Hidden Talents

  “I just wondered if perhaps your son got involved with Crystal Brooke because his marriage was in trouble,” Serenity said.

  “It was an excuse.” Roland's fist slammed down on the arm of the chair. “Nothing more than a trumped-up excuse for satisfying his own selfish lust for that slut.”

  Caleb went dangerously still. “I warned you not to call her those names.”

  “Bah, I don't care if she was your mother,” Roland said. “She was no good and that's a fact. And I don't care what Gordon said, I never believed for one minute that Patricia was having an affair.”

  “Patricia?” Serenity repeated quickly. “Was that the name of Gordon's wife?”

  “A fine young woman.” Roland's eyes were piercing.

  “A beautiful young woman,” Franklin murmured. “Refined, elegant, well-mannered.”

  “She was a Clarewood,” Phyllis chimed in with obvious satisfaction. “One of the New England Clarewoods, you know. Old money. Ancestors back to the Mayflower. Gordon met her when he went back East to visit friends from college. After the scandal broke, she returned to her family. She remarried. A senator, I believe.”

  “We never heard from her again after she left Ventress Valley,” Franklin said in a distant voice.

  Caleb paid no heed to Phyllis and Franklin. His entire attention was on his grandfather. “My father claimed Patricia was having an affair?”

  “It was a lie,” Roland said bluntly. “He made up the accusation to justify his own actions.”

  “Lies, nothing but shameful lies,” Franklin echoed fiercely.

  Serenity tilted her head to one side and considered that. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I'm sure,” Roland insisted. “Good lord, Ventress Valley is small now, but it was even smaller thirty-four years ago. It would have been impossible for the wife of Gordon Ventress to have an affair for long without someone in the family knowing about it.”

  “And even if it was true, even if Patricia had an affair, it changes nothing, nothing!” Franklin roared. “That's the important thing here. Gordon had no right to subject this family to the shame and humiliation he brought upon it, no matter what the provocation. There was no excuse for it.”

  Roland peered at Caleb. “Franklin is right. I don't for one moment believe that Patricia was having an affair, but even if she was, it does not excuse Gordon's irresponsibility.”

  Franklin gave Caleb a seething look. “Your father was spoiled and overindulged from the day he was born. Gordon could do no wrong in Roland's eyes. Roland insisted on giving him everything. All the while I was growing up I had to watch my cousin being raised as if he were someone special, a young prince just waiting to be crowned king of the Ventress clan. All I got were the leavings.”

  “That's enough, Franklin,” Phyllis said firmly. “What's past is past. We all know what came of overindulging Gordon. The important thing here is that nothing excuses his actions.” She glowered at Caleb. “Nor yours, you ungrateful wretch. When I think of all we've done for you, I could just weep.”

  A sense of desperation welled up in Serenity. She met Caleb's eyes. “We'll never know the truth,” she said. “In a way, it's really none of our business, is it? Whatever happened between your father and Patricia is in the past, and it will have to stay there. All we're concerned with here is the future.”

  “What about the future of this family?” Roland demanded.

  Franklin's mouth was a thin line. “It's obvious your grandson doesn't care about that.”

  “I always knew it would come to this,” Phyllis muttered. “From the earliest days I could see that Caleb was never really a part of this family. I knew he only tolerated us so that he could take advantage of Roland's money and position. I sensed he never cared about any of us no matter how much we did for him.”

  Roland's jaw was rigid. “This has gone far enough, Caleb. You're acting the way Gordon acted that day when he told me that he was going to marry Crystal Brooke. And I'll tell you now exactly what I told him then.”

  “What's that?” Caleb asked.

  “If you go through with this shameful marriage, I'll cut you out of my will. I swear to God, I will. You'll never get one penny of the Ventress money.”

  Serenity noticed that Phyllis and Franklin looked stunned by the threat.

  Caleb smiled wearily. “Do you really think I give a damn about being disinherited? Want to know the truth? It will be one hell of a relief.”

  “Relief?” Franklin's mouth fell open.

  “It will set me free,” Caleb said.

  “How can you say that?” Phyllis gasped. “Think of what you'll be losing.”

  Caleb flicked her a brief, disinterested glance. “I don't need my grandfather's money. My private income from Ventress Ventures last year nearly equaled that of the family's total income. If I choose, it can go even higher next year.” His mouth was a bleak line. “Trust me, Aunt Phyllis, money is the least of my problems.”

  “I don't believe this,” Franklin whispered. “You can't possibly mean it. After all Roland has done for you? After what this family has done for you? You'd walk away from a fortune without a backward glance?”

  “As I see it, the only thing I'm walking away from is thirty-four years of blackmail payments. Like I said, it will be a relief.”

  “Blackmail?” Roland surged to his feet. “What the devil is that supposed to mean?”

  Caleb braced his legs slightly apart and confronted Roland. “All of my life I've paid for what my parents did. I've never been allowed to forget for one damn moment that I was the cause of all the scandal and tragedy that this family endured.”

  “Now just one goddamn minute—” Roland snarled.

  “It has always been made clear to me that if I hadn't existed, things would have turned out differently. Perhaps Crystal Brooke could have been bought off. Perhaps my father would have eventually come to his senses and come home to his wife. Who knows? But things didn't turn out right because I was born.”

  “You've got it all wrong,” Roland whispered.

  “Have I? How many times have you told me that you were afraid of making the same mistakes with me that you'd made with my father? How many times did you say that I had to be better at everything than my father had been? That I had to prove that I wasn't tainted with my mother's bad blood?”

  “You don't understand,” Roland said fiercely.

  “How often did you lecture me on my duties and responsibilities to the family? How many times have you called my mother a slut?”

  “Crystal Brooke was a slut,” Franklin raged. “She ruined everything.”

  Caleb ignored him. He kept his attention on Roland. “I've spent my whole life trying to give you what you wanted. But it was never enough, was it? I could never win enough ball games for you. I could never collect enough trophies to satisfy you. I could never make enough money for the family.”

  “Now see here,” Roland thundered, “if I was a little hard on you, it was for your own good.”

  “No, it was for your own good,” Caleb said. “You tried to use me to undue the mistakes of the past. You made me pay for them. That's blackmail. And the one sure thing about blackmail is that it never ends. But I can choose to stop paying it. And that's what I'm going to do.”

  Roland's mouth worked. He turned away from Caleb and leveled his finger at Serenity. “So help me, if you leave this house to go off with that woman, you'll never be welcome here again.”

  “I haven't been welcome here since the day I arrived,” Caleb said softly. “I was allowed to stay on sufferance. You had to make do with me because I was all you had left.”

  “Damn you, you sound just like your father,” Roland said.

  “Bad blood always tells, doesn't it?” Caleb held out his hand to Serenity. “Let's get out of here, Serenity.”

  Tears stung Serenity's eyes. It was like being on board the Titanic, knowing what was going to happen but being unable to stop the impending disaster. Slowly she put
her hand in Caleb's.

  He strode toward the door, hauling her along in his wake.

  “She's done this to you.” Franklin was almost hopping up and down in his agitation. “It's all her fault.”

  “I'm sorry,” Serenity whispered.

  “I'm not,” Caleb said. He nodded brusquely at Dolores, who had appeared in the doorway. “Goodbye, Dolores.”

  “Please don't do this, Caleb,” Dolores begged.

  “I have to do it,” Caleb said. He paused to glance back at Roland. “You shouldn't have pushed me. I'd probably have gone on paying the blackmail forever, you know. I'd have continued to do my best to give you everything you wanted. But you made one mistake. You tried to come between me and the one thing I want.”

  Roland gazed at Caleb with white-hot fury burning in his eyes. “Go on, get out of here. Take your little slut and don't ever come back.”

  Caleb turned without a word and started through the door into the hall. Serenity tugged sharply on his hand and frantically dug in her heels.

  “Wait,” she said. She looked back at Roland. “It doesn't have to end like this. This isn't the past. You can make it end differently this time.”

  “Come on, Serenity,” Caleb muttered. He yanked her forward into the hall.

  “Just a second.” She clawed frantically at the edge of the doorway, her eyes still locked with Roland's. “Come for dinner on Thursday. Day after tomorrow. Please. I'll make vegetable curry. You'll love it.”

  “Serenity, for crying out loud.” Caleb pulled hard on her wrist and managed to break her death grip on the doorjamb.

  “Witt's End,” Serenity called as Caleb dragged her down the hall. “An hour's drive. Once you get there, just ask anyone where I live. If it snows, stop in Bullington. We'll drive down the mountain and get you. I've got chains.”

  “Damn it, Serenity, shut up.” Caleb had the front door open now.

  “We'll be expecting you, Mr. Ventress,” Serenity yelled. “Six o'clock. Come early, if you like. You can stay the night. I've got room.”

  Caleb yanked her out onto the porch.

  “Christ.” He slammed the front door shut and started down the steps to the Jaguar. “What the hell do you think you're doing?”

  “Trying to change the past.”

  “Forget it. Some people don't want the past changed.”

  16

  THE SOFT STRAINS OF A WALTZ INVADED SERENITY'S troubled dreams. The music seemed closer than it ever had before.

  She cuddled the infants in her arms and soothed them gently while she waited for the door of the sunlit white room to open.

  Serenity awoke with a start to find herself alone in the bed. She raised herself on one elbow. A glance at the clock on the table told her it was three in the morning. She frowned. The distant waltz continued to play even though the dream had vanished.

  Serenity pushed the covers aside and got out of bed. The beaded curtain shuddered, creating a symphony of crickets and bells. She slid her feet into her slippers and reached for her robe. The tinny notes of the waltz grew louder as she went down the short hall to the living room. The cottage was chilly. There was very little heat from the banked fires of the wood stove.

  The soft glow of a lamp greeted her as she came to a halt in the arched entrance to the main room. Caleb was seated on the sofa, dressed only in a pair of jeans. His hair was tousled from an obviously restless sleep. His feet were bare, in spite of the cold.

  He sat leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. Crystal Brooke's jewelry box was open on the coffee table in front of him. He was absorbed by the jerky movements of the tiny dancers.

  “I didn't mean to wake you,” Caleb said without taking his eyes off the jewelry box.

  “It's all right. I wasn't sleeping very well, anyway.” Serenity padded softly into the room and sat down beside him on the sofa.

  “That's my fault, too. I shouldn't have subjected you to that scene at my grandfather's house.”

  “I was the one who insisted on accompanying you.”

  Caleb stared at the tiny dancers. “He won't come for dinner on Thursday, you know.”

  “If he doesn't, I'll invite him again for Sunday.”

  “You're wasting your time.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Serenity tucked her hands into the sleeves of her robe and leaned forward to study the jewelry box. The newspaper clippings tucked inside the main compartment were still neatly folded. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Something Franklin said today.”

  “He said a lot of things today. He certainly seems to think he has a duty to keep the past fresh and alive. What a sad, bitter man.”

  “Sad and bitter?”

  “That's the way he strikes me,” Serenity said. “There was a strange look in his eyes today when he talked about your father and about Patricia.”

  “I think Franklin was always envious of my father. He's certainly told me often enough what a beautiful woman Patricia Clarewood was. A perfect lady, as Aunt Phyllis likes to remind me. She always referred to her as the woman who should have been my mother.”

  “A woman who may have been having an affair behind your father's back,” Serenity mused.

  “Roland and Franklin are right. Even if Patricia was involved with another man, that's no excuse for my father's actions. He should have divorced Patricia before he got Crystal Brooke pregnant.”

  “Well, as I said earlier today, that's in the past. Let it stay there, Caleb.”

  “I've tried.” Caleb stared down at the tiny waltzing figures as the music came to a halt. “But for some reason the past has come back to haunt me.”

  “Because of me.” Serenity sighed heavily. “If it hadn't been for me, that terrible scene between you and your family today would never have taken place.”

  “That's not true.” Caleb turned his head to look at her. His eyes were brilliant. “Don't ever say that again. I've been living with ghosts since the day Roland took me to Ventress Valley. I'd grown so accustomed to living with them that I was starting to become one myself.”

  Serenity stared at him. “Oh, Caleb. What do you mean?”

  “Forget it.” Caleb picked up the jewelry case and rewound the music box. “It doesn't matter any longer.”

  “But it does matter.” She put her hand on his arm. “Do you still feel like you're turning into a ghost?”

  “No.” He set the jewelry case back down on the table. The little figures began to jiggle as the waltz started. “I feel very much alive these days.” He smiled faintly. “I haven't felt this alive in years. And it's all because of you.”

  He reached for Serenity and pulled her into his arms. The explosive passion in him inundated her. She was caught up by the tide of masculine energy and power. It swept her away on a great wave of surging excitement.

  “Caleb.”

  “You can't even imagine how good this feels. How good my name sounds when you say it like that.” Caleb feel back against the sofa cushions, taking Serenity with him. “How good it is to want a woman as much as I want you.”

  “I'm glad you want me.” Serenity sprawled across his bare chest and twisted her hands in his hair. The urgency in him unlocked a tumultuous need deep within her. She was hot and breathless with it.

  Caleb kissed her hungrily on the mouth. The kiss grew deeper, until she was shuddering in response. Then his lips slid down to her throat. He yanked at the sash of her robe. When the garment fell open, he slid his hands inside, pushed the hem of her nightgown to her waist and cupped her buttocks. His fingers sank eagerly into her skin, squeezing gently.

  Serenity sucked in her breath. She felt his leg shift beneath her. He raised his knee. The rough fabric of his jeans slid along the inside of her thighs, burning her skin, opening her to his touch. The bulge of his confined erection throbbed against her belly.

  “You're so wet, I can feel the dampness right through my jeans,” Caleb muttered. “I want you now. Before I lose my mind.”

 
She smiled down at him.

  He sat up abruptly, picked her up in his arms and rolled to his feet beside the sofa. Serenity kissed his shoulder and threaded her fingers through the hair on his chest.

  Caleb rounded the arm of the sofa and took two strides toward the hall. He stopped, groaning. “Hell, I'm not going to make it as far as the bedroom.”

  He set Serenity on her feet. She could barely stand. She braced herself against the back of the sofa, a hand on either side of herself, seeking support. Metal scraped on metal, the sound of a zipper being lowered.

  She pushed hair out of her eyes and was instantly riveted by the sight of Caleb's heavily aroused body. He already had the foil packet open. In a matter of seconds he was ready for her.

  “I want to be inside you.” His voice was a harsh whisper. His gaze was stark with sensual hunger.

  He crowded close, moving between her legs. He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her. Serenity gasped and clutched the back of the sofa more tightly. He held her eyes in an unbreakable bond as he drove himself deeply into her.

  Serenity arched and cried out softly as he became a part of her. Her head fell back. He kissed her throat, tightened his grip on her hips and began to move within her. The urgency in him fueled her own need. She felt the fantastic curling sensation grip her lower body. Instinctively she clenched herself around him. Her nails dug into the fabric of the sofa.

  “Put your legs around me,” Caleb muttered against her throat. “Hold on tight. Yes. Just like that. Like that, oh, God, yes.” He shifted one hand to the small. throbbing bud between her legs.

  She screamed softly as the small convulsions began.

  Caleb went rigid as his climax tore through him an instant later. Serenity felt his body shudder again and again.

  Somewhere in the distance she heard the strains of a waltz.

  Closer now. So very close.

  A long time later Caleb stirred on the sofa. He frowned, aware that the room had grown colder. He ought to get up and stoke the wood stove, he thought. Better yet, he probably should get Serenity and himself into bed beneath a pile of quilts. They were both going to freeze if they stayed here on the sofa much longer.