Moonlight Masquerade (Edilean 8)

Sophie was wondering what this had to do with her.

“The woman who was renting the place moved to Seattle. I think it was for love, but who knows? Anyway, the shop is now vacant and for rent, or for sale to me. If you want it, I can get it for you.”

“A sandwich shop?” Sophie asked. “I don’t know how to run a restaurant. And I can’t afford anything. If I were to stay here—which I shouldn’t do—I need a job where someone pays me, not the other way around. I can’t keep staying at Kim’s, so I don’t even have a place to live.”

“There’s an apartment over the shop. The last time I saw it, it was full of boxes, but I think it could be okay.”

“Like Reede’s place,” she said softly.

Al wasn’t going to put up with self-pity. “Naw. This one is better. There are big windows at the front, so you can see out.”

“I . . . ” Sophie began and she could see a thousand things wrong with this idea. She had no money, no experience, she was the laughingstock of a whole town, she never wanted to see Reede again in her entire life, and—

And this was an opportunity, she thought. Maybe, possibly, this could lead to something else. She had no idea what, but maybe there was something there. And besides, what else did she have to do? Where else did she have to go? Maybe she could turn Dr. Reede’s lies into something good.

“I’ll do it,” she said, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

Al smiled at her with pride. He couldn’t feel better if Sophie were his daughter. “Why don’t you . . . ?”

“Go occupy myself for a while?” Sophie supplied.

“Tell Ray to give you a burger and fries. You need to eat to get your strength up and you need to plan what you’re gonna cook.”

There was so much in Sophie’s mind that all she could do was nod.

The second the door to the office closed, Al called Roan. “You know that little sandwich place you wanted me to buy?” he said as soon as Roan picked up.

“Damn right I do!” Roan said. “The tenants left me hanging with that thing. I’d sue if I could find them. They—”

“Never mind that now. I need the store rent free for four months.”

Roan gave a scoff of laughter. “You’ve been drinking too much. As Kierkegaard would say—”

“Don’t care what any of your relatives has to say. You need to give the new tenant the keys to that shop. My wife will draw up a lease. Four free months.”

Roan was silent for a moment. “Okay, you old grease dog, what are you up to and who is this really for?”

“You know the girl who dumped beer on Reede’s head?”

“Oh yeah,” Roan said in a faraway voice. “I’ll never forget that glorious moment. I will die with that image—Hey! Is this for her?! The little clone of Brigitte Bardot? The prettiest girl I’ve seen in years? The—”

“Keys!” Al said. “To the shop. Get them to her. She’s going there now.”

“I’m on the way out the door.”

“Run!” Al said and clicked off the phone. He hadn’t thought of it before, but big, good-looking Roan might help Sophie with a lot of her problems. The last time he’d been to see Reede as a doctor Al had been treated to a ten-minute lecture about his weight. If he’d wanted that he would have stayed home with his skinny wife. Yeah, it might be good to introduce Roan to pretty little Sophie. Smiling, Al left the office.

Five minutes later, Roan called back. “I’m here and waiting and I want to know what’s going on.”

Al told him.

Thirteen

By the time Sophie had parked her car downtown and walked around half of one of the squares of Edilean, she was sure she was making a mistake. What did she know about running a sandwich shop? There was no way she could do it by herself, so what was she to do for help? Ask one of the citizens of Edilean? The people who’d watched her dancing with Reede while knowing she had no idea who he was? Had they later laughed about the coming scene when she found out? Did they make wagers about how angry she was going to be at him? How amused they must have

been!

As she walked toward the shop, she had a wicked thought of hiring the women who worked for Reede. “You owe me!” she’d say to them. She thought of how Heather had greeted her that first day. The young woman had been standing on Kim’s porch, just waiting for Sophie to come out. And when she did, Heather practically shoved Sophie into the car. It looked like Heather was afraid Sophie would see someone in town who’d recognize her. Would someone have said “You’re the girl who dumped beer over Dr. Reede’s head. Good for you! It’s what I’ve wanted to do for years.”