The Heart of a Hero

by Janet Chapman

  She ate the perfectly cooked eggs Benedict, all six slices of crisp bacon, both thick oat-nut toasts—that she slathered with both tiny jars of jam—most of the hash browns, and every last piece of exotic fruit while washing everything down with what was definitely fresh-squeezed orange juice.

  “Okay, Mr. Nicholas,” she said with a laugh, saluting the window with her third cup of coffee and leaning back in her chair with an overstuffed sigh. “I guess your blatant bribe worked. I’ll vacuum up your cat hair for just the price of breakfast.”

  She was not, however, having dinner with him—even if her sister was included—at Aeolus’s Whisper. Not at the risk of being seen dining with Spellbound’s most eligible bachelor, because she didn’t want to be found dead on a cart path tomorrow morning after being run over by Wanda Beckman or any one of a dozen female workers. And besides, people dressed for dinner at Aeolus’s, and her only decent outfit was crumpled up in a ball at the bottom of a trash bag at the moment.

  * * *

  Nova Mare’s international employee housing sat back in the woods beyond the resort’s horse barn. The two-building complex consisted of ten apartments on the ground floor with male and female dorms running the length of each building above them. The dorms were usually filled with young men and women from all over the world during the resort’s busy summer season, while Julia believed the apartments were occupied year-round by a few of the nonlocal security guards, some of the reputedly fearless road maintenance crew, a husband and wife horse wrangler team, and several restaurant workers. There were only four children residing on Whisper Mountain: Olivia and Mac’s three—twelve-year-old Sophie, ten-year-old Henry, and two-and-a-half-year-old Ella—as well as the horse wranglers’ teenage son.

  Nicholas’s apartment—now temporarily hers and Trisha’s—was an end unit with two bedrooms and two baths, a well-appointed kitchen, and windows on three sides. None of the apartments or the dorms had a spectacular view, but then, everyone spent their days looking down at Bottomless and were probably all viewed out, anyway.

  “Didn’t I tell you Nicholas was fast on his feet?” Olivia said with a laugh as she watched her top security guard drive away. She set Ella down and turned to Julia, even as she gestured toward the window. “I just have to show up with Princess Hugs-a-lot, and he vanishes faster than a cat at a rocking chair convention.”

  “He doesn’t like children?” Julia said in surprise, bending to pick up Ella when the toddler started tugging on her pant leg and holding up her arms, making Julia chuckle when the girl lived up to her nickname by immediately giving her a fierce hug.

  “No, just the opposite,” Olivia said. “Nicholas loves children.”

  “Then why vanish?”

  “Because the last time he fell in love with a baby princess, he ended up spending the next thirty-one years as her bodyguard.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Mac’s sister, Carolina,” Olivia explained. “You’ve met her, haven’t you?”

  Julia was forced to merely nod since Ella was now clasping her face, trying to get Julia to look at her instead of Olivia.

  “Well, Nicholas’s mother was the midwife at Carolina’s birth, and when Rana suddenly took a turn for the worse, Maude apparently handed the minutes-old infant to him—Nicholas was only seven at the time, I’ve been told—and he refused to give her up for the next three days while everyone focused on saving Rana.” Olivia smiled crookedly. “Actually, he refused to give Carolina up for the next thirty-one years, until he decided Alec MacKeage deserved to spend the rest of his life dealing with her.” She gestured at her daughter, who had forgone clasping Julia’s face in favor of fingering the elastic on Julia’s thick braid of hair. “And that’s why he beats a hasty retreat whenever Ella heads for him with her arms raised, afraid of being saddled with another Oceanus princess for thirty-one more years. It’s also why he swears he’s only having sons.” She snorted, even as a gleam came into her eyes. “Assuming he can find a woman willing to marry him.”

  Julia decided she wasn’t touching that little comment with a ten-foot pole. “So Nicholas was a bodyguard before he came to work for you?”

  “Among other things,” Olivia said vaguely, walking down the hall. “You don’t have to clean this apartment yourself, Jules,” she continued as Julia followed carrying Ella. “I can have Bev send over some of her staff, and they’ll have this place spit-shined by the end of the morning.”

  What, and have them see all my worldly possessions in trash bags? “Thanks, but I’d rather do it myself,” Julia told her. “And for a bachelor, Nicholas was a pretty good housekeeper. Other than a little extra vacuuming, it won’t be any different than giving one of my cottages a good cleaning between guests.”

  Olivia plucked Ella away from Julia and replaced the child with a set of keys. “Well, it’s all yours for however long you need it.” She touched Julia’s arm. “Please don’t run off and rent the first place you find out of stubborn pride. This apartment will just sit empty all winter, so you might as well take your time looking for something that’s nice as well as affordable.” She canted her head, that gleam returning. “Then again, who knows what exciting surprise might be waiting just around the corner for you?”

  Julia caught her breath on the hope that Olivia was referring to the Inglenook position. She nodded. “Okay, I won’t. But Trisha and I are paying rent, right?”

  “For an apartment that’s going to sit empty all winter anyway?” Olivia said with a laugh, heading back out to the living room carrying Ella.

  Julia followed her down the hall. “We’re not living here for free.”

  Olivia turned with her daughter clasping her face trying to get her undivided attention. “Then how about if you stop by my office and ask Lucy to show you my babysitting schedule, and you sign up to chase Ella around for a few hours each week?”

  “That’s it? You want me to babysit in exchange for housing? Heck, I’m not afraid of falling in love with a princess. I’ll take her anytime.”

  Olivia gave an ominous little snicker as she headed for the door. “We’ll see how you feel after your first session, when you find yourself peeling her off anyone she can coax into picking her up.” She opened the door and looked back, shaking her head. “Even the horses aren’t safe. And now that she’s found out where the chickens live, they’re not safe, either.”

  “Gallinae!” Ella squealed, bouncing in her mother’s arms. “Go tee gallinae!”

  Olivia gave a groan and headed for her cart. “According to my head chef, hens apparently think being chased by a two-year-old trying to hug them is the same as being chased by a fox trying to eat them, and they quit laying for a week.”

  “Gallinae!” Ella growled, twisting against the straps as Olivia buckled her into the safety seat on the passenger side of her cart.

  Julia was confused—or else Ella was. “Why is she calling them gallinae?”

  Olivia straightened with a tight smile. “Because my dear sweet husband is teaching her Latin. Once you unpack your swimsuits, you and Trish feel free to use either of the saltwater pools. The outside pool is also heated, and they’re both open to employees from ten to midnight and four to six every morning.” She waved toward the parking lot separated from the complex by some trees. “If you’re worried about Trisha driving the mountain, she can leave her truck down below and hitch a ride up on the shuttle. And in the morning she can ride down with me or Mac when we take the kids to the marina to catch the school bus with Peg’s tribe.”

  “Thanks. I like that idea, especially with the weather turning.”

  “You have studded snow tires on the truck?”

  Julia nodded. “I had new ones put on a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Since I finally caved in and had the road paved,” Olivia said, “the crew promised me they can keep it passable all winter now, and we’ll only have to use the snowcats during storms if there’s an emergency.” She shook her head. “I’m not really sure how I let Mac talk
me into building a resort on top of a mountain, much less keep it open year-round.” She snorted. “Now he’s talking about stringing a cable across the fiord for scenic gondola rides.”

  “That’s not all that far-fetched, is it? There are gondolas in the Alps.”

  “It’s over a mile across.” Olivia waved toward the fiord. “And this is Maine, not the Alps, and sure as hell not Disneyland.” She took a deep breath and gave Julia a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”

  “Just right now,” Julia drawled, “as opposed to always?”

  “Yeah, always,” Olivia said with a sigh. She slid into her shiny green electric cart—that Julia knew had been altered to go faster than the others—and set her hands on the steering wheel with a wince. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually miss cleaning cottages.” She suddenly gave Julia a cheeky smile. “How about you and I switch jobs for a week?”

  “Not on your life,” Julia said with a sputtered laugh.

  “Gallinae!” Ella screeched, leaning into her harness, trying to reach the steering wheel. “Mum, go tee gallinae.” She looked at Julia, her huge, striking green eyes filled with impatience. “Bye,” she said with a surprisingly regal wave, apparently hoping her mother would get the hint. “Go tee gallinae now. Bye,” she repeated, this time aiming the wave at Olivia—who reached down with a loud sigh and put the cart in reverse.

  She backed up, slipped the cart into forward, then looked at her daughter. “Okay, we’ll stop by the chicken coop on our way to go find your father, because you know what?” she said, widening her eyes at Ella. “Daddy wants to take you riding.”

  “Equus!” Ella squealed, clapping her hands in delight. “Wide equus wit Daddy.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes and silently zoomed off toward the barn with a wave over her shoulder. Julia stepped back and closed the door, then blew out a loud sigh of her own as she gazed around her temporary, fully furnished apartment.

  “Okay then,” she said as she headed for the kitchen. “Things are looking up in the walking disaster department. Trisha and I are living in the safest place on the planet thanks to my generous boss, I don’t have to bike to work anymore, and I’m apparently still in the running for the Inglenook position.” She opened the cupboards under the sink to check for cleaning supplies and found only a mousetrap.

  Wait, hadn’t a couple of cats lived here? Then what idiot mouse would think this was a good place to spend the winter? Unless . . . Julia shivered and closed the cabinet doors. Unless the cats snuck in mice as future entertainment for when the boss was at work all day—which is exactly why there had never been any cats in the Campbell home. Well, inside the house, as there were always several semi-feral cats prowling the mill, thanks to their mouse and bird diets being supplemented with table scraps.

  Julia spent the morning cleaning—one full hour vacuuming—and the afternoon unpacking all of her and Trisha’s worldly possessions, until she found herself staring into Trisha’s closet with a stupid smile on her face. She touched the ankle-length green wool coat, heartened to know her sister would be going to college looking quite sharp thanks to Peg MacKeage’s beautiful hand-me-downs.

  Julia had met Peg—then Peg Conroy—their first day of kindergarten, as the both of them had stood pressed up against the school building watching the horde of children on the playground, both still shaken from the hour-long bus ride to Turtleback Station. Julia remembered whispering that it felt like they’d traveled clear across the world as Peg had inched closer and pulled a small rock out of her pocket, saying her mom had given it to her to rub if she got scared, and that they could share it for the day and she’d ask her mom if she could bring one for Julia tomorrow.

  That had been the beginning of a quarter-century friendship that had seen them through way too many outrageous pranks and disastrous romantic crushes, marriages and births, deaths and divorce and widowhood, and everything in between.

  Peg was actually a year older—which she liked to lord over Julia—but had been in the same grade because her birthday was October 19, making her miss starting school the previous year by four days. Julia’s birthday was October 1, so she had technically still been four years old that first day.

  Julia closed the closet door and walked out of the room, down the short hallway, and into the kitchen just as her stomach gave a hungry gurgle. More from wishful thinking than optimism, she opened the fridge hoping Nicholas had forgotten to pack his cold food, only to find a bottle of wine sitting beside a tray of dome-covered dishes with an envelope propped between them. She pulled out the tray, set it on the counter, and started to close the door, but then reached in and grabbed the bottle of wine. She set the wine on the tray, picked up the envelope, and pulled out the note written in bold, familiar handwriting.

  A little something to tide you over until dinner tonight.

  —Nicholas

  His phone number—which was seven digits, indicating it was his personal cell rather than an employee phone—was written below his name, along with a PS stating to give him a call when Trisha got back and he’d come pick them up.

  Dang, she’d completely forgotten about dinner. Why hadn’t she told him they wouldn’t be going when she’d first arrived at the apartment just as he and another man had been loading the last box into his truck? Although in her defense, since he hadn’t asked if she’d enjoyed her breakfast or mentioned her vacuuming, she’d thought he might not want Olivia to know about their deal, so she hadn’t said anything, either.

  Julia lifted one of the domes to find a club sandwich large enough to choke a horse wrapped in plastic to keep it fresh, a small bowl of potato sticks, a dish of pickles, and a tiny jar of mayonnaise. She found a decadent-looking piece of cake large enough to choke an elephant under another one of the domes, and what looked like apple-filled pastries under the last one.

  Heck, forget the sign saying she was an utter and complete failure; she must be wearing one that read Julia Campbell will do anything for food.

  She tucked the note between the plates and started opening drawers until she found a corkscrew. She then opened cupboards until she was pleasantly surprised to find two wineglasses, only to frown when she realized there were only two tumblers. She reopened the cupboard with the dishes and saw two plates, two bowls, and two coffee mugs, then opened the silverware drawer again and counted out four forks, knives, and spoons.

  She closed the drawer with a snort.

  Nicholas had filched half the dishes and eating utensils.

  Julia set the wineglass on the tray with a smile, liking that she had a little dirt on Nova Mare’s director of security. Granted, it wasn’t exactly felony dirt, she guessed as she carried everything into the living room, but it could nevertheless come in handy someday. She set the tray on the small dining table in front of the window, sat down, and picked up the card again with a sigh, figuring she might as well break the news to him now. She looked around for a phone but didn’t find one.

  Dang, she was going to have to get herself a cell phone. She’d gotten one for Trisha when she’d given her the truck, not wanting her baby sister on the road with no means of communication if she broke down or got in an accident. But every penny they’d both been scrimping and saving was needed to make up the difference between the cost of college and what financial aid Trisha had managed to get, so Julia had drawn the line at having her own phone.

  The one exception to dipping into their savings was Trisha’s upcoming trip to New York City, when Turtleback’s school band got to play in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Trisha did a lot of babysitting for Peg and Duncan, and Julia had promised her sister that if she saved enough to pay her share of the trip’s cost, she would then match it with spending money.

  The girl had lived up to her end of the bargain, and one week from today, Julia was putting Trisha on a bus with her bandmates for a seven-day trip to the Big Apple—which was twice as far as Julia had been from Spellbound Falls. She’d onl
y made it to Boston on her honeymoon, and then only so Clay could check out Boston University’s master degree programs.

  That should have been her first clue the jerk was going to renege on their deal that she support him while he got his bachelor’s degree, after which she was supposed to get her teaching degree. In the end, Clay had stayed at the University of Maine for all six years, gotten his master’s in engineering, and gone to work in Boston instead—newly married to a woman Julia later found out he had cheated on her with for the last three years of their marriage.

  Realizing she’d crumpled up the note with Nicholas’s phone number, Julia calmly smoothed it out on the table, slowly folded it in quarters, and leaned over and slipped it in the hind pocket of her jeans. She’d stop at the registration pavilion when she left to go pick up Trisha at the marina, and have the front desk give Nicholas the message that she and her sister couldn’t have dinner with him because . . . well, she’d come up with a believable lie by that time.

  And then she’d get back to her routine of cleaning cottages and not seeing Nicholas except at staff meetings—and then from the safety of the back row. And, Julia decided as she unwrapped the sandwich, she would remember this three-day walking disaster as nothing more than a really bad dream. Well, except for those heavenly few seconds on her porch Friday night, because who knew when she’d ever get pulled into the arms of a big strong man and be kissed like that again?

  Chapter Six

  “Jules. Jules, wake up,” Julia heard Trisha whisper as she felt her shoulder being repeatedly nudged. “But don’t move.”

  “What’s going on?” Julia asked, opening her eyes to find the hall light spilling into her bedroom as she tried to sit up, only to have Trisha press down on her shoulder.