“You 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.
“The 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.”
“You’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?”
“Naw. 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.”
“Sure,” Reede said without much interest. “Send me the bill. It’s the least I can do.”
“And what about you?” Colin asked. “Dad said you wanted to change out your Bimmer?”
“Yeah. I can’t very well drive it around and remind Sophie of what I did.”
“It’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.
“You 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 . . . ”
“She what?”
“Cooked 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 mouths shut, 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 the Newcomers weren’t involved. Unfortunately, they’d seen it all. That Sophie hadn’t yet been told was a miracle.
“If she could get to know you before she’s told . . . ” Colin trailed off because the Reede he’d been seeing lately wasn’t the man he knew. Over the years, Colin had twice flown to other countries to help Reede in his charity work. Reede had been organized, efficient, dedicated, and charming to donors. But that wasn’t the man he was here in Edilean. Colin tried to think of a way to change that. Reede had always responded to a challenge.
“Oh well,” Colin said. “You and this girl would have been temporary anyway. You’re a
lways miserable, so that would have driven her away. And I’m sure she’s like all other women and wants a home and kids. If you two were to get together she’d dump you just like Laura did. Besides, I hear Roan is already going after her. She’ll probably like him.”
“He’s a windbag,” Reede said, his eyes losing some of their gloom. “And who knows? Maybe Sophie would like to travel. There are women who do, you know.” More light was coming into Reede’s eyes.
“So you’re thinking of marrying her, are you?”
“I just met her! Actually, I haven’t even met her. I just enjoyed talking to her, that’s all.”
“Talking, eating her cooking, sleeping on sheets she’s washed. Sounds to me like a marriage.”
Reede started to protest the absurdity of that statement, but then he laughed. “Okay, so I get your point. I’ve made too much out of this, but it was nice for a while to hope. I should go back and tell her the truth. She’s—” He looked at Colin. “Today Sophie is sorting out my banking. I left her my debit card number, and she’s going to set up online banking for me.”
Colin shook his head. “You have it bad. Maybe you can delay the inevitable for a while.”
“I told Mom to give me three days. I don’t know what I was thinking. That I’d give such great phone calls that when she found out the truth she’d say, ‘Oh that’s all right, I forgive you’?”
“Women don’t forgive, and they sure as hell don’t forget. As soon as she finds out, you’re dead.”
“Thanks,” Reede said.