Текст книги "Charmed by His Love"
Автор книги: Джанет Чапмен
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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
on youto look after Inglenook for me.” She blew out a sigh.
“Because Mac’s decided we’re making a road trip out of it
instead of flying. He wants Henry and Sophie to start feeling
like the four of us are a real family.”
“That’s wonderful,” Peg said more brightly than she was
feeling.
Olivia pointed to the right of the lodge. “Do you see the
nose of that … that bussticking out past the side of the
garage? That’s my wedding present from Mac, and for the
next two months it’s going to be my home.” She leaned
closer. “I swear it cost more than a house. Hel , half the
wal s slide out on either side, making it twice as wide when
we’re parked for the night. And it has granite countertops
and marble floors, two bathrooms, a washer and dryer, and
three televisions. Three! Why would anyone need three
televisions—al hooked up to satel ite, I might add—in an
RV?”
“Oh, Olivia, that’s wonderful. You’re going to see
America.”
“I can’t live in a bus for two months! I’l go nuts.”
“But it’s every mother’s dream to take her children on a
road trip across America. Think of al Henry and Sophie wil
experience.” Peg gave what she hoped was a cheeky
smile. “And I can’t imagine a better way to stay up close
and personal with your sexy new husband.”
“Are you insane?” Olivia whispered, looking horrified. “If I
don’t kil Mac before we reach the Mississippi River, I’l
probably shove him into the Grand Canyon.” She sighed
again, shaking her head. “I know it’s going to be an exciting
adventure, but I real y don’t want to leave Inglenook that
long.” She leaned back against her door, waving at the
windshield. “I just final y got this place al to myself; why in
hel would I want to leave it for two whole months?”
“Maybe because the farthest you’ve been from
Spel bound Fal s in over eleven years is Bangor?” Peg
pointed at her friend, shooting Olivia her I-mean-business
scowl. “The day after school gets out you are leaving in that
RV if I have to tie you to the roof.”
“Actual y, we’re leaving this Saturday. I’m pul ing Sophie
out of school early because Riley’s transplant is scheduled
for three weeks from now—which is why you can’t quit. I
need you here to hold down the fort so I actual y have a
home to return to.” She went very stil . “Wait, I know; we can
hire someone to watch your kids. There are plenty of
women around who’d love a job, and with your being right
here you won’t have to worry about what your little tribe of
heathens might be up to.”
Peg was shaking her head before Olivia even
finished. “Too much of my salary would have to go toward a
babysitter to make it worthwhile.”
“I’l pay her salary.”
Peg glared at her. “Nothing’s changed from two weeks
ago when I stormed up here to tel you that I’m not a charity
case. I’m not drawing a ful salary and getting free daycare
just because youcan afford it.” Feeling her face flush
with … with … dammit, she wasn’t a charity case! Peg
reached down and started the engine. “I’ve done what I
came here to do, so please get out of my van.”
“Peg,” Olivia whispered.
Peg pul ed her seat belt across her lap and snapped it
shut. “You can put my paycheck in the mail.”
Silence fil ed the van but for the uneven rattle of its
engine, until Olivia quietly got out and softly closed the door.
Peg slowly pul ed onto Inglenook’s main lane then pressed
down on the accelerator, pretending not to see Duncan
MacKeage waving at her as he left Mac in the parking lot
and started running to intercept the van—only to have to
jump out of the way when she sped past him in a blur of
blinding tears.
Duncan stood with his feet planted and his hands on his
hips, scowling at Peg Thompson fleeing from him. “What in
hel is up with that woman?” he growled when Mac walked
over. He pointed at the cloud of dust trailing in her wake. “If
that’s your idea of a good friend, Oceanus, I’d hate to meet
your enemies.”
Instead of answering, Mac arched a brow at Olivia as
she walked toward them. “Mind tel ing me what that was al
about?”
“Peg quit her job,” Olivia told him, though she was glaring
at Duncan.
“Because of me?” Duncan asked in surprise.
Olivia turned her glare on Mac. “Fix this,” she said,
gesturing toward the knol . “She needs this job even more
than I need her.”
“Then why did she quit?” Mac asked.
“Because she can’t afford daycare for the twins.” Olivia
went back to glaring at Duncan. “After what happened
Saturday, Peg doesn’t dare bring her children to work with
her anymore.” She looked back at Mac. “So fix this.”
“How?”
“I don’t care how.” She stepped in the shadow of her
husband, out of Duncan’s line of sight. “Pul a rabbit out of
your hat or something,” he heard her whisper tightly. “Better
yet, pul out a nanny. Because I’m not getting on that bus
until you fix this.”
Duncan smiled, realizing Olivia was asking her husband
to use his magic. And even though she was upset and
obviously desperate, she was also acutely aware that she
had an audience.
“You don’t have to whisper, wife,” Mac said. “Duncan
knows who I am. Al the MacKeages and MacBains and
Gregors do.”
“Then fix this,” she growled loudly.
“I’m sorry,” Mac said, slowly shaking his head. “It’s not my
place to interfere in people’s lives.”
Duncan didn’t quite manage to stifle his snort.
After glaring over his shoulder at him, Mac looked back
at his wife. “Peg’s journey is one shemust walk, Olivia. And for me to magical y clear the obstacles in her path would in
essence be robbing your friend of her free wil . It’s the trials
and tribulations people overcome and how they deal with
the ones they can’t that define a person.” Mac smiled
tenderly. “Just as you are empowering Sophie by letting her
save her half brother’s life, you must also al ow Peg to
empower herself.”
“Yeah, wel , that may be how they do things in
mythological Atlantis, but in Maine we helpeach other
through our trials and tribulations.” She stepped around
Mac and went back to glaring at Duncan. “So youfix this.”
“Me? Why should I be expected to fix something I didn’t
break? She’s your friend; you fix it.”
“I can’t,” Olivia snapped, pivoting away. “Because I have
to go spend the next two months in a bus with my ‘divine
agent of human affairs’ theurgist husband, who can turn an
entire state upside down but apparently can’t help my friend
find daycare.”
Duncan actual y took a step back when Mac turned
on him. “By the gods, MacKeage,” the wizard said quietly—
which sure as hel contradicted the wild look in his eyes. “I
have no intention of traveling across this country and back
with an angry wife. So fix this, dammit.”
“But I didn’t break it. I only just met Peg Thompson two
days ago.”
Mac glanced at Olivia stomping up the stairs to the
lodge, then turned back to Duncan with a heavy sigh and
scrubbed his face with his hands. He dropped them, the
wild look having been replaced by desperation. “Then help
me fix it.”
Holy hel ; the wizard was asking him—a mere mortal—for
help?
“Only we have to find a way that doesn’t involve
the magic,” Mac continued. He folded his arms over his
chest, looking thoughtful. “It’s my guess that Olivia is mostly
concerned that Peg needs the income, as Olivia’s father,
Sam, is more than capable of looking after Inglenook while
we’re gone. So I believe if we can find some way for Peg to
earn a decent living and stil look after her children, then my
wife won’t spend the next two months glaring at me.”
“Wel , hel ; if that’s al you need, then consider it fixed,”
Duncan drawled. “Peg Thompson owns a gravel pit, and
I’ve just spent the last two days trying to talk to her about
hauling out of it until I get far enough up the mountain to
open my own pit. The money I’l pay her this spring for
stumpage would be more than she could earn in two years.
And the best thing is she won’t have to lift a finger other
than to cash the checks.” He frowned. “Assuming that
horseback of gravel continues running west. When I was
there yesterday, I noticed most of the pit was flooded with
seawater.”
Mac stared at him, clearly nonplussed, and then shook
his head. “I specifical y cut the fiord along Peg’s land so
she would end up with valuable oceanfront property.” He
grinned. “I felt the pit would make a good marina.”
Duncan turned to head for his pickup. “So much for not
interfering in people’s lives,” he muttered.
“Where are you going?” Mac asked. “I thought we were
hiking up the mountain to decide where to position the
road.”
Duncan stopped and looked back. “It’l have to be this
afternoon. Right now I need to go place myself in front of the
widow Thompson so she can take another shot at me.” He
headed for his truck again. “Because with a little more
practice, I’m hoping she can final y finish me off and move
on to her next victim.”
“MacKeage.”
Duncan stopped.
“I believe you’l find that vein of gravel takes a sharp turn
north rather than continuing west.” Mac hesitated and then
stepped toward him, his bril iant green eyes turning intense.
“And I would consider it a personal favor if you kept an eye
on Peg and her children for me while I’m gone.”
Duncan stared at Mac in silence for several heartbeats,
uncertain if he was being given an imperial dictate or if the
powerful wizard was actual y asking. He final y nodded and
slowly walked away, wondering how he was supposed to
keep an eye on a woman he couldn’t even get near, much
less one who recklessly attacked a man nearly twice her
size.
Duncan pul ed his truck up behind the tired-looking minivan
and shut off the engine as he stared at Peg Thompson’s
house, which appeared to be in rougher shape than her
transportation. Although the dooryard was neat to a fault,
time and weather and basic neglect had obviously taken a
tol on the double-wide mobile home, and he was surprised
it hadn’t col apsed under the weight of this past year’s
record snowfal .
He climbed out of his truck and careful y looked around
like he had yesterday, half expecting to be ambushed again
if not by a smal tribe of heathens then at least by a dog. But
just like yesterday, he was greeted by silence. Which was
baffling, since practical y every house in Maine—especial y
if it sat back in the woods and was ful of kids—had one or
even several dogs in residence to discourage coyote and
bear and al manner of uninvited visitors, including two-
legged. Only the Thompsons didn’t even seem to have a
cat, judging by the squirrels coming and going through the
various holes in the eave of the house.
He took the porch stairs in one stride—mostly in fear the
steps wouldn’t support his weight—and knocked on the
storm door that was missing its top pane of glass. Oh yeah,
Peg Thompson would definitely sel him gravel.
Maybe he’d offer to have his crew do some minor repairs
on the house when he negotiated the price per yard, as wel
as point out that she’d have a working gravel pit again after
he cleared off the timber and topsoil to expand it. That way
he’d not only be sweetening the pot to get access to the
gravel he needed, but Mac would see that he real y was
looking out for Peg. It was a win-win for everyone, including
Olivia Oceanus. And having a wizard’s wife beholden to
him was definitely a good thing.
Hel , had he fixed their little problem or what?
Except once again it appeared no one was home, so he
couldn’t actual y execute the fix. Duncan turned and frowned
at the minivan. He could hear an occasional tick coming
from the engine as it cooled, and he was pretty sure the van
wasn’t an identical twin. So where in hel was she?
Again avoiding the porch steps, he headed around the
side of the house, figuring he might as wel check out the
north end of the pit while he was here. Only he hadn’t made
it halfway there before a gunshot suddenly cracked through
the air.
Holy hel , now she was shootingat him?
Duncan dropped to the ground and rol ed behind a rock,
then eyed the woods for movement where the shot had
come from as he tried to rein in his temper. Protecting her
children was one thing, and nearly running him down
because she was upset about quitting her job was another,
but shooting at him was outright hostile—not to mention
certifiably insane.
God dammit, he was pressing charges!
There; just inside the tree line, he could just make out her
silhouette. She slowly stepped into a stand of older trees
and Duncan saw she had a rifle up to her shoulder to shoot
again, her focus trained ahead of her. He took a calming
breath even as he frowned. The woman hadn’t been
shooting at him, but was hunting something. Only problem
being, it wasn’t open season on anything. Unless she was
after a coyote that had been hanging around, worried it
might be getting too close to her kids.
His respect for Peg Thompson went up a notch.
Apparently the lady didn’t discriminate between two– and
four-legged threats, but simply went after each with equal
fierceness. Yeah, wel , the protective mama bear was
about to be on the receiving end of an ambush. Duncan
rose to his feet and silently worked his way to where she’d
disappeared, tamping down a twinge of guilt for turning the
tables on her. But then, giving her a good scare might
actual y make her thinkbefore she attacked another man
nearly twice her size.
He stopped just inside the woods to let his eyes adjust to
the shadows the strengthening April sun cast against the
pine and spruce, and slowed his breathing to listen for
movement. Only instead of hearing a branch snap or leaves
rustle, he heard … Aw, hel , the woman was sobbing again.
Duncan silently moved closer, stopping behind a large tree
when he saw her kneeling beside the fal en deer.
“I’m sorry. I know it was a r-rotten trick to lure you here
with alfalfa pel ets,” she sobbed as she held the knife
poised over it. “But twelve dol ars for a bag of feed is a
heck of a lot cheaper than a hundred pounds of beef. I’m
sorry,” she cried, plunging the knife toward the deer’s neck
–only to drive it into the ground because she was shaking
so badly. Duncan suspected she couldn’t see very wel ,
either, since she was crying so hard. He watched her wipe
her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, then raise the
knife as she sucked in a shuddering breath, apparently
steeling herself to have another go at the deer.
He stepped forward and caught her wrist, ignoring her
shriek of surprise as he used his grip to pul her off balance
when she spun toward him. “Take it easy, mama bear,”
he said, capturing her other swinging fist, then deftly
sidestepping when she tried to kick him. “I’m not the
enemy.”
“Let me go!” she cried, tugging against his grip.
“Not while you’re stil holding a sharp object.”
She immediately opened her hand and Duncan plucked
the knife away, stifling a smile when she lunged at the rifle,
then cried out in frustration when she discovered his boot
was holding it down. He picked up the rifle as she jumped
to her feet and backed away with her hands bal ed into fists
at her sides.
“You scared the daylights out of me!”
“Yeah, ambushes have a tendency to do that to a
person,” he drawled, sliding the knife in his belt at his back.
He looked down at the deer between them, then arched a
brow at her. “You do know you’re about six months shy of
deer season, don’t you?”
Her face went from blistering red to nearly white even as
her chin lifted defiantly.
“And they probably heard that gunshot clear into town,”
he continued when she remained mute. He canted his
head. “Then again, maybe you aren’t worried about the
hefty fine for poaching because you’re sleeping with the
local game warden.”
She gave him a thunderous glare and pivoted on her heel
and walked away.
Duncan dropped his head with a muttered curse,
wondering what he was doing antagonizing her. But
dammit, he was stil angry from thinking she’d been
shooting at him. His stint in the military had ended over five
years ago, but some instincts—say, the instinct to survive—
didn’t go away when a man took off his uniform.
He sighed to expel the last of his anger, and watched
Peg Thompson skirting her flooded gravel pit on her way to
her house. “Bring back some plastic bags and any bins you
might have,” he cal ed after her. “And a hacksaw,” he
added when she stopped and simply stared at him in
silence. “You want to stand there and think it to death,” he
continued, “or let me help you get this guy cut up before
school gets out?”
She continued staring for several more seconds,
then turned and started running. Duncan dropped to his
knees with a snort and pul ed the knife out of his belt. He
hoped like hel she wassleeping with the game warden,
because if he got caught butchering an il egal deer, he was
taking the hefty fine out of her first check. And then he
intended to take being labeled a poacher out of the
contrary woman’s decidedly feminine hide.
Chapter Four
Peg slammed into her house and immediately ran into the
bathroom and threw up, then col apsed onto the edge of the
tub to hug herself. She didn’t know which had rattled her
more, that Duncan MacKeage had scared the daylights out
of her or that he’d caught her poaching. Low-life criminals
shot deer out of season, and if Duncan didn’t turn her in to
the authorities he would at least run back to Inglenook and
tel Mac and Olivia that he now had proof she was crazy.
Except he’d told her to get some bins and a saw, so did
that mean he was going to become an accomplice to her
crime? Or was he just being nice to get her gravel?
Only she didn’t have any gravel to sel him, did she, since
that stupid earthquake had flooded her pit with seawater.
For the love of God, there were actual tides.
Peg stood up and stepped over to the sink to splash
water on her face and rinse out her mouth. Why in hel did
she keep thinking she should know someone named
MacKeage from Pine Creek?
She’d been to TarStone Mountain Ski Resort in Pine
Creek—twice, actual y. Once over February vacation her
senior year, when their high school basketbal team had
been so bad they hadn’t even made it to the tournament,
and al the seniors had decided to go skiing as a
consolation prize. And she and Bil y had honeymooned at
TarStone, which they’d been able to afford only because it
had been off-season.
Peg walked to the kitchen, deciding she must have heard
the name MacKeage on one of her trips. And she did recal
a good number of people at the resort and in town spoke
with a slight Scottish brogue like Duncan’s, and that she
and her girlfriends had found it quite sexy—although Bil y
hadn’t been amused when she’d asked him to please rol
his Rs on their honeymoon.
Peg picked up her pace when the cuckoo clock her in-
laws had given them for a wedding present announced she
only had four hours before she had to catch the school bus
in town on her way to her mother-in-law’s to pick up the
boys. She dug through the pantry for a couple of bins and
grabbed the box of freezer bags she’d bought specifical y
for the deer. Setting the bags in the bin, she added a large
cleaver—because she didn’t have time to hunt through the
garage for a hacksaw—then tossed in several hand towels
and a bar of soap before she rushed back out the door.
She stopped on the deck at the sight of the large pickup
sitting behind her van, and drew in a shuddering breath.
She’d never seen it before, but if it were red instead of dark
green, it could have been an identical twin to her late
husband’s truck. Bil y’s pickup had also worn several layers
of mud and road dust and a company emblem on the door,
its cargo bed crowded with a diesel fuel tank and large
toolbox. Except their emblem had said Thompson
Constructioninstead of MacKeage.
The pickup had been the first thing she’d sold after Bil y
had been kil ed, so her heart would stop lurching every time
she’d drive in the yard before she remembered he wasn’t
home. But it had been when she’d caught Isabel—who’d
only been three at the time—glaring up at the driver’s door
with fat tears streaming down her cheeks as she’d shouted
to her daddy to come home now that the sheer force of
Bil y’s death had brought Peg to her knees.
She repositioned the bins on her hip, careful y
walked down her rickety old stairs, and ran along the
shoreline and up the steep bank to the woods. She came to
a stop and took a calming breath when she saw Duncan
kneeling beside the deer, his jacket off and his sleeves
rol ed up as he expertly dealt with the animal.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said, setting down the
equipment and kneeling across from him. She held out her
hand. “I can take over now.”
He rol ed the already skinned animal over and
began butchering it with obvious experience. “Thanks, but I
prefer you unarmed.”
Peg ducked her head, figuring he deserved a couple of
cheap shots after what she and her kids had done to him.
Good Lord, those were herclaw marks on his neck, and
she hadn’t missed that he’d been limping at the wedding.
“I’m sorry we attacked you the other day,” she whispered.
“And first chance we get, my children wil apologize to you,
too. They … We’re more civilized than that.”
He sat back on his heels, his steady green eyes
darkening with concern. “You also might want to have a talk
with them about confronting strange men, because the next
guy might actual y retaliate.”
Peg felt her cheeks heat again. “Don’t worry; they got the
lecture of their lives that night. The card you left in my door
mentioned you want to buy gravel,” she said, deciding it
was time to change the subject. She gestured toward the
pit. “But as you can see, it’s underwater.”
He used the knife to point at the far end of the pit. “Do
you own the land to the north? How far back?” he asked
when she nodded.
“I have a hundred and eighty-four acres, almost al of it
running up that hil side.” She shook her head. “But the
horseback runs east to west, and my land stops three
hundred yards in the woods to the west of the pit.”
He went back to butchering the deer. “Would you mind if I
brought over my excavator tomorrow and dug a few test
holes to the north? There’s a good chance that vein of
gravel runs up the hil side as wel .”
Peg’s heart started pounding with excitement. Oh God, it
would be the answer to her prayers if it did. That is, until she
remembered she now owned lakefront property. “It doesn’t
matter which direction it runs,” she said, her shoulders
slumping. “The Land Use Regulatory Commission wil
never let you expand the pit because of the fiord.” She
snorted and opened the box of freezer bags. “Up until last
week, I lived nearly two miles from the lake.”
“Let me deal with LURC and getting the permits,” he
said, holding out several steaks and nodding for her to
open one of the bags. “I’l find a way to meet the required
setbacks.” He arched a brow. “Assuming we can settle on
a price.”
Peg set the steaks in the bin and grabbed another bag,
her heart pounding again. “I guess that would depend on
how many yards you’re looking to buy.”
His eyes suddenly lit with amusement. “Thirty wheeler
loads a day, five days a week for at least two months—or
maybe even wel into summer if I have to go al the way up
the mountain before I find decent gravel on Mac’s land. And
I was thinking two dol ars a yard is a fair price for everyone
concerned.”
Peg jumped to her feet and actual y stumbled backward.
Two dol ars a yard! And with twelve yards in a wheeler,
times thirty trips a day … Holy hel , that was seven hundred
and twenty dol ars a day!
She suddenly stiffened, crumpling the plastic bag in her
fist. “Do you think I just crawled out from under a rock, or
that because I’m a woman I don’t know what gravel costs?
I’m not letting you pay me two dol ars a yard!”
Duncan MacKeage also stood up, his amusement gone.
“Two fifty then, but not a penny more.”
“No!” Peg said on a gasp, taking a step back—until she
realized what she was doing and stepped forward and
pointed toward her house. “You can just get in your truck
and drive back to Inglenook, Mr. MacKeage, and tel Olivia
that I don’t appreciate being played for a fool!”
“What in hel are you talking about? Two-fifty a yard is a
damn fair offer. And what’s Olivia got to do with this,
anyway?” He thumped his chest. “I’m the one signing the
checks, not the Oceanuses, so it’s my profit you’re trying to
gouge.”
“Then I’l tel youthe same thing I told Olivia; I am not a
charity case!” she al but shouted, bolting for the house.
“Oh, no you don’t,” he muttered, catching her within three
strides. He turned her around to face him, his hands on her
arms tightening against her struggles. “Peg, listen to me,”
he said calmly. “I think we have our wires crossed.” He
relaxed his grip when she stil ed, but didn’t let her go.
“What’s youridea of a fair price?”
“There isn’t anyone in a hundred miles of here who would
pay more than a dol ar for stumpage.” She started
struggling again when he smiled. “So if Olivia told you to
offer me two fifty, you can just go back and tel her that I
don’t want or needher charity.”
“Aw, Peg,” he said, letting her go and stepping away. “I
don’t think Olivia even knows I want to buy gravel from you.”
Peg bal ed her hands into fists to counter the tingling in
her arms from where he’d held her. “Then why did you offer
me twice the going rate?”
“Because the going ratejust rose in direct proportion to
your pit’s proximity to the new Bottomless Sea, or don’t you
realize the building boom that’s going to fol ow that
underground saltwater river here? Hel , a year from now
you’l be kicking yourself for sel ing me gravel for only two
bucks a yard.”
“Two fifty,” Peg quickly corrected, her heart pounding
with excitement again.
“God dammit, you were expecting to get a dol ar.” He
stepped toward her. “Two dol ars even, and I’l throw in
a couple of days’ labor from my crew to make some minor
repairs on your house.”
She had to crane her neck to look him in the eye
because he was so close, and she shook her head. “Two
twenty-five a yard and I get the logs from the hil side. And I
want them neatly stacked in my driveway so I can have a
portable sawmil come cut them into lumber.” She shot him
a tight smile. “You can have the pulpwood.”
He folded his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing.
“I’ve already worked out my deal with the logger I’ve hired to
clear the road up the mountain.”
“Then renegotiate with him. I want those sawlogs.”
“Okay, if you’l settle on two dol ars a yard.”
Peg pointed at the hil side. “That gravel is al that’s
standing between me and prostitution,” she growled, only to
cover her mouth with a gasp when his jaw slackened.
“Destitution! It’s al that’s standing between me and
destitution!” she cried, splaying her hands to cover her
blistering face.
“Okay, then,” he said, sounding like he was fighting back
laughter, “for the sake of men everywhere, I’l give you two
twenty-five a yard for the gravel, along with any logs we cut
on your land.” She jumped in surprise when he lowered her
hands and held them in his. “And I’l do some repairs on
your house,” he continued, the amusement in his eyes
contradicting his serious tone, “for your promise not to
attack me again—or any of my crew.”
Peg was tempted to give her promise aftershe kicked
the laughing jerk.
Apparently he was a mind reader, because he suddenly
let her go and stepped back, then held out his right hand.
“Deal?” Only just as she started to reach out, he pul ed it
back. “With exclusive rights to your gravel,” he added, al
trace of amusement gone. “If I’m going through the trouble
of expanding your pit, I want to be the only one hauling out
of it.”
Hel , for two dol ars and twenty-five cents a yard he could
camp out in her pit for al she cared. She extended her
hand. “Deal.”
He shook it, then swapped it to his left hand and started
leading her back up the knol . “We’l get the deer in your
freezer, and then I have a purchase agreement in my truck
that I need you to sign.”
“Um … don’t take this the wrong way, okay?” she said,
moving to the other side of the deer and kneeling beside
the bin once he let her go. “But am I supposed to keep
track of how many loads you haul?” She felt her face
redden at his intense stare. “I … My husband never sold
stumpage because he wanted the ful price he got by
hauling the gravel himself, so I’m not real y sure how this
works.” She shrugged. “I’ve only sold an odd load here and
there in the last three years, when someone needed to
patch a camp road or fix their driveway.”
He knelt down with a heavy sigh. “I know you don’t know
anything about me, but even if you weren’t a personal friend
of Mac and Olivia’s, I value my reputation as an honest
businessman a hel of a lot more than a few stolen loads of
dirt. I’l keep track of every load that leaves your pit and
personal y deliver you a tal y slip and a check every Friday
afternoon. And when I’m done hauling I’l make sure your pit
is safe, so you won’t have to worry about any steep banks
caving in on your children.”
Peg dropped her gaze. “Thank you,” she said, pul ing
another bag out of the box.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, okay?” he said,
amusement in his voice again. “But can you tel me what
precipitated your family’s little attack on Saturday? I got the
impression you al thought I was some man who had scared
your son.”
“Jacob—he’s the younger of the twins—had a run-in with
one of the scientists the day before, and it was al I could do
to get him back to Inglenook that morning. From what
Jacob told me, the guy caught him trying to climb up on the
submarine and pul ed him off and started dragging him
toward the lake, saying he was going to use him for shark
bait. Jacob’s only four, and the poor kid believed the
bastard.”
Duncan stopped cutting, the look in his eyes making Peg
lean back. “That morning you said you thought I was
Claude; is he the bastard?”
“I … I’m not sure. But one of the interns told me Claude
doesn’t have much use for kids. Or women,” she said with a
smile, hoping to get that look out of his eyes. She reached
out and touched his arm when she saw his jaw tighten. “It
doesn’t matter anymore, Duncan. Jacob’s not going back
to Inglenook while the scientists are there.”
He started cutting steaks off the deer again, rather
aggressively, she noticed. “You’re not afraid that keeping
