Stranger in the Moonlight (Edilean 7)

“Ow! Sorry, but the heels on your shoes are rather sharp and . . .”

It took her about a quarter of a second to flick her pretty high-heeled sandals off and put her feet back on his thigh. He made it seem natural when he began to massage them. Kim thanked the Spirits of the Spas that yesterday she’d had a mani-pedi. Her heels were as smooth as glass.

“Where were we?” he asked.

“Uh . . .” Kim couldn’t remember. No man had ever given her a foot massage.

“Oh yes, you asked about my life. The truth is that you changed everything.”

“Me?”

“I didn’t grow up like other kids. We had a big house on a hundred acres in upstate New York. The place was built by a robber baron around the turn of the last century and it was a testament to his greed. Very high ceilings and lots of dark paneling. It suited my father perfectly. My mother and I lived there with a houseful of servants—all of whom became like family to us. We hardly ever saw my father, but his presence was always there.”

Travis’s thumbs caressed the ball of her left foot, his fingers sliding between her toes. It wasn’t easy for her to comprehend what he was saying.

“Until that summer when my father went to Tokyo and my mom drove us to Edilean, I had no idea that my life wasn’t like other people’s. You taught me how other kids lived, and I’ll always be grateful to you for that.”

“I think you’re making it up to me now. Travis, where in the world did you learn to do that?”

“Thailand, I think,” he said. “Or maybe it was in India. Somewhere. You like it?”

“If I pass out from ecstasy, pay me no mind.”

“Can’t have that, can we?” he said and tucked her feet to the side of him. “Tell me more about Joe Layton.”

Kim let out a sigh of disappointment that he’d stopped rubbing her feet, but she sat up straighter. “I don’t have any answers. Jecca complained a lot about her father, but she also loves him very much. I know she’s the light of his life. When she was younger, he wanted her with him every minute. The first summer she went back home from college, she had to beg and plead to get to visit me for just two weeks. And Mr. Layton scrutinized every man Jecca so much as looked at. She said that Tristan—the man she married—paid a bride price by giving her dad a building.”

“For his hardware store?”

“Yes,” Kim said.

“Is the store open yet?”

“No. There was a lot of remodeling, rebuilding actually, that had to be done. Mr. Layton had some friends of his come down from New Jersey to do it. He and Jecca had a big fight, as she said there were good contractors in Virginia, but he wouldn’t listen to her.”

“Sounds like a man who likes to have his own way,” Travis said, frowning. “My father is like that. He has to rule over every situation.”

“You think your mother said yes to Mr. Layton because he’s . . . He’s what’s familiar to her?”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. I wish there was a way I could see them together—but only if he didn’t know who I was.”

“You’re right,” Kim said. “If you’re introduced as Lucy’s son, Mr. Layton will be on his best behavior with you. You’d never see anything close to the truth.” Her head came up. “Would your mother agree to—”

“Not telling him who I am?” Travis asked. “That’s what I’m wondering. I don’t know. I find women extremely unpredictable. My mother could laugh and agree, or she could get angry and ask how dare I think I know more about people than she does.”

Kim had to laugh. “Spoken like Mr. Spock.”

“Is he someone in Edilean?”

“No,” she said. “He’s someone from TV. My parents’ generation. Do you often find missing pieces in your education?”

“Whole decades,” he said with sincerity. “People make references to things I’ve never heard of. I have to watch other people to see whether to laugh or not. However, I’ve learned to never ask what the hell they’re talking about. That gets me branded as something akin to being an alien.”

Kim laughed more because that’s just what she had done. “You can ask me anything and I’ll do my best to answer it.”

“I’ll take you up on that.” He paused. “So tell me, are Dr. Spock and Mr. Spock the same person?”

“No. Far from it. My dad has DVDs of Star Trek episodes, so I’ll lend them to you.”