“Hours ago.” She poked her head out the tent flap—giving him a really nice view of her really nice backside—then reappeared with his clothes and boots. “It looks like it’s been snowing quite a while,” she said, shaking the snow off his long johns before handing them to him. “And you have to go to Roger’s with me so you can help me steal the snowcat back.”
“Well, why not,” he said with a snort, slipping into his cold clothes. “What could possibly go wrong stealing from a man who can turn us into toads? At least we’re keeping our crimes in the family.”
“And while we’re at it, I’ll distract him so you can find the data bank,” she said, handing Luke his boots. “Hey, what happened to your laces?”
He put on the boots and tied what was left of the laces. “I seem to remember something about you starting the honeymoon without me.”
She blinked at him, her cheeks flushing a dull red.
Luke cupped her face in his hands. “Good morning, wife.”
“We’re really married, aren’t we?” she whispered back.
“After last night, I certainly hope so.”
“Any second thoughts?”
“Only that our honeymoon suite was a tent instead of a five-star room in Tahiti.”
“Oh no! I love that our wedding night was out here in the wilderness.” She pulled his hands down to hold them in hers. “The tent was cozy and intimate, and I swear it was like we were the only two people on Earth.” Her eyes sparkled with humor. “And there’s also the added bonus that only the animals heard you shouting for mercy.”
“Okay, that does it,” he growled, pushing her onto her back to pin her down with his body. “There’s one more secret little button that I didn’t push last night,” he said, having to raise his voice over her laughter, “because I didn’t want you fainting from passion overload. But now I—”
A fiberglass support suddenly snapped overhead, and the tent collapsed, billowing down around them.
“Dammit, I told you this wasn’t a four-season tent.” He pushed up to his hands and knees, using his body as a new tent support. “But oh no, you wanted the larger one so there would be room for the dogs. Just as soon as you stop laughing, could you maybe find the zipper and crawl out?”
He grunted when her elbow rammed his chest, then jackknifed his hips when her head butted his groin, and she fell back with a giggle. “Anytime today,” he ground out, pushing at the tent to shake off some of the heavy snow. “We need to get down off the mountain before the storm intensifies.”
She finally crawled outside, then held the flap open for him. Luke gave one last push at the tent, then dove for the opening just as the rest of the snow slid off the outer storm fly and down the back of his neck.
“Lovely,” he said, standing up and digging the snow out of his collar. He looked around to find that visibility was less than a quarter mile. “We’ve already gotten six or seven inches of heavy wet snow, but if the temperature drops and the wind kicks up, we won’t be able to see past our noses.”
“Roger won’t really keep our snowcat, will he?” she asked, brushing more snow off his shoulders.
“If he doesn’t give it back when we ask nicely, we’ll just threaten to break his satellite dish so that he doesn’t get any channels.”
Camry started dismantling what was left of the tent. “I love your criminal mind.”
While she rolled up the storm fly and collapsed the rest of the supports, Luke pulled everything out from inside and started making a pile of their gear to pick up on their way back. In twenty minutes they were entirely packed up, and half an hour after that, they arrived at the cabin.
Or rather, they arrived at where the cabin should have been.
“It’s gone!” Camry cried in dismay.
“That’s impossible. We must have walked right past it. The wind’s picked up, making visibility worse.”
“No, this is the right spot.” She pointed to their right. “I distinctly remember that pine tree with the burn scar where Podly crashed. The cabin should be right here!”
“An entire building can’t just suddenly vanish overnight.”
She looked up at him with a gasp. “And he took Tigger and Max!”
Luke wiped a gloved hand over his face, attempting to wipe away his disbelief along with the snowflakes catching on his beard. “Okay, let’s think about this. There has to be a perfectly logical explanation for why we can’t find the cabin, or Roger, or the dogs.” He shot her a scowl when she snorted. “An explanation other than magic.”
“I know! A spaceship swooped down and took Roger and Tigger and Max back to Mars to add to their zoo.”
Luke sighed. “That’s just as plausible as anything else that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Listen. Did you hear that?” She pointed to their left. “There it is again. That’s Max barking. Come on!”
“Camry, wait!” Luke called out, chasing after her as she disappeared into the blinding snow. “You don’t know what you might be running into!”
But when they reached the shelter of the dense evergreen trees, the visibility got considerably better. They stopped to listen again, then started running toward what sounded like both dogs barking.
They skidded to a stop when they saw Max and Tigger sitting under a huge spruce tree, in the sled made out of Podly’s housing. Max immediately jumped out and ran up to them, and Tigger—wearing not only her pink sweater, but what looked like a tiny version of a wizard’s hat—started yelping in protest.
“Oh, that’s a good boy,” Camry said, dropping to her knees to hug Max. “You helped us find you without abandoning your friend.”
Luke walked over and scooped up Tigger, then reared back to avoid getting his face washed. “It’s okay, Tig,” he crooned. “Mommy and Daddy are here. We wouldn’t have left this mountain without you.”
“Mommy and Daddy?” Camry repeated with a laugh, walking up to them. She gave Tigger an affectionate scratch behind the ears, then straightened the dog’s pointed little hat before looking down at the sled, which now had a small tarp fashioned like a tent over the top.
“Well, at least he made sure they were comfy. And judging by the snow on the tarp, they haven’t been here more than an hour. Hey, there’s something else in the sled,” she said, reaching inside. She pulled out a small tin coffee can. “I don’t think it’s big enough to be the data bank.”
Luke set Tigger back in the sled, on top of what appeared to be a straw-filled mattress, and took the tin from her—only to nearly drop it when whatever was inside suddenly chirped.
Camry snatched it from him and popped off the lid. “It’s the transmitter!” she cried, pulling it out. “And it’s been put back together!”
When she tried to hand it to him, Luke shoved his hands in his pockets. “That infernal thing is possessed,” he growled, stepping away. He suddenly groaned. “Oh, God, now I’m talking like Roger.”
Camry stuffed the transmitter in her pocket, then reached into the can again. “There’s a note,” she said, pulling out an envelope. She held it toward him. “And it’s addressed to you.”
Luke plopped down on the ground, tucking Max up next to him. “You read it. I’ve had my fill of Roger AuClair and all his hocus-pocus.”
She dropped down beside him, pulled a colorful card out of the envelope, and held it for him to see the front. “It’s just like the ones Fiona gave us.”
Luke picked up the envelope. “But this isn’t Fiona’s writing.” He looked back at her hand. “So, what’s it say?”
“Dear Lucian,” she read. She stopped, eyeing him with amusement.
“What?”
She looked back at the card, cleared her throat, and continued. “You may have had enough of my hocus-pocus, young man, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to put up with a bit more of it, if you’re hoping to hold on to that miracle sitting beside you.”
She smiled over at him. “In case you’re wondering, he’s referring to me.”
“That bastard can’t do that!”
“Tsk-tsk,” she said. She held the card toward him. “That wasn’t me. See, he actually wrote tsktsk right here.” She held the card in front of her again. “Tsk-tsk,” she repeated, “it’s dangerous to call a drùidh names. And though you may not believe it right now, not only am I your greatest ally, I’m also your only means of accomplishing the seemingly impossible task ahead of you. Your science will only take you so far, Dr. Renoir, before you will have to concede that there’s more to life than numbers, equations, and cold hard facts.”
She stopped reading and looked at him. “What impossible task is he talking about?” she asked, her eyes filling with worry.
“He’s messing with us, Camry. It won’t be the first time I’ve walked off this mountain in a blizzard. We’re both strong and healthy, and it shouldn’t take us even one day to get to Pine Creek.” He gestured toward the tree next to the sled. “Especially with snowshoes.”
She looked where he was pointing, then back at him. “But he left only one pair.”
Luke stood up and walked over to the tree, giving Tigger a pat on his way by. He looked back at Camry and smiled. “Maybe my ‘seemingly impossible task’ is that I’m going to have to pull you all the way home in the sled.”
She didn’t return his smile. “I don’t like this, Luke,” she whispered, her eyes darkening with concern. “Why would he say that you had to get me home, when I am perfectly capable of getting myself home?”
“Because the old bastard is messing with us,” he repeated, walking over and sitting down beside her. He hugged her to him. “He’s just a bored old hermit, Camry, who loves drama.” He snorted. “He even took it so far as to dress up like a wizard for added effect.”
“Then where is he?”
“Gone in our snowcat. When we get back to Pine Creek, we’ll probably find it parked on Main Street. Roger will be sitting in a bar, getting folks to pay for his drinks while he tells them about the two rocket scientists he duped into believing in magic.”
She leaned away. “So you didn’t believe anything that happened yesterday? When you said your vows to me, you were only . . . what . . . humoring me?” She looked down at the card in her hand. “So if you believe this has all been a charade, then you also believe that we’re not really married.”
He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. “As far as I’m concerned, we became husband and wife last night. And just as soon as we get back to civilization, we’re going to make it legal.”
“But the magic is real, Luke.”
He kissed the tip of her nose, then smiled. “Yes, it is, because I just spent a very magical night with a very magical woman.” He gave her another kiss, this time on her mouth, then stood up. “So, Mrs. Renoir, we better get going. I’d like to at least make it down to the lake before this storm gets too intense. We can wait it out at your sister’s camp lot for the night, then start out fresh in the morning.”
She looked back at the card in her hand. “But there’s more.”
“Don’t bother reading it,” Luke muttered, sitting down beside the sled and putting on the snowshoes. “I’m not interested in what else Roger AuClair has to say.”
Chapter Eighteen
Cam sat in the sled, rubbing her cheek against Tigger, and stared at Luke’s back as he trudged through the deepening snow. She’d insisted on walking, but by the time they’d made it back to their tent site and sorted through what gear they wanted to take, she’d realized not having snowshoes of her own only slowed down their progress as the storm intensified.
She sucked in a shuddering sob, her chest hurting so much she could almost feel her heart breaking in two. Not only did Luke not believe in the magic, he had felt it was necessary to pretend that he did. He’d stood there as serious as a groom on his wedding day and let Roger marry them, even though he thought it was all a charade.
Or maybe farce was a better word.
But why? If Luke loved her like he claimed, and thought she loved him equally as much, then why couldn’t he have been honest with her?
Cam buried her face in Tigger’s fur, wishing for her mama. She dearly needed her mother to explain to her why she’d fallen in love with a closed-minded, patronizing . . . know-it-all. She didn’t care if Lucian Pascal Renoir was handsome and sexy and smart, or even strong and brave and loyal; if he couldn’t wrap his mind around the magic, then he couldn’t uncompromisingly, unpretentiously, and unconditionally love her.
The sled suddenly stopped, and Luke walked back to open the side of the tarp. When she wouldn’t look at him, he slid his finger under her chin and lifted her face.
He sucked in his breath. “Are you crying?” he asked, wiping his thumb over her cheek. “Goddammit, you should have told me you were cold!” He reached down and started unlacing her boots. “Is it your feet? If they hurt, that’s a good sign you haven’t gotten frostbite yet. I’ll find us a sheltered place to build a fire.”
She covered his hands to stop him. “I’m not cold.”
“Then why are you crying?” She saw him suddenly stiffen. “Camry, you’ve got to come back to reality. What I believe about magic doesn’t matter, as long as you believe that I love you.”
“I-I told you yesterday that loving me means accepting who I am.”
“I do! You’re Camry MacKeage—no, dammit, Camry Renoir—the physicist who’s been driving me nuts for over a year.” He cupped her face in his palms, his thumbs gently brushing her cheeks. “The woman I fell in love with within days of meeting in person.” His grip tightened. “How can I make you understand that nothing else matters but our love for each other?”
She covered his hands with her own. “By believing, Luke,” she whispered. “By honestly believing that miracles aren’t something that happen only in books and movies, and that there’s really more going on than our science can explain.”
He visibly recoiled, sitting back on his heels. “So are you saying you can only love a man who thinks the way you do? And that I must not really love you because I can’t understand how your five-month-old niece can also be sixteen, or how an old hermit can be your long-lost ancestor as well as a drùidh?” He hesitated. “Is that what you’re saying, Camry?”
Unable to face him, she looked down at Tigger. “I don’t know what I’m saying,” she whispered. She suddenly looked back at him. “Would you believe my mother? If Dr. Grace Sutter explained the magic to you, would you believe her?”
He stood up and walked to the front of the sled. “We’ll discuss this later,” he said, the wind carrying his words away. He settled the rope over his shoulders, then glanced back. “You make sure you tell me if you get cold.”
She nodded, unable to speak past the lump in her throat. Luke called Max to his side and started off, and the sled lurched forward. Cam buried her face in Tigger’s neck, the image of Luke’s wounded expression burning her eyes like hot sand.
It was well after dark when they reached Megan and Jack Stone’s camp lot, and Luke was more than a little surprised that they actually found it, considering they had to battle both darkness and blizzard conditions. But with the last of his reserves fading from towing Camry, Tigger, and eventually Max, as well as their minimal gear, he’d given in to Camry’s plea that he let her put on the snowshoes and tow him for the last few miles. He’d finally conceded when he’d realized they were mostly downhill miles, and that they’d both be better served if he conserved his strength for tomorrow’s trek.
With an efficiency of effort and a few lumber scraps they found around the lot, they used the storm fly of the tent to construct a makeshif
t shelter, then crawled into the sleeping bag—with the dogs—to share their body heat. Luke sandwiched Camry between himself and Max and Tigger, then fell asleep almost before he’d even closed his eyes.
But when he woke up the next morning, he was alone. He bolted upright, shouting Camry’s name as he scrambled to the entrance.
“I’m right here,” she called back from the shoreline. She held her arms wide. “Look, Luke. Isn’t it beautiful?”
He rubbed a hand over his face, shaking off the last vestige of terror, and took a calming breath as he stood up. He blinked in the sharp sunlight breaking over the east end of the frozen lake as he looked around, surprised by how utterly calm the air felt. It was a winter wonderland as far as he could see, everything blanketed in glittering, pristine snow.
“Yes, it’s beautiful,” he called to her, even as he thought about how difficult that beauty was going to make today’s hike. But Roger’s time constraint notwithstanding, their sitting still was not an option. Luke slipped into his boots and walked to her. “How much ice do you think is on the lake?” he asked, eyeing the snow-covered expanse.
“Anywhere from six inches to a foot. But some places could be only an inch.” She shook her head. “And with the snow covering everything, there’s no way of telling what’s safe and what isn’t.”
Luke bent down, scooped up some snow and rubbed it over his face, giving a shiver as the last cobwebs of sleep fell away. “Then I guess we stick to the tote road. How long have you been up?”
“Half an hour. I started a small fire and melted some snow to make soup.” She gestured toward the campfire burning a few yards away. “Max and Tigger and I have already eaten. The rest is yours.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked, going over and lifting the pot off the coals.
“I figured you’d wake yourself up, once you got the rest you needed.” She knelt down beside him, picked up a stick, and pushed the embers into a pile. “I’ve thought about what you said yesterday,” she continued softly, not looking at him. “And I agree that we should ignore Roger’s ultimatum that we get back to Gù Brath before the solstice.” She glanced at him, then back down at the fire. “The only people who have any say about our being married is us. We’ll get home when we get there, and we’ll be legally married when we want—by who we want.”
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