Charmed by His Love

by Janet Chapman

  She tilted her head back to look up at him. “You can’t … um, act like a husband or anything,” she said, her cheeks flushing again, “until after we’re married in a church in front of the children. Wait; how am I going to explain to them that I just up and decided to marry you out of the blue? We haven’t even gone on a real date.”

  Well, if she wasn’t quite reconciled to the fact they already were married in the eyes of Providence, at least she was acknowledging they were getting married. “Jacob already gave me permission to ask you,” he said past his grin. “And he even offered to let me sleep in one of the bunk beds you were going to buy him.”

  “When did he say that?”

  “The first day I was in that recliner in your new house. He told me I didn’t have to be afraid when you get all scowly, because you’re really all soft inside.” He pulled her toward him, stopping just shy of their lips touching. “So I guess ye better go talk with your preacher when we get back this morning and see if he can marry us this evening,” he finished, just before kissing her.

  And damn if she didn’t kiss him back—until his words apparently sank in and she reared away. “This evening!” She must have seen he was serious because she went perfectly still. “But Mac gave Olivia at least a week to put a wedding together.”

  “Do I look like Mac?” he asked quietly.

  “You … You’re big and scary like he is. How about this coming Saturday?”

  “I’m sleeping with my wife tonight, with or without a formal wedding.”

  “We need a license.”

  “I believe you’ll find it’s already on file at the county courthouse.”

  “How?” she asked on a gasp.

  “By magic.” He pulled her against him and held her head to his chest, preparing for a really big gasp. “And your new house—that I’m building—will be over here, Peg, and you’ll be watching sunsets from our kitchen window instead of sunrises.”

  She didn’t gasp, she snorted. “Are you forgetting I have four children who’ll be riding on a school bus this fall?”

  “I’ll build a road around the fiord.”

  That got him his gasp. “It would have to be at least twenty miles to reach here, and that’s only one way! The bus isn’t going to drive that far for four children.”

  “Then you can take them into town by boat to meet it.”

  “And in the spring and fall, when the ice is rotten?”

  “Bottomless is saltwater, Peg,” he said, smiling over the top of her head when he realized she needed to voice all her concerns out loud—or at least let him know what he was getting himself into. “It’s not going to freeze.”

  This time he both heard and felt her heavy sigh. “The kids are never going to get their friends to come for sleepovers. First their parents wouldn’t let them stay over because I live in a falling-down doublewide, and now they’re not going to let them because I’ll be living in the middle of nowhere.”

  “I’ll make sure they come.”

  She tilted her head back. “You can’t fix everything, Duncan.”

  “Watch me,” he said, giving her a wink just before setting her beside him. He stood up, then held out his hand. “Come on, wife,” he said just to piss her off. “The sooner we get home, the sooner you can start planning today’s wedding.”

  Except instead of taking his hand, she started tugging on the cuff above her wrist, and Duncan reached down and lifted her to her feet. “Are ye deliberately trying to offend Providence after it gave ye such a wonderful gift?”

  She stopped tugging and scowled at him. “Providence gave me this bracelet?”

  “Nay, it gave you me,” he said, grabbing her hand just as a soft rumbling laugh echoed through the tunnel. “Did your mother warn ye about your family curse before you married William Thompson, Peg?” he asked as he led her toward the entrance.

  “Yes. But I was eighteen, and all eighteen-year-olds believe bad stuff only happens to other people.”

  “Did ye tell him about the curse before ye married?”

  She gave a soft snort. “Billy said it was going to take a lot more than some dead old biddy to scare him off. One night we even went to the cemetery where Gretchen Robinson is buried and he peed on her grave.” She pulled him to a stop. “I’ll marry you today if you promise you’re not going to die.”

  “I’m not going to die for a long, long time, Peg, I promise.”

  “But how can you be so sure?” she whispered.

  “Because last night when we were making love—the fourth time, I think—I saw ye lying beneath me all beautiful and filled with passion. You were … oh, eighty years old, I’m guessing.” He caught her shoulders when she reared away with a gasp. “It was the magic’s way of letting me know everything will be okay.”

  “You saw me at eighty? Naked?”

  He took her hand and started walking again to hide his grin. “Ye looked damned good, too, lass, all flushed with pleasure. But ye might want to hold on to that other pair of jeans I bought ye, because I do believe they’re eventually going to fit.”

  This time she gasped loud enough that the whale probably heard it down in the fiord. Duncan knew his mountain certainly did when Peg shot past him with a yelp of surprise.

  “Ohmigod, something just patted me on the ass!”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  If she lived to be a hundred and two—which Peg was beginning to worry might be a real possibility—she couldn’t imagine herself being any honest to God happier. She was six weeks pregnant according to Robbie’s mum, Libby, who besides being a surgeon also was a less technical … healer. That’s why a feather could have knocked Peg over when Libby had said she was having a son, considering she’d been less than a week pregnant at the time.

  She’d met Libby and Michael MacBain when Duncan had taken his new little clan of heathens to Pine Creek the weekend after their rushed Monday evening wedding so his big clan could throw them an old-fashioned wedding reception. That’s when Libby had told Peg that not only was she having a boy, but that she was carrying only one. “Guaranteed,” Libby had said, a smile curving her lips as she’d added, “This time.”

  With the gentle rock of the boat making her drowsy, Peg closed her eyes and tilted her head back to feel the sun’s rays on her face. She sighed contentedly at how wonderful it felt to be a wife again—even if she was married to the most contrary, scariest, never-give-up-or-give-in man on the planet.

  Oh yeah, Gretchen Robinson’s bones were rattling in her grave.

  Peg lifted her head to see Jacob and Peter leaning over the side when something gently bumped the boat. They were wearing matching life vests with their names embroidered on them—that she happened to know they’d switched—trying to coax Leviathan closer with gummy worms so they could pat him.

  “Mom, he came!” Jacob softly whispered.

  The whale always did. Peg guessed Leviathan knew the sound of their particular motor, because none of the scientists had been able to get a picture of him despite having spent two months trying. “But I don’t think he’s into gummy worms,” she warned. “And stop feeding them to Hero before you make him sick.”

  “Yuck, Levi’s got stinky breath,” Peter said, scrambling away when a misty spurt came out of the whale’s blowhole.

  “You would, too, if all you ate was fish and you couldn’t brush your teeth.”

  “I can’t wait to show all them scientists my pictures,” Jacob said, resting his chin on his hands on the gunwale as Hero rested his doggy chin beside him, both of them eyeing Leviathan eyeing them back. “I can’t believe Mr. Steve’s gonna give us ten whole dollars just for a picture of a whale.”

  “There’s the camera on the console,” Peg said, nodding toward it because she was too lazy and contented and pregnant to move. Lord, she’d forgotten how all she’d wanted to do was sleep through the first trimesters of her pregnancies. “Duncan showed you how to use it, so go on and take a bunch of pictures. Ten bucks will buy quite a few cinna
mon buns.”

  “No, Mom, remember we said we’re gonna buy Nerf swords,” Peter reminded her for the tenth time that afternoon.

  Peg had lost that particular battle, seeing how the twins had Duncan on their side. Damn if she didn’t lose more arguments to her husband than she won—although she won the really, really important ones, so she guessed that made them even. Like this boat; Duncan had gotten her a pontoon boat so he could have the fast and way-too-sexy boat for himself. But the reason she could lounge around in the sun for another half hour before she had to meet the school bus in town was because her fast and way-too-sexy boat would get them to Ezra’s dock in ten minutes.

  Yup, there was nothing like having rousing arguments with a big strong man and winning the ones that counted. Life was good. Everyone was happy, including her mom and Aunt Bea, who were both enjoying the attention of several eligible men from Robbie’s and Duncan’s crews. At Duncan’s suggestion, Peg had told her mom and aunt that she was pretty sure only men born in the Bottomless Lake area were susceptible to the curse. The women had looked through their family history, and sure enough, all the husbands who had met an early demise had been locals—which meant any male from away was fair game.

  Chris Dubois and Aaron Jenkins had disappeared off the face of the earth just like Duncan had said they would, but everyone knew the lowlifes were still around because there had been several hit-and-run attacks on the resort site. It was virtually impossible to guard fourteen miles of road up through the wilderness, and sometimes a bridge under construction got blown up, grade stakes got relocated, and equipment tires got shot out with a high-power rifle. Occasionally notes were left saying it had been the work of one or another radical conservation group, but everyone in town knew Chris and Aaron were the culprits, since most of the protests against the resort had died down. Aaron’s poor wife, Phyllis, was so embarrassed that she’d filed for divorce and gone to live with her sister in Indiana.

  There’d only been one attack on the site where Duncan was building their new home on the fiord at the base of his mountain, and then it appeared to have been interrupted by … something. Peg suspected Duncan had had a little talk with his mountain about napping on the job after he’d found the slightly scorched pile of lumber, because he’d taken a hike up to the cave and there hadn’t been any incidents since. In fact, despite every board and nail having to be hauled over on a small barge, Peg guessed they’d be moved into their new home before school started in the fall.

  Oh yeah, she was married to a very relentless man.

  Mac and Olivia would be home in a few days, which meant Olivia hadn’t followed through on her threat to push Mac into the Grand Canyon—probably afraid her husband might decide to rearrange the national landmark. And according to the letter Olivia had sent Peg, the bone marrow transplant had gone well for both little Riley and Sophie, and Riley’s prognosis was very promising. But then, why shouldn’t it be if the stepdaughter of a friggin’ wizard was involved?

  “Here, give me the camera,” Peg said, dropping her feet to the floor of the boat and holding out her hand. “I’ll take a picture of you two patting Leviathan just to make Mr. Steve really jealous.”

  “I bet he’d be really jealous if you took a picture of us riding on Levi,” Peter said, one of his legs already halfway over the gunwale.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Peg yelped, jumping up and pulling him back with a laugh. “The water’s too cold and Leviathan might accidentally squish you.”

  “No, he wouldn’t,” Jacob said, immediately jumping to the whale’s defense. “Duncan told us Levi’s a rescue hero.” He pointed toward the whale’s tail. “See, he’s even got a badge. Duncan called it a tattoo and said it means he’s from Alantus. It’s a tide … a trilide …”

  “A trident,” Peter said. “It looks like a fork you eat with, but Duncan called it a trident just like Pesidon carries. He’s the boss of the ocean,” her son added with great authority, his little chest puffing out against his life vest.

  Peg smiled, remembering how it had taken Duncan nearly a week of subtle corrections before he’d finally gotten all the children to drop the “mister.” He’d introduced them to Leviathan the day he’d taken the kids to see where he intended to build their new home, and he explained the whale was from a faraway magical island by the name of Atlantis—which was, Peg had finally realized, why Henry Oceanus was so well versed on mythological gods. So when the twins told people in town about their pet whale, everyone thought her boys had quite the imaginations.

  “Okay, stand just a little bit apart,” Peg said, looking at the screen on the camera, “so I can get Leviathan between you. You get in the picture, too, Hero. Smile. Smile, Leviathan!” she called out, which effectively put huge grins on the boys. Only the whale slipped below the surface just before she could snap the picture, and Peg looked up when she heard the sound of a fast-moving boat coming from the far end of the fiord.

  “Oh, shoot,” Peter said, also looking toward the boat. “I bet it’s them scientists and they scared off Levi before we got our picture.”

  “I already got some of him,” Jacob said. “Look in the camera, Mom.”

  Peg took one last glance at the fast approaching boat, then turned to put the camera in the shade of her body and scrolled through the last few pictures. “Sorry, big man,” she said, showing Jacob the screen when he came over to see. “But … no, wait; you got part of his tail in this one.” She kept scrolling. “And I think that’s his blowhole.” She sighed as she shut off the camera, set it on the steering console, and ruffled Jacob’s hair. “You must have hit the zoom button, so none of the shots show him well enough for ten dollars, I’m afraid. But don’t worry; we’ll get more pictures tomorrow.”

  “It ain’t Mr. Steve anyway,” Peter said just as the boat slowed down at the very last minute and pulled up beside them.

  Too late, Peg recognized Chris Dubois. “Boys, lie down on the floor!” she snapped as she lunged to start her engine—only to cry out when Chris rammed his boat into the side of theirs.

  He leapt onboard, his beefy fist catching Peg on the shoulder with enough force to shove her against the opposite gunwale, making her glad she’d worn her life vest when it knocked the wind out of her. She scrambled after her screaming boys, only to have Chris slap her hard enough to knock her off her feet again.

  He then gave Hero a swift kick in the ribs, the dog’s snarl turning into a yelp of pain as it went skidding into one of the rear fishing chairs. Chris grabbed the dog before it could scramble to its feet, picked it up, and threw it over the side of the boat, only to swing around and backhand Peg when she tried to stop him.

  She got to her feet when she saw him make a grab for Peter, then watched the boy leap away so quickly that he slammed against the console with a shriek. “Leave them alone!” she shouted, going for Chris’s face even as she tried to knee him in the groin.

  Only he twisted at the last minute and pulled her off balance, spinning her to clamp a hand around her throat. “Call them off, Peggy,” he growled, kicking Jacob when he tried to ram into him. “Get back, you little shit!” The blow sent Jacob sprawling to the floor, the momentum slamming him into the stern. “Both you little shits climb in my boat,” he shouted. “Now!”

  “No!” Peg twisted free but Chris shoved her hard enough that she fell to her knees again. “No! You’re not taking them!”

  He grabbed Peter and tossed him into his boat, then went after Jacob. Peg looked around for something to fight with and grabbed the fire extinguisher. But Chris kicked it out of her hands, and she heard it plop into the water just as he grabbed Jacob by the vest and flung the kid toward his boat. Realizing it had drifted away from theirs, Peg ran to the gunwale to jump in after him, only to have Chris yank her to the floor—but not before she saw her son climbing onboard with Peter’s help. Hero was barking and treading water between the two boats, apparently uncertain which one to swim to.

  “Mom! Mom!” Peter and Jacob cried a
s their boat drifted farther away.

  “No, you can’t just leave them! They’re only babies!” Peg screamed, lunging for Chris’s arm when he turned the key and started her motor.

  He grabbed her by her vest and dragged her kicking and screaming to the front of the boat, then punched her in the head hard enough that Peg nearly passed out. He unhooked the bow rope and used it to tie her hands to the post of the front fishing chair.

  “You leave Mom alone!” Peter shouted over Jacob’s screams.

  Peg struggled to sit up as Chris walked back to the console and pushed the throttle forward. “Boys! Just sit still and someone will find you!” she shouted over the roar of the motor, not knowing if they could even hear her as Chris sped toward the end of the fiord. Shaking with both rage and terror, Peg could only helplessly watch the twins clinging to each other while screaming something she couldn’t hear as Hero clawed at the side of their boat.

  She touched her throbbing cheek with her shoulder as she glared at Chris. “God damn you. How can you leave two little boys adrift like that!”

  “You’re lucky I didn’t just toss them overboard like the dog,” he said with a laugh that sounded more sick than sane. “Or maybe you wanted me to bring them along.” He suddenly jerked the wheel sharply then straightened back out, making Peg slam against the seat and fall on the floor. “So they could watch what I’m going to do to their stuck-up bitch of a mother.”

  He jerked the wheel again just as she sat up trying to see the building sight at the base of Duncan’s mountain, making her cry out when she slid sideways and the rope tightened against her wrists. But she knew her husband wasn’t there because he’d taken the pontoon boat when she and the boys had left in the speedboat half an hour ago; Duncan going down to the pit to meet the blasting contractor while she’d only gone a little ways down the fiord in search of Leviathan.

  Peg looked back over the stern trying to spot the twins, just barely able to see Chris’s boat now. Dammit, the boys were only maybe two miles from the pit; would their screams and Hero’s barks carry that far over water, even with machinery running? Or maybe the scientists would come into the fiord. Surely someone would find them.