Moonlight Masquerade Read Online Free PDF Page B

What happened to you?” he asked.
    â€œI was nearly run over.”
    He looked concerned. “Yeah? Want me to call the sheriff?”
    Sophie tightened her grip on the stolen book. “No,” she said firmly. “I just want to know who owns the silver BMW.”
    The young man’s mouth opened as though he meant to say something, but a woman sitting at the bar spoke first. “See the guy over there in the blue shirt?”
    â€œIs that him?” Sophie asked.
    â€œYes it is,” the woman answered.
    â€œMrs. Garland,” the bartender began, “I don’t think—”
    â€œTake it from me,” the woman said to Sophie, “that guy’s a real bastard. Thinks he knows more than anybody else in town. I’d like to see him taken down a peg or two.”
    Sophie didn’t answer, just nodded and walked straight to the table. He had his back to her so she couldn’t see his face. There were two other men sitting there, and when they saw Sophie their eyes lit up in appreciation. Ignoring them, she walked to stand in front of the man.
    Her first impression was that he was strikingly handsome, but he looked tired—and sad. She might have felt sympathy for him, but when he saw Sophie he grimaced, as though she were someone he was going to have to do something for. It was that look that broke her. All she’d wanted to do was talk to him, tell him what she thought of him, but she’d be damned if anyone was going to look at her as though she were a . . . well, a burden . She’d not been a burden since she got her first job at sixteen. She prided herself on carrying her own weight.
    â€œCan I help you?” the man asked, his deep voice sounding as though Sophie was going to demand something dreadful of him.
    â€œYou own the BMW?”
    He nodded once, and that look that Sophie was a great bother to him deepened.
    She didn’t think about what she did. She picked up a full pitcher of beer and poured it over his head. Not dumped, but poured it so it took several secondsto empty the contents. While cold beer was running down his face, she was aware that every person in the tavern had stopped talking. Even the jukebox was silenced, as though it had been unplugged.
    As for the man, he just sat there, blinking up at Sophie, nothing but surprise on his face. When she finished, the restaurant was totally silent. Sophie glared at him, his face dripping beer. “Next time, watch where you’re going.” One of the men at the table took the empty pitcher, and Sophie walked across the room and went out the front door.
    Outside, she stood still for a moment, not sure what to do next. Then the door behind her opened and one of the men who’d been sitting at the table came out.
    â€œHi,” he said. “I’m Russell Pendergast and I’m the new pastor in town and I think maybe you might need a ride.”
    When Sophie heard noise returning to the tavern, she didn’t give herself time to think. “Yes I would,” she said and got into a green pickup beside the man. They started the drive into Edilean.

Two

    They rode in silence for a while before Russell said, “Is it possible that you’re Sophie Kincaid?”
    Immediately the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Had he heard her name on the news? CNN maybe?
    â€œSorry,” Russell said as he glanced at her. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Kim said you didn’t want the whole town to know about you, but she told me you were coming because she married my brother.”
    Sophie let out a sigh of relief. “And you’re a pastor.”
    â€œNewly,” he said, smiling. He was a very handsome man. “In fact, everything about me seems to be new. New town, new job, newly married, new to being a father.”
    At the words married and father Sophie felt a bit of a letdown. It looked like she wasn’t dead after all.
    â€œI’m even