Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

man, in fact, I bet he was once, but he seems to have soured with age. I wonder why? From the sounds
of Calvin’s story, it’s not as if the man ever denies himself anything.
His mom notices us first. She gasps and puts down her lemonade so she can stand.
“Oh, Calvin!” Her face lights up with the radiance of a thousand suns and I know, without
question, this is a woman who adores her son.
Calvin smiles back, opening an arm so he can hug her when she gets to him.
“Oh, my goodness,” she says excitedly as she pulls back and shifts her gaze to me without letting
go of him. “This must be Hallie. Oh, you’re absolutely gorgeous. Look at the two of you.” Then she
lets go of him and grabs me for a hug, too.
“Oh, thank you,” I say, laughing a little because she took me off guard. “You’re so pretty, too. I
can see where Calvin gets his good looks from.”
That’s a bold-faced lie; she is beautiful, but Calvin is a carbon copy of his father, just not ruined
by… whatever has caused that man to look so repellent, despite being so technically handsome.
Maybe that’s it. I had the thought earlier that Calvin is gorgeous to look at, it’s the inside that’s a
bit off-putting. Maybe somewhere over the years, his father cracked, and all that poison leaked out
and ruined him.
The Cutler curse. Maybe it won’t happen to Calvin now that he has me to share that unpalatable
side of himself with.
“Let me see this,” she says with a conspiratorial look, grabbing my left hand so she can look at
the ring. “Oh, isn’t that beautiful.” She looks over her shoulder. “Peter, come see Hallie’s ring.”
I look over at Calvin. “You’re right, your mother is amazing.”
He smiles, and the woman’s eyes sparkle with happiness to hear her son has apparently spoken
so highly of her.
His dad, on the other hand, moves over our happy little gathering with all the cheer of a storm
cloud. He joins us, but reluctantly.
Nodding stiffly at Calvin, he says, “I see you’re doing well.”
“Very well.”
Because he’s expected to and his lovely wife encourages him to do so, he looks at my ring.
“Looks expensive.”
Calvin’s mother looks horrified, but she holds her tongue and offers an apologetic smile. “It
looks beautiful, dear. And beautiful on you. You’ll make the loveliest bride.”
Since this is our first chance to get to know one another, Calvin’s mom walks with me while the
men fall back. I steal glimpses of the sprawling acreage as we walk. It looks like the sort of place
English aristocrats pass down for generations, not somewhere an ordinary person lives.