Stranger in the Moonlight (Edilean 7)

“Mind if I . . . ?” He glanced down at his knee.

“Of course,” she said and took the box from him to look at the rings. “I don’t know what to say. They’re beautiful. How did you . . . ? Oh. Mrs. Pendergast.”

“No,” Travis said as he filled their champagne flutes. “While Russ drove me here, I called places and had the rings sent. Each one was made by a different artist.”

“That’s what I thought.” It wasn’t easy to choose from among the rings.

“They’re nonreturnable,” he said.

At that she frowned. “You’re not going to lavish me with gifts, are you?”

“Since you’re supplying the house we live in, and the furniture, I think I have a right to add a few things.”

Kim pulled a ring with a large square-cut emerald from the box. Her jeweler’s eye could tell that it was excellent quality. She held it near the light of the candle to admire the occlusions, the tiny imperfections that showed it to have been taken from the earth and was not man-made.

She held out the ring to him and extended her left hand. He slipped the ring onto her finger, kissed the back of her hand, and held it as he looked into her eyes.

“Kim, I love you,” he whispered. “I have loved you since I was a boy and I don’t want us to be apart again. I want to live where you do, with you.”

Kim, ever practical, smiled at him. “I’d like to talk about where, when, how. You seem to have made a lot of plans and I want to know what they are.”

“Good!” he said as he removed the lid from a silver platter, exposing two filet mignons. “I like women who know their own minds.”

They talked and ate and discussed. Travis told Kim his ideas for the future, that he wanted to live in Edilean and open his camp for the summer. In the winter he’d do law work. “I like it better than I thought I would, so maybe what Dad told Penny is true, that there is some Maxwell in me.”

“Do you think little Edilean could be enough for you?”

“Yes,” he said, “and I promise that I won’t do anything that we don’t agree on.” He leaned across the table to her. “But I think maybe you have some of your brother in you and your ambition is a bit more than your little town.”

“I’m found out!” she said, and they began to talk about her future as she saw it. Dave’s ideas of expanding her company hadn’t been just his idea alone.

They talked of the coming divorce, and Travis told how he’d decided that Joe and his parents could fight it out themselves. “I’ll get Mom a good lawyer.”

“Forester?” Kim asked, and they laughed together.

It was while they were sharing a thick slice of chocolate cake that an invitation was slipped under the door. After they finished dessert, Travis and Kim had eyes only for each other and didn’t see the heavy vellum envelope.

It wasn’t until morning that Kim picked it up and showed it to Travis. It was addressed to both of them.

“Open it,” Kim said to Travis. “I bet it’s from Mrs. Pendergast and she wants to tell you that Russell is your half brother.”

“Too late,” Travis said. “You already blabbe

d.”

“That’s not how I see it. I think you—” She broke off at the expression on Travis’s face. He was still in bed, the sheet just covering his bare lower body. “What is it?”

“It’s an invitation to a picnic at one P.M. today, and there’s a map of how to get there.” He handed it to her, and it was Kim’s turn to be astonished.

“It’s from your father.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. “He says he has a gift for us all.” She looked up at Travis. “Think it’s a box of pirate’s loot? I could use some pearls. And some tanzanite. Of course I’m always low on gold.”

He took the invitation from her. “You won’t get any of that from Dad.”

“Any of what?”

“Gold.”

“I sure hope it’s not more of his bits of advice about your eating lead paint. I think I’ll ask him about his office romance policy.”