She's Up to No Good(54)

He nodded, looking as if he didn’t trust himself to speak.

“Sunday? Same time?”

“Sunday,” he agreed.





Lying in bed that night, Evelyn held the ring on its chain tightly in her hand, savoring the memory of the afternoon.

Not that her family suspected anything. True to her word, Vivie channeled her older sister’s bravado and revealed nothing when Miriam questioned her. And Sam’s declaration at Thanksgiving that she had a Jewish “fella,” as incorrect as it was, took them all off the scent. Her ebullience was attributed to Fred’s fictional suitor status.

Of course, it helped that Fred had called the day before. He was bored in Plymouth and wanted to know if she felt like going for a drive.

“You’re two hours away, you fool,” she laughed, checking to make sure no one was close enough to hear her, and then lowering her voice. “And it doesn’t bode well for poor Betty that you’re bored enough to call me.”

“Maybe not. But I miss my friend. What do you say?”

“I say I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

“Whatever happened to the girl who’s up for anything?”

Evelyn laughed. “She’s quite content where she is, thank you very much.”

“You’re really going to make me stay here with my family for the whole month?”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz.”

He sighed dramatically. “Well, I suppose if the Pilgrims could survive Plymouth, I can make it another month. But if you change your mind—”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

Miriam, in the kitchen, had paused her work and tiptoed to the door frame, where she could hear better. She didn’t make out what her daughter said when she spoke quietly, but the laughter and the general tone of merriment reassured her enough to trust that her instincts in crushing the dalliance with the Portuguese boy had been correct. Her vivacious penultimate daughter had done exactly as she had hoped. And she therefore didn’t worry when Evelyn borrowed the car and went out on errands and to meet friends.

But when Evelyn heard a footstep outside her bedroom, she quickly thrust the ring and chain back inside her nightgown as the door creaked open.

“Are you awake?” Vivie asked, slipping quietly inside.

“Why do you ask that?” Evelyn scooted over to make room for her sister, who crept across the cold floor to climb into the bed. “If I wasn’t, you’d have woken me.”

“Seems polite,” Vivie said, pulling the covers up and facing Evelyn. “Tell me everything.”

“About what?”

“Everything!”

Evelyn laughed. “We’ll be up all night, then.”

“So?”

“So I’m tired.”

“Fine. Tell me about the boy who called.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to talk about Fred. Not tonight, not with Tony’s ring resting between her breasts, still warm from her hand. “He’s a friend.”

“How good of a friend?”

She sighed. “That’s not the exciting news.”

“It’s not?”

Evelyn shook her head and pulled the chain from her nightgown. “I saw Tony today.”

Vivie grabbed for the ring and reached behind her to switch on the bedside lamp.

“Evelyn,” she breathed. “Does that mean—?”

Evelyn nodded. “Not officially. But unofficially . . .”

“What about Papa? You’ll have to elope.”

“I know. But he’s going to ask him this summer anyway.”

Vivie switched the light back off and settled back on the pillow next to Evelyn. “I want that.”

“What? Someone Papa won’t approve of?”

“No. Someone I love enough to risk everything for. Someone who loves me that much too.”

Evelyn smiled gently and brushed her baby sister’s hair from her face. “You’re only sixteen.”

“I’ll be seventeen in a month. And that’s how you old were when you and Tony met.”

She had a point there.

“But you still have so much time. And so many more options when you go to college. And in New York!”

“If Barnard accepts me.”

“They will. You’ll see.”

Vivie nestled deeper into the pillow and yawned. “Will you bring me? When you elope?”

Evelyn would have liked nothing better than to say yes. “You know I can’t. Mama and Papa would know if you went missing with me.”

“Wait till I’m off at school, then. You’ll drive past New York anyway if you go south.”

“Okay,” Evelyn said. Vivie made no move to go back to her own bed, and Evelyn let her fall asleep beside her, the soft, even rhythm of her breathing eventually lulling Evelyn to sleep as well.





CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR





“Donna couldn’t get over how much you look like me.”

“Do I?” I asked, picking at my leftover lobster roll distractedly.

My grandmother set her utensils down with a loud clatter. “Spill it.”

I looked up at her. “Spill what?”