"I hope this quick review means I will not see any of these common errors appearing in your lab reports, and if they do, I will urge you to drop out immediately and seek employment at the tabloid of your choice. Are there any questions?"
As soon as she finished, a dozen students had their hands in the air, well beyond the usual average. This was likely one of the more memorable lectures she had ever delivered.
They left the question of Christmas until almost the last minute. Calder wanted to be alone with Cassie, without all the distractions of her work, and suggested a variety of places they could be together—going to his apartment in Washington or visiting the Cape. He ruled out Virginia because he didn't feel ready to expose Cassie to his parents. Staying with her for Christmas meant he would have to spend New Year's with his parents, but it was a necessary price to pay to avoid the trouble his father could make for them.
In the end, the choice that could serve as a tradition for both of them was to accept an invitation from the Crowleys. Dave and Ann Crowley gave Cassie a warm welcome. They seemed delighted Calder had finally found someone who made him happy. If Dave was troubled by Cassie's past, he gave no sign of it. Dave teased them about having known both of them longer than they had known each other. "I should have had the sense to introduce you years ago," he said.
Cassie found it odd to be their house guest rather than just going to their Christmas Eve party. It was a more elegant household than she was accustomed to. The Crowleys wore their wealth lightly, but it was present nonetheless. Still, it was easier for her than it would be with Calder's family; Dave Crowley had earned his fortune in law from humble beginnings. The Crowleys still remembered the kind of world she lived in.
Calder slipped seamlessly into the Crowley home, his mood a startling contrast to the previous year. The longing, desire, and despair then had been the beginning of the blackest period of his life. But without it he wouldn't have Cassie by his side now, looking up at him with an impish smile. He didn't know how he had lived without her laughing eyes, the warmth of her touch, her gentle teasing. If she was still unsure of their future, he wasn't.
As they waited for the first party guests to arrive, Cassie asked him, "Do you remember kissing me here?"
"Vividly." He also remembered the agony that had followed.
"I hated it that you could make me feel that way so easily."
He touched her cheek. "You don't seem to hate it anymore."
"Nope," she said. "As a matter of fact, I've scouted out every piece of mistletoe in the house."
"How about we skip the mistletoe and go straight back to our room?" He eyed her body, encased in the same clinging midnight blue dress she had worn the previous year. It looked sexy as hell on her, and it represented to him how unattainable she had been. He was looking forward to getting her out of it. He wished he could rip it off her. That way no other man would ever see her in it again.
"You're just trying to get out of staying for the party," she said. "I hope you know I'm fine on my own if you decide you've had enough of the crowd."
If she thought he was going to leave her alone in that dress with other men and mistletoe hanging overhead, she was mistaken. "Thanks, but I want to be with you, just in case you run into some of that mistletoe."
This party was easier than most for Calder because he was so focused on her. Still, when midnight approached, he was ready to take her upstairs to their room. The door was hardly closed behind them when he set himself to removing her silky dress, working slowly and caressing each newly uncovered inch of her with his fingers and lips, until she stood before him wearing nothing and shivering with desire. He took her to bed then and devoted the next hour to making sure it was an experience she would never forget. When at the end she climaxed in his arms one last time, he held her close and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Cassie." This time she wouldn't drive away.
Cassie should have thought ahead to the New Year's Eve problem before Calder left. She didn't want to go to a party by herself and face questions of where he was, so she elected to stay home. She missed him more than she wanted to admit. It was embarrassing to feel so despondent over being apart for a few days. Watching the New Year's celebrations on TV only made her lonelier for him. Emails from Calder, no matter how regular, weren't the same thing as his presence.
Maybe he would call to wish her a happy New Year. She wanted to hear his voice, and the mere idea he might call kept her staring at the silent telephone. Even going to bed alone was more appealing than sitting around missing Calder, but she couldn't sleep because she hoped the telephone would ring. Finally she turned off the telephone to stop herself from hoping for a call. She was disappointed, if unsurprised, to find no message from him in the morning.
Instead there was an email from Calder, saying he would be delayed for a couple of days. The disappointment was enough to make her want to cry. He didn't give any reason. It wasn't like him.
The next day an unexpected knock sent Cassie running to the door. Could it be Calder coming back early without warning? She opened the door, ready to throw herself into his arms.
Calder's father stood on the other side. He smiled winningly and said, "Hello, Cassie."
Cassie took a step backwards. She didn't like him appearing on her doorstep without the common courtesy of a call, and she wasn't fooled into thinking he remembered her from their brief meeting a year and a half earlier. "I'm sorry, Calder isn't here. Next time you might want to call ahead and save yourself a trip."
"I know Calder is away. I'm here to see you. May I come in?"
Cassie held the door open, wishing she had the courage to say no. She didn't trust Joe Westing when he was being charming. "What can I do for you, Senator?"
"It's Joe, please. May I sit down?"
"If you'd like."
"Thank you." He settled himself on her worn sofa. "I'm not your enemy, Cassie."
"I'm glad to hear that, but I doubt you came all the way from DC to tell me that." Cassie wanted to strike a balance between good manners and assertiveness. Whatever he had to say, she wasn't going to like it.
"I'm concerned about Calder."
"So I gather."
"He isn't in good shape, Cassie. If you had met him a few years ago, you would know that."
"He seems fine to me."
Joe shook his head. "He's flailing, trying to figure out who he is and what he wants, and rebelling against everything our family stands for. I understand. I went through a similar phase when I was young."
"I haven't seen any evidence of flailing."
"You haven't? No unexpected behavior or sudden withdrawals? Well, I suppose I'm glad of that, though you haven't been with him that long. Has he told you about Annette?"
"You're going to tell me about her anyway, so what does it matter?" Underneath Cassie's automatic retort lay the memory of Calder's sudden decision to stay in Virginia.
Did his father have something to do with that?
"Annette was everything I could have wanted for Calder. Attractive, intelligent, moved in the right circles, good family. Unfortunately, none of those things are a guarantee of good character, but it was quite a while before any of us realized that. All Calder meant to her was a guaranteed income. He refused to see it. Calder is very loyal, as I'm sure you're aware. It took flagrant infidelity on her part before he understood what was happening. It became quite ugly before he reached the point of breaking it off with her. Then he went into a tailspin, rejecting not only Annette but also all of their friends, his entire social circle, and even, to be quite honest, his mother and me. We had approved of Annette in the beginning, you see."
"Everybody makes mistakes."
He nodded gracefully in acknowledgment. "It's true. But the result is that he has been adrift for several years now. I take my own share of responsibility for that. I was caught up in his brother's campaign and I wasn't paying enough attention to Calder. I'm trying to make up for that now. When I saw what was happening with you, I decided we needed to talk."
He was good, very good, but she had to remember that Calder didn't trust him. "I'm listening."
"I appreciate it, especially as I'm going to say some things I don't expect you to like. I can see why Calder was attracted to you. You're strong at a time when he needs strength, and you're giving him a new world to live in. I hope you're also strong enough to realize what he's doing with you is playing house. He's living in a make-believe world because he still can't face his real world. It may make him happy for the moment, maybe even for a year or two. But in the end, it's not going to satisfy him. I can tell you that. As I said, I've been there. Sooner or later he's going to start wanting a family of his own, and then he's going to realize all he threw away, and that despite everything you give him, there are things you can't do."
"Such as?"
Senator Westing's look of concern would have been the envy of any actor. "Our family is privileged, but that has its costs. It's not easy to raise a child with the Westing name and heritage. With no disrespect to you, you don't have the ability to move in that world and to help Westing children grow up. If your background were more like his, it might be different, but I'm a pragmatist, and I see what's coming. Without meaning to, Calder is using you, and sooner or later you're going to get hurt, and so is he."
"Or perhaps you underestimate me."
"How many of his friends has Calder introduced you to? How much do you know about the work he did before he came here? Have you been to his apartment in New York or his house in Virginia? Do you even know the addresses?" He leaned forward to emphasize his points.
This time his words hit home. It was true. Calder had never involved her in his world in any way. She had met Scott through Erin and the Crowleys because of Tim. It was suddenly hard to breathe. Was this why Calder didn't want her to meet his family?
"You don't have to answer, Cassie. He's not bringing you into his world; he's taking a vacation from it. Vacations end."
She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her doubts. "If you're so sure of this, why aren't you talking to Calder instead of to me?"
"Because Calder is very loyal, and it's hard for him to let go, even when it's obvious he needs to. I want to spare him that, and the only way I can do that is with your help."
"Calder isn't a child who needs protecting. He can make his own decisions." Or had he already made his decision? Maybe he knew what his father was doing and was taking the easy way out.
His expression turned to one of sympathy. "I realize I'm asking a great deal of you. You clearly care about Calder, and I'm asking you to give up a man you love, a man any woman would be proud to have, one who can offer you every kind of security, all on my say-so that it's for his own good."
"Talk to Calder, not to me." If Calder wanted to leave her, he'd have to do his own dirty work, not have his father do it for him. Her only goal now was to get Joe Westing out of her apartment before she started to cry.
"I'm not unsympathetic to your position. I understand this has hurt you and cost you a great deal already, and while I can't take any of that pain away, I can make your life easier in other ways. I know money is an issue for you, and I'm prepared to see that you don't have to worry about that any more."
He couldn't have said anything worse. Cassie rose to her feet as anger pushed aside her doubts. "Sorry, I don't take bribes."
His hurt look didn't convince her. "I'm not trying to bribe you, Cassie. In my own clumsy way, I'm trying to make up for what you have to go through on account of my son. You need the money. You're barely managing to support your sister and her children. Don't you want your nieces to live in a safe neighborhood and go to a good school?"
How did he know about Maria? She had never told Calder about the money she gave her sister. He must have been investigating her. What else had he found out?
Cassie marched to the door. "The only thing I want is for you to get out of my apartment, and you don't have to pay a penny for that privilege." She shouldn't have let him in. She had faced dangerous situations often enough in Chicago. This was raising the same instincts, except this wasn't a thug with a knife; this was a United States Senator with a concerned look on his face. She wished she weren't alone with him.
"Cassie, I'm obviously expressing myself poorly. I'm offering my help in exchange for yours. If you don't want money, let's talk about what you do want. What about getting your brother out of prison? Would that interest you?"
Cassie's breath caught in her throat. "Funny," she said bitingly. "And all this time I've been thinking you were a senator from Virginia, not the governor of Illinois."
"The governor of Illinois has bills he wants passed in Congress, just like everyone else, and I doubt he cares about the fate of one more prisoner. I can do it." He sounded as if he were discussing the weather. "How many more years until he's eligible for parole? Ten?"
"Twelve," she said automatically. He had trapped her so neatly. She would do almost anything to get Ryan out of that hellhole.
Her rational mind said he was toying with her. He probably couldn't make good on the promise, but if there was even a chance… Her fury fell away, leaving a dull helplessness in its wake.
Even if she broke up with Calder—if he was still interested in her, if he wasn't just playing house—what guarantee did she have his father would try to free Ryan? Once Joe had what he wanted from her, he would drop her. She had no control over his behavior, or over Calder's decision whether to come back to her.
"You're wasting your time, Senator. If you have a problem with our relationship, I suggest you take it up with Calder."
"He's worth more to you than your brother's freedom?"
Cassie couldn't remember the last time she had wanted so badly to hit someone. "Is getting your way more important to you than your son's happiness?"
"As it happens, I am working for his happiness. Since you seem determined to throw away this opportunity, I'll discuss it with Calder himself. He'll see the light. It'll hurt him more this way, but you're leaving me no choice." The earnest, concerned father act was turned off as if by a switch. He pulled an embossed business card out of his wallet and handed it to her. "If you change your mind, give me a call. I can be a good friend, or a very bad enemy. Did I mention I went to school with Charlie Altshuler?" He snapped his wallet closed.
It took her a moment to understand. Charles Altshuler was president of the Haverford Board of Trustees. Fear began to trickle down her body.
On the Chicago streets she had learned it was dangerous to let an enemy see your weaknesses. "How fortunate for me that there are some good opportunities for marine biologists in Ecuador. I've always wanted to work in the tropics. It is Ecuador Calder likes, isn't it?"
For a moment she could see his anger, and then the mask slipped back into place. "Think it over." He walked to the door. "I admire your spirit. There's no reason you and I can't work together."
She shut the door behind him without saying good-bye and then put up the chain and slipped the bolt. But it was going to take more than locks to protect her from Joe Westing.
Chapter 19
THE VIEW FROM THE big picture window of the Crowleys' house was bleak on these cold, gray days, almost as bleak as Calder's mood. Last year he had thought the pain couldn't be any worse. He had been wrong. Having to leave Cassie would be worse. This time he'd know what he was losing.
"So, what's this problem you need my advice about?" Dave Crowley asked.
"My father. He's trying to blackmail me into giving Cassie up." There, he had said it. He'd been walking around with a knife in his gut for the last two days.
Dave's mouth pursed in a silent whistle. "Up to his old tricks, is he? What's he holding over you?"
Calder rested his hand against the cold, damp pane of glass. "He's going to wreck her career if I don't leave her. Keep her from getting tenure, unless you can come up with some way to block it legally."
"Your father…" Dave began with a dark look on his face. "No, never mind, t
here's no point in me telling you my opinion of your father. What does Cassie have to say about this?"
"She doesn't know."
Dave looked at him sharply. "You're trying to figure this out on your own?"
"I'll talk to her after I know what my options are."
"What makes you think it's your choice to make?
Seems to me the question is what's most important to her: her job or you. That's not something you can answer for her."
Calder stood and crossed the room. He knew what Cassie's answer would be—the same as it had always been. Her job came first. It was true, but he couldn't stand to hear her say it. "Do you have any idea how hard she's worked to get where she is? It's her life. How can I ask her to risk that for me?"
"What's it going to do to her if you walk out now? How long do you think it would be before she could bring herself to trust a man again?" Dave heaved himself to his feet and put a hand on Calder's shoulder. "I don't know what we can do legally, but there may be another way out. Maybe you shouldn't take your father's power as such a given."