sounded like he was going to be sick. As he ran past Jocelyn he

paused, as though he thought he should stop and say something.

“Go!” she said. “Check the recorder. Do what you have to do.”

As he hurried through the hall, he yelled, “Tomorrow, Tess. I want you in the office tomorrow morning. I

want you in court with me.” They heard the door close behind him.

Joce was stirring a pan and turned to look at Tess. “I’ll hate to lose you, but if you’re needed at work…”

“I have no intention of going back to that office until Ramsey McDowell and his partners offer me more

money.”

“And a car,” Jim said from the doorway.

“And a new kitchen,” Jocelyn said, then looked at Tess. “Okay, so no new kitchen. How about a company

credit card and four weeks paid vacation?”

“I like it,” Tess said, smiling as she held up a cute little bumblebee cupcake. “Or maybe I’ll quit and do

this.”

She was joking, but Jim and Jocelyn looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

It was at four o’clock on the day before the party, when Jocelyn was so tired she was swaying on her feet,

that Jim said, “So what are the adults going to eat?”

“I thought there was going to be food for them.”

“Yeah,” Jim said, “there is. Viv’s having it catered, but what about the cupcakes for them? Or cookies?

They’ll want something that doesn’t have a five-inch-thick layer of icing on it.”

“How about edible flowers?”

The three of them turned to see Luke standing in the doorway holding a big wooden box full of flowers.

“Where have you been?” Joce blurted out. “I haven’t seen you in days. What have you been doing?”

Everyone looked from Luke to Jocelyn because she’d sounded almost angry.

“Glad to know I was missed,” he said calmly as he put the wooden flat down on the edge of the table.

“Sorry, I, uh…” Jocelyn wasn’t sure what to say, but she was certainly embarrassed by her outburst. “It’s

just that we could have used your help, that’s all.”

“From what I hear, the three of you are doing great. So, Dad, which ones did you decorate?”

“Humph!” Jim said. “I’m management. So where have you been? With my father-in-law in his fancy house

in his fancy subdivision playing on his fancy golf course?”

Luke looked at Jocelyn. “Don’t you just love families?”

“Yours, yes, mine, no,” she said quickly, which made Jim chuckle.

“Could you get that dirty box away from the cupcakes?” Tess asked.

“It’s not dirty,” Luke said. “In fact…” He picked up a pretty nasturtium blossom and ate it. “These flowers

are not only clean, they’re edible.”

D:/…/Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.…

93/176

3/16/2010

Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html

When Jocelyn looked at him, her eyes widened. “Flowers,” she whispered. “Like fried zucchini blossoms.”

“Exactly,” Luke said, smiling at her.

“Is that some Yankee thing? Fried flowers?” Jim asked. “And we Southerners are accused of frying too

much.”

“No frying,” Luke said. “We’re just going to stick them on top of adult cupcakes and cookies.” He was

looking hard at Jocelyn, as though silently transmitting something to her.

“You didn’t!”

“I did. In the truck.”

“Are we to guess what you two did in the truck?” Tess asked, but Jocelyn was already running out the

door, Luke close behind her.

The four of them gathered around the back of Luke’s truck as he untied a tarp. Under it were two bushel

baskets, and in them were clear plastic bags full of some dried purple twigs.

For a moment Jocelyn was speechless, then she said, “I’ll need a—”

Luke threw the tarp back farther and exposed a white marble mortar that was about fourteen inches

across, with a big pestle inside.

Joce let out a squeal and spontaneously threw her arms around Luke’s neck. “You did it! You’re

wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Tess and Jim stood back, watching the two of them. “Better start making out your guest list for the

wedding,” Tess whispered, but Jim made no reply. In fact, he was frowning deeply.

“All right,” Jim said, “you two wanta tell me what this is? It looks like something Merlin would use. You

gonna turn that stuff into gold?”

Suddenly, Joce felt embarrassed and abruptly let go of Luke, and stepped away. “He found lavender, and

that’s a mortar and pestle for grinding it. I can make my lavender cookies. They’re perfect for ladies’ tea

parties.”

“Sounds great!” Tess said with enthusiasm. “When do we—” She broke off at a look from Jim. “It does

sound great, but I think I better go see what trouble Rams is having. If he can’t find that tape he’ll lose his case. I

should see what I can do to help him.”

“And I’m worn out,” Jim said. “I’m too old for all this. I’ll be here early tomorrow to help get everything to

Viv’s house, so don’t sleep late.” He gave a warning look to his son.

Jim pulled his car keys out of his pocket, went to his car, and drove away, and Tess went to her own

apartment.

When they were alone, Luke asked, “Was it something we said? Maybe I should have showered.”

“I gave up trying to understand this town after the first hour I was here. Come inside and tell me everything.

And, by the way, you’re putting in the herb garden for free. Or maybe your father is paying for it.”

“That skinflint! Never. So what did he tell you to make my gardening free?”

“I behaved myself. Your father absolutely loves the word
yes.
”

“You didn’t say that to him, did you?” Luke asked, his voice a groan. “When I was six months old, Mom