Hidden Talents

was impossible to see his face against the blinding glare, but Serenity had no doubts as to the visitor's identity.
    “I'm so glad you could make it, Mr. Ventress,” she said as she went down the steps. “You're just in time for dinner.”
    Roland swung around as the car started to back out of the drive. “Where the hell do you think you're going, Harry?”
    “Be back later, boss,” Harry called cheerfully as he gunned the engine.
    “Much later,” Serenity murmured. “Come inside, Mr. Ventress. We have a lot to talk about.”

    As it happened, they didn't have a lot to discuss. By the time the meal was concluded, Serenity was getting desperate. Her hopes, which had soared so high a short while earlier, were having trouble even staying aloft now. Roland and his grandson were indeed having dinner together, but they seemed to have nothing to say to each other.
    “More curry, Mr. Ventress?” she asked.
    Roland looked at her. “No, thank you. I've had enough.”
    Serenity gave Caleb a beseeching look. “What about you, Caleb?”
    “No, thanks.”
    “Well, then, I'll get the dessert.” She jumped to her feet and began to clear the table. “I hope everyone likes lemon pie.”
    “Fine with me,” Roland said.
    “Tea, anyone?” Serenity offered.
    “No thank you,” Roland said.
    “No thanks,” Caleb muttered.
    “Coffee?” Serenity prodded.
    “No thank you.”
    “No thanks.”
    Serenity started to panic. She had exhausted all the usual sources of dinner conversation. The weather, including the possibility of snow, had been the liveliest topic so far. It had lasted for nearly five whole minutes. Roland had shown a brief interest in the curry ingredients, but that subject, too, had quickly waned, as had a short chat about the state of the mountain roads.
    She was a desperate woman, Serenity decided as she sliced into the lemon pie. Desperate measures were called for if the evening was to be salvaged. Something had to be done to break the ice. She glanced out the window as she carried the plates of pie back to the table. The darkened bulk of the glass-walled hot tub room loomed in the shadows.
    Perhaps it was easier to melt ice than to break it.
    “I have a terrific idea,” Serenity said as she set the pie in front of Caleb and his grandfather. “Why don't you two try out the hot tub after dinner?”
    Caleb choked on a forkful of pie. “The hot tub?”
    Roland looked thoughtful. “Do you know, I've never been in a hot tub.”
    “I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Very relaxing,” Serenity said brightly. She ignored Caleb's strange expression. “You two will have to go in alone, however.”
    “Damn right,” Caleb said. “You sure as hell aren't going in unless you can dig up a swimsuit.”
    “I've got one somewhere,” Serenity murmured. “But I'm not going to go look for it. I plan to stay out of hot tubs for a while.”
    Caleb scowled. “Why?”
    “For the same reason that I won't be drinking any alcohol for the next several months,” Serenity said serenely. “I'm in training.”
    Roland beetled his bushy gray brows. “In training for what?”
    “To have a baby.”
    Caleb's chair toppled over with a crash as he got to his feet. “You're what ?”
    “Getting in training to have a baby,” Serenity said patiently. “It's time.”

    “You're going to marry her, then?” Roland eyed Caleb from the other side of the bubbling hot tub. The lights were off inside the glass-walled room, but there was sufficient glow from the cottage windows to reveal his glowering expression.
    “As soon as possible.” Caleb stretched his arms out along the rim of the tub and settled back. A brief memory of his first experience in this room flitted through his mind. He remembered the first time he had touched Serenity's lovely breasts, the enthralling way she had caught her breath and clung to him as the gentle convulsions of her first orgasm shook her. He smiled to himself.
    “Just as well, I guess,” Roland grumbled. “Especially if she's serious about having a baby.”
    “I take it that the notion of me marrying Serenity is preferable to the thought of the Ventresses being forced to endure the embarrassment of having another bastard in the family?”
    “I never thought of you as a bastard,” Roland muttered.
    “No?” Caleb looked at him with cool disbelief. “How did you think of me?”
    “As my grandson,” Roland said quietly. “The only one I had. You were all that remained to me of