purchased works? That’s been my understanding.”
“Why, on occasion I’ve made such arrangements.”
“With a piece this large, it might be a necessity. My asking price is $3,999.”
She propped the canvas beside a shelf of amulets and bear-claw necklaces, mentally calculating her commission. If it sold quickly, she could attend the upcoming psychic fair. All was coming into alignment. Tattered Feather would have a chance to fly. “I can guarantee delivery,” she told the artist. “Not to worry, not at all.”
“Thank you, ma’am. In cauda venenum.”
“In cauda venenum.” The phrase spilled so smoothly through Suzette’s lips.
With the porter thick on his tongue and chlorine heavy in the air, Marsh let a waterjet drill at the tension in his back. Tomorrow he’d start fresh. He had hurt Kara with his words, but he would make it up to her. With any luck, she’d be happy with the changes in the parlor. He would let her tell of her encounter with Josee, and then maybe she would calm her hormones, and the kitchen staff could serve them a candlelight dinner in the dining hall, and they’d laugh and act as they had during their engagement in his junior year at Oregon State.
Before the pregnancy. And the doctor’s grim prognosis.
Before his mother’s enigmatic warning that had served as precursor to both …
“Son, I cannot tell you everything. Wish that I could, but Chance wouldn’t want it that way.” In his memories, Virginia’s voice was always shakier than in real life, as though the decades-old conversation were taped and wearing thin. “You need to know, though, a few things at least. Now that you and Kara are considering marriage, I’m obligated to issue a caution.”
“A caution?” Marsh snorted. “About what? You make it sound so ominous.”
She pushed ahead. “Marshall, you may be unfit for fatherhood.”
“Unfit?” He forced a laugh. “Who said anything about kids?”
“Your risk’s high. You’ve been contaminated, and it’d be wise to have a doctor—”
“What crazy talk is this, Mother? What’re you going on about?”
She screwed her eyes tight as if to block a chimera of horror. “One day you’ll see.”
“I’ll see? Oh, very cryptic! And helpful, I might add.”
“One day it’ll make sense. We can only pray that such a day never comes, that perhaps you’ll be spared. It’s a matter your father involved himself in at the end of the war, something bound to endanger your offspring.”
“My father was a good man.”
Virginia sniffled. “Duty called him into military aspects of chemical research. Son, you need to understand this. Please don’t disregard it.”
“What’s the point here?”
“Contamination. Your father suffered from his work. Only later did he realize the long-term effects.”
“What? Was there an accident? A chemical leak? What’re you trying to say?”
“It was no accident.” Virginia clenched her fingers in her lap. “I’m trying to protect you from a portion of the pain that I’ve gone through.”
“Yeah? That’s something every parent says. You ask me, this is insane.”
“We must break the chain.”
“You bet, Mom. I’ll start working on it right away.”
Infuriated by his mother’s gall, he had refused to broach the subject again.He wouldn’t yield himself to this curse she had tried to drop at his feet. Later, however, when Kara’s obstetrician announced the ailing status of her unborn daughter, Marsh stewed in uncertain blame. The tiny baby did not deserve this. A blood disorder. An unknown form of hemophilia threatening her very life? He did not need this encumbrance on his time and finances. Surely he was not responsible for her sickness. Or was he? Had his own father passed along a genetic anomaly? What had actually happened at the end of the war?
Maybe his mother’s words were true; maybe he had afflicted a child with his own defective genes.
Unfit, indeed.
Stretched out in the hot tub, he felt a
“Why, on occasion I’ve made such arrangements.”
“With a piece this large, it might be a necessity. My asking price is $3,999.”
She propped the canvas beside a shelf of amulets and bear-claw necklaces, mentally calculating her commission. If it sold quickly, she could attend the upcoming psychic fair. All was coming into alignment. Tattered Feather would have a chance to fly. “I can guarantee delivery,” she told the artist. “Not to worry, not at all.”
“Thank you, ma’am. In cauda venenum.”
“In cauda venenum.” The phrase spilled so smoothly through Suzette’s lips.
With the porter thick on his tongue and chlorine heavy in the air, Marsh let a waterjet drill at the tension in his back. Tomorrow he’d start fresh. He had hurt Kara with his words, but he would make it up to her. With any luck, she’d be happy with the changes in the parlor. He would let her tell of her encounter with Josee, and then maybe she would calm her hormones, and the kitchen staff could serve them a candlelight dinner in the dining hall, and they’d laugh and act as they had during their engagement in his junior year at Oregon State.
Before the pregnancy. And the doctor’s grim prognosis.
Before his mother’s enigmatic warning that had served as precursor to both …
“Son, I cannot tell you everything. Wish that I could, but Chance wouldn’t want it that way.” In his memories, Virginia’s voice was always shakier than in real life, as though the decades-old conversation were taped and wearing thin. “You need to know, though, a few things at least. Now that you and Kara are considering marriage, I’m obligated to issue a caution.”
“A caution?” Marsh snorted. “About what? You make it sound so ominous.”
She pushed ahead. “Marshall, you may be unfit for fatherhood.”
“Unfit?” He forced a laugh. “Who said anything about kids?”
“Your risk’s high. You’ve been contaminated, and it’d be wise to have a doctor—”
“What crazy talk is this, Mother? What’re you going on about?”
She screwed her eyes tight as if to block a chimera of horror. “One day you’ll see.”
“I’ll see? Oh, very cryptic! And helpful, I might add.”
“One day it’ll make sense. We can only pray that such a day never comes, that perhaps you’ll be spared. It’s a matter your father involved himself in at the end of the war, something bound to endanger your offspring.”
“My father was a good man.”
Virginia sniffled. “Duty called him into military aspects of chemical research. Son, you need to understand this. Please don’t disregard it.”
“What’s the point here?”
“Contamination. Your father suffered from his work. Only later did he realize the long-term effects.”
“What? Was there an accident? A chemical leak? What’re you trying to say?”
“It was no accident.” Virginia clenched her fingers in her lap. “I’m trying to protect you from a portion of the pain that I’ve gone through.”
“Yeah? That’s something every parent says. You ask me, this is insane.”
“We must break the chain.”
“You bet, Mom. I’ll start working on it right away.”
Infuriated by his mother’s gall, he had refused to broach the subject again.He wouldn’t yield himself to this curse she had tried to drop at his feet. Later, however, when Kara’s obstetrician announced the ailing status of her unborn daughter, Marsh stewed in uncertain blame. The tiny baby did not deserve this. A blood disorder. An unknown form of hemophilia threatening her very life? He did not need this encumbrance on his time and finances. Surely he was not responsible for her sickness. Or was he? Had his own father passed along a genetic anomaly? What had actually happened at the end of the war?
Maybe his mother’s words were true; maybe he had afflicted a child with his own defective genes.
Unfit, indeed.
Stretched out in the hot tub, he felt a
Similar Books
