Spellbound Falls (10 page)

Four years was a long time to mourn a husband who hadn’t been around all that much to begin with, and Mac wondered why the beautiful and still-vital woman hadn’t moved on by now. Was Olivia so dedicated to Inglenook—which was her daughter’s birthright as John and Eileen’s
only grandchild—that she didn’t dare make a new life for herself and daughter with another man? Or was she staying for some other reason?

Mac sighed, guessing that if he wanted to know what was going on behind those beautiful cinnamon eyes, he needed to know more about Olivia’s past.

Only that little miracle wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, was it?

Unless he could get Carolina to do a little snooping for him.

He folded his arms over his chest and scowled at the frozen lake. No; even if he could persuade her to help him, Carolina couldn’t access enough of the knowledge. Because according to Titus Oceanus, sons were destined to become their father’s heirs and daughters were destined only to provide those heirs to their husbands. Which was probably why, to this day, sons and daughters were still wrestling their fathers for control of their destinies—just as he and Carolina were continually fighting Titus for theirs.

Mac shoved his hands into his pockets. So far all he’d gained was a one-year reprieve from being forced to marry. And if in that time he couldn’t prove he was capable of being a good father to Henry, Titus would take the boy away from him and raise Henry himself.

Only Mac hoped the old man realized that in order for that to happen, he would have to rip the child out of his cold, lifeless hands.

His ears tuned to the conversation taking place in the backseat about the pros and cons of having a long tail on a kite versus no tail at all, Mac took note of Olivia’s intrinsic grace as she crossed the street and disappeared into the trading post she’d asked him to stop at on the way to their picnic.

The picnic he’d ironically ended up having to persuade Henry to go on.

But upon seeing Olivia’s poorly disguised relief at breakfast when his son had informed Sophie he couldn’t go on their picnic because he was going on a hike with his dad, Mac had immediately decided they should spend the day with the ladies instead. So he’d taken Henry aside and assured him their sword lesson was still on for tonight, explaining they would have plenty of time to locate a suitable clearing in the woods if they left right after dinner.

Deciding two adventures in one day was almost as exciting as waking up to find a small sheathed sword hanging on his bedpost this morning, Henry had returned to the table and told Sophie they would love to go with her and her
mama. Mac had bitten back a laugh as he’d watched Olivia’s shoulders slump, and smiled openly when she’d pulled her disappearing act again after muttering something about needing to go home and pack the lunch basket.

Mac knew he should feel bad about intruding where he clearly wasn’t wanted, but not only did the woman’s elusiveness spark his primordial desire to pursue her, but Olivia Baldwin also aroused his instincts to possess and protect.

Which should have been a problem, considering he was here to prove he’d put his wild bachelor ways behind him. But sometime in the early hours of his restless night’s sleep, Mac had started wondering why he’d assumed that parenting and pursuing women were mutually exclusive endeavors. He had to marry eventually, and he preferred to be the one choosing his bride. And there wasn’t any reason he couldn’t be a good father while he continued looking for a woman who wouldn’t run away screaming when she discovered who—or rather what—was asking for her hand in marriage.

Delia had known the
who
; it had been the
what
he hadn’t revealed to her.

So upon concluding that women were still fair game, Mac had fallen into a peaceful sleep—only to dream of pursuing a delectable little kitchen mouse with warm cinnamon eyes. And then this morning at breakfast, almost as if the gods were commending his reasoning by presenting him with the reluctantly offered invitation, he hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to take up his pursuit in earnest.

As for the possessive and protective instincts Olivia unwittingly brought out in him… well, could a tiger change its stripes? If Titus had managed to pass down only one indelible trait to his rebellious son, Mac would say it was his compulsion to protect anything or anyone that belonged to him—even if that possession was only temporary.

“Oh no, Simon’s back from Chicago!” Sophie suddenly cried, staring at the car pulling into a parking spot several places ahead of them. She grabbed the door handle and
looked at Mac. “I’ll be right back. I have to go in and warn Mom that he’s here.”

“Wait,” Mac said, hitting the lock button before she could get the door open. “You can’t just jump out into traffic. Why do you have to warn your mother that this Simon gentleman is in town?”

“So she can duck out the back door if he and Missy decide to go to Ezra’s before they go to the Drunken Moose for breakfast.” When Mac only arched a brow at her instead of releasing the lock, the young girl gestured impatiently toward the car. “Simon keeps bugging Mom to go out with him, and she doesn’t want to because he’s old and stuffy and… and full of himself.” She suddenly canted her head, her big brown eyes taking on a calculated shine. “Or
you
could go in and warn her instead. Simon wouldn’t dare ask Mom for a date if he thought you were her… if you were with her.”

The doors of the mud-splattered car opened, and Mac watched a middle-aged woman and gentleman get out. They stood speaking to each other for a moment, then both started walking across the street toward the trading post instead of the restaurant.

“Oh no, they are going to Ezra’s! Please, Mac, if you don’t want to pretend you’re Mom’s boy—that you’re like her date or anything, then at least let me go in and warn her. I’ll be careful crossing the road, I promise.”

Mac released the locks. “I believe we should all go in,” he said, getting out and opening Henry’s door, immediately taking the boy’s hand to hold him beside the truck.

Mac reached for Sophie when she got out behind Henry, but the girl tucked her hands behind her back. “I’m eight,” she said, her chin lifting defiantly. “I don’t need anyone to hold my hand to cross the road.”

“You do when your mother leaves you in my care,” he said, still holding out his hand. “If not for me, then do it as an example for Henry.”

“Just do it, Sophie,” Henry said. “We have to go save your mama again.”

Mac guessed it was the
again
that got the young girl to take his hand; either that or so she could drag him toward the store.

“I suppose your mother has a lot of men… bugging her for a date,” Mac said as they crossed the nearly deserted street. “Does she ever say yes to any of them?”

“Only Simon bugs her, because none of the other men around here are brave enough to ask her out.” Sophie released him the moment they reached the other side. “Gram says it’s because they don’t dare.”

Mac took hold of her jacket sleeve to stop her from opening the door and turned her to face him. “Why don’t they dare?” He smiled. “Are all the men afraid of your mother?”

“No, they’re afraid of my dad.” She nodded at his confusion. “When I saw Mom was all sad at our town Christmas party this year, I asked Gram why nobody was asking her to dance. And she said it was because all the men are afraid they won’t measure up to my dad because he was so handsome and strong and a war hero.”

Sophie started to open the door but stopped and looked up at him again. “I bet you wouldn’t be afraid to ask her out, but you can’t because you’re leaving in the fall. And besides, it’s against the rules to fran… to
frantinize
with the guests. But if you didn’t mind just pretending you’re her—that you and Mom are sort of a couple for the summer, Simon would leave her alone and she wouldn’t have to keep avoiding him.”

Mac opened the door and ushered Sophie and Henry ahead of him so they wouldn’t see his smile. Apparently he didn’t need Carolina to dig into Olivia’s past after all, since her daughter was such a bubbling fountain of information.

After whispering something to Henry, Sophie gave the boy a shove and the two of them ran off down separate aisles, clearly on a mission to find and subsequently save Olivia from her old and stuffy and full-of-himself suitor. The hunt might take them a while, though, Mac decided, as the store had quite a few aisles crammed full of everything from food
to clothes to camping equipment, as well as—according to the sign in front of him—night crawlers, live bait, and ice-cold beer.

Another sign said this was also the place to rent ice fishing shanties.

Seeing only Simon’s sister talking to a much older gentleman at the back counter, Mac stood very still for a couple of heartbeats and then headed toward the far right-hand side of the store—where he found Olivia trapped in an alcove crammed full of fishing gear, her escape cut off by his rival pursuer.

“Ah, here you are, sweetheart,” he said, reaching past the startled man to take hold of her jacket sleeve. “Our kids were getting worried you were taking so long.” He pulled her out of the alcove and wrapped his arm around her—ignoring her squeak when he snagged her against his side to keep her from bolting. “Did you find everything you need for our picnic?”

Only instead of trying to pull away like he expected, Olivia settled into him with a soft, feminine sigh. “I was looking for fishing line. Simon, this is Mac Oceanus. He and his son are guests at Inglenook. Mac, this is Simon Maher. He’s staying with his sister, Missy, who lives across the cove from us on Bottomless Lake until he buys a place of his own here in Spellbound Falls.”

Mac extended his free hand toward Simon. “Mr. Maher.”

After a false start the man shook Mac’s left hand. “Mr. Oceanus.” He frowned at Olivia. “I was under the impression Inglenook was closed for the next few weeks.”

“It is,” Mac said before she could answer. “And I’m more Olivia’s employee than her guest.” He looked down. “If you’re looking for line, does that mean our surprise destination involves ice fishing?”

Simon choked back a snort. “If your destination’s a surprise, I hope you have a good sense of direction, Mr. Oceanus.” He smiled tightly. “Olivia’s been known to… lose some of her guests occasionally. Accidentally, of course.”

Oh, yeah: Simon Maher was not at all happy.

Mac gave a chuckle. “I believe Olivia is discovering I’m not exactly an easy person to lose. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Maher. Maybe I’ll see you on the lake this summer. Come on, sweetheart,” he said, turning with her still tucked against him. “Let’s find our kids so we can get going. I’m starved.”

He was even more surprised when she still remained complacent as they headed toward the back of the store. And he’d swear she brushed her cheek on his jacket—the one she had finally if reluctantly returned this morning.

“Mom!” Sophie said, spotting them as she rounded the end of an aisle at a run. The young girl slid to a stop, her eyes widening and her cheeks turning a lovely pink at the sight of Mac’s arm around her mother. “It’s not what you think,” she whispered, darting a quick glance at the woman and older gentleman at the counter. “I was coming in to war—to get you, only Mac decided we should all come in.”

Olivia finally stepped out of his embrace and took Sophie’s hand, and started leading the girl up the center aisle toward the door—her intrinsic grace a bit stiff.

“Olivia, aren’t you going to introduce me to your gentleman friend?” the woman at the counter called after her.

When Olivia merely kept walking, Mac gave a slight bow. “Mac Oceanus,” he said with a congenial smile. “I’m Olivia’s new employee. And this is my son, Henry,” he added when the boy ran up to him. “Henry, I believe this nice lady is Miss Maher. She and her brother, Simon, live just across the cove from us.”

Henry also gave a slight bow. “Madam.” He looked around and then up at Mac. “I couldn’t find her, Dad. She must have slipped out the back door.”