“She’ll simply have to adjust to a new home.”
“What is wrong with Mabel?” Daar asked, coming to sit beside Kenzie. “She seems to get confused a lot, and starts talking in…I believe it’s French, though not any dialect I recognize. Does she have that disease that afflicts old people?”
Eve turned, and Kenzie sucked in his breath at the distress he saw in her eyes.
“It’s not Alzheimer’s,” she said, “though a lot of the symptoms are the same. The blood vessels in her brain are slowly leaking. And whenever there’s a new leak, more tissue is killed. I started noticing symptoms last year, when I came for my summer visit. She seemed to have lost her sense of time. Six hours could have been six minutes to her. She grew worse over the winter, after Nathan died. One moment she’s in the present, and the next she thinks she’s eighteen years old, living in Quebec with her parents. She regresses to French because she didn’t learn English until she went to teacher’s college in New Brunswick. She met my father when she came to visit a school friend from Midnight Bay,” she finished, turning back to pour coffee into the mugs.
Kenzie stared down at the steaming mug she set in front of him, unable to look her in the eye. Dammit it to hell, he felt two inches tall. “Does Mabel understand that she’s lost her home?”
“She was quite lucid when Alvin told her.”
“Is that why she went to the island?” Daar whispered. “Was she so distraught, she intended to throw herself in the ocean?”
Kenzie snapped his head up. “No! You must persuade your mother that we’ll work something out. I’ll not put Mabel out of her home!”
Eve Anderson looked more amused than shocked. “Mom would never do something like that,” she assured them. “No matter how confused she might get, it’s simply not her nature. She went to the island to sit on her bench and watch the sea, because that’s her favorite place on the farm.”
Kenzie sighed in relief. “Will ye give me tonight to decide what to do about this?”
“There is nothing to decide. Knowing Alvin, he made you pay a small fortune for this farm, and it’s legally yours. I would appreciate it, though, if you could give us more than five days to move. If I can find a reasonable rental in town quickly, we won’t have to stay at the store.”
“You may have as long as you need.”
Daar choked on a swallow of coffee and shot Kenzie a glare.
“But I wonder if I might ask a favor of you,” Kenzie added. “Would it be possible for Daar to stay in the house with you and your mother? He promises to be a undemanding houseguest, and he’ll even help with some of the chores.”
Daar started choking again, and Kenzie reached over and lightly pounded his back. Eve eyed them both skeptically.
“It was our intention to camp out on the knoll for the next five days,” Kenzie continued. “But if it’s to be longer, I’d feel better knowing Daar will have a warm bed.”
“You were going to camp out?” she asked, her eyes widening. “But it still gets below freezing most nights.”
Kenzie shrugged. “I enjoy brisk weather. Daar, though, claims it makes his old bones ache,” he said, giving her a wink.
She immediately started building a fire in the cookstove. “I have no problem with Father Daar staying here.” She suddenly turned back to them. “Could you both do one more thing for me?”
“What would that be?”
“Please don’t mention my mother’s illness to anyone in town? She’s a proud woman, and if people start pitying her or treating her differently, she’d be crushed.”
Kenzie stood up. “Mabel’s secret is safe with us. I’m going to get Daar’s things out of the truck, then go make camp.” He stopped at the door. “Thank you, Eve, for helping me work out this problem.”
She gaped at him. “You’re thanking me? But you’re the one being generous.”
Kenzie shrugged. “The arrangement serves me as well as it does you. I enjoy sleeping outside, but I was not comfortable leaving Daar alone in a strange house. This way he gets a roof over his head, and I get the stars over mine.”
Chapter Three
Eve hefted a large piece of beech wood onto the splitting table, then nodded at her mother to push the lever. The ram slowly descended, and the engine’s powerful hydraulics pushed the heavy, T-shaped wedge through the sinuous fibers. The moment the wood split into four pieces, her mother reversed the lever and the wedge lifted free. Eve tossed the fallen pieces onto the conveyer belt, watched them travel up into their delivery truck, then picked up another sixteen-inch log.
“Did I get married?” Mabel asked over of the sound of the idling engine.
Eve dropped the heavy wood onto the table and blinked at her mother. “No. What makes you think that?”
“Did you get married, then?”
“No!”
“Then who was that man at our supper table?”
Eve sighed. “He’s a priest, Mama. His name is Father Daar, and he’s boarding with us for a little while.” She positioned the wood under the wedge. “We’re almost done with this load. We’ll deliver it to Mrs. Simpson tomorrow morning, before we open the store. Push the lever.”
Mabel didn’t move. “Priests live in rectories.”
“Father Daar is retired. He’s traveling the Maine coast, staying with charitable people willing to take him in.”
“Eve, we can’t take in strays, even clergy. We’re broke. We had to drive all the way to Ellsworth the other day to go the food pantry.”
They’d driven to Ellsworth because if they’d gone to the local food bank, everyone in town would have known exactly how bad their situation was. “Father Daar can’t weigh as much as I do, Mama. How much food could he possibly eat?”
“He ate three pieces of chicken tonight! I planned to use those last two pieces for our lunch tomorrow.”
“But just think of all the heavenly points we’ll get for taking in a priest. How’s that saying go? ‘Be kind to a stranger, as you might be entertaining an angel?’”
Mabel snorted and pushed the lever. The process repeated itself, and Eve tossed four more pieces of split wood onto the conveyer belt. When they landed in the truck, one of the pieces fell over the side onto the ground.
“We’ve got a full load.” She shut off the engine, bringing blessed silence to the farmyard just as the sun disappeared behind the trees to the west. “That takes care of Mrs. Simpson. Tomorrow we’ll start splitting Jonas Thompson’s wood.”
“Don’t forget to collect the balance from Betty Simpson. She only paid for one cord up front, remember?” Mabel said. She stood up, then rolled the piece of oak she’d been using as a seat over to the pile of unsplit wood. “And Jonas owes us for one cord. He paid for three, but upped it to four at the last minute.”
“I remember.”
“Have you found us a place to live yet? Doesn’t Betty have a house that she rents out to summer tourists?”
Thrilled that Mabel seemed to be back in the here and now, Eve made a comical face. “Do you really want Betty Simpson as a landlord? Besides, the cottage is probably already booked for the season.”
“I don’t want to live too far out of town,” Mabel said. “What about that handsome young man we met at the bank this morning? Kenzie, wasn’t it? Maybe the place he’s buying has a house on it we could rent. Several of the old farms in this area have second homes for hired hands. We don’t need anything big.”
Feeling like she was tiptoeing through the twilight zone of her mother’s mind, Eve decided to be honest with her. “Kenzie Gregor bought this farm, Mama.”
“He did? Then where is he? Wait—that explains Father Daar! He was with Kenzie at the bank. Is that really why he’s living with us?”
“Yes. And Mr. Gregor is camped out on the knoll by your island.”
“Why?”
“He gave us more time to find a rental, but asked if Father Daar could stay with us until we move out.”
Mabel beamed brightly. “Kenzie is a real gentleman,
isn’t he? He didn’t want people in town to talk, so he’s staying out of the house. I knew I liked that boy the moment I met him.”
“Do you remember that he carried you through the surf this afternoon?”
Her mother looked at her blankly. “Why did he do that?”
“You’d gone to the island to watch the ocean, and got stuck when the tide came in.”
Mabel’s eyes darkened with sadness. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it? I’m losing whole blocks of time now.”
Eve hugged her. “It’ll be okay, Mom. I’ll keep you safe.”
“But where will it end?”
“I don’t know.” Eve leaned away and looked her in the eye. “The doctors can’t predict that sort of thing. I can only promise that I’ll be here for you, no matter what.”
“But I don’t want to be a burden. You have your own life to get back on track. You should be finding someone to love and have babies with, not babysitting your crazy old mother.”
“Seventy-four is not old, and you are not crazy. You’re just ill. And the last thing I need right now is a man. I love you, Mama, and there’s no place I’d rather be than here with you. Besides,” she said, taking off her gloves. “We’re an excellent team. The two of us will make Bishop’s Hearth and Home a success again.”
“Oh, Eve. Even if we had two fully functioning brains, we would still need a miracle. Nobody around here has any money to spend. And those who do already bought stoves from us over the last six years. There are no more customers to sell to.”
“Then we’ll get creative. As soon as I get that new line of credit, we’ll expand our market by selling those fancy new wood-pellet stoves that have become so popular. And for added insurance, we’ll come up with something else to sell.” Eve gave her mother a reassuring smile. “You love baking. Maybe we could change our sign to Bishop’s Hearth and Home and Bakery, and start selling bread and homemade jam to the tourists.”
“Nobody’s going to pay for my bread, Evangeline. We sell firewood. That’s been our only reliable source of income for the last five years.”
“But Kenzie Gregor owns the farm now, so we don’t have access to any trees. And even if we did, and even if I am strong—Eve flexed her muscles in a prize fighter’s pose—I don’t think I’d last very long running a chain-saw.”
“I agree.”
Eve swung around with a gasp to find Kenzie Gregor standing beside the woodpile.
“You might manage to cut down the trees, but limbing and sawing the logs into stove lengths would likely do ye in,” he continued, his golden eyes lit with amusement. He looked at the truck full of wood, then walked up to the splitter and ran his fingers along the wedge. “What is this machine?”
“It’s a wood processor,” Mabel said. “You lift the wood onto the table, split it into four pieces, then the conveyer belt carries them up into the truck.”
Kenzie turned and smiled at Mabel. “You’re looking none the worse for your adventure, Mrs. Anderson.”
“It’s Mabel to you, Kenzie,” her mother said. She held out her hand. “And I believe thanks are in order. Eve told me you carried me through the surf earlier, when I foolishly got stuck on the island. My sincere thanks, young man.”
He took her hand and gave a slight bow. “Your daughter was already doing a fine job of rescuing you. I just happened along and thought you might prefer a ride as opposed to wading.”
Eve barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Kenzie Gregor could charm a snake charmer. Her mother was blushing!
What was his game? Strangers did not pay small fortunes for prime oceanfront farms, then sleep outdoors. Was he a throwback to the age of chivalry, or did he have some sort of agenda?
Eve gestured to the pile of unsplit wood. “Some of this wood belongs to Jonas Thompson, because he already paid for it. But I suppose the rest belongs to you now, since it was cut on your land. The processor and truck, however, are ours. As soon as we find a new place, we’ll get them out of your yard.”
He looked at the woodpile. “Who cut all this wood?”
“My husband, Nathan. He died right back there,” Mabel said, pointing to a stand of hardwood at the end of the overgrown pasture. “He had a massive heart attack. I didn’t even realize anything was wrong until it got dark and he didn’t come home.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Mabel,” Kenzie said softly.
“Thank you.” She shook her head. “I told Nathan he was too old to be logging wood, but apparently I’m attracted to stubborn men. My first husband, Jens, was just as bullheaded.”
“Daddy was not bullheaded.”
“No?” Mabel said, a gleam lighting her eyes. “Then how come you took six years of martial arts instead of dance classes, like I wanted you to?”
Eve felt her cheeks heat up. “Daddy knew dancing lessons wouldn’t help me as an adult the way self-defense classes would.”
Mabel turned her gleam on Kenzie. “Jens made sure every boy who came calling on Eve knew she could beat them up. From the time he realized she was going to end up a petite, blue-eyed, curly blonde, he started driving her all the way to Ellsworth for karate lessons.”
“I would say Jens was a very wise man,” Kenzie said, his own eyes gleaming. “I have a friend in Pine Creek who has seven daughters, and he taught each of them to defend themselves.”
Mabel snorted. “I bet those girls didn’t intimidate every boy who came calling.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kenzie drawled. “Greylen’s youngest daughter certainly gave my brother a merry chase. In fact, Winter is seven months pregnant and she’s still causing him fits. Now honestly, Mabel, would ye want your daughter to be with the sort of man who would let a wee lass intimidate him?”
Eve knew her cheeks were blistering red, but if Kenzie thought he could bait her, he was going to be disappointed.
Mabel, apparently, wasn’t so sure. She gave Eve a cautious glance, then suddenly rubbed her arms. “My, but it’s getting chilly. Let’s go in and make a pot of tea. Kenzie, would you like to join us for some blueberry pie?”
“Ye left Daar inside with a pie?” He headed for the house. “I doubt there’s any left, if it wasn’t hidden. I will fill your cupboards with groceries tomorrow.”
“What was that all about?” Eve hissed as soon as he was out of earshot.
“What was what all about?”
“Don’t play innocent with me. Why in God’s name would you even bring up my karate lessons?”
Her mother stepped closer. “I think Kenzie likes you, and I simply wanted to warn him how…off-putting you get sometimes. I like Kenzie, and I don’t want his feelings to get hurt. That’s why at the bank, when I noticed how he was looking at you, I warned him you were newly divorced.”
Eve opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. What could she possibly say?
Her mother hooked an arm through hers, and started for the house. “Are you sure you don’t find him even a little bit attractive? Doesn’t he remind you of your father?”
Eve pulled them to a stop. “You’re not dying, Mama. Not for many, many years. So don’t try fixing me up with someone who will take care of me after you’re gone, just so you can die in peace.”
Mabel stepped away. “That doesn’t mean you have to live like a nun in the meantime. A wonderful young man has all but been dropped in your lap, and if you don’t take advantage of that, the other eligible women in town certainly will.”
Eve snorted. “We don’t know anything about Kenzie Gregor. Some of the worst serial killers in history were handsome charmers. For all we know, he bought this remote farm so he’d have a place to bury the bodies.”
Mabel started them toward the house again. “You’ve been living in the city too long, Evangeline, and have grown cynical. You only need to take a long, deep look into his eyes to see that Kenzie is a gentle giant. He told me he wants to open an animal sanctuary. And he takes very good care of the old priest. Not all men are like Parker. That man might have put on a
good face, but I never did trust him.”
“And you’re just telling me this now? Why didn’t you say something six years ago?”
“Like what? That I knew you had fallen in love with a jerk? Eve, you were so excited about moving to Boston and getting a teaching job down there, and it all happened so quickly. You’d only known Parker six weeks when you announced your engagement. I honestly hoped I was wrong, because I wanted you to be happy. And you were.”
“For a year,” Eve said with a sigh. “Then Boston began to feel more desolate than Midnight Bay. Parker was always working late or flying off someplace on business. That’s why as soon as school broke for the summer, I came home for a two-month visit.” She snorted again. “Which certainly left the door open for Pauline to cozy up to my husband.”
They went up the porch steps, and walked into the house to find Kenzie Gregor standing at the sink, doing the dishes they’d left in order to finish splitting the wood before dark.
Eve decided then that the man wasn’t a serial killer. He was much, much scarier than that.
Chapter Four
“Is it true?” Maddy Kimble asked Eve after pulling her to the front of the store so her mother wouldn’t hear them. “Did Alvin Bishop really sell Mabel’s farm?”
The cherub-faced brunette was Eve’s closest friend in Midnight Bay, and the fact that she’d run half the length of Main Street on her short lunch break was exactly why Eve loved her.
“It’s true. Alvin put it on the market less than a month after Nathan died. And he didn’t even have the decency to tell Mom he was selling, so she could start looking for another place to live! He came to the store yesterday, right after signing the papers, and told us we had five days to move out.”
“That bloodsucking bastard.”
Eve couldn’t help but smile. Maddy might look angelic, but she could make a sailor blush when she got riled. They’d gone to the same school, though Maddy had been a few years younger, but it wasn’t until Eve had moved back two months ago that they’d become close friends. Maddy was a nurse and worked down the street at the retirement home.
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