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‘We’ll talk about it,’ he promised. ‘Add it to the list.’
‘Speaking of which... You’ve told me about Ross as an adult. But what about when you were children? And when you say your family’s reputation was all a pack of lies, that’s not just Ross, is it? So...what’s the truth?’
* * *
He looked away before he answered, as if he couldn’t meet her eyes while admitting to it. God, how bad was it? She’d known Ross was no saint, but Cal seemed upstanding and respectable—apart from his lack of understanding about love. How bad could the rest of his family have been?
‘In every generation Bryce men have cheated, gambled, drunk, caused pain and suffering and humiliation. They’re just better at covering it up than most people.’
‘Okay...’ That sounded bad, obviously. But a lot of people drank too much or spent too much on the horses. Her own father had succumbed for a time. She leaned forward, towards Cal. ‘When you say pain and suffering...?’
‘I mean it,’ Cal said openly. ‘My father... Ross used to stand in front of me to protect me from his fists, his belt or just his knife-edged tongue. But he always found a way around eventually—unless he was too drunk to stand up. You know why I can find the kids when none of the nannies can? Because I know every damn hiding place in this castle. I remember cowering in the nook behind that hanging by the main staircase while my father bellowed for me—until he got so mad at my hiding he threw my dog down the stairs in front of me and broke his neck.’
Heather shuddered and reached out towards him, desperate to offer some comfort if she could. But Cal pulled back before she could touch him.
‘I still didn’t come out from behind that hanging. I slept there until Ross found me—after midnight.’
‘Cal, I’m so sorry.’
No wonder he thought he couldn’t love the children like a father. He’d had no example of it, no way to learn—except from the older brother he’d clearly idolised, but who had turned out to be flawed, too.
‘Your father sounds...terrible. But that doesn’t mean that every man in your family is like that. Ross wasn’t—was he? I know he wasn’t exactly faithful...’
‘He never hit the kids, as far as I know, if that’s what you’re asking.’
Heather let out a breath of relief. She’d dealt with abused kids before, and hadn’t thought that Daisy and Ryan showed any signs of that at least, but as a teacher she knew a person could never be totally sure.
‘I only knew Ross for one night, and heaven knows I realise he had failings. But he didn’t seem like a cruel or unloving man.’
‘He was cheating on his wife and lying to you and her about it,’ Cal pointed out.
‘You have a point,’ Heather admitted grimly. ‘But his bad behaviour—or your father’s—doesn’t mean that your whole family is bad.’
Or that Cal was incapable of giving Daisy and Ryan the family they needed—because she was almost certain that was what Cal thought.
‘You’re not listening. It wasn’t just Ross, or our father. It’s every Bryce man ever.’ Cal looked up suddenly, his eyes wide and feverish. ‘You know that damn ghost that all the nannies claimed to be running from? She was a servant here, a hundred years ago or so. Story is she got into trouble with a stable hand and lost her footing on the stairs trying to run away and elope with him. Crashed her head open on the stone steps.’
Heather winced. ‘That’s horrible.’
‘And it’s another lie. My great-great-grandfather knocked her up then denied it. When she threatened to tell people in the village the truth, he pushed her down the stairs.’
Heather fell back into her seat. ‘How can you be sure?’
‘Because my father used to threaten to do it if Ross ever knocked up any girl out of wedlock.’
‘Like me.’
Oh, God. Every generation of Bryce men, Cal had said. But not him. Whatever he thought. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. She was sure of it.
Cal looked up at her, a wicked glint in his eye. ‘You still sure about staying?’
