Colin couldn’t argue with that, as he felt the same way about his wife, Gemma. To him she was the most beautiful, desirable female on earth and he was sure every other male saw her that way. “Have you told Sophie yet?”
“I will tomorrow. I hope it cheers her up. She seems pretty down about it all. But then when I think of leaving her I feel bad too.”
“So she gets the job she’s always wanted, but you get stuck here in Edilean.” Colin shook his head. “For you to turn down an offer like this must hurt a lot.”
Roan groaned. “More than you can imagine. It’s what I dreamed of for years. I was planning to hit my new brother-in-law up to fund something like it. At least now I won’t have that embarrassment. And there’s always Sophie’s job. She really is the most talented person I’ve ever met. She deserves to be known in the art world.”
“I agree. I saw that little sculpture she made for you. By the way, what did you get her for Christmas?”
“A camera. I figured she could use it to photograph her work.”
“Maybe you should visit Kim’s shop,” Colin said, referring to the beautiful little jewelry store.
“Yeah. Right. I’ll get Sophie a ring and ask her to marry me. It’s just that . . . ”
“Afraid she’ll say no?”
“Terrified of it. I . . . I mean I . . . She’s . . . ”
“I know exactly what you mean. Overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“She’s more important to me than anything else,” Reede said. “And I’d do anything for her.”
“Even to giving up an offer that you’ve wanted all your adult life?”
“Yes,” Reede said. “I’d give up everything for Sophie.”
“As far as I can tell that’s exactly what you are giving up. Everything.”
“That’s not the way I see it. I’ll have Sophie and she’ll be able to create. It’s what Kim and Jecca wanted so much that they were willing to give up the men they loved. I know that if I leave here I’ll lose her.”
“Maybe she could—”
Reede knew what his cousin was going to say. Maybe Sophie could go with him. “I’m not even going to suggest it,” he said, “because she might agree to do it. Then what? Follow me around the world? And never use that talent of hers? I couldn’t ask that of her. It would be like her asking me to give up medicine. I’ll stay here and do some volunteer work at some free clinics.”
“Great,” Colin muttered. “Half your patients will be drug addicts, not people who desperately need you.”
Reede shrugged. “I don’t see any other way, do you?”
“I think you should talk to Sophie and tell her the truth.”
Reede got up and went to the door. “And have her sacrifice everything for me? No thanks. I don’t want to live with a martyr.” Reede left the room, closing the door behind him.
“So you are going to be the martyr,” Colin said after he left. He went out to join the others but he couldn’t bring himself to smile at Sophie. She was such a pretty little thing and part of him was glad that Reede had found someone to love. On the other hand, he hated that she’d changed Reede’s three-year sentence into a lifetime of unhappiness. Colin well remembered when he’d visited Reede in the field. That man—dynamic, energetic, forceful, and above all else, happy—was not the man he saw in Edilean. Trapped in an office all day, dealing with people who came in with splinters in their fingers, wasn’t what Reede wanted to do with his life. Tris loved it, loved the people and their problems, but Reede couldn’t bear it.
But now, because of this young woman who’d come to town and made Reede fall for her, he was going to spend a lifetime doing what he hated.
When Sophie, laughing at something one of the children said, looked up at Colin, he didn’t smile back at her. He tried to keep his expression even, but he couldn’t. Reede was his cousin, his friend, and this woman was ruining his life. He wished she’d never come to Edilean.
Twenty-three
Carter was about to lock the shop door, but three women threw it open and burst inside. It was two weeks after Christmas and quite cold out but they didn’t have on coats and they looked like they’d been running.
“Sorry, but we’re closed for the day,” he said. “If you want something special maybe we can make it tomorrow.” The women just stood there blinking at him. He’d seen them around town but couldn’t remember where. One was older, one middle-aged, and one was young and pretty. “Dr. Reede!” he said. “You work for him.”
“We do,” said the middle one, “and we need your help.”
“If this has to do with the doc’s boxing lessons, leave me out.”