Hidden Talents

perhaps, just like you in some ways, but not cruel.”
    Caleb smiled without any humor. “I doubt that he considered it a cruel act. He just wanted to make certain I never forgot that there was bad blood in me. He believed it was his duty to remind me that I had to guard against the effects of my mother's genetic influence. He breeds horses, remember? He's a great believer in the power of genes.”
    Serenity remembered the display cabinet full of honors and awards. “So you spent your childhood trying to prove to him that you weren't tainted with Crystal Brooke's genes.”
    “For all the good it did.”
    “Did something happen between you and Roland before you came in to breakfast this morning?”
    “We had words.”
    “Words?”
    “He called Crystal Brooke a bitch. It was nothing unusual. Every time he's mentioned her name for the past thirty-four years, he's called her a whore or a bitch or the woman who ruined the family.”
    “What did you say?”
    “I told him not to call her bitch.” Caleb flexed his fingers on the wheel. “It was the first time I've ever done that. The first time I've ever told him that I don't want him calling her names.”
    Serenity reached out and put her hand on his thigh. “You're her son. You have every right to protect her memory. What about your father? Does Roland call him names, too?”
    “No. He thinks my father was the victim of a scheming hussy who seduced him from his duty and responsibility. My grandfather blames himself for being too indulgent and too lenient with his son. He thinks that's why my father was vulnerable to someone like Crystal Brooke.”
    “So Roland determined not to make the same mistake with you.”
    “That's about it. My family history in a nutshell.”
    Serenity cradled the jewelry box in her hands. “At least you have a family history that dates back more than one generation. I never even knew my grandparents. My parents were both left alone in the world at an early age. Julius said my mother once told him that she and my father both grew up in foster homes. I don't really know anything more about them than that, but I've often thought that the fact that they each understood loneliness was probably one of the things that drew them together.”
    “Maybe it was,” Caleb said.
    Serenity hesitated. “I wonder what it was that drew your mother and father together?”
    “I think it's obvious what drew them together. My mother was a sexy centerfold model who wanted to be a film star, and my father was a wealthy up-and-coming politician. Hell, they were made for each other.”
    “Don't judge them too harshly, Caleb. After all this time, there's no way of knowing the truth about their feelings for each other. Whatever happened, it was between the two of them. You certainly don't have any responsibility in the matter.”
    “Don't I? Sometimes it feels as if I've spent my whole life paying for what they did.”
    “We all have pasts and we all have futures. All we can do is choose to live in one or the other. It doesn't seem to me that there's much point living in the past.”
    Caleb said nothing.
    After a moment Serenity leaned over the backseat to replace the jewelry box in the carryall.

    The farewell celebration for Ambrose Asterley proved to be a major social event for Witt's End. At eight o'clock Sunday evening everyone in town poured into the Sunflower Café to drink a toast to Asterley's memory. As soon as Serenity and Caleb arrived, Serenity headed for the kitchen. There she joined Ariadne and a handful of other people who were supervising the food and beverage preparation.
    Caleb found himself alone on the fringes of the crowd. He was surprised by the turnout. From what Serenity had told him, he'd assumed that no one except Jessie had been close to Asterley. But there was no shortage of people wanting to say farewell. He wondered privately if the size of the crowd had more to do with the lack of evening entertainment options in Witt's End and the free food than it did with the community's fondness for Asterley.
    Whatever the reason, the entire population of the tiny town was present. Caleb knew several of the locals now because he had begun evaluating the products they wanted to sell in Serenity's catalog. He nodded pleasantly at several people as he dunked a wholewheat cracker into a curried yogurt dip. Absently he listened to bits and pieces of the Asterley anecdotes.
    “Remember the day Ambrose thought he'd finally got himself a