The Highlander Next Door

by Janet Chapman

  “He’ll run home.”

  She grabbed his arm when he started the engine. “But it’s a good mile. Why can’t he ride in the back?”

  Niall nodded over his shoulder. “Because the backseat is full of paperwork and riding in the truck bed is dangerous. If I have to stop suddenly, he could be thrown out.”

  “You’re really going to make him run all the way home?”

  “You walk to and from town nearly every day, and last time I looked, Shep had two more legs than you do.” Niall checked for traffic and crossed the main road at a diagonal. “And the run will dry him off,” he added, the headlights illuminating Shep racing down the camp road ahead of them.

  The cab filled with a companionable silence, Macie not speaking again until they were nearly three quarters of the way there. “Were you serious about my asking Johnny to take me on a date?”

  “Didn’t the two of you go on dates before you came to Maine?” he asked, remembering Macie telling him she was from California.

  “I’d only met Johnny a couple of weeks before we got here. We just . . . um, we hooked up in Colorado at a rally protesting a new mineral mine. And when I told him I was making my way to a settlement in Maine that had been started by people who thought there was magic in this area, Johnny decided to come with me.”

  “Ye weren’t worried that messing with something powerful enough to actually move mountains and turn freshwater lakes into inland seas might be dangerous?”

  “Naw,” she scoffed, giving a negligent wave at Bottomless. “If magic caused that earthquake, it’s long gone. Other than occasional sharp claps of thunder when there isn’t even a cloud in the sky, nothing strange has happened around here in four years. And when some of the scientists came into the Bottoms Up and I asked them about the thunder, they assured me it was just aftershocks shifting the mountains.”

  Nay, lass, Niall thought with a silent chuckle, it’s the energy being manipulated by several powerful magic-makers causing those sonic booms.

  “So about Johnny,” she continued as he turned down the shelter’s driveway behind Shep. “Do you really think I can persuade him to leave the settlement?”

  “Maybe the question should be, have ye thought about what happens if he does.”

  “What do you mean? Then we can get married and be a real family.”

  “Simply having a child together doesn’t make a family, lass. Not if the parents aren’t first and foremost committed to each other.”

  She opened her door when he shut off the engine, then slid out before he could get around to help, the porch light revealing her smile as she handed back his jacket. “Everyone in the settlement always teased that Johnny and I already acted like an old married couple. Or they did until Sebastian showed up.” Her smile turned sad. “I want the man back that I fell in love with a year ago, and I want us to get married and live here in Spellbound Falls. I don’t care what the scientists say; this is a magical place, and I want to raise my baby here with Johnny.”

  “Then go after him with everything ye got, lass, and don’t stop until he’s on his knees begging you to marry him.”

  “Oh, I will definitely make him get on his knees,” she said with a laugh, grabbing the shoulder strap of his holster and pulling him down, then giving him a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said softly, “for caring enough to spy on me, and then for not treating me like I’m twelve.”

  Niall wrapped her up in a careful embrace, only to have her suddenly pull away when the screen door on the main house screeched open then slammed shut and he looked over to see Birch running down the stairs.

  Macie rushed to meet her. “Hey, Birch, what’s the hurry?”

  “What are you doing home early?” Birch asked, making a point of looking past her at Niall. “Are you sick and Chief MacKeage gave you a ride home?”

  “I, ah, I did leave work early because I was a little woozy, but I thought a walk in the park might make me feel better.” Macie nodded in his direction. “That’s where Niall found me, so we just sat and talked for a while.”

  “In the park?” Birch said on an indrawn breath. “You were in the park together? I mean . . . um, that was nice of him to give you a ride home. Wait,” she rushed on when Macie started toward the house. “Did you happen to see Cassandra in town?”

  “No,” Macie said with a frown. “She told me this afternoon that she was locking herself in her room all evening to study for a math final. She’s not there?”

  “She wasn’t when I just checked,” Birch said, waving her away, then striding up to Niall—he assumed to make sure he could see her scowl. She glanced back just as Macie disappeared inside, then rounded on him again. “You stay away from Miss Atwater, you understand? You especially have no business sitting with her in that stupid park. She’s confused and emotionally vulnerable right now.”

  “Excuse me?” Niall said, apparently more confused than Macie.

  “The girl’s barely twenty-one. And in my book, that makes her off-limits.”

  “Wait. Ye think I’m—”

  “In fact, all my residents are off-limits, no matter their age. They’re here because they’re all vulnerable. Now, come on,” she added before he could respond, grabbing his arm and trying to drag him around the front of his truck. “We need to go find Cassandra before she really does get pregnant. I’ll drive the camp road then look around town, and you go check out the town docks and park trails. Come on,” she repeated, giving his arm a tug when he stopped at his front bumper. “I swear there’s a baby epidemic going on around here. Aren’t they teaching sex education in school?” When tugging didn’t work, she tried pushing. “Cassandra’s pregnancy test might have been negative today, but we need to find her before the little twerp she’s seeing convinces her that he must be shooting blanks. Chief MacKeage!” she cried when she still couldn’t budge him. “Your job is to protect the citizens of Spellbound Falls, and that includes clueless girls.”

  “And maybe that girl in particular?” he asked, gesturing at the large tree growing beside the house—the one Shep was standing under, his tail wagging as he looked up.

  Birch spun around, her gasp letting him know she was just in time to see the pair of flailing feet disappear in through the window. “Les maudit tannant!” she hissed, spinning back to him—her expression making Niall decide that whatever she’d said wasn’t nice. She pointed at the house. “I’m having that stupid tree cut down.” She then pointed at him, even as she started backing up. “And I better not ever hear about you sitting with one of my residents in that stupid park again, you got that?”

  “Yes ma’am,” he said with a nod, turning away and striding toward home before she caught his grin—only to suddenly stop and look back at Birch storming in the house as he finally realized what had her hackles up about that park.

  Aye, he thought with a chuckle as he headed toward home again; it would appear Miss Callahan believed in legends.

  Chapter Four

  Surprised to find Hazel sitting next to the unlit woodstove in the Bottomless Mercantile and Trading Post, since it was the first time Niall had ever seen the woman in town alone, he was even more surprised that Sam Waters was sitting next to her, the two of them engaged in a lively conversation. It wasn’t that the man wasn’t sociable, but rather that Sam’s father and co-owner of the store, Ezra, was usually the one making the ladies laugh and carry on like schoolgirls.

  But Niall lost his own grin when he noticed Hazel’s right pant leg had a small tear at the knee and that the jacket lying across her lap was muddy. “Do I need to go find my ticket pad and write ye up for disorderly conduct?” Niall asked as he stopped in front of them and bent down to make a point of examining Hazel’s surprised eyes. “A little early in the day to be falling down drunk, isn’t it, Hazel?”

  Those deep brown eyes crinkled with laughter and she swatted his arm as he straightened.
“Oh, Niall, you big tease.” She held up her wet jacket, her expression turning fierce. “You want to ticket someone, you chase after that crazy woman who sped up the moment I stepped into the crosswalk.”

  “From the description Hazel gave me of the car,” Sam said, getting to his feet, “it appears to have been Christina Richie.”

  “Are ye hurt, Hazel?” Niall asked.

  She lifted her other hand, which was holding a mug, the sparkle back in her eyes. “Sam assured me that hot cocoa cures all kinds of boo-boos, even bruised pride.”

  “Why don’t you have a seat and see for yourself that she’s okay,” Sam said, nudging Niall toward the chair he’d just vacated. “Let me go wait on the Drummonds before Dad tries to give them half the store for free again, and then we can have our talk about finding you a jail.” He shook his head with a grimace. “Either Dad’s losing his touch or getting senile, because last week I caught him filling Jason Packard’s pockets with shoelaces when he saw one of the kid’s sneakers didn’t have a lace and the other one was a mess of knots.”

  “What did he mean about his father losing his touch?” Hazel asked, watching Sam limp down the aisle.

  “Ezra is apparently in the habit of giving half his store away,” Niall said as he sat down beside her. “Only he usually isn’t so blatant about it, instead preferring to simply forget to charge folks for some items. Mostly to those he feels could use a little help making their dollars go further.”

  “And they don’t notice?” she asked in surprise.

  “Some do. But Olivia or Peg usually takes them aside and explains it would hurt Ezra’s feelings if they call attention to his little deception.”

  “The man can afford to just give away his merchandise?”

  Niall nodded. “I’ve been told he’s been doing it for over fifteen years and hasn’t gone bankrupt yet. So, Hazel, are ye sure you’re not hurt?” he asked, having noticed when he’d first met her that the woman had a subtly guarded stride, as if she suffered from arthritis or a stiff back.

  “Only my pride. Mr. Waters happened to come outside just as I landed in the only puddle on the street, and . . . and he picked me up and carried me inside,” she said, sounding a bit breathless as she glanced in the direction Sam had gone. She looked at Niall, her cheeks turning a soft pink. “He may have a limp, but he’s as quick as lightning and amazingly strong.”

  “I suppose ye might consider Sam quick and strong for a man his age.”

  Those cheeks went from pink to red. “I’m almost his age.”

  Niall gave her a wink. “But much prettier.”

  Hazel blinked at him, then burst into melodious laughter as she took another swat at his arm. “And you, sir, are a shameless flirt.” But she just as quickly sobered and brushed at the drying mud on her jacket. “Could you do me a favor, Niall, and not tell Birch that I walked into town alone?”

  “Your secret’s safe with me, Hazel.”

  That got him a small smile. “And if Noreen tattles and Birch should ask if you ran into me, I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention that I fell and especially that you saw me talking with Sam.”

  Niall shot her another wink. “Well now, should she find out—would Sam ambushing you with a cup of cocoa in hopes of getting his store a loyal new customer not be the truth?”

  “Oh, yes, that’s an excellent way to put it,” Hazel said, her worry turning to excitement. “Although I’m not surprised you came up with the perfect story for me to tell Birch, since I know you highlanders are naturally protective.”

  Niall lost his smile. “What exactly am I protecting ye from? Why mustn’t Birch know you were talking to Sam?”

  “She might think I deliberately came into town to flirt with him.”

  “And that would upset her?”

  Hazel nodded. “My daughter would probably jump to the conclusion that I’m already looking for my next husband, and feel compelled to remind me that the ink isn’t even dry on my latest divorce papers.”

  “Your, ah . . . latest divorce papers?”

  Hazel leaned closer. “You don’t have to worry I’m going to break the law, Niall. Birch already told me people can only get married four times in America.”

  Niall ran a hand over his face to hide his frown. Hazel had been married four times, and Birch was afraid her mother was already hunting for husband number five? He lowered his hand once he’d wrestled his grin back into place. “You’ve been married and divorced four times?”

  “Well, my first husband died. I only divorced the last three.”

  “So Birch’s father is deceased?” he said gently.

  Hazel shook her head. “I never married Claude. When I got pregnant with Birch, my father threatened to disown me if I compounded the problem by marrying him.”

  “He didn’t want ye to be with the father of your child?” he said in disbelief. “But that shouldn’t have stopped Claude from fulfilling his duty to you.”

  “Oh, Niall,” she said with a soft laugh. “Your heritage is showing again. I wasn’t about to go against my father for a boy I barely knew. I only went to the prom with Claude because he’d just transferred to my high school and hardly knew anyone. And even though he probably couldn’t afford it, he hired a limousine and took me to a fancy restaurant, and was so handsome in his cadet uniform that I . . .” Her cheeks turned a soft pink again. “I guess I got wrapped up in the magic of the night. And even though he did offer to do the right thing when I went to his house and told him I was pregnant, he was already packed and leaving for the military academy.” She shrugged. “Not marrying Claude was probably the only smart decision I’ve made concerning men. It was bad enough Birch had to go live with him and his family when she was six; I can’t imagine she would have survived with her spirit intact if I hadn’t managed to get her back four years later.”

  Niall scrubbed his face with both hands as he wondered how to respond, only to drop them when he felt Hazel touch his knee.

  “My mémère Hynes always said, ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,’ and I personally think Birch turned out wonderful.”

  “Aye” was all Niall could think to say.

  “So now you know my dark little secret, and also why Birch worries about my coming to town all by myself.”

  “I’m sorry, Hazel, I don’t. How does having a child when you were young turn into your daughter not wanting you going anywhere alone now?”

  A distinct light came into her eyes. “Because it appears that every time I find myself single, I fall in love and get married.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “While Birch was living with her father, I married Phillip. That marriage lasted almost eight years, until a woman claiming she was Phillip’s mistress called to tell me he’d run into a tree and died while skiing in the Alps.” She gave a heavy sigh. “It’s just as well, I guess. Birch never did warm up to him.”

  Niall stifled an urge to rub his face again. Hazel Callahan, it seemed, either was very unlucky in love or had very poor taste in men.

  “Then shortly after Birch left to attend university, I met Gerard at a fund-raiser,” she continued. “But that marriage ended a little over a year later when Birch discovered Gerry was only pretending to be a deposed king of some obscure country in Europe.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “He was really from Idaho.”

  Niall stiffened his jaw when he felt it slacken.

  “I was on my best behavior for three years, until I met Ernie at a Valentine’s Day ball and married him just before Birch got her master’s degree. But we were divorced by Thanksgiving.” Her eyes lit up again, Hazel obviously realizing she’d rendered him speechless. “I managed to stay single four whole years while Birch worked as a family counselor. But wanting to advance her career, she went back to school to get her doctorate.” Hazel canted her head. “She appeared more resigned than upset when
she came home at Christmas and discovered I’d married Leonard.”

  Niall mentally took count. “Er, would Leonard be the gentleman with the ink still drying on your divorce papers?”

  “Yes,” Hazel said, her shoulders hunching. “Birch stormed in the house three months ago and sent him packing. She brought me to our lawyer to start the divorce procedure, put our house on the market, then took me back to Ottawa so she could present her dissertation.”

  “What had changed her mind about Leonard?”

  “Apparently the bank had called Birch saying they needed her signature because Leo was trying to take out a mortgage on our house, and her name was on the deed with mine. That’s when she also discovered he’d already spent most of this year’s installment of my trust fund.”

  Niall decided he wasn’t letting Hazel go anywhere alone, either. “What do ye mean when you say Birch sent him packing?”

  “Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my daughter can be a bit . . . prickly when she gets her panties in a twist.”

  “Nay,” he drawled, “I haven’t noticed at all.” But then he sobered. “Was there an altercation, Hazel, or did Leonard leave peacefully?”

  The woman’s expressive eyes turned troubled. “I can’t imagine he was very happy when he returned from his fishing trip to find his key no longer fit the locks and saw the note on the door saying all his belongings were sitting in a storage locker.” She dropped her gaze, her cheeks flushing a dull red. “I’m ashamed to say I never realized Leo had a dark side hiding behind all that charm. He followed us to Ottawa and waited for Birch in the underground garage at her apartment, and if it hadn’t been for another tenant getting off the elevator and Birch screaming for help, I . . . I don’t know what he would have done.”

  “Did she call the police?”

  Hazel nodded, but just as quickly shook her head again. “She did, but apparently because she screamed and Leo ran off, they said no crime had been committed so they couldn’t really do anything.”