Moonlight Masquerade by Jude Deveraux Page A

of their meeting. “So should I pick you up at Kim’s house tomorrow?”
    â€œSure. No, wait. I think I should move into my own apartment at Mrs. Wingate’s house. I’m imposing too much on Kim.”
    â€œSo no one has told you?”
    â€œTold me what?”
    â€œYesterday, Mrs. Wingate eloped with the gardener.”
    â€œOh,” was all Sophie could think to say. “I got the impression that she was an older woman.”
    â€œForties, not too old. Very elegant lady. It seems that while she was married to a man the whole town knew was abusive, she was in love with Bill Welsch.”
    â€œAnd he’s the gardener?”
    â€œAnd a builder. He’s a cousin of mine and he’s a great guy. Anyway, when she and Bill left, one of her tenants, Lucy Layton, asked—”
    â€œLayton?” Sophie said. “But that’s Jecca’s last name.”
    â€œNobody told you that either? Kim’s husband’s mother married Jecca’s dad.”
    Sophie had to think a moment to put that relationshipin place. “No, no one told me. So what did Mrs. Layton ask?”
    â€œIf she could buy the Wingate house. Travis—that’s Kim’s husband—wants to open a camp for inner city kids, and they want to use the big Wingate house as part of it.”
    â€œI guess this means that the apartment is no longer available.”
    Reede’s first thought was to tell her that she could stay with him, but he refrained from saying it. What in the world was wrong with him anyway? He’d had dozens of offers from women in town, but none of them had interested him, but there was something about Sophie that intrigued him. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn’t one of the women who was going after him with the subtly of a submarine torpedo.
    Sophie was quiet as she thought about the problem of the apartment. This morning she’d been going through Kim’s closet, rummaging about in her kitchen, and she hadn’t liked doing it. It was Kim’s house, and Sophie needed a place of her own. That she no longer had an apartment waiting for her was a blow.
    Reede sensed that he’d inadvertently ruined the mood. “I’ll find you a place to live,” he said. “My cousin Ramsey owns several properties. I’m sure he has something available.” Even if I have to buy it, he thought. “What are you doing today?”
    Sophie hoped he was leading up to inviting her somewhere this evening. It would be nice to get to know each other better before the masquerade oftomorrow. “The usual,” she said, which made no sense, as the job was so new to her that nothing was “usual.” “What about you?”
    He couldn’t tell her the truth, that he was putting all his time and energy into planning the next two days, so he said he had “medical work.”
    â€œIt must be wonderful to save lives.”
    â€œIt was,” he said, thinking of his past rescue work and of the clinics he’d set up. “I mean it is now. I better go,” he said.
    â€œYes, go save someone,” she said, and they hung up.
    Reede clicked off his phone and leaned his head back against the seat. It had been even nicer talking to Sophie the second time. So now he had to drive back to Edilean and see his cousin Sara and talk about costumes. But as he reached for the ignition, his arm caught on his shirt.
    â€œWhat the hell?” he mumbled, then remembered his guilty conscience when he’d been talking about nearly running Sophie over. When he couldn’t straighten his shirt he stepped out of the car, unbuttoned it, and put it back on.
    Once he was back in the car, he called Betsy. Since he was asking a favor of her, he reminded himself not to bark at her. But then, for the first time since Tristan had asked him to take over the job, Reede didn’t feel like snapping.
    â€œI know I gave you women the day off, but I need