Witchcraft

in the winery when I was growing up.
    I wanted to do something more exciting with my life. I wanted adventure and action and the challenge of making my own fortune."
    "And you found all that?"
    "Oh, yes," Cavenaugh agreed with a cryptic smile. "I found it."
    "But when the chips were down, you came back to assume your responsibilities to your family." Some of the warm intimacy disappeared from Cavenaugh's green eyes. "You have a way of making family responsibilities sound like a grim fate to be avoided at all costs."
    "Maybe it's just because I know how twisted they can become." Cavenaugh appeared to be sorting through his next words. "Kim, if your father had really loved your mother he wouldn't have given her up to please his family. And he wouldn't have spent the rest of his life pretending you didn't exist. He would have fought to make his parents accept you and your mother ... Blame his own weakness for what he did to her, not his sense of family responsibility." Kimberly suddenly became very aware of a certain chill invading the old shed. "I think we're about to lose our sunny afternoon," she observed with a lightness she was far from feeling. "Clouds are starting to form." Cavenaugh levered himself up beside her, slanting her a speculative glance. "Which, translated, means you don't want to talk about the situation regarding your grandparents, right?" " Cavenaugh , I always said you do have some amazing powers of perception." He finished pulling on his jeans and reached down to help her to her feet, his eyes lingering on her full breasts as she fastened her shirt. "You have some amazing powers, yourself, witch. I feel like a new man this afternoon." His words halted her em otional withdrawal. Kimberly looked up at him and felt a return of the warmth she had been feeling earlier. But what she felt for him now, she thought fleetingly, went far beyond warmth or even passion for that matter. Deliberately she thrust the realization aside and smiled brilliantly. "I hope I was a more interesting tonic than some of those concoctions Ariel is always serving up."
    "You're much more than a tonic, Kim, and you know it." He took her hand. "Come on, honey, much as I hate to end this very satisfying idyll, I'm afraid we have to get back to the house. I've got a thousand and one things that have to be done this afternoon."
    "Winery business?"
    "Right. There's a new marketing plan that I've got to go over and a report from the accountant's office."
    "It can't have been easy pulling the Cavenaugh Vineyards out of the red these past two years," Kimberly observed slowly as she allowed him to lead her back toward the house. "It's been a challenge," he agreed dryly. He didn't release her hand after they came within sight of the house. Instead he clasped her fingers tightly in his own all the way through the garden and up to the back door. Anyone watching from the house could not have missed the intimacy. And anyone watching would probably be able to guess how she and Cavenaugh had just spent the past hour, Kimberly realized uneasily. A part of her went on the defensive when she saw Julia hovering in the hall. But Julia did not appear to be the slightest bit concerned that her brother might have just made love to their house guest. She greeted them both cheerfully and glanced at Cavenaugh with obvious relief. "Oh, there you are, Dare. I've been looking for you. Aunt Milly and Ariel want to invite half the world to this party we've been planning, and I said I'd check with you."
    "No one gets invited who isn't personally known to either you or me, Julia, you know that. I don't want any strangers in the house until those kidnappers have been caught."
    "That's what I told them you'd say.
    They're working up a guest list now for you to go over. Oh, and Scott has been scouring the place for you, too. He wants you to help him add a new section to his train track. And I was wondering if you'd talk to that car dealer for me. I'm not getting anywhere with him. He simply won't fix that problem in the transmission free of charge. Claims it's not under warranty. I know he'll back down if you deal with him." "Uncle Dare, Uncle Dare," Scott excitedly, tearing around the corner with a miniature train tunnel in one hand. "I've been looking for you. Come and help me set up my new tunnel." Before Cavenaugh could respond, Aunt Milly appeared in the hall, the ever-present Ariel right behind her. "Here's the preliminary guest list, Dare. Julia said you'd