Moonlight Masquerade Read online

  “Nothing,” Reede said. His mind was working hard as he tried to think of how he could get Sophie to forgive him.

  “I don’t blame her for not speaking to you,” Ellen said. “Did she throw things at you? I hope everything sharp was locked up. Roan stopped by and told me the details. He was absolutely delighted and he’s going to go after her. He said he likes her spunk. Isn’t that a lovely old-fashioned word? As for you, a pretty girl, unattached, was practically handed to you on a platter but you messed it up. Roan said—”

  “Mother!” Reede said loudly. “Don’t let her know it was me.”

  “Sophie? Don’t let pretty little Sophie know that it was you who nearly killed her, then drove off as though nothing had happened? You who—?”

  “Yes, exactly. I’m going to try to make her forgive me.”

  That news so startled his mother that for a moment she was silent—something that didn’t happen often.

  “If I introduce myself to Sophie now,” Reede said, “she’ll run away screaming. But if I have some time maybe I can . . . ” He trailed off.

  “Maybe you can what?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I’m sure it’s just a pipe dream, but Mom, I liked her. I told her about Laura.”

  “You did what?”

  “Last night I talked to her on the phone and I told her about Laura and me. Sophie said that if it had happened as I’d planned, that now I’d be living in Edilean forever and I’d never have been anywhere.”

  “True,” Ellen said cautiously. “But then, if I remember correctly, several other people said that same thing to you.”

  “Maybe they did, but last night I was full of Sophie’s food, a bottle of wine, and . . . I don’t know, maybe I’ve reached my limit of misery. If I’m to be here for another two and a half years maybe I should try to make the best of it. What do you think?”

  “Yes,” Ellen said in a voice with a quiver in it.

  “Mom? Are you crying?”

  “Of course not!” she said quickly. “But I do admire your spirit. I’ll talk to those silly women in your office and do whatever I can to keep Sophie from finding out the truth for as long as I can.”

  “This weekend. If you can give me these three days I’d appreciate it.”

  “Don’t forget the big party tomorrow night. Everyone we know will be there. I ordered your costume months ago, and Sara’s almost finished with it.”

  “How about if I wear a stethoscope and ask everyone to remove their clothes for an exam?”

  His mother didn’t laugh and Reede started to say he had to go, but he stopped. “Why are the women silly?”

  “Because they prefer Tristan over my son.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Grinning, he clicked off the phone. But the next minute his mind was full of asking himself what he could do in just three days.

  Reede was standing in the big office at Frazier Motors, waiting for a salesman. His hands were in his pockets and he was staring out the floor-to-ceiling glass wall. Below him was the huge showroom full of sparkling cars, salesmen hovering about, ready to destroy any speck of dust that dared touch one of the vehicles.

  Behind him the door opened, but he didn’t turn around.

  “What is that saying about ‘Physician, heal thyself’?”

  Reede turned to see his cousin, Colin Frazier, in the doorway, blocking the light with his big body. He’d recently married and his wife was going to have a baby. “How’s Gemma?” Reede asked. She was going to an OB/GYN in Williamsburg.

  “Great. Healthy,” Colin said. “She outeats my little brother. Is that normal?” Colin’s youngest brother was a very large young man.

  “Perfectly,” Reede said. “Why are you here?” Colin was the sheriff of Edilean. There’d been some shock in his family and even in the town when Colin decided that he didn’t want to go into the family business of wheels. Anything that had wheels on it and the Fraziers were involved.

  “Front end alignment on my truck,” Colin said. “The guys told me you looked bad, so they sent me up here to hold your hand.” He motioned for Reede to take a seat on the chair along the far side. Colin sat down on the couch, and his big body nearly filled it. Leaning forward, he stared at his cousin. They’d grown up together and knew each other well. “Is your gloomy face because of the girl you nearly ran over?”

  Reede nodded.

  “And I take it you’ve found out that she’s your employee.”

  Reede nodded again.

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “So far, I’ve turned tail and run away. Mom’s bawled me out. Kim has left me three voice mails and those women who work for me—” Reede threw up his hands in exasperation.

  “You should fire them,” Colin said. “They belong to Tris. They used to give Gemma a hard time when she went in there.”

  A bit of light came into Reede’s eyes. Colin had been very jealous when the woman he loved was friends with Dr. Tris.

  “The best thing for you to do,” Colin said, “is to come clean to the girl and tell her the truth. Grovel. Apologize. And get her another car.”

  “You’re right,” Reede said as he stood up and looked out through the glass. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets. “What happened to her car? She didn’t have a wreck, did she?”

  “Naw. It just died of old age and neglect. I don’t think the oil had been changed in years. Dad sent a rental over to her last night.”

  “Sure,” Reede said without much interest. “Send me the bill. It’s the least I can do.”

  “And what about you?” Colin asked. “Dad said you wanted to change out your Bimmer?”

  “Yeah. I can’t very well drive it around and remind Sophie of what I did.”

  “It’s time for service, anyway. I have a Jeep I can lend you.” Colin was watching his friend. Part of him had a lot of sympathy for Reede. He’d voluntarily agreed to help his cousin out for a few weeks while his arm healed, then Tris had gone to New York and Reede had been stuck in a job he didn’t want. And Reede had been saddled with Tris’s employees and his patients—all of whom made it clear that they wished their beloved doctor would return.

  On the other hand, Colin and everyone else who knew Reede was fed up with his gloomy attitude.

  “You like this girl, don’t you?” Colin asked.

  Reede didn’t turn around as he shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve only had one conversation on the phone with her, but she . . . ”

  “She what?”

  “Cooked for me, cleaned up that apartment. We talked. It was nice.”

  Colin used to live in that apartment, so he knew how depressing it was. Little light, bad smells that wouldn’t go away, noises in the night. Returning to it at the end of the day was sometimes more than he could bear. For it to have the smell of good food, a clean floor . . . Yes, that would almost be an aphrodisiac.

  Colin knew quite a bit about wanting things, whether it was a job or the woman he loved. “There has to be a solution to this. Surely, something can be done.”

  Reede sat back down. “Nothing that I can figure out. I asked Mom to get people to keep their mouths shut, but the beer dousing was too public. The first Newcomer who sees her will be happy to tell her that Dr. Reede nearly killed her.”

  Colin knew that the residents of Edilean could keep a secret—but only if the Newcomers weren’t involved. Unfortunately, they’d seen it all. That Sophie hadn’t yet been told was a miracle.

  “If she could get to know you before she’s told . . . ” Colin trailed off because the Reede he’d been seeing lately wasn’t the man he knew. Over the years, Colin had twice flown to other countries to help Reede in his charity work. Reede had been organized, efficient, dedicated, and charming to donors. But that wasn’t the man he was here in Edilean. Colin tried to think of a way to change that. Reede had always responded to a challenge.

  “Oh well,” Colin said. “You and this girl would have been temporary anyway. You’re a