Secrets (28 page)

“Not a very nice thought,” Cassie said. “But it makes sense. But wasn't she worried that Lester-Hinton's real wife would find out? And what about the baby Florence was about to have? What happened to it?”

“Good questions. I suggest you take the car and go to the nearest library and see what you can find out,” Jeff said. “You can look up the records of births and deaths.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes at him. “I guess you mean that I'm to go spend the day in a library while you do what?”

Jeff didn't answer immediately but seemed to search for an answer.

“You're going to that boy's grandmother, aren't you?”

“Maybe,” Jeff said with a smile.

“What did you find out on that machine you spent most of the night typing on?” Her eyes widened. “What is that boy's name? Jeff! You'd better tell me.”

“Or what?”

“I'll go back to Fort Lauderdale and stay there.”

“You're cruel, you know that? Okay. The kid we met in the restaurant is named Eric Turner.”

“Florence's maiden name. And how do you know that?”

“After you went to sleep last night, I went to the front desk and shared a couple of beers with the desk clerk. That kid has been in trouble since he was twelve. Everything from shoplifting to ‘borrowing cars.' Everyone in town says it's just a matter of time before he commits a real crime and gets sent to jail.”

“I guess he's a descendant of Florence's child.”

“That's my guess.”

Cassie was quiet for a moment. “That poor girl. Pregnant and married at fourteen. A shotgun wedding with no love, then her new husband runs off to Hollywood, changes his name, and denies that he's married. Do you think Florence read about his so-called marriage to Ruth in a movie magazine?”

“Probably. What I wonder is if she knew Ruth. You wouldn't know Ruth's maiden name, would you?”

“No, but I bet Althea does,” Cassie said, smiling.

Jeff had his phone out of his pocket before she finished the sentence. He called, asked Althea just the one question, then hung up.

“I think I can guess,” Cassie said. “Her name was Ruth Turner.”

“Right on, baby,” Jeff said, then kissed her cheek as she stood up.

“You think Ruth was Florence's sister?”

“Yes, I do,” Jeff said. “And what's more, I think Ruth killed her sister when Florence showed up in Hollywood.”

Cassie got up. “Althea said that just before the murder, the studio had fired Hinton. Now I can see why. He impregnated a fourteen-year-old girl, married her, left her, then years later he was living with her sister and posing as being married.”

“That would be a scandal today, but in 1941…Wow! And don't forget that he was in love with Althea,” Jeff said.

“I think Charles Faulkener found out about all of it and that's why he brought poor ol' Florence to his house that weekend.”

Jeff gave a low whistle. “A truly nasty man. No doubt he wanted to show Althea the true nature of the man she was in love with.”

“And to get her back for saying he couldn't act.”

“But the only person who suffered was poor Florence,” Jeff said.

“What about Hinton? His life was ruined. He was tried for the murder and acquitted, but that was the end of his life.” She looked at Jeff. “Althea said that she thought Hinton was protecting Ruth, and I think she was right.”

“Me too, but I'd like to find out a bit more. I have no reason why, but…” Jeff shrugged.

“You want to do it for Althea, don't you? What do you know that I don't?”

“Nothing,” Jeff said. “But Dad said he thought that Hinton was the real love of Althea's life. When she lost him she lost a lot. I know she's never told her daughter who her father is.”

“Old World chivalry,” Cassie said. “If she told her daughter that Hinton was her father—”

“Althea's daughter would look him up and see that he stood trial for murder. Who wants to find out their father was a murderer?”

“Hinton wasn't a murderer, just a bigamist,” Cassie said.

“This kid Eric's grandmother lives in a little house about a mile and a half down this road. You wouldn't mind walking, would you?”

“I'd love to,” she said.

“Good, then we'll take the path down by the river. If that's all right with you, that is.”

She looked into his eyes and saw that there was more that he wanted than just stretching his legs. It looked as though he had something to say to her. “Yes, it's all right,” she said softly.

They strolled down a dirt road and soon came to the river, the reason the town had been established in the first place. They turned left and started down a well-worn path, Cassie in the front.

“A man named Edward Hinton settled this area first,” Jeff said.

“Did you find that out from your ‘sources'?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Jeff said slowly.

She turned to look at him. “Find out anything else?”

“Not much. At least not much about this town. I think it's a one-scandal town. But I found out something about my life.”

“And what is that?” she asked.

“That I love you.”

Cassie kept walking and tried to calm her pounding heart. “I've heard that before. In fact, you've said it to me several times. The first time was when I baked that mocha cheesecake.”

“The one with the rum in it?”

“Yes, that one.”

Jeff laughed. “This is a different kind of love.” He was quiet for a moment. “Did you know that Lillian really liked you?”

“Did she?” Cassie asked. “I was insanely jealous of her.”

“She knew. I told her how you'd been following me all week and—”

“Please don't remind me that you knew that.” Cassie's voice showed her embarrassment.

“It was my business to know who was where and doing what.”

“You sound like you worked for the CIA even then.”

“Not on that job, but Dad got me into a training program when I was a teenager.”

“And your father couldn't be there that weekend because he'd been shot,” Cassie said softly.

“Yeah,” he said. “That was the third time he'd been shot. You can't imagine what it's like growing up and seeing your dad get shot on a regular basis.”

“James Bond's son,” Cassie said. “Yet you went into the same business.”

Jeff shrugged. “I wanted to protect him.”

“And you have,” she said, smiling. “You gave him Elsbeth and a home and love. And he's still alive, so you did what you wanted to.”

“I never looked at it like that, but maybe you're right.” He moved to walk beside her, taking her arm in his. “You're good for me, Cassie. You're good for all of us. I didn't realize how important you were until after you were gone.” For a moment he closed his eyes. “Dad and Elsbeth have bawled me out every day since you left.”

“Good!” Cassie said. “You deserved it. I thought I'd die when you told us you'd ‘met someone.' It was horrible.”

“Skylar,” Jeff said. “Who knew she'd take everything so seriously? Sometimes I think she really wanted me to marry her. And she drove Roger nearly crazy too.”

“Roger? Oh, yeah, he and Skylar were friends.”

“He had to work with her dad, yes.”

Cassie stopped walking. “Are you telling me that Roger is also a CIA agent?” When Jeff said nothing, she nodded. “Of course you can't tell me that.”

“Cassie, I've told you much, much more than you should know, but I need to stop you from trying to figure out so much.” He smiled. “I can hardly wait to tell Leo that you saw through his cover. And that you figured out about Roger.” His eyes were begging her to understand.

“I don't think Dana knows what Roger does,” she said quietly.

“No, Dana knows nothing.”

“But she feels it,” Cassie said. “When I first met her, I couldn't stand her. She seemed brittle and angry. And now I know she's angry. She may not know what secrets her husband has, but she knows he has them.” She looked at Jeff. “And you! You, your dad, and even Elsbeth are covered in secrets.”

“You make it sound like smallpox.”

“I think it might be worse.”

He squeezed her arm. “Okay, so no more secrets. From now on, I'll tell you everything that I can.”

For a few minutes they walked together in silence. “So what do you teach?” she asked.

“I can't tell you.”

She looked at him.

“No, really, I can't tell you. In fact, the United States government doesn't have a CIA school near Williamsburg, Virginia.”

Cassie couldn't help laughing. Everyone in Williamsburg knew of the nearby training school. “Okay, so you're back to being a structural engineer.”

“Guess so,” he said, laughing with her.

“All right, enough of your problems, let me tell you the mess I'm in with my mother,” she said, then told him about her impromptu mention of opening a small nursery, then told him how her mother wanted to take it over. Since she hadn't had a lot of time to really think about the idea of opening a business, she was tentative about it, but not so Jeff. Immediately, he loved the idea.

“Dad is bored to death,” Jeff said. “Until you came into our lives, I think he was thinking about going on another mission into danger. You settled him. But since you've been gone, everything has fallen apart. Starting a business might resettle him. And it would certainly get him off my back. He's always telling me what a loser he thinks I am when it comes to women.”

“Really?” Cassie asked, laughing. “Tell me every word he's said.”

“That I'm stupid and a fool and not worthy of you.”

“I like it. Tell me more.”

“Not until you say you'll marry me,” Jeff said.

Cassie stopped laughing and stood still as she looked at him.

“Okay, this is as good a place as any,” he said, looking around them. They were in a beautiful area, with the shallow river meandering in its bed, tall willows hovering over them, and giant rocks beside the water.

Jeff reached into his trouser's pocket and pulled out a little blue velvet box and opened it to reveal a diamond solitaire. “I bought this right after you left and I've carried it with me every day since. Just having it gave me hope.” While Cassie was staring at the ring, he went onto one knee. “Will you marry me, Cassie?”

She stood there, blinking at him, unable to react.

“Will you?” Jeff urged.

She smiled at him. “Yes,” was all she could say.

He took her left hand and slid the ring onto it, then he stood up and kissed her. “I'm sorry I put you through so much pain,” he said softly, his hand caressing her cheek as he smoothed her hair back. “If I treated you as though you were a child, I'm sorry for it. I had to think of you as a kid and therefore untouchable or I wouldn't have been able to keep my hands off of you.”

“I didn't want you to keep your hands off of me.”

“I was afraid—I'm still afraid—because of what happened to Lillian. But these last months have shown me that I need you. My whole family needs you. And loves you. I love you, Cassie. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“And what about secrets?” she asked, her arms around him.

“I'll keep as few of them as possible,” he said, making her laugh, then he moved away from her, took her hand, and they began walking again. They were tightly holding hands, Cassie feeling the ring on her finger. She hadn't assimilated it all yet. She'd had six months of missing what she'd come to think of as her family, and now they were going to be given back to her. Soon, she'd have Elsbeth back. If Dana hasn't stolen her, she thought.

There was so much in Cassie's mind that she wanted to quieten it, wanted to think of something else. “Tell me about Althea,” Cassie said. “I want to know what she did.”

Jeff squeezed her hand. “You want to know your enemy,” he said, smiling.

Cassie smiled back. “She is going to be my neighbor.”

“You should ask Dad about her, as he knows much more than I do, but I can give you a brief Althea history. Let's see, I think she started in the 1930s. She tried to help calm Spain down, but it didn't work. World War Two still broke out.

“In the early 1940s, she was in Germany with Hitler and Unity Mitford, and reporting back to us. Later, she was able to get information to the French Resistance. She told the U.S. government what she heard about the concentration camps, but no one believed her.

“In the late 1940s, she was a friend to Eva Perón, Churchill, and Gandhi, and, oh, yes, in 1946, she wore the first bikini at a private party of socialites and some top government people.”

Cassie laughed. “I can imagine that well. I think I'll look in her attic to see if I can find a photo of her in that suit.”

“You have realized, haven't you, that she wants you to write her autobiography.”

“You mean her biography?”

“I didn't make a grammatical error. You know Althea, she'll take full credit for it. No cowriter will be given credit for
her
book.”

“She had this in mind from the first?”

“I think so,” Jeff said. “Part of the reason she's had to be protected was because she said she was going to write her memoirs. She could indict some people who are still alive.”

“I guess she found out I was an avid fan of hers from Roger's gossip.”

“And she tested you by opening up her attic and finding out that you're a diligent worker whose only crime has been to try on some of her old costumes.”

“Those were nice pictures Brent took, weren't they?”

“I hated them,” Jeff said, and Cassie laughed.

“Unless you plan to go into business with your mother,” Jeff said, looking at Cassie out of the corner of his eye.