Witchcraft

disappeared into the garden.
    Upstairs in her room Kimberly sat staring at the blank sheet of paper in her typewriter. She hadn't succeeded in typing a single word for the past forty-five minutes. All her thoughts were on the man with whom she had shared the passionate interlude in the shed. There was no point deluding herself. The white-hot fires of his desire had crystallized her feelings. If she hadn't made love with him perhaps she would have been able to go on pretending that what she felt was only a physical attraction. Now she knew different. The incredibly, shatteringly intimate experience in the old shed had forced her to acknowledge the truth. She was falling in love with Darius Cavenaugh . No, even that statement didn't disclose the full truth. She was in love with him.
    Full stop. Dazedly Kimberly stared at nothing, trying to sort through the ramifications of what had happened. She had been telling herself all along that he was the wrong kind of man for her. Yet at every turn the intimacy between them was growing deeper and more pervasive. There were times when she really did wonder if they were reading each other's minds. And the bonds that existed between them now after that scene in the shed were deeper than anything else she had ever known. She didn't understand how it could have happened so completely or so quickly. But she couldn't deny that it had happened. Love was not a matter of logic or rationality, Kimberly discovered. With a heart full of trepidation she tried to picture her future. Cavenaugh was inseparable from this house and the wine business. If she became involved with him, she became involved with everything that went with him. After all her years of avoiding anything that even hinted of competing loyalties and inescapable family obligations--two things that had the potential for destroying love--Kimberly wondered if she could learn to adjust to such a situation. There was no doubt that the Cavenaugh household was a cheerful one. Cavenaugh himself might make the major decisions yet there was no denying he was also trapped by his role. Just look at the way the rest of the family felt free to impose on his time, Kimberly thought grimly. If she moved in here permanently, she'd certainly do some major reorganizing. And then she realized just how far her thoughts had taken her. Moving in here permanently was an absolutely idiotic notion. No one, least of all Cavenaugh , had invited her to do so! Just what had he felt after making love to her, she wondered. Some of the warm cert ainty that she had felt herself returned. Kimberly knew that for Cavenaugh the experience had been more than just a casual interlude.
    Surely she couldn't be deluding herself about something as crucial as that. No, this growing sensation of sureness, of understanding and empathy between herself and Cavenaugh was very much for real. It was, Kimberly decided, almost like the invisible bonds she was building between Amy Solitaire and Josh Valerian. And with that euphoric knowledge blazing in her mind, Kimberly finally managed to go back to work on Vendetta. No one seemed upset that evening at dinner. It was as though the entire household, including Starke, had accepted her right to rewrite the rules under which they all functioned. As promised, Cavenaugh disappeared after the meal to assist Scott with his railroad construction. Julia told Aunt Milly that she had gone over the guest list and recognized everyone on it. "Wonderful," Aunt Milly enthused.
    "Ariel and I can address the envelopes in the morning. We wrote out all the invitations this afternoon," she added as an aside to Kimberly who was quietly sipping tea near the fireplace. "Will it be a large party?" Kimberly asked. "Fairly large. We used to have parties all the time when Dare's father was alive, but since Dare has taken over we don't entertain nearly as often."
    "No one felt much like having a party for quite some time after mom and dad died," Julia put in quietly. "And then I was going through that awful divorce." She smiled at Kimberly.
    "It's taken a while to put the family back on its feet emotionally as well as financially. You were right to step in this afternoon, you know.
    It made me realize how much we've all come to lean on Dare. He's been fulfilling a number of different roles for all of us during the past two years. I don't know how he does it at times."
    "I think he finds it all worthwhile," Kimberly assured her gently. "Of course he does," Aunt