Read Online Celine by Kathleen Bittner Roth - Free Book Online Page A

child.”
    She placed her hand about his elbow and allowed him to escort her off the path. “How in the world did you find this place? You seem to know every inch of Carlton Oaks. Did you visit often?”
    His mouth hitched into a grin. “Indeed. We were a close family. My mother and Trevor’s mother were sisters as well as our fathers being brothers.”
    â€œNo wonder your resemblance to one another is so remarkable. Trevor is your senior by how many years?”
    â€œTwo. He and I were inseparable most of our lives. Ah, here we are, what do you think?”
    A majestic old oak rose high into the sky, gnarled and weathered with age, its massive branches an umbrella. Hazy shafts of sunlight filtered through the velvet green leaves. Moss, like the gray beards of old wise men, hung heavy from the branches.
    â€œOh, my. I doubt I’ve ever seen anything quite so grand. And to think you grew up with it.” Her lips formed a smile. No doubt Trevor had played here as well.
    One massive branch curved so low to the ground, a part of it provided a wide bench before curving upward again. “We used to sit here oftentimes to regroup, and to eat whatever we managed to snatch from the cookhouse. Have a seat.”
    Celine shifted about on the limb until she found a comfortable position leaning against the upswing of the tree’s grand bough. Cameron rested a bent leg across the branch and his arm across his knee.
    â€œComfortable?”
    â€œQuite.” She relaxed her head against the bark. Cameron was so easy to be around—and certainly kind to one’s eyes. The same fondness she treasured for Justin crept into her heart.
    â€œI’m curious, Cameron. If you and Trevor were so close, how is it you went off to school in England?”
    â€œOur fathers separated us.”
    â€œOh yes, that was mentioned over dinner.” She dared not ask why, but hoped he’d say.
    He touched his thumb and forefinger to the middle of his upper lip, smoothing his moustache to the corners.
    â€œWe both lost our mothers two years apart, nearly to the month. We were each aged fifteen when it happened. Trevor had already become a handful by the time my mother died, and it didn’t take long for me to catch up. We joined forces in raising holy you-know-what in New Orleans.”
    â€œI’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked—”
    He raised a hand to stop her words. “Actually, we had quite a jolly time of it until things got out of hand.”
    â€œMeaning you were rascals?”
    He shrugged. “We got into some rather nasty altercations.” He grinned. “Among other things.”
    â€œOther things?”
    He laughed. “Suffice it to say, we . . . ah . . . celebrated the gods of wine and ecstasy to our fullest potential. Things escalated until one night our overindulgence resulted in Madame Olympée’s establishment requiring a rather extensive overhaul.”
    Celine’s hands shot to her mouth. Everyone knew what went on at that particular gentlemen’s club. “Oh, dear. The Madame allowed young boys inside?”
    He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “The night of which I speak was my seventeenth birthday. I’ll have you know, I was very much a man—at least in my own eyes. However, before I knew what had happened, I was on the next Andrews Company ship bound for England.”
    â€œAnd you didn’t set eyes on Trevor again until two years ago? But you were so close.”
    He shrugged, picked up a fallen leaf, and then tossed it aside.
    â€œTell me,” she said.
    He studied her for a moment. “I was only in school a couple of months when I became sick as a dog. The doctors surmised that losing a mother and being sent away from the rest of my family was too much for me. So, my father, who was born and raised in England, returned. He brought Trevor along.”
    He chuckled again. “But Trevor’s