Page 84 of Modern Romance December 2025 5-8

‘I explored the region pretty extensively when I was looking for the perfect South of France location.’

‘You don’t have a team who do that?’

‘I do. But I like doing my own research too, ensuring that everything fits with my vision. And with this being our first European location, it was important that everything was absolutely perfect.’

‘And is it? Absolutely perfect?’

‘Almost,’ he smiled. ‘It will be by the time we open.’

She turned her face up towards him, the light catching in her hair so she shimmered. ‘Do I get a sneak peak of this beach club before it opens?’

Caleb looked back at her in surprise. ‘Do you want to see it before the opening?’

‘Of course. You’ve been working so hard—I’d like to know what you do every day.’

Her interest sparked more pleasure than it really should, but he was too preoccupied with the thought of showing it to her, sharing it with her, to truly care. ‘Then, of course. I’ll take you one day.’ And because felt a little too happy about doing so, feeling himself edge into deeply personal territory, he qualified it as part of their charade—that, of course, a husband would give his wife a preview of his work.

‘Is your father excited about the European expansion?’

‘He is. That and the new generation of Morgenthaus have conspired to make him a very happy man at present.’

Serena stopped to admire an ancient church. ‘Will you expect our son or daughter to take over the company one day?’

‘I’ll want them to be part of it, if that’s what they want. But I wouldn’t want to ever bully them into it, make them feel as though they can’t explore other avenues.’

‘The way you felt?’

‘Yes. So please, if you ever see me doing that, feel free to step in.’ He only realised what he’d said after he said it, looking forwards that many years and seeing them together.Wanting that?He dismissed the thought. Of course he didn’t want that. He never had.Butif the situation worked to their advantage, then there was no reason the five years couldn’t be extended. ‘But I do like the thought of having our child to pass it all onto, and share it with. Lately, there’s felt a greater purpose to all the work I do. It’s always felt somewhat about the past, continuing the legacy of my father and grandfather. Now it feels more about the future—about what I can leave to our child.’ He realised he was smiling as that feeling of purpose filled him.

‘I know your father has stepped back now, but did you enjoy working with him?’ asked Serena.

The question, such a complicated one, caused strain to his chest. ‘My father and I have never had the easiest relationship.’ She didn’t look surprised, but she was no stranger to parental tension, was she? She would understand it better than most, and maybe that was why he continued speaking when it was a vault he never normally opened. ‘It’s been that way for as long as I can remember. We never quite recovered from my mother leaving. Orhedidn’t, I should say. He threw himself into work to deal with it, oravoiddealing with it, and was rarely around, so we never established any kind of father-son bond.’

Memories rose quickly, of how his father would never quite meet his eye, and on the few occasions he did, seemed to look right through him. So aware of the absence of his mother, Caleb had been so desperate for his father’s attention and affection that he could still feel the memory of that desperation squirming within him and quickly worked to lock the memory away, disliking the feelings ready to spill free and cause havoc within him.

‘Was that why you resented him pushing you into the business?’ she asked as they turned into another narrow street.

‘Probably,’ he admitted. ‘To suddenly see me and demand my capitulation after fifteen years of ignoring me was a little hard to swallow.’

‘He ignored you?’ Serena breathed, shocked.

‘Like I said, he struggled a lot after she left. He…blamed me somewhat, I think.’

You. She left because of you, Caleb.

‘Why would you think that?’ Caleb couldn’t bring himself to say the words, but the answer was conveyed in his silence. ‘Did your father say that?’

‘Only once,’ Caleb responded quickly, feeling protective of his father in spite of it all, because he knew how pained he’d been by his mother walking out, so it had to have been ten times worse for his father, who he knew had loved her deeply, ‘and he’d made quite a dent in a bottle of Scotch by that point. I don’t think he even remembers it.’

‘You never asked him about it again?’

‘It wasn’t a conversation I was in a hurry to revisit.’

‘You don’t believe that’s true, do you?’

He shrugged lightly, keeping his gaze fixed ahead. ‘I’ve wondered. I saw photos of them together and they seemed happy, so something obviously went wrong once they had me.’

‘Caleb, there could be a hundred reasons why your mother left. None of them to do with you,’ Serena said urgently. ‘I know how easy it is to let stuff like that go inward, but you can’t think like that. Not when the chances are your mother left for her own reasons.’ She ran her free hand up his arm, dissolving the tension in his biceps with just her touch. ‘You really don’t remember anything about her?’