Spellbound Falls (6 page)

Mac broke out in a sweat. Henry wasn’t merely walking and talking like him; his son even
thought
like he did!

How could he have forgotten that people became who they lived with?

Especially impressionable young children.

There were a lot of things he’d forgotten, apparently, about the inherent nature of man—which, considering his line of work, could be hazardous. But indulging in the more pleasurable aspects of human desires for the greater part of his adult life, Mac realized he had obviously dismissed as unimportant many of the more mundane laws governing the universe.

Nothing like having a son to put everything into perspective.

Yes, for as much as he hadn’t wanted to travel even this short a distance from the ocean, bringing Henry to Inglenook just might prove to be one of the wisest decisions he’d made in several centuries.

The moment they crested the final knoll that brought Inglenook’s main lodge into view, Olivia spotted Eileen helping John climb up into the passenger seat of their van. And judging by the look of relief on their faces when they realized she was in the SUV, it was obvious they had been coming to search for her. Giving them a wave to show that she was fine, Olivia directed Mac to continue along the narrow lane winding its way through the high peninsula studded with old-growth pines.

She had originally wanted to put Mac in cabin three nearer the main lodge, so he and Henry wouldn’t have so far to walk before the dining hall opened in three weeks, as well as because the smaller cabin was a good fit for them. But considering the size of the check he’d sent—most of which was already spent—Eileen had felt Mr. Oceanus deserved their most secluded cabin that sat right on the lake, since it was going to be his and Henry’s home for the next six months.

Only instead of heading out onto the peninsula, Mac pulled into the driveway leading up to the lodge, stopped behind the van, and shut off the engine. Olivia got out with a
sigh, wondering why she bothered to open her mouth if no one listened to her.

“What’s going on?” Eileen asked, rushing over as John followed on his crutches. “Livy! What happened to your face?”

“In a minute,” she said, turning to grab the opening back door. “Sophie, why don’t you take Henry over to cabin ten and show him where he’s going to be staying?”

Sophie started to hand Olivia her backpack, but suddenly passed it to Eileen instead. “Mom hurt her wrist when she fell, Gram, so could you take this for me?” She turned as soon as she was relieved of the burden. “Come on, Henry. The grown-ups will probably talk forever, so we can stop by and see Tinkerbelle on the way.” She headed toward the barn. “And if you promise to be gentle, I’ll let you hold her babies.”

Olivia watched young Henry start after Sophie but wasn’t surprised when the boy suddenly stopped and turned to Mac, who was just walking around the front of his truck. “Father?” Henry asked.

“It’s okay, son; you can go with Sophie. Just remember to assure the mother that your intentions are good before you pick up her kittens.”

“And you two stay away from both of the lakes,” Olivia called after them as they took off at a run. “The ice is already rotting along the shoreline of Whisper.”

“What happened?” John asked the moment they were out of earshot. “Mark came flying in here like a bat out of hell and drove straight to the bunkhouse. He threw his things in his truck, shoved the water heater out of the back of it, and was gone before I could get over there to see what was going on.”

“What happened to your face?” Eileen whispered, eyeing Olivia’s swollen lip. Her gaze darted to Mac, then back to her. “You look like you were… did Mark hit you?”

“He tried to rape her,” Mac said before she could answer.

Her in-laws turned to him, Eileen with a gasp and John’s eyes hardening in anger as they both looked back at her.

“Eileen, John, this is Mr. Oceanus,” Olivia said with a tight smile. “He and Henry were driving by when… while Mark… when he…” She stuffed her hands in the pockets of the jacket, unable to admit—even to herself—that she’d nearly been raped.

“And you just let the bastard go?” John growled, his question directed at Mac.

“Not by choice,” Mac said. “It would appear your daughter-in-law doesn’t believe in holding a ‘dumb kid’ accountable for his actions.”

Eileen sighed so hard Olivia felt her hair move as her mother-in-law wrapped an arm around her. “Oh, Livy, you’ve always been too damned softhearted for your own good. Good Lord, you’re shaking like a leaf.” Only because she’d started shivering again when she’d spotted Mark speeding toward them from Inglenook, his face filled with fear as he’d nearly driven into the ditch when they’d passed each other on the narrow dirt road.

“Let’s go inside and get some hot tea into you.” Eileen tightened her arm around Olivia. “Please come in, Mr. Oceanus, so we can properly thank you.”

Her rescuer fell into step with John hobbling beside her on his crutches. “I prefer you call me Mac. And could you also tell Henry how he should address all of you, as I’m unsure what to advise him.”

Eileen stopped. “Everyone here is on a first-name basis, Mac, especially the children. All of our staff wear name tags, and the first few days of each session we encourage our guests to wear the conference badges we give them.” Her smile widened. “We should probably have some name tags made for you and Henry, since the two of you will practically be permanent fixtures here for the next six months.”

Mac bowed ever so slightly, though Olivia noticed his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Apparently Maximilian Oceanus wasn’t all that keen on running around with his name plastered on his chest.

Still hugging Olivia, Eileen headed up the walkway to the lodge. “I told you the moment I met him there was something
odd about Mark,” she said quietly. “And the worst part is you
agreed
with me. But you kept him on against my better judgment anyway, claiming you couldn’t very well have him drive all the way from Georgia just to fire him.” She gave Olivia a squeeze. “I can’t believe you allowed that bastard to drive away after what he did to you.”

Olivia let herself be led up the stairs like a child, wondering how they’d gone from Mark to
her
being the idiot.

Sitting on the bathroom floor of cabin six, a pipe wrench in one hand and an opened book on home repairs in the other, Olivia scowled at the pipes coming out of the leaky water heater crammed in the closet between the shower and equally leaky toilet. She’d given herself one hour to change out the heater, a half hour to replace the wax ring on the toilet, twenty minutes to tidy everything up afterward, and ten minutes to deal with any surprises. Only that schedule was blown to hell now, seeing how it had taken her thirty minutes crawling around under the cabin to find the water shutoff that some diabolical plumber had placed
under
the floor.

She glanced down at the step-by-step pictures in the book, then at the heater, then at the pictures again—not one of which looked anything like the maze of pipes in front of her. She snapped the book closed and tossed it on the floor, crawled onto her hands and knees and squeezed into the closet, and fitted the pipe wrench over the corroded brass… thingy on the bottom side of the tank. Maybe she’d have better luck figuring out how to plumb in the new heater after she got rid of the old one.

Of course it couldn’t be simple; she couldn’t see what she was doing because her body was blocking the light, the brass thingy wouldn’t budge once she finally got the wrench adjusted over it, and she was pretty sure she was stuck. Twisting like a contortionist didn’t help, and neither did cursing. And just when she thought nothing else could go wrong, Olivia realized someone was standing behind her.

“I swear to God, John,” she growled, trying but failing to get unstuck. “You step one toe in this bathroom and I’m throwing your crutches in the lake.”

She heard a masculine chuckle. “Maybe if you had used that tone on your employee yesterday you wouldn’t have needed my help.”

Olivia shot backward out of the closet so fast she would have slammed into the opposite wall if a large hand hadn’t gotten between it and her head at the last second.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you,” Mac said, crouching down on his heels to smile at her. “You weren’t at breakfast.”

Olivia shuddered, though she was unsure if it was from the thought of breakfast or that new gleam in Mac’s eyes she couldn’t quite read. “I skipped breakfast this morning. I don’t particularly like tofu pretending to be sausage, and I hope if you don’t either that you shared your opinion with Eileen.” She smiled, trying to disguise how disconcerted he made her. “I’m afraid the real reason we let you and Henry come early is because Eileen needed a couple of guinea pigs for her new menu.” She shook her head. “It’s one thing to serve all-organic food, but I don’t know why she feels it has to be low-fat, too. I’ve warned her that we’re going to have a rebellion on our hands the first week we’re back in session if she insists on serving that stuff.”

Good Lord; there she went talking nonstop again! What was it about this man that turned her into a nervous ninny?

“Don’t worry,” he said, that gleam intensifying. “Henry voiced his opinion. Eileen told me she thought you were cleaning cabin eight, but when I finally
found
cabin eight it was empty.” He arched a brow. “Is there a reason all your cabins are numbered out of order?”

He’d been looking for her? “They’re numbered according to when they were built. And I’m sorry I forgot to return your jacket yesterday,” she flat-out lied, figuring he’d been looking for her because he wanted it back sometime before summer.

But as pathetic as it seemed in the stark light of day, she
had in fact slept with his jacket spread over her blankets, unable to resist the feel of its substantial weight holding her all night—even as she’d fantasized it had been the man who owned it instead.

So much for not being a lonely widow.

She tried getting to her feet. “It’s on a peg at home. I’ll go get it for you.”

He placed one large hand on her shoulder to stop her. “There’s no hurry. That’s not the reason I was looking for you.” He sat down on the floor beside her and gestured at the water heater. “John and Eileen spent most of breakfast worrying that you don’t have anyone to help you get Inglenook ready for the upcoming sessions.”

Olivia looked down, saw that her jeans were filthy from crawling under the cabin, and brushed at the dirt. “I plan to go into town this afternoon to see if I can find someone local who might be willing to work with me for a few weeks.” She sighed. “Although anyone who would have been available is already helping the sporting camps’ owners get ready for the summer tourist season.”

He picked up the book she’d tossed on the floor, looked at its title and then at the water heater, then over at her. “John mentioned that might be a problem for you, so I said I’d be willing to fill the vacancy.” He grinned. “Eileen immediately hired me, and after offering to take Henry to town with her and Sophie, she told me to report to work.”

Olivia could only gape at him. Eileen had
hired
him?

He actually reached over, placed his finger under her chin, and lifted her mouth closed. “Should I assume from your expression that you can’t quite picture me doing an honest day’s work, Olivia?” he asked quietly.

“Huh? No, of course not. I just figured that for you an honest day’s work would be in a boardroom, not down on your hands and knees in mud,” she said, gesturing at her pants as she dropped her gaze. “And we can’t even come close to paying what you’re used to.” She forced herself to look at him again and even managed to smile, albeit sheepishly. “I already spent the check you sent us, so I can’t exactly
give some of it back to let you work for room and board.”

If her smile had been sheepish, his was downright smug. “What if I said I’d be willing to work for extra parenting advice?”