A Southern Reunion

Cal tugged her back. “This is not a lie.”

“But everything else is. Something isn’t right here and no one will tell me the truth.”

He pushed his hand through her hair, tugged her even closer. “I only know that I came back here for you. And that is the one truth you need to remember.”

Then he kissed her, his touch tentative and tender until Cassie sighed and returned the kiss, her arms grasping him and holding him close. Cal wrapped her in his embrace, his touch demanding and deepening until she felt herself falling into a blinding mist of longing.

Dear Reader,

I have always loved a good Southern gothic saga. So I was thrilled to be able to finally write the one that has been in my head for many years. This was a complex story, and I admit I struggled with it a bit. But I’m pleased with the final product. I hope you will be, too.

When ready-to-wear designer Cassandra Brennan returns to Camellia Plantation in South Georgia, she finds several surprises waiting for her—the main one being the man who broke her heart years ago. Her estranged father is dying, and Cal Collins seems to be taking over her beloved home. But as revelations keep coming, Cassie finds things are not always what they seem, and she also discovers that even though she still loves Cal, he might be involved in an elaborate plot to keep her from finding out what really happened the day her beautiful socialite mother died.

I grew up in a big Southern family, so I know a thing or two about secrets and scandals. But in the South, we tend to bring out our eccentric family members and show them off! In Cassie’s case, however, she was embarrassed and ashamed that her own father had scorned her. The truth turned out to be a test of her love for Cal.

I hope you enjoy A Southern Reunion. I’d love to hear from you. Please visit my website at www.lenoraworth.com and send me a message. I’d appreciate your feedback.

Lenora Worth

A Southern Reunion

Lenora Worth

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times bestselling author Lenora Worth has written more than forty books for three different publishers. Her career with Love Inspired Books spans close to fourteen years. Her very first Love Inspired, The Wedding Quilt, won Affaire de Coeur’s Best Inspirational for 1997, and Logan’s Child won Best Love Inspired for 1998 from RT Book Reviews. With millions of books in print, Lenora continues to write for Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense. Lenora also wrote a weekly opinion column for the local paper and worked freelance for years with a local magazine. She has now turned to full-time fiction writing and enjoying adventures with her retired husband, Don. Married for thirty-five years, they have two grown children. Lenora enjoys writing, reading and shopping…especially shoe shopping.

To my darling Big Daddy, my husband Don.

You were the first person to ever read the original

version of this story. Thanks for sticking with me

for all these years.

We’ve come full circle.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER ONE

THREE THINGS HAPPENED the same week ready-to-wear designer Cassandra Brennan announced she’d be opening two more Cassie’s Closet boutiques in the metro Atlanta area.

She broke up with her fiancé, Ned Patterson.

Her estranged father sent word that he was dying and he wanted her to come home.

And once she arrived home, the man who had been her first love in high school walked out onto the front porch of Camellia Plantation with his arms around the woman who’d come between them. And he still looked good doing it, too.

The house hadn’t changed all that much in the past twelve years. But everything else certainly had.

Why was Cal Collins back at Camellia? And what was he doing with Marsha Reynolds? Last she’d heard, after Cassie had caught them together and broken up with Cal, things hadn’t worked out for Cal and Marsha after all. Too bad. And too bad they’d decided to take right back up on the very day she’d driven the four hours from Atlanta to get here.

Anxious to get inside and see her father, Cassie swallowed and inhaled a deep breath. She could do this. She had to do this.

Memories danced into her head, taunting her, some beautiful, some tragic. Cassie tried deep breathing, her breath stopping near her rib cage. The old camellia bushes, from which the plantation had gotten its name, grew with a lush abandonment all over the side yards and in front of the pool, their velvet pink blooms popping and exploding in the sun like clusters of chiffon.

She and Cal used to meet each other in the shadows of those tall, rich green bushes. Usually they’d sneak out at midnight after her parents had gone to bed. Cassie would leave by the French doors in her room that opened onto the upstairs porch and make her way down the outside staircase.

But everything had changed. In the blink of an eye, she lost her mother to a tragic horseback-riding accident, lost the man she loved to another woman and lost the father she’d always adored because of something she’d done or said during that horrible week.

Bracing herself, Cassie got out of her late model convertible and slammed the door hard enough to get the attention of the couple on the porch. She wanted to tell them to get a room. She wanted to scratch Marsha’s green eyes right out of her head. And she wanted to grab Cal by the collar and ask him why he’d hurt her so badly.

But she didn’t do any of those things.

A Brennan didn’t act like a redneck.

A Brennan held everything inside and was always, always civilized and polite. And she wouldn’t make a scene when her father lay dying just beyond that front door.

Cal turned then, his eyes meeting hers as he held a hand on Marsha’s bare arm. “Cassie.”

Cassie’s heart pumped against her ribs, trying to beat a path out of her body. Just hearing him say her name in that low drawl caused a hot chill to run over her. She thought about turning around and heading back to Atlanta. But she’d been running for way too long now. Her father needed her, even if he hated to admit that.

And she needed him. She’d been waiting far too long. She wouldn’t let anything or anyone stand in the way of this homecoming. Not even Cal Collins. So she stiffened her spine and held her head up high.

“Hello, Cal. Marsha—long time, no see. Looks like nothing much has changed around here.”

Cal didn’t say anything. He just stared at her long enough to make her sweat. But then, it was late spring in south Georgia. It was hot all the way around.

She stared right back at him, hoping her hurt and fear and confusion didn’t show in her eyes.

His dark hair hung in thick chocolate-colored chunks around his ears and neck. He looked the same but different, his cotton work shirt stretched across a broad back, his worn jeans low-slung and not too tight. When they’d parted they’d both still been in their teens.

Now she was looking at a full-grown man.

Would he see her as a woman?

“Well, if it isn’t the long-lost Cassie Brennan,” Marsha said on a smirk. “And looking like she stepped right out of some fancy fashion magazine.”

Marsha looked ready to explode, her red hair falling around her shoulders with the same vibrancy as the blooming camellias, her angry frown for Cal and only Cal. She’d gained a few pounds, but then Marsha had always had a healthy figure. The kind boys loved. Just like in high school. Just like the day Marsha had explained it all to Cassie, shattering what was left of her heart, after Cassie had caught the two of them together.

She was going to be sick, Cassie thought, her pulse sputtering out of control, her blood pressure rising. She might actually throw up. Sweat pooled down her back and across her chest, her white linen sundress wilting against her skin like bruised magnolia blossoms.

Had her father invited them here to remind Cassie of her one great sin? Well, she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her sweat. So she continued on, one hand clutching her white leather purse, her stomach knotting and twisting in pain. But she couldn’t take her eyes away from the dark-haired man and the curvy redheaded woman. Memories of seeing them in just such a way long ago invaded her head.

This was certainly not the homecoming welcome she’d expected. Her life had changed forever. But Cal Collins was still the same. And he still got to her.

“I TOLD YOU, YOU NEED to leave.”

Cal stared down at Marsha, hoping she’d take the hint. He’d been trying to get her out of the house before Cassie showed up, but now it was too late. He wasn’t in the mood for a catfight. But both of these women, one cool and blonde and so in control and one ticked-off and redheaded and about to lose control, looked ready to go at each other.

This was a long-standing feud.

And obviously, he was still in the middle of it.

“I came to visit with Teresa, thank you,” Marsha said, hurt in her eyes. “I like to give her some of the fresh produce from my garden.”

Cal let go of her and put his hat on, adjusting it over his brow. “You still need to go. Hear me, Marsha?”

“I hear you. Don’t get all hot under the collar.”

Cal looked at the woman who tried to push his buttons and then he stared down at the woman he couldn’t have—the one who went beyond button pushing to fullthrottle. Then he lifted his head and sniffed, the scent of magnolias hitting his nostrils. The huge magnolia trees in the backyard weren’t blooming yet and Marsha didn’t wear magnolia-scented perfume.

But Cassandra Brennan always had.

He didn’t show it, but he took his dear sweet time watching Cassie standing on the bottom step, her blond hair curled around her chin in a thick sleek bob, her bare shoulders tanned and buff, her legs still long and curved in the right places. She held a pair of black sunglasses in one hand and wore a white dress with thick straps and a flared skirt. Her sandals glistened just as white as the crisp dress, a line of silver medallionlike studs marching up her foot in gladiator fashion. And the heels were killer high.

He couldn’t help it. His gaze slid down her body and back up to her red-lipped mouth. “I’m glad you’re home, Cassie.”

She lifted her fancy sunglasses and placed them on her head and flipped that cool bob. “Thanks.” Then she shot a questioning glance at Marsha, her expression caught between polite and haughty. “What’s going on?”

Marsha’s face sweated with a soft sheen that turned to a beet-red blush. “Not what you think.”

Cal glared at Marsha. She’d pushed her way into the back door earlier, probably to purposely cause a ruckus right here on the porch. “Marsha, you need to go.”

She eyed him. “I was just on my way.”

The redhead whirled like a tornado and stomped down the porch steps, her tight cut-off jeans barely meeting the hem of her pink T-shirt. She gave Cassie a thunderous look as she passed, then said over her shoulder, “Just a warning, Cassie. Some things around here aren’t the way they used to be. And I should know that better than anybody.”

Cal watched her traipse around the side of the house then heard a motor revving.

When Marsha’s battered red pickup peeled down the long driveway, leaving a trail of mad dust, Cassie took her shades off her head and turned her face up, her eyes glistening as blue as the sky behind her.

“You don’t let her park up front?” she asked as she swept up onto the porch.

He didn’t know how to answer that. He wasn’t even sure he should answer that. Cassie had left behind this little town and this South Georgia plantation and she’d never looked back.

And he couldn’t ever look forward. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come back here to work for her father and torture himself with memories at every turn.

He let out grunt of a breath. “Marsha still thinks—”

“It’s obvious what she thinks. I don’t know why y’all didn’t go ahead and get married all those years ago.”

He gritted his teeth then inhaled a breath. “There was no baby. So there was no reason for me to marry her.”

Because he didn’t love Marsha.

Cassie touched a hand to her hair, but she appeared flabbergasted. “Okay, enough about old times. I’m a bit confused. What are you doing here?”

“You really are behind on the family news, aren’t you?” he asked, wondering how he was going to be able to stay here now that she’d come home. When Marcus had first come up with this plan, Cal’s gut had told him this was a very bad idea. Now his stomach burned with the proof of that. No use trying to hide the facts. “I work here.”

And that’s all he needed to say to set things straight. So he turned and walked in the direction of the small foreman’s cottage where he lived.

No, he wasn’t married to Marsha. He’d never been married to anybody. But he wouldn’t tell Cassie the whole ugly story. She didn’t care and it didn’t really matter. He’d only come back here as a favor to her sick father.

As a favor to the man who’d once told Cal he’d kill him if he ever set foot on this land again.

Sometimes Cal wished Marcus Brennan had made good on that threat.

CAL WORKED HERE. AGAIN? How? Why? None of this made any sense to Cassie. That little welcome-home scene on the front porch had left her shaking, but she got herself together enough to go through the double oak doors of the house she’d grown up in. Camellia Plantation had been in her family for over a hundred and thirty years. Her ancestors had bought it in 1880 and restored it after the ravages of the Civil War had caused the previous owner to take his own life—out under that infamous oak tree that hung over the driveway, as the legend went.

The same oak tree where her mother had died.

The same oak tree where Cal had kissed Cassie and promised her he’d always love her.

The oak tree had been here over three hundred years, its trunk and branches scarred and twisted. No wonder it was cursed. The big square house with the massive columns and wide wraparound porches on both floors had been in her family for a long time, passed down from generation to generation with a legacy that told many tales, her own parents being part of that. Her father was the last of the Brennans. If she didn’t marry and produce offspring, she would be the last once he was gone.

Since she wasn’t very good in the relationship department, there was little chance of Cassie ever becoming a wife and mother.

Maybe that was the reason she’d decided to come home. Because in spite of everything, this was her home. Lately, living in Atlanta had become unpleasant in spite of her growing fame as an up-and-coming fashion designer and the success of her downtown boutique aptly named Cassie’s Closet, in spite of the spiffy midtown loft she’d redecorated and spruced up herself. And in spite of her much-touted love life with lawyer and hotshot Atlanta businessman Ned Patterson.

Or maybe because of her love life, or lack thereof. She’d broken things off with her fiancé. But Ned hadn’t taken it very well. Cassie couldn’t blame Ned. She hadn’t loved him very well.

Then she remembered Cal’s eyes when he’d turned to look down at her there on the porch. Blue, a rich navy blue that bordered on velvet. Once a beautiful, loving blue that wrapped her in warmth. Now a hard cold blue that raked her with what looked like scorn and disdain.

Did he hate her that much?

Looking up the curving staircase, Cassie had to wonder if she’d gone from the frying pan to the fire, coming back here. Had she run away from one bad situation only to rush headlong into another one?

Hearing pots and pans being shuffled in the kitchen, she walked up the wide central hallway past the staircase, her heels clicking against the aged heart-of-pine floors, the smell of wisteria mixed with lavender wafting by and bringing memories that assaulted her with such clarity, she felt sixteen again.

“Hello?” she called, praying Cal would be long gone by now. Praying he wouldn’t make this any more difficult than it already was.

“Cassie, is that you?”

“Teresa, yes, it’s me.” She hurried into the kitchen to the left of the hallway, rounding the corner in time to see Teresa Jordan wiping her hands on a fluffy towel. “Hi.”

“Hi, honey.” Teresa opened her arms wide. “C’mon and give me a hug.”

Teresa had been with Cassie’s family since Cassie was a little girl. Her mother, Eugenia, and Teresa had been like sisters. Eugenia had introduced Teresa to Walt and had been matron of honor at their wedding here on the grounds. They’d never had children, but Cassie didn’t understand why Teresa had stayed after Eugenia, and later Walt, had died. Teresa was loyal to Marcus Brennan and even though they hadn’t communicated too much during recent years, Cassie sure was glad to see the woman now.

Cassie rushed into her arms, taking in the scent of Jergens lotion mixed with the smell of bacon grease and cornbread. Tears pricked at her eyes. This was what it felt like to be welcomed home. This was what she’d missed all of these years. These things and…being here with Cal, of course.

But she put that thought out of her head.

Teresa finally let her go then stood back, her brown eyes wide, her smile genuine. Pushing a hand through her short grayish-brown hair, she said, “Look at you. As pretty as ever. I saw your picture in People, you know. One of the up-and-coming designers of last year. Cassie’s Closet seems to be the thing these days. They carry your ready-to-wear in Belk’s and Dillard’s. I have two of your dresses that I wear to church. Lordy mercy, ain’t that something now.”

Cassie’s smile was shaky and shy. “Something, all right.”

She had last-minute promos to do for the fall line and paperwork for the production of next spring’s collection, not to mention finishing up the actual designs for the next season. The fashion industry dictated that she stay a couple of years ahead. Taking a breath, she willed her nerves to calm down. “I’ll have plenty to keep me busy while I’m here. But…I’m hanging in there.”

“And you’re good at it from what I see and hear.” Teresa pushed at Cassie’s hair. “How you doing, honey?”

“I’m not sure,” Cassie said, wondering how many more surprises she could handle. “How is he today?”

“Not good.” Teresa shook her head, tears springing up in her eyes. “I’m so glad he let me call you.”

“Me, too. But does he really want me here or did you force him into letting you call?”

“No, he wants to see you. He sure does. I think he’s decided it’s time to mend his ways and…let go of the past.”

“Can we do that, really?’

“We have to,” Teresa said. “Want to see him now, or would you rather freshen up and have some lunch first?”

“Now,” Cassie said, the thought of food turning her stomach. “Is he upstairs?”

“No, darlin’.” Teresa motioned to what used to be a big office-and-den combination at the back of the house. “We had to move his bed down here. He can’t make it up the stairs anymore.”

Cassie nodded, put down her purse and straightened her dress. When they got to the closed door of the den, she pivoted around, wishing she could bolt out of the house and hide in the stables the way she used to do when she was young and afraid.

That was how she’d met Cal face-to-face, after first seeing him from a distance…and keeping her own distance. He’d found her hiding in the stables late one fall afternoon. And after that, she hadn’t been nearly as afraid or lonely as before.

A lot had happened since then.

But she wouldn’t be scared anymore. She had a lot of questions.

Beginning with one.

“Teresa, after I visit with Daddy, I want you to explain to me what Cal Collins is doing back at Camellia.”

And why no one had bothered to warn her about that.

CHAPTER TWO

CASSIE ENTERED THE darkened room, her heart whispering a silent warning. The ceiling-to-floor windows across one wall of the big square room usually showed a panoramic view of the sloping backyard and the pool area. But today, the heavy beige drapes were drawn shut, causing patches of desperate sunshine to break through like lurking spotlights onto the high ceiling.

It took her a while to focus and get her bearings. The hospital bed had been set up in the corner where her father’s big oak desk used to be. The desk was gone but the sitting area remained the same, centered around the brick fireplace across from the bed. The row of bookshelves surrounding the fireplace remained full of volumes of various sizes and types, reminding Cassie of what a bookworm she’d always been in school.

Until that summer when Cal had brought her out of hiding and brought the world to her with all his talk of traveling and buying up land and…so many other dreams.

It felt surreal, being here in this room, hiding in darkness, shaking away in this atmosphere of sickness and death.

She didn’t want to advance toward the bed in the corner, toward the still, skeletal man lying in that bed. He didn’t look like the father she remembered.

Marcus Brennan had been larger than life—a rancher, a cowboy, a hunter and sportsman, a businessman and a gentleman with impeccable manners when around ladies and a brawling disregard when he went hunting or fishing with his cronies. He ruled this part of the state of Georgia and people either feared him or respected him.

At times, Cassie had felt both. Right now, she wasn’t sure what to feel, or what to say. So she just stood, her prayers centered on the next step. Then she heard her father’s voice for the first time in twelve years.

“Cassie?”

Cassie gulped back a silent sob. She wouldn’t cry now, not when she’d cried so many tears she’d probably be able to fill the Chattahoochee River. Not now, after she’d had to endure seeing Cal with her nemesis, Marsha, the woman who’d managed to break them apart even after Cassie’s powerful father had tried and failed.

Not now. Not now.

“Cassie, come over here and let me look at you.”

She advanced a step, then another, until she was at the foot of his bed. “Hello, Daddy.”

Marcus was propped up with pillows, his frail hand reaching toward her then falling away, back to the folds of the dark comforter covering his lower body.

“You came home.”

He said it in a way that ripped at her heart, his voice soft with yearning and awe. Had he expected her to ignore him?

“Yes, I’m here. How are you feeling?”

The cliché was the only thing that came to her mind, emerging through the unspoken, unasked questions that held her in a tight spasm of pain and fear.

His chuckle sounded like jagged rocks hitting against each other. “You see how I look. I feel about twice as bad as that. I guess I’m done for, girl.”

Cassie gripped the cold steel of the bed. “Teresa didn’t explain exactly what…what kind of illness you have. I’ve talked to several of your doctors since she called me regarding your health, but they didn’t want to discuss your medical condition with me.”