Read Online Hidden Talents by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online Page B

that's all that matters, isn't it?”
    “It depends on your point of view,” Caleb said slowly. “I guess we've got something in common. My parents both died when I was three months old. Before they could get married. I was raised in my grandfather's house.”
    The words hovered in the air between them. Serenity didn't want them to reach out and touch her, but they did. Everything about this man seemed to touch her in one way or another. “I'm sorry. It's strange, isn't it?”
    “What's strange?”
    “Never having known them. I don't even know what my parents looked like. I don't have any photos of them. Do you have pictures of your parents?”
    “Yes.” Caleb's eyes were bleak. “I do.”
    “You're lucky, then.”
    “Do you really think so?”
    Serenity realized she had trodden onto some very dangerous ground. She sought for a way to retreat from whatever it was that had turned Caleb's gaze so cold. “Come on, let's go. Julius's place isn't far from here. We can walk.”
    She took her jacket down off the hook, slipped into it and opened the front door. The gray fog formed a seemingly impenetrable wall in front of her.
    “Got a flashlight handy?” Caleb asked politely. “Night comes early up here in the mountains.”
    “Of course.” She opened a cupboard and rummaged around inside until she found the flashlight. She pulled it out, flicked it on, and started determinedly down the steps into the fog.
    “What happens if we get lost?” Caleb fastened his own jacket and pulled the shearling-lined collar up around his neck.
    “We'll wander around for a few hours and then we'll succumb to hypothermia,” Serenity said blandly. “The good news is that if that happens, we'll miss the invasion.”
    “What invasion?”
    “The one Blade thinks is due any day now.”
    “Thanks for the early warning.”
    “Any time.” Serenity realized she couldn't even see the vehicles parked in her own driveway. Nevertheless, she strode boldly forward. She was committed to getting Caleb out of her cottage.
    “I don't think this is such a good idea,” Caleb said behind her. “Maybe we should wait for a while and see if this stuff lifts a little.”
    “I know my way around Witt's End like the back of my hand.” Serenity took another stride forward and collided with the unyielding metal fender of her Jeep. “Oooph.”
    “How about the way around your own drive?” Caleb came up beside her and took the flashlight from her fingers. “Are you all right?”
    She winced. Her knee had taken most of the brunt of the collision. “Yeah, I'm okay, I'm okay.”
    “I'm glad to hear that. This is as far as we're going for now, however. You may enjoy stumbling around out here in the fog, but I don't intend to maim myself trying to find this other cabin.” Caleb took hold of Serenity's arm, turned her around and started back through the mists toward the cottage.
    Serenity was ill-tempered in defeat. “I suppose we could eat dinner first and then walk over to Julius's place.”
    “I thought you'd never ask.”

    Caleb awoke the next morning from a restless sleep and wondered why the bed was moving. The obvious answer flashed into his head.
    Earthquake.
    He sat straight up, prepared to rush for the door. The bed swayed more violently, and Caleb belatedly remembered that Julius Makepeace's bed was suspended from the timbered ceiling by four heavy chains. The smallest movement caused it to shudder and sway. He wondered if he'd get seasick.
    He sprawled back against the pillows and gazed moodily at the gray dawn light as it filtered through the colorful stained-glass windows of the bedroom.
    Tentatively he eased one leg out from beneath the heavy pile of handmade quilts. He drew it back instantly. It was freezing in the Makepeace cabin. Apparently the embers of the fire he had managed to get going in the wood stove last night had died.
    The good news was that he was still in Witt's End, not thirty miles away in Bullington.
    Steeling