Chapter 24 #3
Daniela smiled. “Yes, I did. He’s pretty amazing in the classroom as well.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Crandall said gruffly. “My son excels at everything he does. Always has.”
Caleb sent a wry glance at them over his shoulder. “I thought we were here to discuss Miss Moreau.”
Daniela and his father exchanged amused looks.
“Speaking of the classroom,” Crandall said, leaning back in his chair as he removed his eyeglasses, “I understand this is only your first semester of law school. What makes you so sure you’re ready for an internship so soon?”
“I’m not sure,” Daniela admitted, and saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes at her candid response.
“My background was in accounting, so the field of law is pretty new to me. The truth is that if I were to intern at your firm, I would definitely get more out of the deal than you would. But what I may lack in experience, I more than make up for in a strong work ethic, proven initiative and a willingness to learn and be challenged. I guarantee you that being a first-year law student will not hinder me from successfully accomplishing whatever’s required of me. ”
Crandall passed a slow, appraising gaze over her face. “I’m impressed by your tenacity, Miss Moreau, and I’m not easily impressed.” His eyes narrowed thoughtfully on hers. “What do you think about the indictment of Carlito Olivares?”
Daniela paused, remembering Caleb’s reaction to the news, and the speculation that his father would represent the corrupt labor union boss who’d been charged with embezzling funds from his union.
Realizing that Olivares might already be a client of the man who now sat across from her, Daniela still opted for honesty.
“I think Olivares’s actions are deplorable,” she said with unflinching conviction. “However, I realize, and appreciate, that the burden of proof rests with the state. If I were Olivares’s attorney, it would be my duty to ensure that he receives the best legal representation possible.”
Crandall arched a dubious brow. “You think it’s that cut-and-dried?”
“Probably not. Few things in life are. But if I had to represent Olivares, my main priority would be to give him fair legal counsel.”
“Ah, but how would you manage that, when your conscience is telling you that your client’s actions are, as you put it, deplorable? How would you set aside your personal bias in order to best serve him?”
Daniela gave him her most charming smile. “I guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I’m an attorney working for Crandall Thorne and Associates,” she said affably.
Unable to resist the audacity of her remark, Crandall threw back his head and roared with laughter. Caleb glanced over his shoulder and met Daniela’s eyes, his own expression vaguely amused.
The door opened, and Rita stepped into the room. “Gloria sent me to tell you all that dinner…” Trailing off at the sight of Crandall’s broadly grinning face, she looked at Caleb, who merely shrugged.
“Dinner is ready,” Rita informed them. “And Gloria says you all had better come now, before the food gets cold.”
They dined outdoors on a terrace that boasted stunning views of the endless stretch of valley below.
Everything was perfect—from the pressed white linen that covered the table, to the fresh-cut flowers in crystal vases that perfumed the air with their sweet fragrance.
Soon after the foursome was seated, they were joined by Crandall Thorne’s private nurse, Ruth Gaylord, a beautiful woman in her late fifties whose gentle brown eyes and warm, engaging smile immediately put Daniela at ease.
Dinner, courtesy of Crandall’s longtime personal chef, was a sumptuous culinary affair that opened with steaming crab bisque, and was followed by roast duck in a rich wine sauce and succulent Alaskan salmon that melted in Daniela’s mouth from the first bite.
“So, Daniela, are you originally from San Antonio?” Ruth Gaylord inquired when the meal was under way.
Daniela nodded, taking a slow, appreciative sip of vintage Bordeaux. “I was born and raised here.”
“You went to school here as well?”
Again Daniela nodded. “I attended Trinity University.”
“Trinity’s a good private school,” Crandall pronounced from his position at the head of the table, “but you probably would have fared better at UT, which is where Caleb went as an undergrad and for law school. Can’t beat a UT education.”
Seated directly across the table from her, Caleb sent Daniela a rueful smile that apologized for his father’s high-handedness. She smiled back to let him know it was okay.
“Seems to me that Daniela fared just fine at Trinity,” Rita spoke up on her behalf. She reached over and gave Daniela a gentle, comforting pat on the hand. “By the way, you have the most beautiful name. I thought so the moment I heard it.”
“Thank you,” Daniela said. “I was named after my grandmother.”
“Oh, how sweet.” Rita smiled. “Does your family still live in San Antonio?”
“Yes, they do.”
“That’s good. I think it’s important for young women to stay near their kinfolk—helps keep you grounded.
Nowadays, you see so many girls graduating college and running off to big, noisy cities to pursue these stressful, high-powered careers.
Nobody thinks about raising families anymore—until it’s too late.
And then they have to spend thousands of dollars on expensive fertility treatments because their biological clocks have stopped ticking.
” She clucked her tongue in patent disapproval. “It’s a crying shame, I tell you.”
“With all due respect, Rita,” Ruth chimed in gently, “I think it’s a bit unfair to place all the blame on the young women.
I know there are plenty of women—my youngest daughter included—who are family-oriented and would love nothing more than to settle down and start having children.
But the men they’re dating aren’t remotely interested in making such a commitment. ”
“Humph,” Rita snorted. “That’s because they’re dating the wrong men.”
Mildly exasperated, Ruth looked to Daniela for help. “Daniela, I’m sure you can attest to what I’m talking about.”
Heat suffused Daniela’s cheeks. “Um…well…”
“You two never know when to quit,” Crandall objected from the end of the table. “Now you’ve gone and embarrassed the poor girl.”
“It’s all right,” Daniela said quickly, all too aware of Caleb’s quiet, watchful gaze. “I’m afraid Ms. Ruth is right, to a large extent. It does seem that many men go out of their way to avoid committing to relationships.”
Rita scoffed at this. “You’re a smart, beautiful girl,” she admonished, as if Daniela were speaking nonsense. “There’s no reason you should have any problems finding Mr. Right.”
“You’d be surprised,” Daniela murmured, wondering if her face could possibly get any hotter.
Ruth slid a teasing look at Caleb, who had remained inconspicuously silent throughout the entire discussion. “Are we not sitting at a table with a confirmed bachelor?” she pointed out to Rita.
Rita guffawed. “Caleb’s not a confirmed bachelor,” she argued. “He’s just waiting for the right woman to come along, and then you watch and see how long he stays single. Ain’t that right, Caleb?”
The hushed silence that fell over the table was deafening. Silverware stilled, glasses stopped tinkling, even the eagles soaring above the treetops seemed to grow silent as all awaited Caleb’s response.
With calm deliberation, he raised his wineglass and took a leisurely sip of Bordeaux before setting the glass back down. His deep voice was laced with lazy humor as he said to Rita, “Far be it from me to argue with the woman who covered for me when I got in trouble at school.”
As laughter erupted around the table, Caleb’s eyes met and held Daniela’s for one heart-stopping moment. Crazy as it was, she felt as if he were silently communicating a message to her, though she couldn’t begin to fathom what that message might be.
Only when his heated gaze slid away from hers did she dare breathe again.
“Wait a minute. What’s this about you getting in trouble at school, boy?
” Crandall gruffly demanded, and the conversation soon evolved into humorous anecdotes about Caleb’s childhood exploits as a prankster who frequently got away with murder because his teachers, who were so enamored of him, seldom suspected him of any wrongdoing.
Daniela laughed, drank good wine and couldn’t remember the last time she’d so thoroughly enjoyed herself.
As the evening progressed, she found herself revisiting her previous opinion of Crandall Thorne.
Observing the way he interacted with Caleb, he seemed less daunting, less austere, than she would have expected.
He struck her as a man who was deeply devoted to his son, a proud, loving father who would do anything to protect him, just as Pamela Roarke would do for her own children.
As Daniela watched Crandall tease Caleb, and get teased in return, she knew she was seeing a side of the shrewd, formidable business mogul few people ever witnessed.
Was it possible Crandall Thorne wasn’t as bad as she—and her brothers—had thought?
It was an unsettling prospect.
As the sun slid toward the distant hills, ushering in nightfall, candles were discreetly produced and lit along the table.
After lingering over coffee and sinfully rich hazelnut cheesecake, the party began to break up.
Crandall announced that he was tired; the four-hour dialysis treatment he’d undergone earlier had taken its usual toll on him, he grudgingly admitted.
Bowing gallantly over Daniela’s hand, he smiled at her. “It was a pleasure spending time with you this evening, Miss Moreau. I’ll be in touch after Labor Day.”
Daniela felt an immediate kick of guilt. “Thank you for inviting me into your beautiful home, Mr. Thorne,” she said warmly. “I had a wonderful time, and I look forward to hearing from you again.”
Shortly after Crandall departed, Ruth and Rita—offering vague excuses about needing to finish certain tasks before bedtime—wished Caleb and Daniela a goodnight and quickly retreated inside the house.
Before Daniela realized what had happened, she and Caleb were all alone.