Moonlight Masquerade by Jude Deveraux Page B

brother was a very large young man.
    â€œPerfectly,” 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.
    â€œFront 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 grownup together and knew each other well. “Is your gloomy face because of the girl you nearly ran over?”
    Reede nodded.
    â€œAnd I take it you’ve found out that she’s your employee.”
    Reede nodded again.
    â€œWhat are you going to do about it?”
    â€œSo 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.
    â€œYou 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.
    â€œThe 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.”
    â€œYou’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?”
    â€œNaw. 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.”
    â€œSure,” Reede said without much interest. “Send me the bill. It’s the least I can do.”
    â€œAnd what about you?” Colin asked. “Dad said you wanted to change out your Bimmer?”
    â€œYeah. I can’t very well drive it around and remind Sophie of what I did.”
    â€œIt’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.
    â€œYou 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 . . . ”
    â€œShe what?”
    â€œCooked 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 mouthsshut, 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