Grand Passion

photos?” Max looked at O'Reilly.
    “Don't mind him,” O'Reilly said to Cleo. “Max isn't used to being included in pictures of a family.”
    “Well, he'd better get used to it,” Cleo said dryly. “Daystar is thinking about taking up photography as a hobby.”
    “You sure you want me in the shot?” O'Reilly asked.
    “Sammy and Sylvia insisted,” Cleo said.
    “Yeah?” O'Reilly looked inordinately pleased.
    “Yeah,” Cleo said. She grinned.
    Ten minutes later Max found himself standing together with Cleo, Andromeda, Daystar, Sylvia, O'Reilly, and Sammy. They formed a tight, warm circle around Ben and Trisha.
    “Big smiles, everyone,” the photographer ordered unnecessarily.
    “Wait,” Sammy yelped. “I forgot Lucky Ducky.”
    “He's in the punch bowl,” Max said. “You stay here. I'll get him.”
    A short while later the photographer finally snapped the picture. The family portrait was complete with a rubber duck.

Chapter

18

    I trust you have my usual room ready for me, Ms. Robbins?” Herbert T. Valence asked brusquely as he filled out the registration slip in his precise handwriting. “I don't care to be shifted around from room to room.”
    “Yes, I know, Mr. Valence. Two-ten is ready for you.” Cleo maintained her best professional smile as she handed the key to Valence. “And you may use the parlor for your seminars, just as you have in the past.”
    Valence clicked his pen five times before replacing it neatly in his jacket pocket. “I hope there won't be any problems with the electricity this time.”
    “Let's keep our fingers crossed that we won't get any severe storms this weekend,” Cleo said with determined cheeriness.
    “I don't believe in luck,” Valence said. “I've already checked the forecast, and it's supposed to be clear most of the weekend.”
    “Wonderful. Well, it looks like you've got a nice crowd this time. We've checked in fifteen people who say they're here for your workshop.”
    “Fifteen is the ideal number of people for my seminar. I can't guarantee results if I'm forced to deal with a larger crowd. And I am known for getting results. I have a reputation to maintain, you know.”
    “Yes, Mr. Valence. So you've said.” Cleo told herself that it was worth putting up with Valence's odd little ways because of the business he brought to the inn. But occasionally she wearied of his cold, inflexible personality and small, obsessive mannerisms. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”
    Valence frowned as he turned away from the desk. “I am not here to enjoy myself, Ms. Robbins. I am here to conduct business.”
    Cleo wrinkled her nose at his back as he walked briskly toward the stairs. “You know something, Sylvia? I think Mr. Valence is getting worse. He seems awfully tense tonight.”
    Sylvia stuck her head out of the office and smiled. “Think of the money.”
    “I know. Maybe he's just overmotivated. Does it strike you that Max and Herbert T. Valence have something in common?”
    “Like what?”
    “A reputation.”
    Sylvia chuckled. “You've got a point. But there's a big difference between Max and Herbert T.”
    “What's that?”
    “You love one, and you're not particularly fond of the other.”
    Cleo froze. Then she spun around. “What did you say?”
    “You heard me. You love Max.”
    Cleo looked at her anxiously. “Is it that obvious?”
    “You've given him everything he wanted, including yourself. You're a generous woman, Cleo, but you've never been that generous with any other man. You've always protected yourself on some level. Except with Max.”
    “I knew he was different the minute I saw him. He was the man in the mirror,” Cleo whispered. “The one in my book.”
    “I had a hunch that was exactly who he was.”
    Cleo ran her fingertips along the polished edge of the front desk. “I've become part of his collection.”
    “Fair's fair, isn't it? You've made Max a part of your family.”
    Cleo hesitated. “I'll tell you something I haven't told anyone else. Sometimes I'm a little afraid, Sylvia.”
    “Afraid of Max? I don't believe it. You can trust Max with your life, and you know it.”
    “That's not what I mean.” Cleo gripped the edge of the desk. “I'm afraid that he won't let himself love me. He knows how to go after what he wants, and he knows how to hang on to it. But he's been protecting himself for a lot longer than I've been protecting myself. He's got it down to an art. You should pardon the expression.”
    “Have