Текст книги "Charmed by His Love"
Автор книги: Джанет Чапмен
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beach then back at her. “So, Peg, how about I give your
kids a tour of the submersible the next time Claude goes to
town … say, in exchange for more towels?” he added with
a grin.
“Deal. And as an added bonus for being such a nice guy,
I’l even steal some towels from the geologists for you.”
He stepped closer. “Hel , for more towels I’l sneak your
kids a ride. Claude said something about driving down to
Turtleback Station this afternoon.”
“Sorry,” Peg said with a shake of her head. “I’m making
sure my friend gets married this afternoon.” She waved
toward the main lodge. “I don’t know if you happened to
notice al of the fuss, but there’s a wedding going on here
today.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. I heard something about the new
owners getting married. Don’t worry, then. Claude’s
supposed to meet some oceanographers at the airport in
Bangor on Tuesday, and I’l round up a couple of buddies
and we’l at least get your kids out on our boat. They can
watch the screen of our unmanned rover as it fol ows the
subterranean river north.” Steve paused, canting his head.
“You sure you don’t date? Because it just so happens I like
kids.”
Peg laughed and started walking backward. “Are you
trying to get me arrested for compromising a minor?”
“Hey, I swear I’m legal.” He sighed and waved her away.
“Never mind. I just final y moved out of my parents’ house,
so I’m real y not up to dealing with another bossy mother. I’l
see you around, then,” he ended, turning and jogging down
the path toward the beach.
Peg headed for Olivia’s cottage, a tad disturbed at how
bummed she was that Steve had given up so easily.
Chapter Two
Peg rounded a curve in the peninsula’s winding lane and
gasped in surprise when she spotted the strange man
striding across the parking lot with Jacob thrown over his
shoulder. Even from this distance she could see the sheer
terror in her son’s eyes as Isabel skipped backward in front
of them, trying to get the man to stop. Peg started running
even as she sized up her adversary: tal , athletic build, short
dark hair. Yeah, wel , instead of traumatizing defenseless
little children, Claude the mad scientist was about to find
himself on the receiving end of a healthy dose of fear.
“I swear I’l kick you if you don’t put him down, mister,”
Peg heard Isabel threaten. “He wasn’t hurting your stupid
machine none. He’s just a baby!” And then the six-year-old
actual y did kick out when the guy didn’t stop, only to
stumble backward as he merely sidestepped around her.
“Charlotte! Peter!” Isabel screamed as she scrambled in
front of him again. “Come help me save Jacob from the
scary man!”
Alarmed that the guy would go after her daughter when
she saw him hesitate, Peg didn’t even stop to think and
lunged onto his back. “Put him down!” she shouted,
wrapping her arm around the bastard’s neck as she tried to
pul Jacob off his shoulder with her other hand. “Or I swear
I’l rip out your eyes!”
The guy gave his own shout of surprise and suddenly
dropped like a stone when Peter slammed into his right
knee. “You leave my brother alone, you scary bastard!”
Peter shouted as he rol ed out of the way, dragging Jacob
with him.
Peg reared up to avoid Charlotte’s foot swinging toward
the guy’s ribs, although she didn’t dare loosen her grip or
take her weight off him, fearing he’d lash out at her children.
He suddenly curled into the fetal position with a grunt when
Peter landed on him beside her.
“Get away from him!” she screamed over her
shouting children, trying to push them off when they al
started pummeling him. “Run to the—” Peg gave a startled
yelp when an arm came around her waist and suddenly
lifted her away.
“Sweet Zeus,” Mac muttered, dragging her up against his
chest as he took several steps back. “You wil calm down,
Peg, and control your children,” he quietly commanded
even as he tightened his grip against her struggles.
“Ohmigod, Jacob, come here!” she cried, holding out her
arms. Jacob and Isabel threw themselves at her, actual y
making Mac step back when he didn’t let her go. “You’re
okay, Jacob. You’re safe now,” she whispered, squeezing
both trembling children. “You’re a brave girl, Isabel, and a
good sister.”
Charlotte cal ed out, and Peg saw the girl pul away from
Mac’s father just as he also released Peter. Both children
ran to her, giving the bastard rising to his hands and knees
a wide berth. Peg took a shuddering breath, trying to get
her emotions under control. “You can let me go,” she told
Mac over the pounding in her chest. Holy hel , she couldn’t
believe they’d al just attacked the giant!
Mac hesitated, then relaxed his hold, letting her slip free
to protectively hug al four of her children. “Mind tel ing me
what incited this little riot?” he asked the man who was now
standing and wiping his bleeding cheek with the back of his
hand.
The guy gestured toward the lower parking lot. “I was
taking the boy to find his parents, because I caught him
inside my excavator not five minutes after I’d just pul ed him
off it and told him to go play someplace else.” He shrugged.
“I figured his mother or father could explain how dangerous
earth-moving equipment is, since he didn’t seem to want to
listen to me.” He suddenly stiffened, his gaze darting from
Jacob to Peter and then to Peg. “They’re twins.” His eyes
narrowed on the boys again. “Identical.”
Pushing her children behind her, Peg stepped toward
him. “I don’t care if they’re sextuplets and were drivingyour excavator or stupid submarine.” She pointed an unsteady
finger at him. “You have no business manhandling my kids.
And if you ever touch one of them again, I swear to God I’l
–”
“Take it easy, mama bear,” Mac said, dragging her back
against him again. “He was only concerned for Jacob’s
safety. As wel as yours, apparently,” Mac said quietly next
to her ear. “Did you not notice he didn’t defend himself
when you and your children were attacking him? Duncan’s
intentions were good.”
Peg stil ed, a feeling of dread clenching her stomach. “D-
Duncan?” she whispered, craning to look at Mac. “He …
he’s not Claude, the scientist?” She lifted her hands to
cover her face. “Ohmigod, I thought he was the guy who
scolded Jacob for climbing on the submarine yesterday.”
She peeked through her fingers at the man she and her
kids had just attacked, horror washing through her when
she saw the blood on his cheek and scratches on his neck.
“Ohmigod, I’m sorry,” she cried, jerking away from Mac and
rushing to her children. Even though he was over half as tal
as she was, Peg picked up Jacob and set him on her hip
as she herded the others ahead of her, wanting to flee the
scene of their crime before she burst into tears. “C-come
on, guys,” she whispered roughly, her heart pounding so
hard it hurt. “Let’s go to the van.”
Mac’s father plucked Jacob out of her arms and settled
him against his chest, giving the boy a warm smile as he
smoothed down his hair. “That was quite a battle you
waged, young Mr. Thompson,” Titus Oceanus said jovial y,
shooting Peg a wink as he took over herding her children
away when Mac pul ed her to a stop. “I’l have to remember
to cal on you young people if I ever find myself in a scary
situation,” Titus continued, his voice trailing off as he
redirected them toward the main lodge.
Damn. Why couldn’t Mac let her slink away like the
humiliated idiot she was?
“It wil be easier to face him now rather than later,” Mac
said, giving her trembling hand a squeeze as he led her
back to the scene of her crime. “Duncan’s a good man,
Peg, and you’re going to be seeing a lot of him in the next
couple of years.”
Wonderful. How pleasant for the bothof them.
“Duncan,” Mac said as he stopped in front of the battered
and bleeding giant. “This beautiful, protective mama bear is
Peg Thompson.”
God, she wished he’d quit cal ing her that.
“She’s not only Olivia’s good friend, but Peg is in charge
of keeping the chaos to a minimum here at Inglenook.” He
chuckled. “That is, when she’s not creating it. Peg, this is
Duncan MacKeage. First thing Monday morning, he and his
crew are going to start building a road up the mountain to
the site of our new resort.”
MacKeage. MacKeage. Why did that name sound
familiar to her?
Al Peg could do was stare at the hand her victim was
holding out to her, feeling her cheeks fil with heat when she
saw the blood on it. Which he obviously only just noticed,
since he suddenly wiped his hand on his pants, then held it
out again.
Peg final y found the nerve to reach out, saw his blood on
herhand, and immediately tucked both her hands behind
her back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, unable to lift her gaze
above the second button on his shirt—which she noticed
was missing. “We … I thought you were the man who
scared Jacob yesterday. He had nightmares al night and I
barely got him back here today.”
He dropped his hand to his side. “I’m the one who needs
to apologize, Mrs. Thompson, as I believe you’re correct
that I shouldn’t have touched your son.” She saw him shift
his weight to one leg and noticed the dirt on his pants and
smal tear on one knee. “I assumed he was the boy I’d just
told to get off the excavator. And having a large family of
young cousins, I thought nothing of lugging him off in search
of his mother or father.” He held out his hand again. “So I
guess I deserved that thrashing.”
Damn. She was going to have to touch him or risk
looking petty. Mac nudged her with his elbow. After wiping
her fingers on her pants, Peg final y reached out, and then
watched her hand disappear when Duncan MacKeage
gently folded his long, cal oused fingers around it.
Oh yeah; she had been a raving lunatic to attack this
giant of a man. Not that she wouldn’t do it again if she
thought her kids were being threatened.
Okay, maybe she wasa protective mama bear.
It seemed he had no intention of giving back her hand
until she said something. But what? Nice to meet you? I
look forward to bumping into you again? Have we met
before? Because I’m sure I know someone named
MacKeage.
Damn. She should at least look him in the eye when she
apologized—again.
But Peg figured the first three times hadn’t counted,
since she’d mostly been sorry that she’d made a complete
fool of herself trying to gouge out his eyes with her bear
hands. But looking any higher than that missing shirt button
was beyond her. “I’m sorry!” she cried, jerking her hand
from his and bolting for the main lodge, her face blistering
with shame when she heard Mac’s heavy sigh.
Duncan stood leaning against the wal of Inglenook’s
crowded dining hal , shifting his weight off his wrenched
knee as he took another sip of the foulest kick-in-the-ass
ale he’d ever had the misfortune to taste, even as he
wondered if Mac was trying to impress his guests by
serving the rotgut or was making sure they never darkened
his doorstep again. He did have to admit the ancient mead
certainly took some of the sting out of the claw marks on his
neck, although it did nothing to soothe his dented pride at
being blindsided by a mere slip of a woman and her kids.
Hel , if Mac and Titus hadn’t intervened, he’d probably
stil be getting pummeled.
Duncan slid his gaze to the bridesmaid sitting at one of
the side tables with her four perfectly behaved children, and
watched another poor chump looking for a dance walk
away empty-handed. Peg Thompson appeared to be a
study of innate grace, quiet poise, and an understated
beauty of wavy blond hair framing a delicate face and dark
blue eyes—which was one hel of a disguise, he’d
discovered this morning. He couldn’t remember the last
time a woman had left her mark on him, much less taken
him by surprise, which perversely made him wonder what
the hel cat was like in bed.
She was a local woman and a widow, raising her four
children single-handedly for the last three years, Mac had
told Duncan just before leaving him standing in the parking
lot bleeding al over his good shirt. After, that is, Mac had
subtly explained that he also felt quite protective of his
wife’s friend. A warning Duncan didn’t take lightly,
considering Maximilian Oceanus had the power to move
mountains, create inland seas, and alter the very fabric of
life for anyone foolish enough to piss him off.
But having been raised with the magic, Duncan wasn’t
inclined to let the powerful wizard intimidate him overly
much. He was a MacKeage, after al , born into a clan of
twelfth-century highland warriors brought to modern-day
Maine by a bumbling and now—thank God—powerless old
drùidh.
And since his father, Cal um, was one of the original five
displaced warriors, not only had Duncan been raised to
respect the magic, he’d been taught from birth not to fear it,
either. In fact, the sons and daughters and now the
grandchildren of the original MacKeage and MacBain time-
travelers had learned to use the magic to their advantage
even while discovering many of them had some rather
unique gifts of their own.
Hel , his cousin, Winter, was an actual drùidh married to
Matt Gregor, also known as Cùram de Gairn, who was one
of the most powerful magic-makers ever to exist. And
Robbie MacBain, another cousin whose father had also
come from twelfth-century Scotland, was Guardian of their
clans and could actual y travel through time at wil . In fact, al
his MacKeage and MacBain and Gregor cousins, whose
numbers were increasing exponential y with each passing
year, had varying degrees of magical powers. For some it
might only be the ability to light a candle with their finger,
whereas others could heal, control the power of mountains,
and even shape-shift.
Duncan had spent the last thirty-five years wondering
what his particular gift was. Not that he was in any hurry to
find out, having several childhood scars from when more
than one cousin’s attempts to work the magic had
backfired.
That’s why what had happened here last week wasn’t the
least bit of a mystery to the clans, just an unpleasant shock
to realize that Maximilian Oceanus had decided to make
his home in Maine when the wizard had started rearranging
the mountains and lakes to satisfy his desire to be near salt
water and the woman he loved.
Duncan sure as hel wasn’t complaining, since he was
benefiting financial y. Mac was building his bride a fancy
resort up on one of the mountains he’d moved and had
hired MacKeage Construction to do a little earth-moving of
its own by building the road and prepping the resort site.
Duncan figured the project would keep his fifteen-man crew
and machinery working for at least two years.
And in this economy, that was truemagic.
Spel bound Fal s and Turtleback Station would certainly
reap the rewards of Mac’s epic stunt, since there wasn’t
much else around to bolster people’s standard of living. Not
only would the resort keep the locals employed, but stores
and restaurants and artisan shops would soon fol ow the
influx of tourists.
It would be much like what the MacKeage family
business, TarStone Mountain Ski Resort, had done for
Pine Creek, which was another smal town about a hundred
miles south as the crow flies. Only it was too bad Mac
hadn’t parted a few more mountains to make a direct route
from Pine Creek to Spel bound, so Duncan wouldn’t have
to build a temporary camp for his crew to stay at through
the week. As it was now, they had to drive halfway to
Bangor before turning north and west again, making it a
three-hour trip.
Then again, maybe Mac didn’t want a direct route, since
the clans had recently learned the wizard was actual y
al ergic to the energy the drùidhs he commanded gave off.
And that had everyone wondering why Mac had decided to
live so close to Matt and Winter Gregor, who were two of
the most powerful drùidhs on earth.
Apparently the wizard’s love for Olivia was greater than
his desire to breathe.
Not that Duncan real y cared why Mac was here; only that
the money in his reputed bottomless satchel was green.
“Have ye recovered from your trouncing this morning,
MacKeage?” Kenzie Gregor asked. He looked toward the
Thompson family sitting quietly at their table and chuckled.
“I can see why ye were so soundly defeated, as together
the five of them must outweigh you by at least two stone.”
Wonderful; help a man rebuild his home after it was
nearly destroyed by a demonic coastal storm, and the guy
felt the need to get in a shot of his own. But then, Kenzie
was an eleventh-century highlander who’d only arrived in
this time a few years ago, so Duncan figured the warrior
didn’t know better than to poke fun at a MacKeage. Kenzie
might have his drùidh brother Matt to back him up, but the
sheer number of MacKeages was usual y enough to keep
even good-natured ribbing to a minimum.
“If you’re needing a lesson on defending yourself,”
Wil iam Kil kenny said as he walked up, a large tankard of
mead in the ninth-century Irishman’s fist, “we could go find a
clearing in the woods. I have my sword in the truck, and I’m
more than wil ing to show another one of you moderns the
art of proper fighting.” He looked toward the Thompson
table, then back at Duncan and shook his head. “It pains
me to see a man defeated by a wee slip of a woman and a
few bairns.”
“I think Duncan is probably more in need of dance
lessons,” Trace Huntsman said, joining the group. “Have I
taught you nothing of modern warfare, Kil kenny?” Trace
slapped Duncan on the shoulder even as he eyed Wil iam,
making Duncan shift his weight back onto his wrenched
knee. “Our friend here knows the only way he’s going to
defeat the Thompson army is to lure their leader over to his
side. And women today prefer a little wooing to feeling the
flat of a sword on their backsides.”
Wil iam arched a brow. “Then someone should have
explained that to his cousin, don’t ye think? Hamish
kidnapped Susan Wakely right out of Kenzie’s dooryard in
broad daylight, and rumor has it he wouldn’t let the woman
leave the mountain cabin he took her to until she agreed to
marry him.”
Trace gave Duncan a slow grin. “So I guess it’s true that
you first-generation MacKeages inherited many of your
fathers’ bad habits?” He shook his head. “You do know
you’re giving us moderns a bad reputation with women,
don’t you?” He nodded toward the Thompson table. “Maybe
you should go ask her to dance and show these two
throwbacks a better way to win the battle of the sexes.”
“And let her trounce me twice in one day?” Duncan
gestured in Peg’s direction. “I believe that’s bachelor
number five walking away now, looking more shel -shocked
than I was this morning.”
“Sweet Christ,” Wil iam muttered. “The woman just
refused to dance with a fourteenth-century king of Prussia.”
“Who in hel are al these people?” Duncan asked,
looking around Inglenook’s crowded dining hal .
“Friends of Titus, mostly,” Wil iam said, “who aren’t about
to incur old man Oceanus’s wrath by not showing up to his
only son’s wedding.”
“I can’t believe he dared to put time-travelers in the same
room with modern locals,” Trace said, also glancing
around.
“And serve liquor,” Duncan added, just before taking
another sip of mead—because he real y needed another
good kick-in-the-ass. His knee was throbbing, the
scratches on his neck were burning under his col ar, and
social gatherings weren’t exactly his idea of a good time.
But like most everyone else here today—the smal party
from Midnight Bay plaguing him now likely the only
exception—Duncan wasn’t about to insult the younger
Oceanus, either, considering Mac was his meal ticket for
the next two years.
“Uh-oh, your target is on the move,” Wil iam said, his
gaze fol owing Peg Thompson and her ambushing children
as they headed for the buffet table. He nudged Duncan.
“Now’s your chance to show us how it’s done, MacKeage.
Go strike up a conversation with the lass.”
“Maybe you could offer to let her children sit in your earth-
moving machine,” Kenzie suggested. “That would show her
ye don’t have any hard feelings.”
“Kids and heavy equipment are a dangerous mix,”
Duncan growled, glaring at the three of them. “Don’t you
gentlemen have wives and a girlfriend you should be
pestering?” He elbowed Wil iam. “Isn’t that Maddy dancing
with the king of Prussia?”
“Oh, Christ,” Wil iam muttered, striding off to go reclaim
his woman.
Kenzie also rushed off with a muttered curse when he
saw his wife, Eve, start to breastfeed their young infant son
under a blanket thrown over her shoulder.
Trace Huntsman, however, didn’t appear to be in any
hurry to leave. “If it’s any consolation,” Trace said, “Peg
Thompson was more rattled by this morning’s attack than
you were. Maddy and Eve and my girlfriend, Fiona, were
there when Peg came to Olivia’s cottage. Fiona told me it
took the four of them over twenty minutes to calm her
down.” He shot Duncan a grin. “The women al promised
Peg they would have done the exact same thing if they’d
caught a stranger manhandling their child. Can I ask what
you were thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Duncan said. “I manhandle dozens of
children every time my family gets together. Everyone looks
out for everyone’s kids, making sure the little heathens
don’t kil themselves or each other. Hel , that’s the definition
of clan.”
Duncan tugged his col ar away from his neck as he eyed
the widow Thompson leading her gaggle of children back
to their table, each trying to reach it without spil ing their
plates of food. He sighed, figuring he probably better
apologize to her again, seeing how she owned the only
working gravel pit in the area.
Just as soon as Mac had hired him to do the resort’s site
work, Duncan had started cal ing around to find the closest
gravel pit to Spel bound Fal s. He would eventual y dig his
own pit farther up the mountain, but he needed immediate
access to gravel to start building the road. Duncan had
been relieved to discover that the Thompson pit was just a
mile from where the resort road would start, and that it had
a horseback of good bank run gravel. Only he’d also
learned Bil Thompson had been kil ed in a construction
accident three years ago.
Which is why a feather could have knocked him over this
morning as he’d stood beside his truck in the parking lot
changing his shirt, when he’d final y put two and two
together and realized he’d just pissed off the person he
wanted to buy gravel from. Assuming she’d even sel to him
now. And then even if she did, he’d likely be paying an arm
and a leg for every last rock and grain of sand.
“Which branch of the military were you in?” Trace asked.
Duncan looked down at himself in surprise. “Funny; I
could have sworn I left my uniform in Iraq.”
Trace chuckled. “You forgot to leave that guarded
look with it.” He shrugged. “It’s common knowledge that
every MacKeage and MacBain serves a stint in the
military.” He suddenly frowned. “Only I’ve never heard it said
that any of the women in your families have served.”
“And they won’t as long as Greylen MacKeage and
Michael MacBain are stil lairds of our clans,” Duncan said
with a grin. “It’l take a few more generations before we let
our women deliberately put themselves in harm’s way.”
Trace shook his head. “You real y are al throwbacks. You
must have a hel of a time finding wives. Or is that why
some of you resort to kidnapping?”
Duncan decided he liked Trace Huntsman. “There’s no
‘resorting’ to it; we’re merely continuing a family tradition
that actual y seems to work more often than it backfires.
And besides, it beats the hel out of wasting time dating a
woman for two or three years once we’ve found the right
one.”
“You don’t think the woman might like to make sure
you’rethe right one before she finds herself walking down
the aisle, wondering how she got there?”
Duncan shifted his weight off his knee with a shrug. “Not
according to my father. Dad claims time is the enemy when
it comes to courting; that if a man takes too long wooing a
woman, then he might as wel hand her his manhood on a
platter.”
Trace eyed him suspiciously. “Are you serious?”
“Tel me, Huntsman; how’s courting Fiona been working
for you?”
“We’re not talking about me,” he growled. “We’re talking
about you MacKeages and your habit of scaring women
into marrying you.”
“I did notice you managed to get an engagement ring on
her finger,” Duncan pressed on. “So when’s the wedding?”
Trace relaxed back on his hips and folded his arms over
his chest with a heavy sigh. “You don’t happen to have an
available cabin in Pine Creek, do you?”
Duncan slapped Trace on the back and started them
toward the refreshment table. “Considering Fiona is Matt
Gregor’s baby sister, I think you might want to look for a
cabin a little farther away. Hel , everyone within twenty miles
of Pine Creek heard Matt’s roar when he learned she was
openly living with you without benefit of marriage.”
Trace stopped in front of the large bowl of dark ale and
glared at Duncan. “A fact that has brought us ful circle back
to women being warriors. The only reason I’m stil alive is
because Fiona puts the fear of God into her brothers if they
so much as frown at me.” He looked at Peg Thompson,
then back at Duncan—specifical y at the scratch on his
cheek. “Trust me; the strong-arm approach won’t work on
any woman who can handle children. Not if a man values
his hide.”
Duncan refil ed his tankard. “Which is exactly why I’m stil
a bachelor,” he said, just before gulping down his third kick-
in-the-ass like a true highlander.
Chapter Three
Peg stared out the windshield of her van at Inglenook’s
main lodge, so disheartened that she couldn’t quit sobbing.
She had final y found a job that paid enough that she’d
final y be able to put a roof that didn’t leak over her
children’s head, yet here she was trying to pul herself
together long enough to quit. She couldn’t even give a two-
week notice, since the reason she was quitting was that
she couldn’t find affordable daycare for the twins. After
Jacob’s traumatizing incident Friday and her shameful
behavior Saturday, Peg had spent two sleepless nights and
al day Sunday wrestling with her decision to give her notice
first thing Monday morning.
And now it was Monday. And after a third sleepless night,
she stil couldn’t see any way around it, since Olivia had
hired her when Inglenook had been a family camp that
offered programs to keep her children occupied al day.
Only a little over a week ago that camp had closed when
Olivia’s ex-in-laws had sold the property to Mac and that
freaky earthquake had turned Bottomless Lake into the
ninth wonder of the world.
She stil had a job because a smal army of scientists
had replaced the campers, but now there weren’t any
organized activities for her children. And that meant this
was no longer a safe environment for the twins, and she
couldn’t in good conscience draw a salary when she’d have
to spend her time watching out for them instead of working.
And besides, she real y wasn’t needed anymore, since
several of Inglenook’s original staff from town were looking
after the scientists renting the cabins.
Dammit to hel , she needed this job!
What she didn’t need was to look out her kitchen window
every morning at her flooded gravel pit, especial y now that
she actual y had a chance to make money off it. Duncan
MacKeage had come to see her yesterday, but not finding
her home, he’d left his card tucked in her door with a note
on the back saying he wanted to speak to her about buying
gravel for Mac and Olivia’s resort road. Except most of the
pit was underwater thanks to that stupid fiord, and the Land
Use Regulatory Commission was pretty strict about
disturbing ground near a lake.
Peg wiped her eyes for the hundredth time since she’d
left Peter and Jacob with Bil y’s mom, and tried to take a
deep, steadying breath. Only she wasn’t surprised when
she failed yet again, considering she hadn’t taken a ful
breath since Bil y had died. Damn, she was tired of holding
it al together al by herself. She’d been fresh out of high
school when she’d signed on for happily-ever-after, never
dreaming she’d end up sleeping in an empty bed every
night and raising four children al by herself.
Not that she’d give one of them up, not even for al
the money in the world. Because what good was having
gobs of money if she didn’t have kids to take to the
Drunken Moose for Vanetta’s infamous cinnamon buns? Or
to dress in beautiful clothes that didn’t come from the thrift
shop? And what good was being able to stop driving al the
way to Mil inocket to spend her food stamps so no one in
town would know how desperate she was, if she didn’t have
children to worry about being—
Peg gave a startled yelp when the passenger door
opened and Olivia slid into the opposite seat.
“Sorry,” her friend murmured, folding her hands on her lap
and staring out the windshield. “I just wanted to see what
you found so fascinating that you’ve been sitting out here
for over ten minutes staring at the lodge.”
Peg buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.
“Hey!” Olivia cried, turning Peg to face her. “Have you
been out here crying al this time? Peggy!” she growled,
giving her a shake. “What’s wrong?”
“I … I have to quit my job.”
Olivia reared back in surprise. “Why?” She gasped. “Is
this about that little incident on Saturday? Because real y,
you had every right to go after Duncan MacKeage like you
did.”
“It wasn’t a littleincident; it was a violent and utterly
embarrassing attack.” Peg held up her hand to stop Olivia
from responding. “It was also a rude awakening. I can’t
work here now that Inglenook doesn’t have programs for
Peter and Jacob, or for Charlotte and Isabel once school
gets out. I can’t keep asking the girls to watch the boys,
because that’s not fair to any of them, and I can’t watch
them and do my job at the same time.”
“Then we’l come up with another plan.”
Peg shook her head. “I spent al weekend trying to
figure something out, and the only solution I came up with is
for me to quit.” She grasped Olivia’s hand. “And you don’t
real y need me anymore. You have enough staff to look
after the scientists.”
Olivia reversed their grip, giving Peg’s hand a squeeze.
“But you know I have to take Sophie to California so she
can donate bone marrow to little Riley, and I was counting
