Family Secrets: Books 5-8

by Virginia Kantra

  She spied her shoes lying on the lawn. She snagged them and had her hand on the handle of the screen door to the kitchen when the scene inside made her pause. She lifted a brow, forgetting her own troubles for a moment.

  Jake Ingram wasnt having such a hot day either, she realized. His fiance faced him across the center island of the room, her palms flat on the aged brick.

  This bizarre visit to a place Ive never heard of was more important than planning our own wedding? Tara asked. Ah, my, Honey thought, a little pique there.

  Jake appeared to have a strong need to crawl into one of Rafaelas cooking pots. Marcus and I are close.

  You never even mentioned him before you dragged me on this trip!

  I guess it was an oversight. He raked fingers through his dark hair. You didnt have to come.

  We never see each other anymore! I had to come because in another week I might forget what you look like!

  Tara, its not that bad. And I have a lot on my plate at the moment.

  Does it involve these people?

  Honey watched Jakes eyes go slit-thin. Which people?

  All of them! Everyone out there! Ive never even shared so much as a cocktail with any of them before and now here we are at this mans wedding!

  There are other kinds of friends besides those you share cocktails with.

  And they include bodyguards?

  Honey leaned a little closer, very interested now. She was dying to hear how Jake explained Robert and Naomi.

  Whoever planned the World Bank Heist is a mastermind, he said. Masterminds are dangerous. Im just being cautious.

  Honey sighed. The bank heist? She had been sure it had something to do with Marcuss voodoo genes.

  How are we supposed to get married, stay married, if we dont share each others lives? Tara demanded.

  We share, Jake protested.

  We share social occasions.

  Well, you like those, right?

  Jake, you dont share anything inside you. And Im starting to wonder if this is really such a good idea after all.

  Getting married? he asked. The woman had to be blind as a bat, Honey thought, if she didnt see the hope that flared in his eyes for a fraction of a second there. And that, on top of everything else that had happened to her today, struck Honey as very sad.

  Taras beautifully manicured fingernails went into her blond hair in a gesture of absolute frustration. I need some time to think about all of this, she said finally.

  Tara, you were just complaining that Im giving you too much time.

  I dont know what I want anymore.

  Then maybe we ought to just slow down a bit.

  The woman looked as though he had hit her. We were already crawling, Jake.

  Im just sayingif youre not sure, God, what a mistake wed be making.

  I was sure, Jake. Ive always been sure. But this little trip has blown my mind. Call it a final straw. Theres a whole room of people out there She broke off and waved a hand at the big room. And every time I turn around, youre locked in deep conversation with one of them.

  Yeah, Honey thought, and what are you all talking about anyway, Jake? Marcuss long-lost days in the old test tube?

  You wont let me in, Tara said, her voice too hushed. Ive tried to understand, but latelyI dont know whats going on with you, Jake, but its getting worse instead of better. Were not coming together. Were growing apart.

  It was a good exit line, Honey thought. She watched Tara leave through the door to the big room. Jake just stood there, looking lost. Honey swept into the kitchen.

  Youve got a problem going on there, pal, she announced.

  Jake seemed startled at her abrupt intrusion, then he just looked weary. Im not supposed to talk to you.

  Something kicked in her brain, something that was ready to ignite into punishing temper all over again, but Honey crossed her arms over her chest and kept her voice level. Do you have the energy right now for word play with me?

  Not really.

  Honey cocked her head to the side, her curls spilling that way. She studied his face. There was something almost frantic about his eyes that she recognized. Shed felt it often enough herself. Toddies, she decided. What you need is one of my famous hot toddies.

  Jake rubbed his forehead. I cant figure out if Im supposed to be afraid of you or grateful.

  Id recommend a little of both. Then she motioned at the door to the big room. Your job is to go in there and grab me a bottle of the best whiskey you can find. Im really not up to facing everyone at the moment. Suddenly she was bone-tired, she realized. It was a strange kind of pervasive exhaustion, as though her every cell had risen to the occasion with Joe on the beach, and when Drew had turned up, it had opened the floodgates to let everything gush out of her again.

  Jake left the kitchen. She wondered if he would come back.

  Just in case, she started raiding Rafaelas kitchen. She found butter in the giant, industrial-sized fridge and powdered sugar and cinnamon in the pantry. She put water on to boil. She had just pulled over a chair to root through a high cupboard for the mugs she wanted when she heard the door swish again behind her. Honey looked over her shoulder.

  Jake stood there with a bottle of Bushmills in his hand, looking as though he didnt know why he had come back.

  Oh, come on, she chided, grabbing the mugs and jumping down from the chair. What did they tell you about me, anyway? The one about the retrievers tail?

  I heard that one, yeah.

  What else? She snagged the bottle from his hand and took it back to the island.

  That self-restraint isnt your forte.

  Well, thats wrong. She put the butter, sugar and cinnamon into each mug and found a spoon to mash it up. I rarely do anything without an ulterior motive. And motives imply deliberation and thought.

  She looked up in time to see one of his brows hike up. Whats your motive right now? he asked, gesturing to what she was doing. With all this?

  I want to know how you and your brother fit into Marcuss Hercules act. If you could explain Matt Tynans presence here on Brunhia as well, that would be a real bonus. In exchange, Ill make you feel better.

  Something in Jakes eyes flared a little in genuine alarm.

  Not that way, Honey said, adding the whiskey to the mugs and topping everything off with the boiling water. She took the drinks to the table.

  He followed her slowly. Dont take it personally.

  That you dont want to jump my bones? It should have bothered her tremendously, she thought, after Joes rejection last night. But Joe had soundly un-rejected her this afternoon. Who knew what might have happened if Drew hadnt turned up? Then she opened her mouth and more incredible, un-Honey-like words tumbled out. Its okay. Im not particularly gaga for jumping yours either.

  Jake laughed, a deep-throated sound that was startled around the edges, then he sat and seemed to relax. He took a mouthful of his toddy. These are really good.

 
By the end of this one, youll be stretching your legs out in front of you and feeling every muscle in your body unclench. If we have another after this, youll really unwind.

  Stop me before I dance on any tabletops.

  Will do.

  He gave her a grin then that would have knocked her sandals right off her feet if she had still been wearing them. But her skin still tingled from Joe.

  Talk to me, she urged.

  I really cant. But he drank more whiskey. I probably would, however, if it wouldnt mean betraying others. Youve got a damned persuasive way about you.

  Either me, or its the Bushmills.

  He laughed again. He was definitely unwinding, she thought.

  She tried another approach. How about this? Leave your brother and Tynan out of it. Just talk to me about my brother. You wouldnt technically be betraying anything because I have family dibs on him, right?

  Im not going to talk to you about Marcus, Jake said.

  He lifted a whole boulder off the side of the road the other day.

  Jake stared into his toddy, then he nodded. He could do that.

  Gretchen is part and parcel of it somehow. I know that much.

  He looked up at her suddenly. So am I.

  Honey wasnt sure if she was more amazed by the revelation or by the fact that he had told her. Whoa. Three of you?

  Thats the current count. Can I have another of these? He held up his mug.

  Sure. She hopped up and went to make a fresh toddy. So that CIA dude wasnt just howling at the moon.

  You have an interesting way with words.

  Thank you. Now give me some more of yours.

  This time his laugh was more of a chuckle. I cant, Honor. Seriously.

  Please dont call me Honor. Only three people in the world do that and I dont respond very well. Although just lately, kitten seems to get even more of a rise out of me.

  Im not sure I understand.

  Youre safer that way. How did you find out? She brought him the new drink. Im asking about you now, she reminded him. You cant betray yourself. How did you find out that youre a voodoo-gene baby too?

  We were all given a gift. Before she could open her mouth again, he held up a hand. No. No more.

  Oh, come on. We were really communicating there for a moment.

  One corner of his mouth tucked up. I expected you to be an air-brain, not witty.

  Honey leaned closer to him. Its an act, she whispered.

  Its difficult to come off as witty when youre actually not.

  She felt her mouth fall open a little. I meant the air-brain business. You really have a one-track mind, dont you? It goes straight down the narrow and analytical road.

  Its my gift.

  She gaped a little more, suddenly understanding. Math. Numbers. Finances.

  He smiled tiredly. That reminded her of why shed felt hed needed these toddies in the first place. Tara doesnt know any of this, does she?

  He raised his mug in a toast to her. Youre intuitive, too.

  Not really. I eavesdropped on your argument for a few minutes.

  He frowned. That wasnt an argument. Tara doesnt argue.

  Shes got bitching down to a fine art.

  He laughed again. God, I needed this.

  I can sympathize with her position, though. You and Gretchen and Marcus have this test-tube sorority going on

  Were siblings, he interrupted. We had natural parents.

  Well, that sort of tarnishes the laboratory spin I was starting to imagine.

  Smoking beakers and whatnot? Sorry.

  This time Honey laughed. No problem. I just like a good tale now and again. How did you find out? she asked again. He was talking, she thought, so shed keep pushing.

  My natural mother tracked me down and told me.

  So where are Mumsy and Dad now?

  Theyre both deceased.

  Her heart did an odd kind of chugging kick against her chest. Of natural causes?

  Thats doubtful. He shook his head.

  I know, I know. Honey sighed and sat back in her chair to polish off her own toddy. Youre not going to say any more. Then she grinned. I got a lot out of you anyway. Im taking it that not a whole lot of people know the truth about this genetics hoopla, right?

  Its a dangerous situation. There are those who want to gather us all up again before we can get to the bottom of it all and stop them.

  Oooh. And use you for nefarious ends? Shed been joking, but his expression shocked her. I just hit the nail right on the head, didnt I? Its the Coalition!

  His eyes narrowed and he straightened abruptly. How did you find out about the Coalition?

  Honey waved a hand. I wrangled it out of Kurt. Im good at this, you know.

  Thats an understatement.

  She got up to make herself one more toddy. This explains your problem with Tara. This is how it appears to me, as an outsider looking in. Ready? It sounded earlier as if youre heavily into pushing sweet Tara away.

  She has some unsweet moments.

  If you dont mind my saying so, those dont sound like the words of a man in love. She sipped her hot whiskey and went back to the table.

  Im not sure what I am any longer. And I cant worry about it with all this other stuff going on.

  Could be your whole test-tube past is affecting that.

  I told you

  Test tube, uterus, who cares? Honey interrupted. The bottom line is that a whole bunch of your earlier childhood memories got somehow swiped from you, right? I can figure that out just from having grown up around Marcus.

  Im starting to remember more.

  Well, until and unless you get it all back, maybe youre clinging to Tara for a sense of security.

  Youve figured that out and youre a telephone operator?

  Honey waved a hand dismissively. If I had said I wanted to be a shrink, my family would have set me up as Dr. Ruth by now. Thats a whole different topic. Im just saying that it only makes sense that the truth was hidden somewhere down there deep in your psyche all along. You know, here you are with your original family, and then poof! All gone. I dont know about your past, but Marcus landed with my family when he was twelve. And Im pretty sure he had no memory of where he was before then. You can sort of feel that in another person, you know? Anyway, thats a lot of years to lose track of. And it could make you crave the stability of a relationshipsay, of a steady girlfriend or a wife. Of any girlfriend or wife. It wouldnt matter who because youre not really going to let her in anyway.

  I might if she was as dogged as you. Jake made a sound of disbelief in his throat.

  Theyre good toddies, arent they? Look at you, your legs are all stretched out.

  No tabletops, though.

 
; Good thing, too. Youre a lot bigger than I am. I probably couldnt drag you down if I tried. And if I did, it might put us in a compromising position, in which case sweet Tara would really get pissed off.

  He shook his head. Youre funny.

  One of my many gifts and Im just your average run-of-the-mill sperm-and-egg product, too. Then she sipped her drink and got serious. You shouldnt marry her.

  Hed been staring into his mug but that made him look up at her sharply.

  Im just saying, if you dont even feel comfortable talking to her about this Coalition and your voodoo-gene business, then you probably wouldnt make her such a hot husband.

  I can be hot.

  Honey snagged his mug out of his hand. I dont think you need any more of these.

  Tara cant handle it.

  If youre still on the subject of hot, maybe we ought to leave that on a need-to-know basis. More uncharacteristic words for Honey, she realized. Someone seriously needed to shut down this islands water supply.

  I meant I dont think she could handle the business about the Coalition, Jake said.

  Well, shes not so great with sea mist and mules, either. Honey put both their mugs into the dishwasher. But I think she can avoid mules and mist a lot better than shed be able to avoid what this is doing to you, so you might want to take that into consideration.