"I couldn't possibly impose like that," Gemma said.

Mr. Frazier leaned toward her. "I can attest that my wife is brilliant at having things packed and shipped. England must be empty after all that she had sent home."

Gemma was torn between not wanting to cause anyone extra work or expense, and wanting so very much to stay. She looked at the keys in her hand. They were on a ring for Frazier Motors and she held them so tightly they bit into her hand. "Okay," she said at last, "but if I'm going to stay here, I need to buy some toiletries, and-"

"Colin will take you," Mrs. Frazier said quickly. "Whatever you need, wherever you want to go, he'll take you there."

Mr. Frazier looked at his wife in speculation, then turned to his son. "Take her into Williamsburg and get her a car."

"And she'll need office supplies," Mrs. Frazier said.

"Colored pens, for sure," Colin said, his eyes teasing.

"Yes, now go," Mrs. Frazier said. "I have a lot to do today and you two will just be in my way."

Colin looked across the table to Gemma. "It looks like we're unwanted."

Gemma smiled. She would love to spend another day with him!

The minute Colin and Gemma were out of the room, Peregrine Frazier turned to his wife. "Alea," he said slowly, "what are you up to?" When she didn't immediately answer, he ran his hand over his face. "It seems like lately I'm asking you that every other day."

Alea still didn't reply, just sat there looking at him with an expression he couldn't read.

"I gave in to you on those old papers, and now I'm paying the salary and living expenses of a student. I know that we can well afford that, but you're up to something with our eldest son and I want to know what it is."

Alea gave a sigh. "You and I have been married for over thirty years, so you must know what I want most in the world."

"To get someone in England to declare you a lady?" he asked, his voice a symphony of frustration. He hated it when his wife did this to him. It was as though she was saying that if he truly loved her, he'd intuit what she was thinking.

"If you believe that's what I deeply and truly want most in life, then you know nothing about me."

Peregrine resisted the urge to look at his watch, but he knew from experience that doing so would cause a fight. He just wanted to go to work, finish a couple of contracts, then play golf with his friend, Dr. Henry Shaw. But at the same time, he wanted to know what his wife was truly after because, sometimes, her schemes caused problems. Even though, with the exception of wanting to make herself into a countess, her plots had all been for him or their children, they hadn't always done what she meant for them to.

In high school, when their daughter, Ariel, cried because she didn't have many friends, Alea became the sponsor of the cheerleaders-which included purchasing the uniforms-but only if Ariel was put on the team. That had worked out well. When Lanny, at sixteen, was so shy he wouldn't even go to a dance, Alea arranged for him to spend a summer in Paris studying ballet. He'd been the only heteros.e.xual male in the cla.s.s. That had not worked out so well.

"Alea," he said patiently, "I really don't know-" He cut himself off because he remembered something she'd said years before. When Colin was about four, she'd said, "I think he'll give us smart, beautiful grandchildren." It had been such an odd thing to say, considering the child's age, that it had stuck with him.

"Grandchildren," he whispered. When Alea smiled warmly at him, he knew he'd answered correctly, but he still didn't understand. "Are you saying that you don't care about being a countess?"

"Of course not! That my own family thinks that I'm such a shallow person that I'd want that-" She couldn't seem to find words to describe how bad that had made her feel.

Peregrine leaned back in his chair. "How long have you been working on this . . . this plan? Whatever it is?"

"Ever since Eleanor Shaw's first grandchild was born," she said quickly. As energy surged through Alea, she stood up. "Every woman in this town has grandchildren."

He knew what she meant. Not every woman, but nearly every woman who had grown children and was a descendant of the seven founding families did have grandchildren.

"Ellie Shaw has three grandchildren and her youngest daughter, Sara, is already pregnant. She's only been married a few months. Then there's Helen Connor. Twins! And her daughter-in-law named them after her grandparents!"

Alea was a tall woman, and she was top-heavy-a physical trait that he'd always loved-but when she pulled herself up to her full height, she could be downright intimidating.

"All of them have grandbabies to spoil and adore," Alea continued. "Helen has only one child but two grandchildren-and more to come. What do I have? Five children and not even the hope of a grandchild."

"Ariel is probably going to marry that guy Frank Thiessen," Peregrine said meekly. He'd had no idea this was a problem to his wife. His belief was that these things would happen and it was best to let nature take its course.

Alea threw up her hands. "Our daughter hasn't finished her residency yet and when she does, do you think she's going to want to jump right into motherhood?"

"She might-"

Alea glared at him. "Don't you think I haven't talked to her about this? You think we haven't had a mother-daughter talk about her having children? The age of her eggs, the age of the man she wants to marry-this time, that is. Frank is what, the third man she's been seriously involved with?"

Peregrine kept his face straight but he vowed to call his daughter ASAP and tell her he loved her just as she was.

"And then there are our boys," Alea continued. "Lanny will never marry. He likes to . . . I don't want to think about what he does. Pere prefers to sit back and let women make fools of themselves because of his pretty face. He's not going to trade that pleasure in for some woman who expects him to help with the housework."

Peregrine felt as though entire lives had been going on in his house that he knew nothing about-and he was fascinated. "Shamus?" he asked.

"Have you seen him go out on a date? Even once?"

"No, I haven't," Peregrine said, but he also hadn't thought about it. He knew the cheerleaders sometimes used Shamus as the center for a pyramid, which meant that five pretty girls in short skirts climbed on him. But Peregrine had never heard Shamus say anything about the trick, certainly not in a l.u.s.ty way.

"Which leaves Colin," Peregrine said. When his wife's face turned red with emotion, he knew he'd hit on the center of all her distress.

Alea sat down and lowered his voice. "That 'boy' is thirty years old."

"He has Jean."

Alea stared at him.

"You don't think he and Jean will get married?"

"Married, then divorced," she said.

Peregrine's mouth dropped open in shock. "I thought you liked Jean."

"I love her second only to my own daughter. I've enjoyed every minute I've spent with her. She makes me laugh. I love talking with her. She's a joy to go shopping with. But she's not right for Colin."

"Don't you think he should decide that for himself?" When she was silent, Peregrine stared at her. Her eyes seemed to be trying to tell him something, but he didn't know what it was. How did all the things she'd just revealed relate to one another?

It hit him hard. "If you don't care about trying to become a countess . . . You hired Gemma for Colin, didn't you? This whole thing, buying all those old doc.u.ments, remodeling the guesthouse, hiring a live-in researcher, it's all been for Colin, hasn't it?"

Alea looked at her husband as though he were extremely clever to have figured that out. "Our son takes his duties of being sheriff very seriously and he won't look at a woman under his jurisdiction. Did I ever tell you about the time I was waiting in the car for Colin and that Dolores Costas appeared at her door wearing a pink negligee?"

About fifty times, Peregrine thought but didn't say. He'd asked Colin about it, and he'd laughed. The woman was a single mother and her three-year-old had had a fever during the night, so she was in her pajamas and robe-which her daughter had thrown up on. Peregrine figured the truth was somewhere between the two stories, because many times he'd seen a woman make a play for Colin but be ignored. To Colin, all the people of Edilean were for him to watch over, and he would never consider making a pa.s.s at someone under his care.

Which is why Peregrine thought Jean suited Colin so well. His work in Edilean didn't have regular hours. He could be called on to do anything, from getting a doctor to a pregnant woman during a snowstorm, to finding lost people in the wilderness area, to tracking a rabid dog. A normal wife would be unhappy about how much time her husband was away, but Jean had a flourishing career. She was too busy to worry when the man in her life wasn't home by six.

"Do you know what Colin did?" Alea asked.

"I doubt if I have any idea."

"He bought Luke Connor's house."

"The one he remodeled?"

"Yes."

"That place is beautiful. What did Colin pay for it? Did he-?" Alea was looking at her husband hard. If their son had bought a house and was going to quit living in that awful apartment over his office, that meant he was getting ready to settle down, maybe to marry. Shouldn't Alea be happy about that? Oh. Right. Peregrine had never thought about it before, but he couldn't see Jean as anybody's mother. He certainly couldn't imagine her staying up all night with a sick child and the next morning answering the door wearing dirty pajamas. The truth was, he couldn't imagine Jean living in Edilean.

"So now do you understand?" Alea asked.

"Did you and your boyfriend Freddy plan all this?" He knew his wife hadn't seen the man who became president of their university in years, but it galled him that they kept in touch. Three times Frazier Motors had donated vehicles to the university to raise money. "If you don't want to do it for Freddy, then do it for me. Please?" his wife had pleaded.

Alea gave her husband a one-sided smile. "Freddy and I did go over the qualifications of each applicant rather carefully. I didn't want someone who was deeply attached to her family and would never consider moving to a small town. Wasn't that girl Isla a major disappointment?"

"What about Kirk?" he asked in wonder. "No, don't tell me. If three young women had shown up, Colin would have known in an instant what you were up to."

Alea smiled warmly at him.

"And Colin likes Gemma," Peregrine whispered.

"More than I ever hoped he would. When Freddy told me the girl tutored football players, I knew there was a real chance that something could happen between them."

"So what now?" Peregrine asked as he looked at his watch. He was going to forget about work and go directly to golf. He needed some exercise to clear his mind.

"I just want to put them together as often as possible."

Peregrine got out of his chair. This particular scheme of his wife's seemed harmless enough. It wouldn't be the first time Jean and Colin had broken up, and there'd be tears, but that could be handled by turning the whole thing over to his wife. Too bad about Jean though. He liked her, and he loved her cooking. "Well, dear," he said, "you can play matchmaker all you want, but be sure to keep me up-to-date." He paused. "What about Dr. Tris? Wasn't there talk about him? Maybe he and Gemma will like each other."

"Every woman in town has tried for that man. I can't imagine that our studious little Gemma will be able to win him. Even gorgeous Jean doesn't turn Dr. Tris's head."

In college, Peregrine had dated many women who were much prettier and certainly more glamorous than Alea, but he'd known she was the one for him the moment he saw her stride across the gym floor. It had been during a basketball match, and as he watched her, the ball had hit his head and bounced off. The whole school burst into laughter. Four months later, she was pregnant and two months afterward, they were married.

He kissed his wife's cheek. "I hope you're right, dear, and that you get what you want. Just don't do anything drastic, will you?"

"Explain the meaning of drastic."

Peregrine didn't want to think about what could happen. "How about if I grill some steaks tonight?"

"Lovely. I'll have Rachel get them today. Have a good time today, dearest. Tell Dr. Henry h.e.l.lo for me."

5.

GEMMA WENT UPSTAIRS to get her bag and when she got outside, Colin was standing by his Jeep, talking on his cell. He didn't look happy. When he saw Gemma, he gave a curt good-bye, clicked off the phone, and put it in his pocket.

She got into the car beside him, and he was silent as he maneuvered out of the driveway around the other vehicles. "Did something bad happen?" she asked.

"No, nothing. Everything is fine. Do you know what kind of car you want?"

"I told your dad a Duesenberg." When this elicited no response from him, she said, "How about if we do this later? When you're in a better mood?"

As they reached the highway, Colin stepped on the clutch, shoved the car into third, and she was thrown back against the seat. "No, I need the distraction. Do you know where I live?"

"In town somewhere?"

"I live in an apartment over my office. The downstairs used to be a shop that sold ladies' apparel, while upstairs was used for storage. There are only a few windows, and the place smells like mothb.a.l.l.s."

Gemma was beginning to understand. "And you want to move into your new house."

"Exactly. But as you saw, I have no furniture. Jean said she'd go with me tomorrow to buy some. But she left a voice mail saying she has an important case early on Monday morning, and she can't get back until next week."

Gemma was thinking about what Rachel had told her. If Jean couldn't find time to spend a weekend, how was she going to live there? "I bet you didn't tell her you had a big surprise for her." Gemma thought Jean didn't seem to be the type who'd want someone else to choose her house for her, but that wasn't any of her business. What she wanted was for Colin to tell her about him and Jean.

But he didn't take the hint. "Do you know anything about furniture?" he asked.

"Not after about 1860, although I am familiar with the Bauhaus School. Mies van der Rohe never did anything for me, though. But then Rococo also leaves me cold, and no two styles could be more different, right?" Colin was looking at her. "Oh. You mean furniture today, don't you? What you can buy in a shop now. No, I know nothing about it."

"You and my father are going to get on well. He lives in a world of past automobiles. He is extremely disappointed that none of his kids has inherited the family obsession."

"But you said that two of your brothers work for him."

"Work but don't love," Colin said.

Gemma couldn't imagine a parent being disappointed because he had a son who was a sheriff, a daughter who was about to become a doctor, and another son who lived for his art. "Maybe-" Gemma began, but the two-way radio in the console interrupted her.

"Colin!" said a man's voice. "You there?"

He picked up the microphone. "Yeah, Tom. What do you need?"

"How far away are you from the fork in K Creek?"

"Ten minutes," he said as he glanced at Gemma. "Hold on." He downshifted, then turned the car ninety degrees without so much as slowing down.

Gemma held on to the door and her seat, and felt as though she were on a ride at a fair-or a NASA training device.

Colin didn't so much as pause in talking on the radio. "I'm about eight minutes away now. What's up?"

"A four-year-old boy climbed a tree and he's sitting on a branch that's about to break. I've spent the last fifteen minutes trying to get him to jump to me, but he won't let go. Says I'm too old to catch him." They could hear the frustration in the man's voice. "The fire department is on the way with a ladder, but I thought maybe if you were close, you could talk him down. Carl's here but . . ."

"Five minutes," Colin said and clicked off the microphone as he reached outside and put a red light on the roof and a siren went off. He glanced at Gemma. "I'm sorry, but I have to go fast."

She said nothing but her eyes widened. They were already doing sixty on the winding road. There were only a few feet visible in front of them. If a car- She broke off her thoughts because a pickup with a boat attached was in front of them and Colin was heading straight into the back of it. He swerved to the left-and into the face of an oncoming car. Gemma tried to brace herself for the coming crash.