Scarlet Nights

by Jude Deveraux

  “Yes, and that the town disliked him made me feel like I was fighting against … I don’t know. Maybe I felt like Shakespeare’s Juliet and I was struggling to retain True Love. Now I think maybe I just wanted to show people … I don’t know what.”

  “I know about rebellion,” Joce said seriously. “In that backwoods family of mine I caused a lot of anger because I absolutely refused to get a tattoo.”

  Sara laughed. “Not even one?”

  “Not even a butterfly on my left ankle.”

  “You are a rebel.”

  Joce waited a moment before she spoke. “So what about the wedding?”

  Sara put her hands over her face. “I don’t know. I mean, I really and truly don’t know!” She looked back at Joce. “Just days after I met Greg, we were in business together and traveling and—”

  “Working.”

  “Oh, yes,” Sara said. “Masses of work. Great mountain loads of things that I had to do that kept me busy seven days a week.”

  “And sex.”

  “At first, yes. I so very much wanted to prove that I was at least as desirable as Brian’s … as the woman he wanted to marry, that I was insatiable.”

  “What about now?”

  “Now I’m remembering Greg the man. He’s not easy to live with, and he’s impossible to please. But I didn’t have time to think about anything after I met him. We went from a blind date to marriage plans in what seems like minutes.”

  “So where does Mike fit into all this?”

  “Nowhere. Mike has nothing to do with anything.”

  “Oh,” Joce said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing. I just thought that you and he were—”

  “Friends. That’s all we are to each other.” When Joce said nothing, Sara gave in. “Okay, so maybe Mike has reminded me what it’s like to enjoy a man’s company. He and I do things together.”

  “Like what?”

  “Swing through trees.” Sara lifted her hand. “That doesn’t matter.”

  “Are you sure? That I liked the things Luke and I did together made me choose him over Ramsey.”

  “Joce, get real. You had the hots for Luke from the day he dumped mustard down the front of you. Ramsey never had a chance. Besides, he was in love with Tess but was too dumb to know it.”

  “You’re right,” Joce said. “I know it’s a cliché, but I think you should follow your heart.”

  “If I did that, then I’d marry Merlin’s Farm. It’s what I really love.”

  Joce laughed so hard the babies started kicking.

  15

  MIKE WAS DRESSED for the gym, it was still dark outside, and there was no light from under Sara’s bedroom door. The night before, as soon as Mike had pulled up in his car, Luke had stepped outside to speak to him in private.

  Quietly, Luke had asked how the case was going and if he needed any help.

  Mike felt his usual sense of caution, but with each day that was fading. “I can’t find what Sara has that the Vandlo family wants.”

  Luke showed his shock at Mike’s word of “family.” “There are more people here than just Mitzi?” When Mike just looked at him, Luke drew in his breath. “It’s Greg, isn’t it? How is he involved?”

  “He’s Mitzi’s son.”

  Luke gave a low whistle. “Does Sara know?”

  “No. I want her to trust me more before I tell her.”

  “From what I’ve seen, she couldn’t trust you more than she does now.”

  “Yeah?” Mike couldn’t stop his grin.

  Luke arched an eyebrow at him. “You are aware, aren’t you, that if you hurt our Sara we’ll murder you?”

  “And what happens if my heart is broken?” Mike asked.

  “I have a staple gun in the truck.”

  Mike laughed. “At least tell me it’s a big staple gun.”

  “A pocket-size mini.”

  As they got to the door they were laughing, and an adolescent young man came out. He was as tall as Luke, but outweighed him by about a hundred pounds—and all of it looked to be muscle.

  The boy didn’t say anything, but when he saw Mike, he stopped and stared. He took Mike’s chin in his hand, turned his face to the side, and ran his finger down Mike’s nose. It had been broken several times but rarely repaired. As a result, he had a slight hook at the top of it that he’d been told looked like an axe blade.

  The young man said nothing, just removed his hand, and kept walking. Waiting by the big pillars into Edilean Manor was a sleek little Mercedes convertible. Sitting at the wheel was a slim, extraordinarily pretty young woman with an abundance of dark red hair. She waved at Luke, stared at Mike, and waited while the boy got into the passenger seat, then spun away in a flurry of gravel.

  “Who the hell—?” Mike began.

  “Fraziers.” Luke went into the house.

  “The big kid …?”

  “Shamus. He’s drawing the gypsy cards.”

  “Why was he looking at me?”

  “He likes faces, but who knows what a Frazier is thinking?”

  “The girl’s a looker.”

  “That’s Ariel, and she’s a terror. She has the Frazier temper.”

  “I guess I’m better off with Sara,” Mike said.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “Does everyone in this town work at matchmaking?”

  “Not Mr. Lang,” Luke said instantly.

  As Mike laughed, they heard the voices of the women and went into the drawing room, where Joce and Sara were.

  As before, the evening was very pleasant. Mike could almost forget the case as they talked about food and Luke’s trip to the gym that morning.

  “Forty-six minutes of hell,” Luke was saying. “Who would have thought you could do so much damage in so short a time?” He put a hand on his shoulder. “My delts will be sore tomorrow.”

  “You have strong lats. I’m going to have to work to keep up with you.”

  “Right,” Luke said in sarcasm. “This from a man who cools down on a trampoline.” He looked at the two women. “You should see what this guy does in the gym. I swear half the people there stopped their own workouts just to watch him.”

  From there they went to talking about Merlin’s Farm. As Sara spoke of seeing the inside of the old house, Mike marveled at the rapture in her voice. He’d never thought about loving an inanimate object as she seemed to care for that place. But then, he thought Sara would probably say he loved his car that much. She’d already teased him for keeping it so clean, but he saw nothing wrong with daily washing and vacuuming, and people really shouldn’t eat inside a car. And what was wrong with keeping the tires oiled?

  “Then Mr. Lang returned and ruined it all,” she finished with a quick glance at Mike.

  She’d left out the part where she and Mike had sat in a tree, snuggled together like baby birds in a nest.

  After they’d finished eating, Sara and Luke went to the kitchen, while Mike sat on a chair beside Joce and went through her genealogy charts. They were incredibly detailed, and he told her what a great job she was doing.

  “Sara likes you,” Joce said quietly. “And you’re pulling her away from that horrible Greg.”

  “You’re one of the people who doesn’t like him?”

  “He works to make everyone feel bad. Unless you have money. He fawns over the women who go to the shop.” She leaned closer to Mike and lowered her voice. “If you can stop the wedding—”

  Mike picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “That’s why I’m here.”

  “Really?” Joce’s eyes widened. “I thought your concern was catching the bad guys.”

  “It’s all part of it. Say nothing to Sara.”

  Joce looked at him with gratitude in her eyes.

  “Are you making a pass at my wife?” Luke asked from the doorway.

  “He couldn’t control his lust.” Joce put her hands on her big belly.

  “I understand and I forgive,” Luke said. “So who
wants some cake?”

  “How many pounds of it am I allowed?” Joce asked, and they all laughed.

  So now, it was early morning, and Mike was about to leave for the gym, but Sara’s voice stopped him. He went to her bedroom door and opened it. She was sitting in bed wearing a white nightgown that looked like something from a BBC production.

  “Off to the gym?” she asked.

  “Want to go with me?”

  Sara grimaced. “So what’s on for today?”

  He stepped into the room. “I thought I’d help with the building for the fair today.”

  “Do you know how to do that?”

  “I learned some about construction on one of my first cases.” She was gazing at him with wide eyes, as though his stories were truly exciting; it was an irresistible look. “I went undercover to find out about some contractor who was taking kickbacks from manufacturers. His buildings tended to collapse on top of people.”

  “Did you have an affair with his wife?”

  “No,” he said solemnly. “I did not.” His eyes began to sparkle. “It was with his twenty-two-year-old daughter. She taught me a thing or two. Wait! That was the case where I beat up half a dozen men at once and saved the girl. She was twelve, I think. Or was that the time—?”

  Sara laughed. “You’d better go. I doubt if they can open the gym without you there.”

  “They manage. What do you plan to do today?”

  “Oh, this and that.”

  “You aren’t going to glue yourself to a sewing machine, are you? I told Erica to get someone else to do all that, that you’re a boss, not a wage slave.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “I guess I won’t see you until this evening.” When Sara smiled but made no reply, he left her bedroom.

  As soon as Sara heard Mike’s car pull away, she texted Joce.

  MIND IF I USE YOUR KITCHEN TODAY?

  ONLY IF I CAN HELP.

  YOU CAN SIT AND PEEL FRUIT. IS SHAMUS THERE?

  YES. I GOT HIM OUT OF SCHOOL. THE CHILD LOVES ME.

  Ten minutes later, Sara was dressed and on the way to her mother’s grocery.

  As soon as Mike left the gym, he checked his phone. Tess had called, so he rang her back.

  As always, she didn’t bother with preliminaries. “If you make Sara fall in love with you, then drop her for one of your bimbos, so help me, I’ll never speak to you again. I will completely and totally disown you.”

  “There’s no danger of that,” Mike said. “Sara wants nothing to do with me except as her”—he nearly choked—“friend. We share bowls of popcorn and watch movies together. I’ve made lots of passes at her, but she doesn’t seem to be interested.”

  Tess was silent for a moment, and when she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. “Women have liked you since you hit puberty, but you’re saying that Sara doesn’t want you?”

  “Are you laughing at me?”

  “I’m trying not to, but it’s not easy. So how are you going to keep her from marrying that jerk?”

  “Tie her up, I guess.”

  “Then do delicious things to her?”

  “Whatever happened to that support you women talk about so much? You act like you want me to handcuff your friend.”

  “You very well know that I want you to marry Sara and live happily ever after at Merlin’s Farm. Who’s my kid going to play with if you don’t get busy with her?”

  “I didn’t sign on to this for marriage. I think—”

  “I have to go. Rams is here.”

  Twenty minutes later, Mike was at Nate’s Field. He wanted to help with the fair, but he also wanted to hear more gossip. Although Sara said she’d told him all she knew, he kept discovering new information.

  There were permanent bleachers in the big, open lot, and several trees, but nothing else. When Mike walked up, everyone grew quiet, and he knew what was going on. They were men and they were waiting to see if he knew which end of a hammer to use. No doubt they’d heard from Sara’s mother that Mike knew about organic foods and how to cook them—all of which he’d learned on undercover assignments. A couple of times he’d had to go into training for months before taking on an assignment. Over the years, Mike had done a lot of construction, so he felt at home with a tool belt on.

  After a couple of hours of watching Mike, the other men loosened up and began to include him in their talk. But he and Luke worked best together. With Luke on one end and Mike on the other, they hoisted studs into place and nailed them down.

  “Ever use one of these?” Luke asked as he held up an electric nail gun.

  “On a person or a piece of lumber?” Mike asked so only Luke heard him.

  “When your case is done, I want you to help me with my murder mysteries.”

  “By the way, my captain wants an autographed copy of your latest.”

  “Gladly,” Luke said as he picked up a hand saw. “Know how to use one of these?”

  “Want to hear about the time I was forced to build my own coffin with hand tools and no electricity?”

  “With all my heart and soul,” Luke said sincerely.

  “They were bored, so while they waited, they came up with this plan that I should—”

  “Who are ‘they’?”

  “Can’t tell you that, but they were bad.”

  Nodding, Luke began to listen as he slipped his hammer into the strap of his tool belt.

  About 10 A.M., three young men showed up, and they were as big as professional wrestlers. “So who’s the beef?” Mike asked Luke.

  “Frazier brothers. And our competition at the games at the fair.”

  Mike was looking at the three of them and wondering, if it came to a fight, whether he could take them. He reminded himself that such a thing would never happen, but he couldn’t break a habit. For all the size and muscle of the three Fraziers, they didn’t move quickly—but then they didn’t have to. “I have a date with their sister tomorrow. I guess I better be good to her.”

  “Ariel can take care of herself.” When Mike looked at him in question, Luke smiled. “Don’t worry. You saw that she’s not as big as her four brothers.”

  “Right, I can’t forget young Shamus. How’s he doing?”

  “He’s at home with my wife, bent over a drawing table, and making pictures of gypsies. He won’t show them to anyone, so Joce is planning a big reveal.”

  “Good,” Mike said, smiling.

  At ten-thirty, they took a break and Luke introduced Mike to his cousin Kimberly Aldredge, who was one of the women manning the drinks table. She was about Sara’s age and quite pretty, and she’d been repeatedly suggested to Mike as a good choice for dating.

  “Kim designs jewelry and sells it in Sara’s shop, among other places. She made Tess’s engagement ring.” Luke’s tone told that he was proud of her. Moments later, he excused himself to see a man about some plants he wanted.

  “You’re all the town talks about,” Kim said as she handed Mike a paper cup full of lemonade.

  “That’s bad.” He drained the cup and held it out for more.

  Kim leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “Can I be honest with you?”

  “Please do.”

  “We all love Sara, but she’s been cutting off her friends and family. She and Greg have time for their customers but not for us. Every family picnic, birthday party, whatever, she’s too busy, or she has to go somewhere with Greg. I don’t think Sara has any idea what he’s doing to her. The scuttlebutt around town is that you’re bringing her home to us.”

  “I’m not making much progress with her,” he said modestly. “She believes in being faithful.”

  Kim studied him for a moment. “You look like you have it bad for her.”

  “No, I’m …” He didn’t know quite what to say.

  She smiled. “That’s okay. I won’t tell. Sara deserves some good things to happen to her. The last few years have been difficult for her.”

  At twelve-thirty, Sara showed up with her mo
ther and a van full of sandwiches and salads. In the back were homemade pies. Men started slapping Mike on the shoulder and saying “thanks, man,” and “we owe you one.”

  “What’s this all about?” he asked Luke.

  “Sara hasn’t baked in a long time. When she was growing up, there wasn’t a town function that didn’t include Sara’s … her fruit things. What she can do with a piece of fruit is legendary. But she hasn’t baked anything since—”

  “Let me guess. Since Anders came to town.”

  “Actually, she quit before then. I guess you’ve heard about her first boyfriend. The downturn in Sara’s life started when he dropped her in a way that still makes me angry. I wanted to go to England and shove a few teeth down his throat, but Rams talked me out of it.” Luke’s head came up, and he yelled to his cousin, “Ken, if you take all of that peach pie, I’ll show you what a nail gun is really used for. Sorry, I have to go,” he said to Mike, then left.

  Mike saw Sara standing by the van, holding aloft a paper bag and a red pie plate. He couldn’t help smiling as it looked like she’d saved a lunch just for him.

  That night they again had dinner with Joce and Luke, and they talked of the fair. When they got back to her apartment, Sara was yawning. “Sorry,” she said, “but I’ve been on my feet all day and I’m worn out.”

  “I had no idea you could bake like that. What was in that apricot one?”

  “I used Moscato d’Asti in the zabaglione,” she said over her shoulder as she went to her bedroom. “See you in the morning.”

  Mike stood there blinking. She’d used an Italian dessert wine to make the creamy sauce. Since he’d met her, he’d had the impression that Sara knew little about cooking. True, Tess had sent him her apple bread, but that could have been the only thing she knew how to make. But from what he’d seen and tasted today, Sara could give the pastry chef at the five-star hotel where he’d worked undercover a run for his money.

  The more he learned about Sara Shaw, the more he liked.

  16

  MIKE SPENT SATURDAY at a golf course in Williamsburg with Sara’s father, a retired doctor who was as laid-back as his wife was hyper. He spoke of Sara with love in his voice, and Mike often felt the man watching him.