Miriam and Joseph both turned to look at Fred, who grinned shamefacedly before making an excuse about needing to bring their bags in.
“It’s how things are done these days. He’ll come and ask Papa once they have things settled between them.”
For a moment, Evelyn thought Miriam would relent. She always had a soft spot for Vivie.
And then her expression changed.
“If he wants to marry her, he’ll come meet her parents. She can’t marry someone we’ve never laid eyes on. She doesn’t leave Hereford.”
Evelyn took a deep breath, knowing full well she was about to anger her parents but hoping everything would work out for the best in the end. She agreed, then went upstairs to help Vivie concoct a plan.
Evelyn knew from experience that Miriam would be sleeping on the living room sofa to prevent Vivie from leaving. But Evelyn and Fred were in the room just over the porch this time. And if the two girls climbed onto the roof of the porch and down the side and left the car in neutral, starting it only once they were down the hill, they could get Vivie to the station for the six a.m. commuter train to Boston, where she could transfer to the New York line.
“I don’t like this,” Fred said. Evelyn stood at the mirror over the dresser, applying cold cream to remove her makeup.
“Well, I don’t love it either, but it’ll work. And they’ll be fine once it’s done.”
“This is really how we’re going to start our vacation week?”
Evelyn wiped the cream away and went to sit beside him on the bed. “Wouldn’t you have climbed out a window for me?”
“Of course, but George is such a pill.”
Evelyn whooped with laughter, then pushed Fred over. “I’ll be back before anyone wakes up. They won’t even know I took her.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And how are you getting back upstairs?”
She grinned. “You think this is the first time I’ve climbed out and back in a window?”
He rolled on top of her. “You don’t need me to make a rope out of tied-together sheets, then?”
“If it’ll make you feel useful, darling, you can.”
Shaking his head, he leaned in to kiss her.
Evelyn woke and dressed before the sun was up, then opened her bedroom door a crack for Vivie, who slipped silently inside, a small valise in her hand. “Be careful,” Fred murmured sleepily. Evelyn kissed his forehead, saying she would be back before he knew it. And the two girls went out the window to the ground below, Evelyn climbing down onto the porch’s roof, then the railing, then taking the bag that Vivie handed her before Vivie climbed down as well. They both froze momentarily, listening for any noise in the house, but there was none.
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.