Scarlet Nights by Jude Deveraux Page A

under three years. I wonder where he’s planning to live?”
    “Mother, if you think that this man and I—”
    “Never would I dream of interfering in the life of any of my dear daughters. Actually, I was thinking of Mike and Ariel. Wouldn’t they make a lovely couple?”
    “Ariel?” Sara asked, aghast. “Ariel Frazier? What’s she doing in town?”
    “Sara, dear, did you forget that Ariel lives here?”
    “She hasn’t lived here since high school when she told all of us that she couldn’t wait to get away from this backwater town and everyone in it.”
    “And she did. She went to medical school and now she’s finished and she wants to take a break before she begins the grueling work of doing her residency. Then she’ll be a doctor—and she wants to open a clinic here in Edilean.”
    Sara thought her mother was looking at her as though she expected her to say or do something, but Sara had no idea what it was. Ariel was one year older than she was, and her family had been in Edilean for as long as hers had. Since the beginning, the Fraziers had sold whatever moved on wheels, whether it was bicycles, wagons, tractors, or Lamborghinis. It was said—but no one had any proof—that the original Frazier was the best friend of Angus McTern Harcourt, the man who’d settled Edilean. It was also said—with even less proof—that the first Frazier had actually been the one who drove the wagonload of gold that had been the basis for the founding of the town. When Sara was in the first grade and Ariel in the second, she’d told Sara that her grandfather said that by rights Edilean Manor, even the entire town, should belong to them. That was the first of many fights Sara and Ariel’d had.
    “You aren’t saying anything,” Ellie said. “Don’t you think Ariel and Mike would make a great couple?”
    “How would I know? I don’t know him and I haven’t seen her in years.”
    “Oh! She’s just beautiful! Long red hair and dark blue eyes. And of course she’s smart. But then she always was. And Mike is quite handsome.”
    “Yeah, if you like men from a police lineup.”
    Ellie looked at her daughter with wide eyes. “I think all that sewing Greg makes you do has damaged your eyesight.”
    “So help me, if you say one more thing against Greg, I’ll—”
    Ellie walked to the door. “I told you last time we had a discussion about him that I’d keep my nose out of it. Everyone has to make his or her own mistakes. Sorry. I didn’t mean that as it sounded. I’m going. But Sara, my dear child, I do think you could cut Mike a little slack. His apartment and everything he owned burned and the only relative he has is his sister. And …”
    “And what?”
    “My mother used to tell me about Mike and Tess’s grandmother. After their parents died, she raised them, and my mother said Prudence Farlane was the most angry person she’d ever met in her life, that it was like a volcano of hatred was inside her. That Mike can retire so early means he joined the force when he was still a teenager. A child, really. Sara, I truly think you should have some compassion for the man.”
    Sara waited a moment before answering. “Good try, Mom, but I’m still going to marry Greg.”
    Ellie laughed. “I did my best. Let me know what he does with that cavolo . I might put his recipe in the store bulletin.” She paused at the door. “And you don’t think he’s handsome?”
    “I think he’s gay,” Sara said, even though she was lying.
    Again, Ellie laughed. “I wonder if I was ever as young as you are? Keep me up-to-date with any news. See ya.” With that, she left the apartment, and Sara leaned back against the door in relief.

4
    B Y LATE AFTERNOON , Sara had calmed herself somewhat. She knew that most of her nervousness was caused by not having heard from Greg for days now. And too, she was sick of trying to make the people of Edilean like the man she loved. If Greg would just allow her to tell people the truth about