JAKrentz - Witchcraft (9 page)

"Vile slander,"
Milly
agreed lightly. "How long will you be staying, dear?"

"A few days, I think." Kimberly felt decidedly uneasy under the questioning. It was anyone's guess how long she could bring herself to stay in this energetic, well-populated household, even under the best of circumstances. Already she felt a wave of panic at the notion of having so little privacy. She realized she had become accustomed to privacy, living by herself most of her adult life.

Vaguely she wondered how
Cavenaugh
stood having so many lively people surrounding him. But then, he had grown up in this environment, she reminded herself. And he was a man who carried out his responsibilities. "Is that everyone in the house?" Kimberly asked Julia hesitantly as Scott's mother swept her on down the hall to the room assigned to her. "For the moment," Julia assured her breezily. "We get a lot of people in and out during the day, of course. Mostly employees who come to see Dare or visit with Mrs. Lawson. Then there are the visits from Scott's friends. And
Milly
and Ariel are very fond of tea parties so they frequently entertain."

"It sounds rather, uh, hectic," Kimberly noted cautiously. "You get used to it.' "Oh." Kimberly said nothing more as Julia ushered her into a warm, sunny room that looked out over the vineyards. She headed at once for the window, peering out at the view. "I hope you'll like this room," Julia remarked. "Dare will bring your suitcase up soon. He's busy talking to Starke down in the study at the moment." Kimberly suddenly realized that
Cavenaugh
had not followed his sister and Kimberly up the stairs. "That's fine. I'm in no rush. I'll need to get my typewriter out of the car, too, and my supplies." "Don't worry. Starke will take care of it." Julia smiled warmly. "You know, we really are glad you decided to come and visit for a while. We'll never be able to thank you enough for what you did two months ago."

"Please, don't keep mentioning that," Kimberly begged. "It really wasn't that big a deal."

"You'd feel differently if it were your son who had been taken," Julia assured her in heartfelt tones. "I was a nervous wreck during those three days. When the ransom note arrived I really went to pieces. Up until that point I had been telling myself that the kidnapper was probably Scott's father, and at least, being his father, Tony wouldn't have hurt Scott. After the note arrived we knew it had to be a real kidnapping. It was terrifying." "You thought Scott's father might have taken him?" Kimberly asked in disbelief and then realized the full implications. "Oh, I ..... a custody dispute?" "Not really," Julia said wryly. "The last thing Tony would want is to be burdened with a child. He was furious when I got pregnant. But he was also furious when he left." He divorced you?"

"Not willingly." Julia's gentle mouth curved bleakly. "He wasn't about to divorce the tie to the
Cavenaugh
money. Then Dare informed him that there really wasn't any money except what Dare personally controlled."

Kimberly stirred uneasily as Julia confided the information. She wasn't at all sure she wanted to know too much about the
Cavenaughs
. "I see," she said again, a bit weakly, but Julia plowed on without any sign of hesitation. "My father filed for bankruptcy three years ago. Then he and mother were killed in a light-plane crash on the way home from Tahoe. A few months later Dare came home and rescued the winery and the family."

"Came home from where?" Kimberly asked blankly. She had assumed
Cavenaugh
had always lived here. "He had a business of his own. An import-export company that he operated out of San Diego. He spent a lot of time traveling abroad in connection with the business and we saw very little of him for a long time. But when he finally showed up in our lives again he was quite successful in his own right. He had the capital it took to get the
Cavenaugh
Vineyards back on its feet. He also sized up the situation with Tony, my husband, and kicked him out."

Kimberly stared at her. "Did you love Tony?"

"By the time he left I was more than glad to get rid of him," Julia admitted calmly. "He had been using me for years, hoping to inherit my father's money. I thought he cared about me, though. That's how completely he had me fooled. It took Dare to see through him. Dare and Starke are very good judges of human nature, by the way," Julia added lightly. "They've been together for years and they seem to have an instinct for people like Tony Emery.

It was all very traumatic but I'm glad it's over." Kimberly considered the absent Tony and wondered what had really happened. She couldn't help wondering if Tony Emery had found himself in the same situation in which her mother had found herself so many years ago. Kimberly wouldn't put it past Darius
Cavenaugh
to get rid of someone he deemed no more than a conniving gigolo who was unworthy of a member of the
Cavenaugh
family. But even as she accepted the fact that
Cavenaugh
could probably be quite ruthless, she also found herself realizing that he must have had legitimate grounds for his actions. She didn't want to believe Darius
Cavenaugh
would have done something as traumatic as throwing out Julia's husband unless there were real reasons. Julia herself seemed content with the situation, Kimberly had to admit. The remainder of the afternoon was a hubbub of unfamiliar activity for Kimberly. She was taken on a tour of Scott's train land, introduced to Julia's new
france
, Mark Taylor, the owner of a small winery nearby, shown around the grounds by
Milly
and Ariel and generally kept in constant motion by one member or another of the
Cavenaugh
household. A number of winery employees came and went from the study
Cavenaugh
used for an office on the first floor of the house. She didn't see
Cavenaugh
himself until dinner. By then she was so tired she could barely hold up her end of the conversation. Ariel Llewellyn stayed for dinner, as did Mark Taylor. Scott was wound up with excitement and managed to dominate the conversation. By the time Mrs. Lawson had cleared away dessert, Kimberly was frantic for an excuse to escape. There seemed to be no letup of activity or conversation in the house and she simply wasn't used to being surrounded by so many people. And there had been no hot sauce on the table at dinner. Depressing. When she pleaded a headache and tiredness, she was allowed to flee up the stairs to the privacy of her own room. But not before Ariel had produced a special herb tea and given her strict instructions on drinking it before going to bed.

Kimberly's sense of relief as she closed the door was overwhelming. In that moment she decided she would willingly accept a few more glimpses of people in
cowled
robes carrying silver daggers If it meant she could be alone again with unlimited quantities of hot sauce. Wearing one of her comfortable T-shirts, Kimberly sank wearily onto the bed and sipped the tea Ariel had prescribed for her headache. It was bitter and unpleasant but for some reason she felt obliged to finish it. Ariel had been so anxious to help her. The knock on her door startled her so much she nearly spilled the contents of the cup. Sighing, Kimberly pulled on her robe and went to answer the summons, half expecting Scott or Julia to be standing on the other side of the door. But it was
Cavenaugh
who stood there. "Think you'll survive?" he asked wryly, stepping into her room without waiting for an invitation. He turned to run his eyes over her tousled figure. She drew a breath and said carefully, "
Cavenaugh
, I'm not used to so many people and so much activity."

"I know. How do you think it was for me when I came back two years ago? I thought I'd go nuts." Kimberly blinked in amazement at the unexpected confession.

"You did?"

"All I can say is, you get used to it" ".hat's what Julia says." She smiled. "Well, personally I'm looking forward to the day Julia marries Mark and she and Scott move in with him,"
Cavenaugh
said firmly. "And Aunt
Milly
and that wacky Ariel travel a bit. They're often gone for several days at a time. I'm more than happy to foot the bills for those trips, believe me." He hesitated and then said deliberately, "But even when a few of them are gone, it's never really quiet around here. The business side of things alone keeps everything in motion."

"I can imagine." She had the strangest impression he was trying to tell her something else, something oblique, but she was too tired to figure it out. He prowled around the room, absently checking the windows. "I suppose you're tired."

"Very," she mumbled in forceful tones. "Scott seems to have my entire day planned out for tomorrow. I suppose I'd better get prepared for it."
Cavenaugh
stopped his restless prowling, coming to a halt in front of her. "You realize they all assume we're sleeping together."

"What!" He nodded. "I'm afraid so.

Except for Scott, of course, who hasn't gotten around to thinking about things like that in great detail yet."

"
But..I
.. you .. we hardly even know each other." Kimberly exploded. "How could anyone assume ... "

Words failed her. "They know I've been planning on seeing you again. I didn't make any secret of it. There have been occasional business trips I've made during the past couple of months that I think they've interpreted as slipping away to find you. And since they know we spent last night together, it's natural for them to think we slept together.

I just thought I'd warn you."

"Oh, gee thanks," she said furiously.

"Did you know everyone was going to assume that when you came over to the coast to collect me?" He dismissed the question as unimportant.

"There's no harm done, Kim. Relax. Is it really so terrible? The whole family is very anxious to see me married, I'm afraid. It's just harmless fantasizing on their part."

"Harmless for whom? I'm going to look like a fool!" His mouth hardened and the green eyes flared dangerously for an instant. "Why should you look like a fool?"

"How else can you describe a woman who appears to be sleeping with a wealthy man in hopes of marrying him?"

"But you don't have any wish to marry someone like me, do you, Kim?" He moved toward her, catching her chin with his palm and studying her infuriated features broodingly. "Just as you wouldn't wish to marry someone like me," she flung back tightly.

"But in a situation like this, I'm the one who will look foolish, not you."

"Because you're a woman?"

"I doubt that has much to do with it.

Being a man didn't protect Julia's first husband, did it? It's more a question of money and power and sheer clout. You have it, I don't." He released her chin and thrust his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. "What do you know about Emery?" "Nothing much. Julia just explained that you got rid of him a couple of years ago." Wishing fiercely that she'd never raised the subject, Kimberly chewed nervously on her lower lip. This was family business. Not her business. "Tony Emery had been cheating on my sister for years. He couldn't have cared less about her or about Scott. Furthermore, he was swindling my father who had been soft enough to give him a job in the accounting department.

He was garbage, and when he found out I controlled the financial side of things in the family, he left quite willingly. He knew I'd never support him the way my father had."

"I understand," she said stiffly, refusing to meet his hard gaze. "Do you? I doubt it. You think poor old Tony was in the same position as your mother was when she found herself confronting your grandparents. But it wasn't like that at all.

I'd have made sure Emery had a job and a future if I'd thought for one minute that he cared about Julia and Scott. But he didn't."

"So you got rid of him." "As I said, it wasn't hard to convince him to go,"
Cavenaugh
reiterated bluntly. "Kim, there's no similarity at all to your mother's position."

"Right," she agreed with unnatural briskness.

"Well, it's getting late,
Cavenaugh
. I'm sure that even if your family thinks we're sleeping together occasionally, they won't be expecting us to do so under the family roof. Please don't feel obliged to stay any longer just for appearances' sake!"

"You're a sarcastic little witch at times, aren't you?" he growled. "Only when I'm feeling pressured."

"And you're feeling pressured now, aren't you?" he asked with a gentleness she wasn't expecting. "Kim, everything's going to be all right. You'll be safe here. I swear it." She heard the underlying vow in his words and nodded mutely. She would be safe enough here from people carrying silver daggers but that didn't guarantee her any safety at all from Darius
Cavenaugh
. And both she and
Cavenaugh
knew it. Their eyes clashed in sudden, mutual understanding and in that moment Kimberly would have sworn that they really could read each other's minds. Slowly
Cavenaugh
shook his head. "No promises on the situation between us, Kim. Only that I'll protect you from others." He walked out the door, closing it softly behind him before Kimberly could think of anything to say.

Two days later
Cavenaugh
stood at the curving window of his office study and watched Kimberly as she surreptitiously left the house and made her way through the huge garden. She glanced back over her shoulder two or three times, her amber hair gleaming in the wintry sunshine. He knew she was checking to see whether or not she was being followed. At the far end of the garden she unlatched the gate and stepped outside. He knew exactly what was going through her head in that moment. Freedom.