She's Up to No Good(90)

Evelyn put the valise in the back before slipping the car into neutral, and together they pushed it gently, then hopped in, clutching the doors closed but unlatched to avoid making any sound. Once they were far enough away, they shut their doors, and Evelyn started the car, putting it into gear and turning at the end of the street.

Vivie could barely sit still. “D’you think he’ll want to elope right away? Or want a big wedding? His family has money—they’d want a wedding. But he doesn’t always do what his family wants. Evelyn, I could be married tonight.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Goodness. I hadn’t even thought about it.” She sat in contemplation for approximately five seconds. “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind. Mama and Papa would, of course. But they’ve had six other weddings. Let this one be just mine.”

“No matron of honor?”

“I’ll send a telegram either way. You’ll be the first to know the news.”

“I’m teasing, darling.” Evelyn reached out and took her sister’s hand, bringing it to her lips. “Be happy.”

“I am.”

Evelyn nodded and suppressed a yawn as she pulled into the station. “I’ll wait for the train with you,” she said, parking the car.

“I’m fine. Go back before everyone wakes up.”

Evelyn glanced at her watch. It was five forty. She’d be cutting it close, as the earliest risers among the cottage residents began stirring between six and six thirty. But this was Vivie. “Nonsense.”

They walked toward the entrance of the same station their father had arrived at after falling asleep on the train so many years earlier. They were nearly there when two male figures rose from a bench in the darkness and moved to block their path.

Vivie gripped Evelyn’s arm, and Evelyn instinctively reached for her hat pin, which she did not have.

Then one of them spoke. “Awfully early for you two to be out and about.”

“Bernie,” Evelyn breathed. “You scared us.” She looked to his left at Sam. “What are you doing here?”

“Bringing Vivie home,” Bernie said.

Evelyn felt a chill. Her mother had seen right through her agreement the night before. She wasn’t sleeping in the living room at all. They could have walked out the front door.

“I’m not a child,” Vivie said shrilly.

“Mama said not to let you on that train.” There was a mildly apologetic note in Sam’s voice.

“You two can’t be serious,” Evelyn said. “This is ridiculous. She’s twenty-one, for heaven’s sake!”

“Come with us,” Bernie said. “I’m tired and want to get some sleep. Be a good girl now.”

Vivie glanced at Evelyn, then tried to run past her brothers, but Bernie was quicker and caught her arm.

She fought back, hitting him in the stomach, but it was no use. Sam picked her up and carried her over his shoulder, as she kicked and yelled that she would never forgive any of them. He reached Bernie’s car, which he forced her into like a cat into a bath, while Bernie held off Evelyn, who fought to try to get to her sister.

“You get on home too,” Bernie called to Evelyn as he started the car. Evelyn stood on the sidewalk breathing heavily, her shoulders drooping.

Everyone was awake when Evelyn returned to the cottage, the residents of both houses crammed into the one. The murmured conversations ceased when she walked in, and everyone turned to stare. Fred took two steps toward her, but Evelyn could hear Vivie sobbing from upstairs, so she bypassed her family and went to her sister, knocking at the locked door and asking to be let in.

When the door didn’t open, Evelyn went to her own room, found a hairpin, and proceeded to pick the lock. Vivie didn’t even look up as Evelyn lay down on the bed beside her, where she stroked her sister’s hair.

Eventually Vivie’s weeping calmed enough for speech. “I’ll never forgive them for this,” she said hoarsely between hiccups.

“Of course you will.” Evelyn wiped her sister’s tears with her thumbs. “He’ll come here because he’ll have to see you, and once you have this whole thing tied up in a pretty little knot, you’ll be able to laugh about it.”

“No. I won’t forgive Mama.”

“I said the same thing,” Evelyn reminded her. “But, darling, look at how things worked out.” She touched her stomach instinctively. No one knew yet. Not even Fred. And she wasn’t really sure. But she’d never been this late before either.

“You think he’ll come?” Vivie’s voice was barely a whisper.

“I know he will.” She paused. “Okay, he might be annoyed you didn’t come and make you wait a week or two because he thinks if he beckons, even the Messiah himself should show. But then he’ll come.”

Vivie started to cry again.

“Oh, darling, I was joking. He’ll come. I promise. Just give him a little time. Men get so wounded when they don’t get their way. But you tell me what to say, and I’ll send a telegram so he knows you weren’t standing him up.”

Having this project settled her, and Vivie went through four drafts before handing Evelyn a paper with a message.

“Come down to breakfast?”

“No. I couldn’t eat. And I want nothing to do with them.”