Moonlight Masquerade

by Jude Deveraux

  “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
lways miserable, so that would have driven her away. And I’m sure she’s like all other women and wants a home and kids. If you two were to get together she’d dump you just like Laura did. Besides, I hear Roan is already going after her. She’ll probably like him.”

  “He’s a windbag,” Reede said, his eyes losing some of their gloom. “And who knows? Maybe Sophie would like to travel. There are women who do, you know.” More light was coming into Reede’s eyes.

  “So you’re thinking of marrying her, are you?”

  “I just met her! Actually, I haven’t even met her. I just enjoyed talking to her, that’s all.”

  “Talking, eating her cooking, sleeping on sheets she’s washed. Sounds to me like a marriage.”

  Reede started to protest the absurdity of that statement, but then he laughed. “Okay, so I get your point. I’ve made too much out of this, but it was nice for a while to hope. I should go back and tell her the truth. She’s—” He looked at Colin. “Today Sophie is sorting out my banking. I left her my debit card number, and she’s going to set up online banking for me.”

  Colin shook his head. “You have it bad. Maybe you can delay the inevitable for a while.”

  “I told Mom to give me three days. I don’t know what I was thinking. That I’d give such great phone calls that when she found out the truth she’d say, ‘Oh that’s all right, I forgive you’?”

  “Women don’t forgive, and they sure as hell don’t forget. As soon as she finds out, you’re dead.”

  “Thanks,” Reede said.

  “Maybe you could—” Colin broke off because the door opened and a pretty secretary entered carrying a big cardboard box.

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here.” She put the box on the desk. “Your dad wants these for tomorrow. He said he wanted to hide the faces of the team that had such a bad last quarter.”

  “Sure,” Colin said. “Just leave it there and he’ll see it.”

  She left, closing the door behind her.

  “Anyway,” Colin said, “maybe you could apologize enough that she would—”

  Reede had gone to the box on the desk and was looking inside it. “It’s Halloween,” he said in wonder.

  “Yeah. Dad always gives a little party to the staff and hands out incentive awards, but this year the sales are so bad that—” He broke off because Reede had pulled out a mask of a werewolf and was holding it over his face.

  It took Colin a moment to understand. “A mask would hide you.”

  “Yes,” Reede said as he put the furry thing down. “She wouldn’t be able to see who I was.”

  Colin’s eyes showed his racing thoughts. “It would take some work, but maybe we could keep the secret for three days. That’s today, Friday, then Saturday and Sunday. There’s the big party tomorrow night. Everyone will be in costume. My family will be there. Mom is dying to tell the world that Pere’s girlfriend, Rachel, is pregnant.”

  “Everyone knows that,” Reede said. “Rachel’s bought enough baby clothes for six kids.”

  “That’s all right. Ariel’s pregnant too, and with Gemma, all the clothes will be needed.”

  Reede couldn’t help smiling. Everyone knew that what Colin’s mother, Alea, wanted most in the world was grandchildren, and now her daughter Ariel, her daughter-in-law Gemma, and probably soon-to-be daughter-in-law Rachel were all expecting babies. A wish come true.

  “Hey! I have an idea,” Colin said. “What about a private party for you and Sophie tomorrow afternoon? You know the old Haynes house out on McTern road?”

  Reede couldn’t help drawing in his breath.

  “What?”

  “That’s the house I wanted to buy for Laura and me. The pond . . . ”

  “Yeah, right. It’s a clone of Tris’s Aldredge House.” Between them passed years of understanding. “Anyway, Ariel and Frank bought that house. They closed on it last week, and it’s empty until they return to Edilean.”

  Ariel, Colin’s sister, was in California finishing her medical residency. The plan was that she’d return home and share the practice with Tristan. That way they’d both have time off for their families.

  “What if I get Mom to arrange it so you could have a private party for just you and your Sophie at that house? Since it’s Halloween it could all be done while wearing masks.”

  Reede had to blink a few times as he thought about what Colin was saying. Maybe it could work. Possibly. Probably not. Maybe definitely not. What woman would go out with a man in a mask? Then he remembered Tris saying that Jecca, the woman he married, was an artist, so he’d had to be creative in courting her. “Not easy for a man of science,” Tris had said, “but I did it.” Sophie was an artist too, so maybe she’d like—

  Reede looked back at Colin. “Think Sara can find another costume between now and then?”

  “I think that if there’s any hope to get you out of your gloom and doom this whole town would start sewing and make you one. Hell! I’ll put on a few buttons.” Colin took out his cell phone. “This is your last chance to say no. Once I call Mom and tell her, there’ll be no backing out.”

  “Between her and my mother . . . ” Reede didn’t want to think anymore. “Sure, why not?”

  Colin pushed the key that contained his mother’s phone number.

  Seven

  Sophie leaned back from Dr. Reede’s computer and smiled at her work. It had taken hours, but she’d set up online banking for him and had put every bill she could find on autopay. She’d even used his AmEx points to order a new vacuum cleaner and a set of white dishes. The ones he had were chipped and cracked and so old she was afraid the glaze contained lead.

  She’d downloaded Quicken and put his expenses into categories. He didn’t spend much and his checks were mostly for bills, so it hadn’t been too big of a job to do the whole year.

  As for his income, savings, and investments, she had no idea what they were. Every few weeks a check would be deposited and it would cover his expenses. If what was deposited was his total income or not she didn’t know. If it was, he was far from rich.

  “And his financial state is none of my business,” she said aloud as she looked around the apartment. This morning she’d been disappointed when she was told she wouldn’t be meeting Dr. Reede after all. But she understood about medical emergencies. Yet again, the women in the office had talked at length about what a great guy Reede is, how he thinks of no one but himself.

  “And he’s so very sweet tempered!” Heather said. “Just this morning he was smiling in a way that I’d never before seen any human do. Lit up the entire room, didn’t it? I certainly felt it!”

  The other women enthusiastically agreed as they looked at Sophie with wide eyes.

  As she went up the stairs to the apartment, Sophie couldn’t help smiling. It was obvious that the women had crushes on their Dr. Reede.

  It was at lunchtime, just as Sophie had finished the computer work, that he called. He started with a profuse apology for standing her up that morning.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “I understand. My job is to help you, not get in your way.”

  “That’s nice,” Reede said hesitantly. “So how are you getting along?”

  Sophie took her time telling him of all that she had done since their last phone call, but he didn’t seem interested in the banking.

  “What about your art? My sister says that she’d die if she couldn’t create things—but then Kim is a bit melodramatic.”

  “I used to feel that way, but it’s been so long since I created anything that I don’t remember what it’s like.”

  Reede hesitated. “I’m sure Kim told me, but what kind of art do you do?”

  “Sculpting.”

  “Like welding steel structures?”

  “I mainly worked in clay. When I graduated I had a job offer of sculpting the heads of the American presidents for a company that made silverware. I was to make them about a foot tall, then they’d reduce them and put them on the handles of teap
ots. George and Abe and Mr. Jefferson would have profiles put on flat-ware.”

  “That sounds . . . ”

  “Tacky?” she asked, smiling. “I’m sure it would have been, but it was a beginning.”

  “So why didn’t you do it?”

  She told him of her mother dying and leaving twelve-year-old Lisa under the care of a disgusting man. “I figured he’d be climbing into bed with her the day after the funeral.”

  “So you stayed and took care of her.” There was awe in Reede’s voice.

  “I did what I had to,” she said modestly.

  But Reede saw past her attempt to dismiss what she’d done. He well knew what sacrificing yourself took out of you. “Were you ever tempted to run away?”

  “Why don’t you pack up and leave town now?”

  “Family obligations,” he said, then paused. “I see. It was the same with you.”

  “Exactly the same.” She was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter, and when she moved she gave an involuntary yelp of pain.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes and no. I’m bruised from hitting the side of a road. A reckless driver nearly ran me over.” She gave him a brief account of what had happened.

  “So you don’t know who was driving?”

  “I know his car and—Wait a minute! Russ was sitting near him at the restaurant, so he knows who he is! I’ll have to call and ask him. Maybe I should do that now. The creep should be taken off the road for driving like that. He should—”

  “I’m sure he’s far away by now,” Reede said quickly. “That’s an almost major highway, and we get a lot of tourists in this area.” He wiped sweat from his brow.

  “You’re probably right,” Sophie said. “If the jerk lives in Edilean I’m sure someone would have told me about him. I did put on a rather public show when I poured beer over his head.”

  “Did you?” Reede asked. He was in the new Jeep that he’d borrowed from Colin and he didn’t know where anything was. He needed something to wipe away the sweat that was beginning to trickle down the back of his neck. “I bet the man was . . . surprised.”