Stranger in the Moonlight Read online

  Russell glanced at Sophie as she sat there in silence, clutching her envelope to her, and she looked as though she were at the bottom of her ability to go on. He’d worked with people who had her look, and too many of them came to a bad end.

  Yesterday he’d called his brother and Kim, who were on their extended honeymoon, to tell them the good news that he’d been given the job as pastor of Edilean Baptist Church. He’d start in three weeks. Travis had asked him to look after Kim’s friend, Sophie Kincaid, saying that she was staying at Mrs. Wingate’s and . . . Russell couldn’t remember exactly what else his brother had said. Was there mention of a job? “Yesterday was pretty busy at my house but didn’t I hear that you have a job in Edilean?”

  “Yes,” Sophie said. “I’m to be a personal assistant to Kim’s brother, Reede. Watch out!”

  Her statement had so shocked him that Russell had swerved to the right and nearly run off the road. He got the truck straightened out and tried to think about what to do. Tell her that Reede was the man who’d nearly run over her? He looked back at her. She looked so forlorn that he couldn’t kick her while she was down. Maybe if he could postpone the meeting for a few days he could find Sophie another job. He wondered what she was qualified to do.

  “So you went to school with Kim?”

  “Yes,” Sophie said. “College.”

  “What did you study, if you don’t mind my asking, that is.”

  “All three of us roommates got our degrees in fine arts. Jecca went two dimensional, with painting, Kim only cared about jewelry, and I went three.”

  “Dimensional? As in . . .?”

  “Sculpting.”

  Great, Russell thought. How was he going to find a job for a sculptor in Edilean? He smiled at her. “I bet you’re hungry.”

  They had reached the town and Sophie was looking out the window at the beautifully restored old houses that lined the streets. Kim had said that Edilean was a town that time forgot, and it looked like she was right.

  “It’s pretty,” she said to Russell as he pulled into the parking lot of what looked to be a 1950s dinner. “Al’s,” she said and smiled for the first time.

  “Kim tell you about the place?”

  “She said it could give you a coronary at one plateful.”

  Russ smiled. “I’m sure she’s right, but sometimes grease heals wounds.”

  “I’m not exactly dressed to be seen,” Sophie began as Russell went around to open her door.

  “This is Edilean, not Paris. No one will notice.” As he ushered her inside the little restaurant he realized how wrong he’d been. Sophie’s prettiness caused everyone to look. Even in her frayed attire, she drew attention.

  The real reason he’d stopped at the diner was to be able to make some calls before he took Sophie to Kim’s house. As soon as they’d ordered, he excused himself and stepped outside to call his wife, Clarissa. He asked her to please go to the grocery and get enough to fill Kim’s refrigerator.

  “But I thought her friend was staying at Mrs. Wingate’s.”

  “She was nearly run down by a car.”

  “Is she all right?” Clarissa asked, alarmed. “Should she go see Dr. Reede?”

  “No!” Russell nearly shouted, then controlled himself. “It’s a long story and I want to tell you about it—and to ask your advice. The gist of it is that Reede is the one who nearly ran over her and she’s to start work for him tomorrow. I’m afraid she may take a baseball bat to his head.”

  “She’ll have to get in line,” Clarissa said. “Half the women in this town want to murder him. I heard that the last meeting of the Edilean Book Club spent three hours plotting ways to get revenge on him. I think the Lifetime channel is interested.”

  Russ didn’t laugh. “I think Sophie has reason to chair the club. My brother—”

  “Is going to be his usual scathing self,” Clarissa said.

  “He’ll enjoy telling me what I should have done.”

  “And you’ll enjoy telling him his faults,” Clarissa said. “I’ll get groceries and flowers and put them in Kim’s house. Come home soon and we’ll talk about what else to do.”

  Russell smiled. He’d fallen in love with her the second he saw her and he still marveled at his excellent judgment. “Did I ever tell you that I love you?”

  “Not for an hour or so,” she said, her voice soft. “Come home. I miss you.”

  “Me too,” he said and clicked off. He could see Sophie through the window of the diner and he lifted his hand to her. As he walked back into the restaurant, he looked upward. “Give me wisdom,” he whispered, then went inside.

  © Kim Jew

  JUDE DEVERAUX is the author of forty-one New York Times bestsellers; her most recent novels include Heartwishes, Moonlight in the Morning, The Scent of Jasmine, Scarlet Nights, Days of Gold, and Lavender Morning. There are more than sixty million copies of her books in print worldwide. She lives in North Carolina. Visit her interactive website at www.judedeveraux.com or check out the Jude Deveraux Fan Page on Facebook, where she posts daily updates about her writing.

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  Days of Gold

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  First Pocket Books paperback edition September 2012

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