Frances's eyes were blazing, and her cheeks were flushed with color as she approached the three girls at the table.
"Oh, Elena, you've got to hear this!"
Elena smiled at her, polite but not too intimate. Frances ducked her brown head. "I mean... can I join you? I've just heard the wildest thing about Stefan Salvatore."
"Have a seat," said Elena graciously. "But," she added, buttering a roll, "we're not really interested in the news."
"You-?" Frances stared. She looked at Meredith, then at Bonnie. "You guys are joking, right?"
"Not at all." Meredith speared a green bean and eyed it thoughtfully. "We have other things on our minds today."
"Exactly," said Bonnie after a sudden start. "Stefan's old news, you know. Passe." She bent down and rubbed her ankle.
Frances looked at Elena appealingly. "But I thought you wanted to know all about him."
"Curiosity," Elena said. "After all, he is a visitor, and I wanted to welcome him to Fell's Church. But of course I have to be loyal to Jean-Claude."
"Jean-Claude?"
"Jean-Claude," said Meredith, raising her eyebrows and sighing.
"Jean-Claude," echoed Bonnie gamely.
Delicately, with thumb and forefinger, Elena drew a photo out of her backpack. "Here he is standing in front of the cottage where we stayed. Right afterward he picked me a flower and said..."Well,"-she smiled mysteriously-"I shouldn't repeat it."
Frances was gazing at the photo. It showed a bronzed young man, shirtless, standing in front of a hibiscus bush and smiling shyly. "He's older, isn't he?" she said with respect.
"Twenty-one. Of course,"-Elena glanced over Tier shoulder-"my aunt would never approve, so we're keeping it from her until I graduate. We have to write to each other secretly."
"How romantic," Frances breathed. "I'll never tell a soul, I promise. But about Stefan..."
Elena gave her a superior smile. "If," she said, "I am going to eat Continental, I prefer French to Italian every time." She turned to Meredith. "Right?"
"Mm-hmm. Everytime." Meredith and Elena smiled knowingly at each other, then turned to Frances. "Don't you agree?"
"Oh, yes," said Frances hastily. "Me, too. Every time." She smiled knowingly herself and nodded several times as she got up and left.
When she was gone, Bonnie said piteously, "This is going to kill me. Elena, I am going to die if I don't hear the gossip."
"Oh, that? I can tell you," Elena replied calmly. "She was going to say there's a rumor going around that Stefan Salvatore is a narc."
"A what !" Bonnie stared, and then burst into laughter. "But that's ridiculous. What narc in the world would dress like that and wear dark glasses? I mean, he's done everything he can to draw attention to himself..." Her voice trailed off, and her brown eyes widened. "But then, that may bewhy he does it. Who would ever suspect anybody so obvious? And he does live alone, and he's awfully secretive... Elena! What if it's true?"
"It isn't," said Meredith.
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm the one who started it." At Bonnie's expression, she grinned and added: "Elena told me to."
"Ohhhh." Bonnie looked admiringly at Elena. "You're wicked. Can I tell people he's got a terminal disease?"
"No, you cannot. I don't want any Florence Nightingale types lining up to hold his hand. But you can tell people whatever you want about Jean-Claude."
Bonnie picked up the photograph. "Who was he really?"
"The gardener. He was crazy about those hibiscus bushes. He was also married, with two kids."
"Pity," said Bonnie seriously. "And you told Frances not to tell anyone about him..."