Christine took a sip of her tea and cleared her throat. “I don’t know either.”
But she did know.
Gail dropped one hand heavily to the table, rattling the ice in their glasses. “I wish he would...” She blew out a breath. “I don’t know what I wish he would do.”
Gail just wanted Magni to be happy. Christine knew that. To be honest so did she. Magni was a good man. One she wanted to be hers as a young, naive girl.
“I wish he would find someone.” Gail rubbed at a missed speck of food dried on the table. “Not that I think anyone would have him. He’s a pain in the ass.”
He was. Her friend was right about that. But he was a beautiful pain in the ass. Lots of women would be willing to overlook Magni’s gruffness once they got a look at everything else.
The thought stuck in her gut like lead. Even after all these years Christine couldn’t shake what she felt for him. She could stuff it down, smother it out, but it still burned. An ember that flickered to life every time she saw him.
An event she’d become a master at avoiding.
Christine stood and took her empty plate. “Are you ready to get to work?” She was here to keep her mind occupied, but not with the man who haunted her dreams. The only man she’d ever met who might be strong enough to be with a woman like her.
But it didn’t matter. If Magni could fight through the barriers she built so carefully would be a question Christine would never know the answer to.
Gail pushed away from the table and dropped her plate in the sink beside Christine’s. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
****
It was early evening before Christine left the B&B, walking slowly down the street toward her house, still not in a hurry to get home. She knew what was waiting there.
A reminder she didn’t need.
“Christine.”
Christine turned to find Hagen waving her down from the diner’s door. “Do you have a minute?”
Hell yes she did. As many as he wanted. “Of course.”
The diner was coming along. The smell of drywall mud hung in the humid air as she stepped inside the wide-open expanse of the dining room. “They’re not wasting time in here are they?”
Hagen shook his head as he scanned the high ceilings. “No they’re not.” He turned to face her. “That’s actually part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?”
“Rhea said you can do stained glass.” Hagen kicked a five-gallon bucket across the floor. “You want to sit?”
“Nah. Thanks though.” Christine took a few more steps into the space, taking it all in.
Hagen walked slowly behind her. “I was wondering if you could do some lanterns to hang over the tables here. Maybe a design that incorporated the footprint. Is that something you could do?”
“Yeah. It is.” Christine looked around the room. “How many would you need?”
“Maybe twenty? I was thinking they could be a wood sort of frame with the glass panels on each side.”
She chewed her lip. “I’ve not done much with wood.”
“I was hoping you and Magni could figure that out while you’re working on the display cases for your jewelry at the gallery.” Hagen crossed his arms over his chest, his feet planted.
He was bracing, ready for her to come at him. Chicken.
Christine was more than a head shorter than he was but it was time to work every bit of the five feet four inches she had to work with. Standing up from her bucket, Christine stretched her spine as far and as tight as it would go. There was no way she could work with Magni. No possible way for her to do it.
Pointing a finger at Hagen, Christine went with the only idea that came to her. She’d watched Gail take her boys to their knees more times than she could count. Hopefully it wasn’t just a mother thing.
“Hagen Wolffsen you are not the boss of me.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You’re barely ten years older than me Christine. That only works for old women.”
“I’m telling your mother you called her old.” She dropped her hand and her shoulders slumped. “Why would you do this to me?”
“I don’t have a choice. Everyone’s covered up.” Hagen’s stance softened. “If this town is going to be successful we all have to work together. That includes you two.”
“You don’t understand.” Christine grabbed the box she’d been hauling around all day from the floor beside her makeshift seat and started to leave.
“He’s a pain in the ass, I know.” Hagen stepped in front of Christine, his big body blocking her escape. “Just this one time. I’ll tell him to be on his best behavior.”
Christine started to laugh. What in the hell was she freaking out about in the first place? “You do that.” She put a hand in the middle of Hagen’s chest and shoved him out of her way and, to his credit, Gail’s oldest son let her. “I’ll be waiting with baited breath for our meeting of the minds.”
She took a deep breath as she left the diner. After the momentary panic of having to be close to Magni it was nice to have a lungful of fresh air. Having to work with that man was one thing she would never have to worry about.
Because he would never let it happen.
The admission sat heavy in Christine’s chest adding its weight to the guilt she carried there every day. There were so many things she would have done differently if life was hers to do over. The first would be to stay far away from Magni Wolffsen. Keep her naive teenage heart from falling in love with a grown man.
A grown married man.
Then maybe he would have listened. Maybe his life would be different too.
But she couldn’t, and it wasn’t.
Without realizing it, her feet carried her home too quickly. Probably because her mind was preoccupied by her past instead of her future. Neither was fun to consider.
Christine looked up at her tiny cottage. Normally it was her sanctuary. Her place of rest and peace. Where walls didn’t matter and she didn’t have to worry who she would run into.
Today though, it was her dread. Holding a small reminder of how her life would always be hanging in the balance, caught between safety and demise.
And there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Her throat tightened as she climbed the narrow cement steps to her front porch. Christine stared at the mail slot in the painted front door, unable to swallow around the lump building in her throat. She unlocked the door and opened it wide. There on the floor was proof that life was precious and no matter how hard you tried, it was not yours to control.
Not the important parts anyway.
She bent down and picked up the white envelope, leaving the box she toted all day in its place. This was the most recent in a long line of reminders that she would never be a normal woman. That she would never live a carefree life.
That her body betrayed her.
That it could do it again.
Christine closed the door and walked to her kitchen, sliding the unopened appointment reminder in the trash can. She sank to the floor beside it and closed her eyes, letting her head drop back against the kitchen cabinet.
What she wouldn’t give to have her mother here. To have someone to hold her hand through whatever this was. To tell her everything would be okay.
Like last time.
But now she was alone.
And afraid.
A lone tear slipped down her cheek.
The next few weeks were going to be hell. Stuck in limbo. Not knowing if she was closer to life—
Or death.
Christine swiped away the damp line of moisture trailing down her face and stood up, straightening her shoulders and sucking in a deep breath.
She would get through this because...
Because she would.
There would be plenty to occupy the time until her next mammogram. She could help Gail at the B&B. There was always plenty of jewelry making to be done. She could offer to babysit Annabelle so Rhea and Hagen coul
d spend time together.
Christine paused.
There was one way she could be sure her next two weeks would be eventful. Distracting her from the feeling of impending doom that hung over her head.
The thought made her stomach clench around the tiny bit of hopeful butterflies still carrying a flame she had no business lighting in the first place.
Maybe it was time to put the past to bed.
Just in case her future was running out.
3
Magni looped back toward his cabin. He’d been out since an hour before sunrise. Just like he had been every single day for the past twenty-five years. Every morning continuing a search he would never finish.
At this point it wasn’t love or loss that spurred him on. It was not knowing.
It ate at him. Biting into his hide. Burrowing under his skin until it was so deep it could never leave, reminding him every day that Lori was gone and that it was his fault. That’s why he would never stop looking. He owed it to her.
He should never have let her talk him into going into the woods that day. Magni shouldn’t have let her talk him into a lot of things that day. Neither one of them had any business going anywhere, let alone a place where it took seconds to lose your bearings. To fall into a ravine. To slip into one of the many winding caverns that ran through the mountains.
But now he was looking for more than just Lori. Now, for the first time, he was looking for something that he didn’t want to find.
Magni took his time. Covering as much area as he could, letting the beast inside push forward just enough to make him faster, sharper. It was like having an old friend at his side. One that made him a dangerous man.
Whatever waste of life hurt that goat would suffer when Magni found him.
And he would find him.
And no one would ever know.
Magni knew firsthand how easy it was to go missing in the woods and never be found.
The sound of Hagen’s truck carried on the breeze. Magni looked up at the canopy of leaves over his head, squinting as he found the sun sitting higher than he expected. It was late.
Jerrik’s cruiser joined Hagen’s truck in the gravel driveway by the time Magni made it back to his cabin. He stomped up the steps and found his nephews standing in his kitchen, frowning at each other over what was left of this morning’s coffee.
“How do you drink this shit?” Jerrik grimaced at his cup.
“You don’t drink it.” Hagen took a sip. “You chew it.”
Magni took the cup from his youngest nephew. “Don’t drink it if you can’t handle it.”
Jerrik snatched the cup back. “I can take it.” He forced down a swallow and set the cup on the counter. “I just don’t know why you make it like this on purpose.”
Magni pulled out the empty decanter. “Because I don’t have time to fuckin’ sleep anymore. I was up late trying to get all the shit done that needs done.” He set the pot back on its base.
Hagen leaned back against the counter, his brow furrowed. “You see anything this morning?”
“I haven’t seen a thing.” Magni reached for the pack of cigarettes that occupied the front pocket of his work shirts for the last twenty years and came up empty. He gritted his teeth, aggravated he ever agreed to quit. “Maybe that was it.”
Jerrik dropped into the easy chair Magni tried to relax in at night. He forked his fingers through the mop of blonde hair on the top of his head. “Animal mutilation isn’t the end level. It’s the beginning.” He stood back up and paced the front room of Magni’s small cabin. “That wasn’t just some punk kid and that wasn’t the first time it was done.” He held his hand out toward Hagen as his brother moved toward the front room. “You saw it. That was someone who’s been practicing.”
Hagen stood at the break between the front room and the small kitchen. His oldest nephew looked tired. He looked worn down. He looked worried. “I don’t disagree.”
Jerrik blew out a breath and sat down. He stood back up.
Magni walked past him and shoved him down in the seat. “You’ve gotta calm the fuck down. You’re making me crazy with this up and down shit.”
“I’m just upset.” Jerrik rubbed his eyes. “There’s people up in these mountains and right now they’re sitting ducks. If this guy decides he’s ready to start killing something besides animals he could do it and we wouldn’t know for who knows how fucking long.”
“I think you’re jumping to conclusions.” Magni grabbed a pack of gum from the counter and ripped into it, tearing the flimsy cardboard box in half. He shoved a stick into his mouth. “Have you heard any of the other deputies around here talking like they’ve seen something similar?”
“No.” Jerrik blew out a breath, dropping his chin to his chest. He sat for a minute before looking back up. “You’re probably right.” He wiped his hand over his mouth and gave a slight shrug. “Hell it could have been someone just passing through.”
“That’s true. Ninety-nine percent of the people in town right now are just visiting. Hell, it could have been someone just here for a weekend.” Magni looked toward Hagen. “I think we should all calm the fuck down and keep our eyes out for anything strange. If something else happens, then we might have to change our plan.”
“We can’t risk anyone’s safety.” The line of Hagen’s mouth was grim. “No matter what it costs us.”
Jerrik stood up, holding one hand Magni’s way before his uncle could shove him back in the chair again. He rested the other on the doorknob. “I’m upping my rounds around here. Checking in on everyone as much as I can.”
“That little girl up the mountain would be the least of my worries.” Magni took advantage of Jerrik vacating his chair and sat down. He’d been working like a dog and it was catching up with him. “She’s scrappy.”
The muscle in Jerrik’s jaw twitched almost imperceptibly at the mention of the young woman who lived fifteen minutes farther up the mountain than Magni did. “She’s still up there all alone in that shack.”
“By her own choice son.” Magni leaned back in his chair and lightly bounced. “Living up here isn’t easy and she’s done it her whole life.” He gave his younger nephew a wink. “Don’t underestimate that one.”
By the look on Jerrik’s face at the mere mention of Spirit Hopkins he was already in over his head. That would be fun to watch. Maybe even better than watching his older nephew have his ass handed to him by a woman he should have seen coming a mile away. Hell, Hagen was even warned about the redheaded spitfire who was now his wife.
“I don’t underestimate anyone.” Jerrik said it like he believed it as he stepped out onto the porch. Too bad he was wrong.
“I’m heading out too.” Hagen followed behind his brother. “Tables look good. We should be ready for them in the next couple of weeks.”
“They’ll be done.” Magni leaned his head back, not bothering to walk his nephews out. He was up late last night putting together the tables and chairs for the diner so Hagen could check them out when he came this morning and without his usual dose of nicotine to power through his head was pounding.
Magni leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
A light rap sounded on his door.
“I thought you were leaving.” Magni waited for the door to open and one of his nephews to come in looking for a forgotten cell phone. Instead the light rap came again.
He sat up straight in his chair, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. This wasn’t the sort of place where visitors just dropped by. It was the main reason he lived out here.
But that meant the number of people who would be knocking on his door was low.
Like zero low.
Slowly Magni eased up from his chair, using the backs of his legs to steady the bounce of the seat as he got up. There was someone on the porch. He felt it. Felt them.
He took a deep breath, trying to pull in as much air as he could. He could smell the fine layer of sawdust that covered nearly everything he ow
ned. The green of the new growth outside, busting through the ground as the days got longer and warmer. The drips of stale coffee sitting in the pot beside the sink.
And honeysuckle.
It was sweet and creamy. Soft as cashmere and smooth as silk.
It was Christine.
He held perfectly still.
Her soft voice carried through the door even though it was almost a whisper. “I know you’re there Magni.”
It was the first time he’d heard her say his name in years. So long he almost forgot the way it sounded. Almost.
And now he would never be able to forget.
Magni swallowed down feelings he’d never admit to having and pushed back his shoulders, opening the door slowly. He knew what he would see and tried to prepare himself for it, but the sight of Christine on his porch still cut into him. A fresh slice on an old wound. One he gave to himself.
If he was the only one hurt that day years ago the pain would be easier to bear.
But he wasn’t. Magni hurt the woman whose presence now would forever leave his porch looking empty once she left. And she would leave. He would make sure of it.
“Why are you here?”
The abrasive tone Magni used to edge his words didn’t seem to faze her. Christine stood perfectly straight. Perfectly still. Perfectly composed.
More perfect than he deserved to see in a lifetime.
“Because I have to be.”
It was an admission that should have made him happy. He should be relieved Christine wasn’t here by choice.
But damned if he wished she could be.
Magni leaned against the door frame, trying to force his body into a relaxed pose even as every part of him was tense. “Why’s that?”
Christine tipped her head to one side as her gaze turned questioning. “Hagen didn’t tell you?”
Magni stared at her for a second, wrestling with the idea of finding his oldest nephew—
And killing him.
“Magni?”
There is was again. His name on her lips. Only this time he watched it pass through them.
A part of him that grew restless over the years stirred. The part of him that wanted to make it right between them. The part that wanted to shove Magni to his knees and beg Christine’s forgiveness for the pain he caused her to bear all this time. To thank her for defending him when people talked, whispering theories and making accusations.
Magni Page 3