Spellbound Falls (49 page)

“Hmmm.” Olivia also tapped her chin. “Let me think. Grampy Ezra,” she said, looking toward the stairs. “Isn’t there some old tradition that says the bride is supposed to give her new stepson a wedding present?”

Ezra’s eyes lit with laughter. “The way I recall it, she’s supposed to give the
entire
family a present. Especially if she happens to find herself with a sizable savings account she doesn’t need anymore.”

Olivia was suddenly a tad confounded herself. She’d scrimped and saved for more than six years to buy Inglenook, and she was afraid it was going to be a tad harder parting with her savings than it had been amassing it.

Wait; if Mac’s satchel of money was empty, exactly how were they supposed to build a fancy resort?

She was suddenly glad that a small army of oceanographers and geologists were arriving tomorrow to study Thursday’s phenomenon; renting them her cabins would at least
keep food on the table and make payroll for the skeleton crew she was keeping.

“It’s okay, Miss Olivia,” Henry said. “Just your marrying us is gift enough.”

Olivia immediately crouched in front of him. “But I want to buy you a horse, Henry, because Sophie’s right; not only isn’t it any fun riding alone, it’s not safe, either. So you’d really be doing me a favor by going along to watch out for her.”

She would swear his young chest expanded a good two inches. “I believe that would be very wise. And to repay you, I will get up every morning at the crack of dawn to water and feed the horses.”

“I’m afraid it’s going to have to be
before
dawn, sport,” she said, standing up and ruffling his hair. “Because first thing Monday morning, your daddy and I are signing you up for school.”

He gasped so hard he nearly fell over. “I’m going to
school
?”

“Oh no, Henry,” Sophie said, “you’re going to be in Isabel’s class.”

Henry started backing away, shaking his head. “I’m really not sure I’m ready for school, Miss Olivia,” he whispered, bumping into the steps and sitting down with a thud.

Sophie went over and sat down beside him, and patted his knee. “Don’t worry; Isabel can’t bug you in the classroom, and I’ll protect you during lunch and recess.”

Henry looked downright horrified as he stared at Sophie. “Girls don’t protect boys! It’s supposed to be the other way around.”

“Sure they do, young man,” Sam interjected, sitting down on the step above them beside Ezra. “Why, in some parts of the world, women . . .”

Olivia stopped listening to the conversation in favor of backing away to take in the entire scene, not stopping until she bumped into a big broad chest. She sighed when a pair of big strong arms encircled her, and melted against him. “Do you realize that in a matter of only a few days,” she said,
smiling at the lodge steps, “I went from being an orphan to having a huge family?” She glanced up at Mac, then back at the lodge. “Can you keep Sam safe, so he can stay?”

“It’s already done, Olivia. If his enemies continue pursuing Sam, the trail will lead them to a death certificate issued for Sergeant Kelly Waterhouse three years ago, and then to his grave in Arlington. And,” he said quietly when she sighed, “if you request a copy of your birth certificate, you will find Sam Waters Dodd listed as your father.”

She leaned her head back to look up at him. “You told me you used up all your magic moving the mountains.”

He shrugged, shrugging her with him. “Not all of it.”

She faced the lodge again, only to see Titus and Rana and Carolina emerge from the path leading from their cabin to join Sam and Ezra and the children on the steps. “I think we should give your parents the main lodge.”

“Why?” Mac asked, a slight growl in his voice. “Are you
deliberately
encouraging them to stay longer?”

“I can’t have your parents sleeping in a leaky cabin, Mac. All your mom’s clothes got wet during the hurricane because the roof needs to be reshingled.”

“Then give them your cottage. After Saturday, we’re going to be a family of
four
.”

Olivia laughed. “No, we’re going to be a family of
nine
.” She tilted her head back to smile up at him. “And that, husband, is the real magic that came to Spellbound Falls.”

LETTER FROM LAKEWATCH

Winter of 2012

Dear Readers,

Fairly early on in our marriage, my husband found out that a big strong hug cured just about any ailment a woman might have. Sadness, anger, frustration, fear, low self-esteem, hopelessness, bad hair—nothing stands a chance against a powerful hug.

Now I can’t imagine it’s easy to step up and hug an angry woman, but from the perspective of the person being hugged, I can tell you that love trumps anger every time—even when it’s the hugger the huggee is angry at.

It wasn’t long, however, before I discovered that I had unwittingly handed my husband a tool that has gotten him out of more than one uncomfortable situation, many of them not involving me. “Wow, this is powerful stuff,” Robbie told me one day, looking two inches taller as I suspiciously eyed the wet spot on his shirt. “She started crying and I didn’t know what to do, so I just hugged her.”

This particular
her
was our next-door neighbor who also happened to be our tenant at the time. She was a single woman with two dogs that had once again just frightened some children walking to the school bus, and the woman had finally reached the conclusion that the overly aggressive and very old dogs had to be put down before they ended up biting someone—hence the tears that had precipitated the hug.

And with that revelation forever etched into his psyche, Robbie has since gone on to hug eighty-year-old women, babies with boo-boos, total strangers at a yard sale, widows, orphans, nuns, and even the waitress who dumped dinner all over
me.
(Now, in case you’re worried about my husband going around hugging other women, he’s very careful not to hug the same one twice, lest
she
get the wrong idea and hugs him back, because… well, he claims taking care of me is a full-time job and he really doesn’t actively go looking for more trouble.)

But I feel I should caution you that hugging only works in one direction, because everyone knows that when a man hugs a woman she sees it as an emotional thing, but have a woman hug a man and he immediately thinks, “Hey, she’s touching me, so that must mean she wants to have sex with me
right now.”
Ladies, they’re
guys;
a smile means you want to have sex with them.

So, where am I going with this? Well, those of you who’ve read my books may have noticed that my big, strong, intimidating heroes give my heroines quite a lot of hugs. That’s because being the smart men they are, it isn’t long before they realize how well hugging works. And personally, I like men who are just that smart, so I write them that way because I can. Judging by the letters I get from readers, women the world over share the fantasy of big tough men being brought to their knees by the one woman who in turn is smart enough to love them for the
guys
they are.

Teach your man to hug. I promise it will be the best thing you ever do for your relationship. Just realize that once you give him such a powerful weapon, he’s liable to use it—preferably on you—every chance he gets.

Until later, from LakeWatch, you keep reading—and hugging—and I’ll keep writing.

Janet

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: tall, athletic build, short dark hair. Yeah, well, 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’ll 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 actually 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!”

When she saw him hesitate, Peg was alarmed that the guy intended to go after her daughter. Without even stopping to think, she lunged onto his back. “Put him down!”
she shouted, wrapping her arm around the bastard’s neck as she tried to pull Jacob off his shoulder with her other hand. “Or I swear I’ll 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 rolled out of the way, dragging Jacob with him.

Peg reared up to avoid Charlotte’s foot, which was 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 all 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 will 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, actually 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 called out, and Peg saw the girl pull 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 hell, she couldn’t believe they’d all just attacked the giant!

Mac hesitated, then relaxed his hold, letting her slip free to protectively hug all four of her children. “Mind telling 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 pulled 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
driving
your 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’ll—”

“Take it easy, mama bear,” Mac said, dragging her back against him again. “He was only concerned for Jacob’s safety. As well 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 stilled, 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 tall 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 jovially, shooting Peg a wink as he took over herding her children away when Mac pulled her to a stop. “I’ll have to remember to call 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.