Page 90 of Tamed

Perhaps if they’d tried to talk to him like normal people, it wouldn’t have turned into the major deal it was, but their arrogance combined with Dad’s paranoia had turned my presence into a huge drama.

I told Charlotte that and in no uncertain terms, but she didn’t seem offended, only agreed that in retrospect they could have been more accommodating. Then again, the Hamilton’s weren’t used to being accommodating. They were used to getting their own way and when they didn’t, their actions were…inappropriate to say the least.

We talked for a long time. Charlotte probed gently about my childhood, but I was still feeling defensive of Dad, so I didn’t give too much away. She also wanted to know where Caleb fitted in all of this, and asked me quite a few questions about him, too. Again though, I decided I wasn’t going to give her anything about him either. His secrets were mine to keep, no one else’s.

However, I couldn’t quite keep everything from her.

“You’re in love with him,” she said, after she’d asked a question about Caleb, and I’d been far too vague with my answer. “And don’t try to deny it. I saw it the moment you came into the room with him.”

I could have denied it, but that would look like protesting too much and anyway, why should I deny my feelings for him? He was too important, and I was done with pretending. “Yes,” I said. “And before you say anything, I don’t care that he’s too old for me and I don’t care if you think it’s wrong. I know what I feel. I might be young, but I’m not stupid. Also, I know about his past and all the rumors about him, and no, they don’t bother me.”

Charlotte eyed me, her mouth pursed as if she was trying to decide how she felt about that. Then she said, “Stephen is fifteen years older than I am, though people back then didn’t really comment about our ages. I certainly didn’t notice and neither did he. You’ll need to be strong to manage a man like Caleb Cross, very strong indeed, but…” She smiled. “You’re my granddaughter, so I think you’ll manage him very well indeed.”

I let out a breath. “I’m not sure he feels the same.” Another inadvisable thing to confess, but then I was the queen of saying inadvisable things.

“I see,” she said, “So you haven’t told him how you feel.”

“No,” I admitted.

“And you don’t think he feels that way about you?”

“He told me very clearly that he doesn’t have anything to offer me emotionally, so no.” I ignored the ache in my heart, the nagging want that wouldn’t leave me alone. What did it matter that he didn’t feel the same way about me? I’d had that for years from Dad and I was fine. I’d take what I could get from Caleb.

But should you? Shouldn’t you want more?

“You want him to though,” Charlotte said quietly, watching me.

I looked away, my hands in fists in my lap, desperate to deny it and yet not being able to. Not when the truth was likely written all over my face.

“Juliana loved your father very much,” she said after a moment. “She loved fiercely and completely, and she loved him. And…I knew he loved her in return. She was, I admit, happy with him. That’s why you shouldn’t blame yourself for her death. She never told me about you — she was punishing me I think — but I know that she would have wanted you so much. She would have loved you fiercely and if there had been a choice between your life and hers, she would have chosen you every time.”

My eyes filled with unexpected tears, my throat closing, leaving me unable to speak.

“You deserve that kind of love, Isabel,” Charlotte went on. “You should have it. And if Caleb Cross is the man you want it from then you need to demand it, and if he doesn’t give it to you, then it’s because he’s not worth your time, understand?”

“Perhaps I’m just not worth it,” I said, forcing out the words, not wanting to bare my soul to this woman and yet wanting someone to talk to. Another woman who would maybe understand.

Charlotte reached out, the rings on her long, slender fingers flashing in the light as she brushed my cheek gently with her fingertips. “A woman like you is always worth it, my child. You are strong, I can see that already, and you need a man who will be your equal in spirit and most definitely your equal in love. If he can’t give that to you then he is the weak one. He is the one who isn’t worth it, not you.”

For some reason I found her light touch immensely reassuring. “And if he won’t give it to me?”

“Then you must walk away,” she said simply.

I swallowed, the thought leaving me bereft. Because where would I walk to? There was only Caleb and Dad in my life, and if I didn’t have them… “I don’t have anywhere to go.”

Charlotte smiled and this time it was full of all the motherly love I’d never had. “Yes, you do. You will come to me, of course.” Then she took my hand, and I could feel her strength. “You are not alone, Isabel Fox. You’ll never be alone again.”

26

Caleb

Ididn’t trust Charlotte Hamilton further than I could throw her, so I kept watch outside the door. Not that she’d do anything to Isabel — if I thought that then Isabel wouldn’t be here in the first place — but she might tell her things that would upset her. Charlotte might even be hurtful towards her, and I didn’t want Isabel hurt, not by the only other family she had, so I stayed where I was.

Eventually, Charlotte came out and gave me a cool glance. “Relax, Mr. Cross,” she said. “Isabel is fine.” She moved past me towards the stairs and as she went by she murmured, “But if you hurt her I will have your head.”

She didn’t wait for a response, already sweeping down the stairs to the entranceway before I could say a word. Not that I would have said anything anyway.

I’d have had my own head before I hurt Isabel.

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