Stranger in the Moonlight by Jude Deveraux Read Free Book Online

doubted if he’d ever before said those words. His life had made him fiercely independent.
    Immediately, Kim went to him. “Are you hurt? Should I call a doctor? My brother, Reede, is here and—”
    “No,” he said, smiling down at her. She was even prettier up close. “I’m not hurt. I came to Edilean for a reason, to do something. But now that I’m here I don’t know how to go about it.”
    Reaching out, Kim took his hand in hers. It was a large hand, and she could feel calluses on it. It looked like he did something in his life that required physical labor. She led him over to the bench and had him sit down beside her. The light from the wedding celebration was behind her and she could see him better. He had on a dark suit that looked as though it had been tailored for him. His cheekbones reflected the moonlight, and she saw lines between his eyes. He looked worried. She bent toward him in concern.
    When she leaned forward she unintentionally gave Travis a view down the top of her dress. Kim had told Jecca the neckline was too low, but she’d laughed. “With a set of knockers like yours you should show them off.” With a compliment like that, Kim couldn’t insist that the bodice have a modesty panel put in it.
    Travis was so distracted by the view that for a moment he couldn’t speak.
    “You can tell me anything,” Kim said. “I know we haven’t seen each other in a long time, but friendship lasts forever, and you and I are friends . Remember?”
    “Yes,” he said, swallowing. He had to take his hand out of hers or he’d be pulling her closer to him. Why hadn’t he used the drive down to think about what he’d say if he did see Kim again? Instead, he’d spent most of the time on the phone planning the rock climbing trip he was going on in six weeks. Equipment had to be purchased and Travis needed to do some training. Wonder if there was a cliff he could climb in little Edilean? And did this backwoods town have a gym? He didn’t want his body turning to mush while he was here trying to figure out his mother’s problems.
    He saw that Kim was still waiting for his answer. He hadn’t planned to ask for help, hadn’t even planned to see her again, but seeing her inside the tent, in that figure-hugging dress, had been too much for him. When she’d slipped out and disappeared into the woods, he’d followed her.
    Now, he couldn’t keep sitting there in silence. Kim was going to think he was a moron.
    “It’s my mother,” he said. “She’s living here in Edilean.” He fell silent again, not sure what to tell and what to keep back. He didn’t want to scare Kim away.
    “What about her?” she coaxed as she tried to remember what she knew about his mother. When it had all happened, Kim had been too young to understand what was going on, but over the years she’d figured out some things. Lucy Merritt had been hiding from her abusive husband.
    At the memory of the name, Kim gasped. “Lucy! Your mother’s name was Lucy. Is she Lucy Cooper, the woman who runs away every time I get near? She’s lived in Edilean for four years, but tonight was the first time I saw her, and even then it was only a partial view.”
    Travis was genuinely surprised. He’d asked his mother about Kim a couple of times, but she’d always said that they traveled in different circles, then changed the subject. “I didn’t know that she hid from you, but I’m sure she would feel that she needed to. She didn’t see many people when we were here before, just that old man and your mother. And you.”
    “Mr. Bertrand died the next year, and my mother would never tell anyone that Lucy was here.”
    “What about you?” Travis asked. “If you’d recognized her, would you have told?”
    “I—” Kim broke off. If she’d seen Travis’s mother here in Edilean she would have been on the phone to Jecca two minutes later. And she would have told her cousin Sara and maybe her new relative by marriage, Jocelyn, and she rather