Secrets by Jude Deveraux

promised.
    It had been a week since she and Dana had met Althea Fairmont, and it had been an exciting time. There had been no more talk of Cassie becoming Althea’s employee, but somehow, the woman had maneuvered both Dana and Cassie into working for her—without pay.
    But the work had been good for Cassie. For months she’d thought that if she had to leave Jeff’s house, had to leave Elsbeth, her life would be over. But in the last week she’d begun to see possibilities of a future without Jefferson Ames. Since she’d lived for over half her life with the idea that he was the only man for her, it hadn’t been an easy transition.
    But Althea’s energy and enthusiasm were helping her. On Monday morning, she and Elsbeth had met Dana at the end of the garden, ready to go to Althea’s house. Dana worried that they would tire Miss Fairmont. “After all, she is a woman of a certain age,” Dana said as they walked toward the house.
    â€œI dare you to say that to her face,” Cassie said.
    â€œNo, I think I’ll continue to live for a while.”
    It had been at Althea’s invitation that they visited. She’d called Cassie on Sunday and asked if she and Dana would like to look at some memorabilia she’d saved from her many years in show business. “I have a few things that need to be cataloged,” she’d said on that first Monday as she’d climbed two flights of stairs, Cassie, Dana, and Elsbeth behind her, to a walk-in attic that covered the entire house. When she opened the door, the two women gasped. It was an Aladdin’s cave of treasure. There were hundreds of boxes and trunks, and what looked to be thousands of the most extraordinary items. Costumes, props, and printed matter from every play and movie that Althea had done were piled on top of one another.
    â€œThis should be in a museum,” Cassie said in awe, looking inside a carton labeled Moments in the Sun. It had been the movie Althea had won her second Oscar for. “Is this…?” Cassie asked, lifting a silver cup from the bottom. At the end of the movie, Althea, as the heroine, had drunk poison and died in a futile attempt to take the blame for a murder the man she loved had committed.
    â€œThe very one,” Althea said.
    Gently, with reverence, Cassie put the cup back, then stood up. There was furniture, posters, and bound scripts; costumes peeped out of big cloth bags. It was all gorgeous, and she wanted to go through every piece of it.
    â€œNow you’re seeing my dream,” Althea said. “I want to open a library for the study of film. It would not only be a repository of artifacts, but also a place where students can see films and learn.”
    â€œIn L.A.?” Dana asked as she picked up a dress that was covered with silver beads.
    Elsbeth stuck her little feet into a pair of red shoes from the 1940s. Cassie recognized them as from Shadow of a Woman . She wondered if the matching dress was there.
    â€œI plan to leave everything, including my money, to the establishment of the library,” Althea said, ignoring Dana’s question. “But I do wish I could leave it all in better order than it is now.”
    â€œAnd that’s why you want to hire Cassie,” Dana said, sounding as though she’d solved a mystery.
    â€œActually, I think there’s more than enough work here for two people,” Althea said, smiling and looking at Dana. “If that husband of yours can spare you from…” She waved her hand. “From whatever women who are supported by their husbands do all day.”
    Cassie saw Dana stiffen, so she stepped between them. “I don’t know how much I can do,” Cassie said. “I have Elsbeth to care for until…” She hesitated.
    â€œUntil Skylar takes over your home and throws you out?” Althea asked. She looked at Elsbeth. “Think you could stand giving up your little