Shiloh shook his head yet again. “That didn’t go so well last time.”
Katy chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But we survived, huh? Even had ourselves an adventure.”
“I don’t think I like adventure.”
She took a deep breath. The kid meant to put her through her paces today. A memory flashed through her mind, and her spirits lifted. “We had some fun that day, didn’t we? Remember we even saw that bald eagle?”
Shiloh’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah! That was really cool. I wish we could have spent more time with him. His name is Telos, right?”
“That’s right. He’s a very special eagle.”
He scooted a little closer on the bench. “Special how?”
Wow, the kid was a bird lover for sure. She’d have to remember to lead with that in the future. “Well, I think he has powers, and he uses them to protect the forest and the people in it.” She purposely avoided the “god” word, since it might complicate what was basically a simple idea.
“Is he like a superhero?”
Katy shrugged. “Sort of. Except superheroes are fictional, made up by writers and artists. Telos is definitely real.”
Shiloh let out a long, slow sigh. “I wish I knew where to find him,” he breathed.
“Well, that’s the thing, you don’t find him. He finds people in trouble and helps them.”
The boy nodded and looked back out into the woods again. Katy watched his wheels turn for a moment, then decided he needed a distraction. “Do you remember me talking about my cousins who are about your age and live near here?”
“Yeah,” he said without looking her way.
“How about if I arrange for them to come and meet you?”
Shiloh pursed his lips and squinted into the distance. Just as it seemed like his thoughts might have wandered off, he said, “I’ll bet they’d like to see my chickens.”
Katy laughed, big and loud. This kid was something else. “I’m sure they would. I predict you’ll all be instant friends.”
Decision made, he glanced up at her with bright eyes. “Maybe they’ll even want to help me collect the eggs. Sometimes there are even blue ones!”
Her laughter continued as she reached over to ruffle his hair. “They’ve seen an egg or two in their day, my friend, but I have no doubt you three will find your own sort of excitement.”
Chapter Twenty
When Katy walked into the station the next morning, it felt like she’d been gone years instead of days. So much had changed, tiny shifts she couldn’t exactly define but that seemed to leave monumental waves in their wake. She glanced around her, taking in the shine and power of the equipment, the organization and purpose in their arrangement, and the health and strength of her team. And they were her team, she realized. Instead of waiting for them to choose her, she’d chosen them—and this life—with her return.
Of course, before they could do any of the important work together, she had to face the elephant-sized hurdle in the room—the fact that she’d quit on them, for reasons that, to them, must range from silly to nonexistent. Though she’d practiced in her bathroom mirror all morning, she knew she ran the risk of alienating them even more than when she’d first started, if her behavior the other day hadn’t already done so.
Seeing Gretchen near one of the buses, refilling supplies in the kits, she decided to start there. While she would never characterize them as close, they had bonded here and there in a way she hadn’t with any of the guys, so maybe that might buy her a little leeway.
“Morning,” she called out, much more exuberantly than intended.
Gretchen raised her brows and gave her a wary side-eye. “Hey,” she said.
“Need any help?”
“Nope. Just about done.”
Katy nodded, hopes quickly deflating. Maybe she should just plunge in and apologize. Get it over with. “So . . . I feel like I need to—”
“Listen,” Gretchen said, a halting hand in the air, “no offense, but I can’t work the checklist and carry on a conversation.”
“Oh, sure. Right. Sorry.” Katy nodded as she backed away. “We’ll talk later.”
Gretchen’s expression twisted into a smirk. “Jeez, MacBain. You had a day off yesterday. You couldn’t have gotten your talking out of your system then?”
The station stilled around her. Day off? She stared at Gretchen until it got weird, then found the best smile she could manage. “That would have been smart, wouldn’t it?” she fudged. “Moving along.”
“’Preciate it. Chief wants everything shipshape by the time he gets back.”
The “where did he go” question blossomed, but Katy made herself bite it back. She, better than anyone, already knew that answer. He had a lot to do, what with his new house and his total lack of furniture. Moving would be easy but getting ready for Aunt May would likely not. She didn’t blame him for taking the day off.
On that subject, though, her mind tripped over itself again. Gretchen acted like she’d simply been enjoying scheduled PTO instead of lying in the bed she’d made when she’d stomped off the job. Maybe Gretchen had actually had PTO, or maybe she just hadn’t taken part in the gossip.
Curious, Katy set off to see who else was at the station. She walked into the kitchen, mostly for information but also for coffee, and found Welles, Paul, and Ike clustered around the table. Apparently they weren’t as worried about Gunnar’s “shipshape” directive.
“Hey, guys,” she said, grateful for the distraction of the coffeepot. She peeked at them as she poured, eager for clues.
“Yo.” Welles gave her a small salute and a decent-sized smile.
She took a little breath and tended to cream and sugar.
“Morning,” Ike grumbled, sounding like ordinary Ike.
Just as Katy took another breath, inching her way to relief, Paul looked up and caught her eye. “About time,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Her nerves flared like a grease fire. There it was, the moment. She’d come to the kitchen to face it, and the fire wasn’t going to put itself out, so that made it go-time. “Let me sit first,” she told him.
Pursing his lips with almost comic annoyance, Paul watched and waited. “You situated, princess?”
Katy winced. She’d pissed him off. That made sense. Only he and Gretchen had been there, and she’d bailed before transport and paperwork, which wasn’t cool. And then she’d bailed on the department entirely, which was just cowardly and stupid. She picked up her coffee and held it in front of her like a tiny shield. “Go for it.”
“I never got to ask if you were okay the other day.”
She cocked her head and peered at him. “Excuse me?”
“That kid obviously pushed your buttons, and I could see you were losing it, but I want you to know I respect you for stepping back instead.”
Katy nearly dropped her cup. “Wow. Thanks.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I guess I am.”
Paul chuckled. “Don’t blame you. We’re not so good with the praise around here.”
“You can say that again.” Welles scanned the table, as if hoping he might be next in line for a compliment.
“Do something worth praising and you’ll get yours, kid,” Ike barked, though his eyes twinkled.
Katy took a huge gulp of her coffee, mostly to hide as much of her face as possible, and then had to fight to keep the scalding liquid in her mouth instead of spitting it all over the table. Smooth move, slick. But none of this made sense. They all acted like nothing had happened, or, even stranger, like the exact right thing had happened.
Then it hit her. No one knew. Though she quit on him, Gunnar said nothing to anyone. He’d protected her, and all she’d shared with him, even when she probably didn’t deserve it. And then, the next day, he’d apologized. This was
no ordinary man, ladies and gentlemen.
She glanced up and found three sets of eyes on her, the accompanying expressions ranging from concerned to bemused to annoyed. “Guess I should get to work,” she murmured with a sheepish smile.
“Everything okay in there, MacBain? That brain of yours seems like a busy place.”
Katy stood and walked her cup to the sink, a new lift in her step. “Busier than you could ever imagine, Higgins. And since when do you care?” She turned back and treated him to her most intimidating glare.
He grinned and shrugged. “Just making conversation, like I do with everyone on the team.”
She tried to hold her glare, but it wouldn’t stay. The team. That sure had a nice ring to it. Before she could think of an appropriately quippy response, the tones sounded.
“Attention Spellbound Falls Fire & Rescue. Units Nine-eighty-seven and Spellbound Ambulance Two are asked to respond to Inglenook Resort for a group of missing kids, all believed to be nine to ten years old. Subjects were last seen in the woods near the stables and have not been heard from in a couple of hours. The children’s parents are onsite and will assist with the search. Copy units nine-eighty-seven and Spellbound Ambulance Two: Inglenook Resort for three missing children, believed to be lost in the woods. Piscataquis out, twenty-two-fourteen.”
Every bit of the previous moment’s pleasure drained from Katy’s body. She’d arranged a playdate for Shiloh and her cousins today. That had to be them.
With a ferocity she’d never felt before, Katy dashed to the bus, loaded her kit, and jumped into the cab. “Whoever’s driving has exactly five seconds to get us rolling or I’m on my way,” she called, just as Gretchen opened the driver’s door.
“I’m on it, MacBain,” she said and fired up the engine.
The ambulance’s back doors slammed shut, and two quick smacks on the side of the bus set them in motion. Eyes fixed straight ahead, Katy started counting to keep her mind from wandering. The last thing she needed was to picture even one of those kids in any kind of trouble.
Chapter Twenty-One
As soon as Gunnar heard “Inglenook” come across on his radio, he turned the truck around and, tires squealing, raced in the other direction. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with, having just discovered that his darling, and highly nosy, aunt had actually been hiding out in Spellbound Falls for days, doing a “different sort” of research, as she put it. He knew that gray head he’d glimpsed in the crowd on the night of the campfire looked familiar.
“Change of plans, Gunny?” Aunt May said.
He glanced over at her, saw the hint of a smile in her questioning face, and rolled his eyes. “I think it’s more accurate to say one more change of plans, don’t you agree?”
She let the smile loose. “I told you I was coming for a visit.”
“Yes, but you didn’t mention that you were already here at that point.”
“I needed a little time to myself. Plus, I wanted to check out your new hometown for myself. What’s the big deal?”
Gunnar sighed. “No big deal at all, apparently.”
“And just as soon as I finished my research, I called you to come pick me up.”
“Which nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“A strong, healthy guy like you? Never.” She pursed her grinning lips and stared out the window, obviously pleased with herself.
“So, what deep dark secrets did you uncover about Spellbound Falls?”
Aunt May looked back at him, her brow arch promising intrigue. “All in good time, Gunny. All in good time.” She tucked that trademark silver hair behind her ears and leaned back in her seat. “I assume we’re going on that rescue call?”
“Can’t get anything by you,” he said with a smirk.
“Do you even have to respond on your days off?”
He shook his head and gripped the wheel tighter. “No, it’s my choice, but this one sounds like I might want to be there.”
Silence swelled, long enough to surprise him, and he looked over at his aunt once again. Her face questioned more aggressively this time, discerning hazel eyes in full squint and thin lips pooched. “What’s different about this one?”
“I have a young friend who lives at Inglenook. And I have a feeling he’s one of the missing kids.”
“And?”
“That’s not enough?”
“Of course it’s enough, but it’s not the whole story.”
Gunnar sighed. He was clearly a little out of practice when it came to handling May. Nothing slipped past her. Not. One. Thing.
“Okay, Aunt Sherlock, you got me. Katy boards her horse at the Inglenook stables, and she’s particularly close to the young boy I mentioned. Even worse, I have a feeling the other two missing kids are her cousins.”
“Got it,” she said. “You absolutely have to be there.”
“Thanks for understanding.” Gunnar almost missed the turn for Inglenook and skidded them where they needed to go at the last minute. “Sorry about that.”
“No need for apologies. I’m enjoying seeing you in action.”
Though his worry intensified with every mile, a small bit of amusement slipped between the cracks. Leave it to his aunt to turn this into an experience she could use for her own purposes. Maybe the crisis would even take the edge off her curiosity about Katy.
“So, how will I recognize her?”
Gunnar rolled his eyes. That had to be a new record for dashing his hopes. “Okay, time for some ground rules. I know it’s not ideal, but I’m really going to need you to stay in the truck. My team needs to be able to do its job without interruption.”
May gasped loudly, obviously for effect. “I’m not an idiot, Gunny. I would never endanger those children by distracting the searchers. I might be a busybody, but only in the right circumstances.”
He nodded and peered into the distance. Flashes of rescue red and yellow glinting between the leaves told him he’d nearly reached the stable.
“You didn’t answer me,” Aunt May said.
“You don’t need an answer. You’re staying in the truck.”
She rapped on the window. “Fortunately, this truck has these clever glass inserts in every direction. I feel like I’ll be able to see a great deal from here.”
That one made a laugh tumble right out. “Touché, Auntie. Touché.”
He slowed the truck and scanned the road ahead. There was the bus, parked near the stables, and the big engine still on the road. He sure hoped the team had been able to make some progress with his checklists before the call came in. It would only cause delays if any equipment still awaited inspection back at the station. Swinging his truck in behind the engine, he shifted into park and turned to his aunt.
“There’s water in the cooler behind the seat if you get thirsty, and I’m leaving the keys in the ignition in case you have to move the truck. Anything you need, help yourself. Hopefully they just made themselves a fort out of branches and leaves and we’ll find them in no time.”
“Fingers crossed. Go get ’em, Gunny,” Aunt May said.
“Thanks for understanding.” He opened the door and stepped out of the truck.
“Oh, one more thing . . .” His aunt held a petite finger in the air.
“Yes?”
“If I see Ms. MacBain, can I introduce myself?”
Exasperation washed over him. “Can’t you just wait until this is over? I promise to introduce you properly,” he said, then stopped to think. “Wait. I didn’t tell you what she looks like.”
A mysterious smile spread across her face. “I have excellent powers of deduction.”
Bewildered, Gunnar opened his mouth to say more, but she fluttered her hands at him. “Go, go. You have a job to do.”
Yes, he did. And now that thoughts of Katy were in his head, the need to see her overwhelmed him.
She had to be worried and, knowing her, she’d been leading the charge in his absence.
He quickened his pace and hurried toward the stables. A crowd of people gathered on the lawn just beyond the building, and the sun glinted on the particular shade of mahogany he loved best. No matter what happened this day, it needed to happen with him by Katy’s side.
* * *
* * *
Katy patted her vest and checked her gear one last time, as much a tactic to quiet the voice in her head as to make sure she was as prepared as possible. The voice had no intention of being quieted, however. This is your fault. You were in such a hurry to get him out of his comfort zone, to find him friends and get him to do kid things. Now they’re all missing. What if they went swimming by themselves? What if you made Shiloh feel like he had to prove himself in some way?
Tears wobbled atop her lower lashes. Slowly, carefully, she inched a hand up to sweep them away. Pros didn’t cry on rescue calls, even when they knew the person needing help. Instead of crying, she needed to be doing something, she needed to put all her skills and senses to use to bring this awful situation to a close.
She stood in the crowd of SFF&R personnel, police officers, and volunteers, trying to listen to Jake Sheppard’s instructions, but her feet just wanted to get moving. She cast her gaze into the distance, scanning the trees for the best place to start looking, for an inviting forest path that might appeal to three adventure-seeking kids.
What were they looking for? What were they thinking?
Frustrated, Katy brought her attention back to Jake and, standing near him, she spotted Margo. The woman looked so terrified Katy’s own knees almost buckled. Margo seemed to hang on Jake’s every word, nodding and clutching a flashlight to her chest. In the woman’s face, Katy glimpsed shades of the concern she’d seen in her own mother’s expression throughout her life, especially that day, not so long ago, when she’d told her what had happened with Brandon Fontanne. A wave of indignation, sharp as a bundle of knives, lodged in her gut, stole her breath. From now on, she promised, she’d do whatever she could to make sure she never saw that kind of concern on a parent’s face again.
Call It Magic Page 24