Moonlight Warrior

by Janet Chapman

  “Do you know who bought it?” her friend asked. “I heard it was some gorgeous hunk of a man and an old priest. Susan said the guy looks strong enough to stop a train, and that he’s got piercing gold eyes that nearly made her faint when he came to her window. She also said he’s got a Scottish accent to die for, and that he’s richer than God.”

  “Susan thinks any man who’s not married is to die for. And she’s not suppose to talk about anyone’s bank balance.”

  “Like she’s going to worry about that if she can make herself look important,” Maddy scoffed. “She’s only a teller, but she acts like she owns the damn bank.” Maddy stepped closer. “So have you met him yet? Is he as gorgeous as Susan claims? Do you think he might give you and Mabel more time to find a place to live?”

  “He told us to take as long as we want to move. He’s been charming Mabel with some knight-in-shining-armor act, and she’s falling for it. And he’s definitely gorgeous, if you’re into giants with deep golden eyes and bodies that make Atlas look like a wimp.” She lifted her chin. “Which is exactly why I refused to even shake his hand when we first met in the bank. I’m not about to fall into that trap again.”

  “Oh, Eve,” Maddy said softly, shaking her head. “Not all men are like Parker.”

  “It’s only smart to learn from my mistakes. And if Parker taught me one thing, it’s that rich, handsome men from away can’t be trusted. I tell you, Maddy, Kenzie Gregor is weird. Nobody’s that nice. He doesn’t know us from a fence post, yet he appears more concerned about my mother’s welfare than I am. And the old priest is even stranger. He has to be in his nineties, but his eyes are totally sharp. And he acts like he just stepped out of the Middle Ages, too, and wears an old wool cassock.”

  “He’s probably more comfortable in traditional clothes. Old people cling to the familiar.”

  “He’s staying with Mom and me until we move, and I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I expected to hear chanting coming from his room downstairs.”

  “Where’s the gorgeous giant sleeping?”

  “He’s camping out down by the ocean. He claims he likes sleeping under the stars in freezing weather. See what I mean? They’re both odd. Mom and I were splitting wood last night, and I think Kenzie was standing next to the barn the entire time, watching us. I turned around and he was suddenly—There! That’s him!” Eve said, pointing out the window. “He’s just pulling into the Shop ’n Save. That’s his SUV.”

  “He really is richer than God.” Maddy leaned over one of the displays to get a better look. “That truck must have cost a fortune. Holy hell,” she muttered, all but pressing her nose up to the glass. “He is gorgeous! And he looks deliciously normal to me: black leather jacket, short hair, tight jeans, and shoulders broad enough for a woman to cling to.” She sighed. “I wonder if he owns a kilt?”

  Eve pulled her away from the window. “Stop acting like you’re sixteen.”

  Maddy turned her big brown eyes on Eve. “The answer to your prayers just might have moved into town, and you’re too bitter to see it.”

  “I do not need a hero to ride in here and save me.”

  “Then can I have him? I’ve been praying for a man like that for years.” She gave a fierce scowl. “You can be damned sure that Susan’s going to go after him.”

  “She can have him. Or you can. But first, ask yourself: if he’s so rich and handsome and charming, what’s he doing in Midnight Bay? This place is so depressing, even the salmon won’t return to the river. Nobody would choose to live here.”

  “Thank you very much, Miss Sunshine,” Maddy snapped.

  “You know damn well you’re only staying here to run interference between your brother and mother. The moment Rick heads off to college, you’re heading to Portland.”

  “Not anymore. I’ve decided I can’t leave Mom all alone. Besides, moving her precious granddaughter two hundred miles away would kill her.” Maddy glanced toward the black truck parked across the street. “So I guess my knight in shining armor will have to come to Midnight Bay to find me.”

  “Hello, Maddy,” Mabel said, stepping out of the back office. “How is Amos today?”

  “Hello, Mrs. Bishop. I’m sorry to say that Amos died last night.”

  “Oh, dear. How is Gertrude taking it?”

  “I think she’s relieved, actually. It was hard for her to see him like that.”

  Mabel nodded. “I guess I should be thankful Nathan went so quickly. It’s sad to watch a loved one waste away.” She looked at Eve. “I have to go see Gertrude.”

  “Of course. We’ll stop by her house on the way home.”

  “No, I want to go spend the afternoon with her. Gertrude’s my friend.”

  “But I can’t just close the store.”

  “I can take the delivery truck.”

  Eve’s gut tightened. She didn’t want her mother driving anywhere alone. “But what if you get confused again? You might end up in Canada,” she said, softening her words with a grin.

  Mabel puffed up. “I don’t need to be watched every minute of every day. I’m not an invalid yet, young lady.”

  “My mom’s going to visit Gertrude, Mrs. Bishop,” Maddy piped up. “How about if I ask her to stop by and pick you up?”

  Mabel gave Eve a scowl, then walked back to the office. “Thank you.”

  “She’s right, you know,” Maddy said gently. “You can’t watch her twenty-four/seven. You’ll burn yourself out.”

  “But I never know when she’s going to go off to la-la land. It happens in the blink of an eye. Yesterday she wandered out of the house and got trapped on one of the islands when the tide came in. If Kenzie Gregor hadn’t come along and carried her to shore, I’m not sure I could have gotten her across by myself.”

  Maddy perked up. “Your gorgeous knight showed up exactly when you needed him, and he carried your mother to shore? Just like in a fairy tale?” She sighed again. “Oh, Eve, do you have to be hit by a bolt of lightning?”

  “He did the dishes last night, too,” Eve snapped. “And I bet he writes poetry, and gives fantastic back rubs and foot massages. God, you’re worse than my mother!”

  Maddy blinked at her.

  Eve took a calming breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I have a lot on my plate right now. If losing our home and possibly this business isn’t bad enough, now I have to worry about Mom wandering off.”

  “I’m sorry, too.” Maddy touched her arm. “I’ll stop teasing you about Kenzie Gregor. Before yesterday, when was Mabel’s last bad spell?”

  Eve shrugged. “A week ago. It’s not that it happens often, it’s just that I can’t predict when. And sometimes she seems perfectly lucid but does strange things. I’ve had to resort to shutting off the circuit breaker to the range when I’m not using it. She puts stuff in the oven and doesn’t set the timer, then forgets it’s there until we smell something burning. And several times, I’ve caught her talking to people who aren’t there. When I ask her who she’s talking to, she just smiles and says her imaginary friends.”

  “Actually, Eve, that’s not unusual for dementia patients,” Maddy said gently. “They’re usually living in some random old memory at the time, and are conversing with a long-lost family member or friend.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to get back to work. How about if Sarah and I come over this evening and help you start packing?”

  Eve gave her a hug. “I’d like that. And thanks for volunteering your mother to drive Mom to Gertrude’s.”

  Maddy opened the door and stepped onto the sidewalk. “I’m going to check with Social Services at work, to see if you can get someone to come in a few days a week to watch Mabel. You need some time to yourself.”

  “Mom would never go for that! She’s too proud.”

  “Then we’ll rally her friends to drop by for a visit so you can slip out for a few hours.”

  “That would be wonderful. I’m still trying to clean up the mess from my divorce. Everything I own is sitting in a storage contain
er in Ellsworth. I have to start going through it.”

  “Any bites on your house in Boston?”

  “Not yet. I hope it sells soon, or I’m going to have to turn it over to the bank. Paying the mortgage ate up the last of my money.”

  “Thank God that you had your teacher’s retirement fund to cash in, and that Parker couldn’t get his hands on it. Okay, I really gotta go,” she said. “I’ll see you around six?”

  “Make it seven. I have to split wood right after supper.”

  Maddy made a disgusted face. “I had my fill of splitting wood in my teens. When I got my first job, I offered half my paycheck to Daddy if he would scrap the woodstove and use the boiler. But with three kids for free labor and a hundred acres of forest, he said wood was cheaper.”

  “It did wonders for your figure in high school. Didn’t you have to beat the boys off with a stick?”

  Maddy snorted. “Too bad Billy Kimble had such a hard head. I wouldn’t have spent three years married to the bastard. God, I was stupid when I was eighteen.”

  “No, you were pregnant.”

  “That’s the only thing I don’t regret. Sarah’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll tell Mom to pick up Mabel. See you at seven,” she called out, walking down the sidewalk backward as she dialed. “And I’ll have Sarah bring her math homework so Mabel can help her with it.”

  Eve noticed a tall figure coming out of the Shop ’n Save with a grocery cart, and ran back into her store. She peeked out the window and watched Kenzie Gregor open the back hatch of his truck and start loading in groceries. A bag boy followed, pushing a second cart.

  Holy hell, he’d bought enough food to feed an army!

  The first thing Eve noticed when she pulled into the dooryard that evening was the huge pile of split wood sitting where the delivery truck was usually parked. Then she noticed Kenzie Gregor standing next to Father Daar, using his shirt to wipe the sweat off his naked chest as he watched her drive in.

  “Oh, my,” Mabel said. “Will you look at that?”

  “He split all the wood.”

  “Not the wood—the man. Just look at that body.”

  “Mom! You’re old enough to be his mother!”

  “Age has nothing to do with anything. I can still appreciate a good-looking man when I see one.” She shot Eve a coy smile. “Then again, maybe I was referring to the priest.”

  “Mother!”

  Mabel barked out a laugh and climbed out of the truck. “Oh, loosen up, before your face freezes in that expression.”

  Eve shut off the truck with a sigh. Sometimes she felt older than her mother.

  Someone rapped on her window, and she looked over to find Kenzie smiling at her, buttoning his shirt with one hand as he motioned with the other for her to roll down the window.

  Only she couldn’t, because the crank was missing. She opened the door, causing him to step back. “I can only pay you fifty dollars for splitting that wood,” she said as she slid out.

  His smile vanished. “A good meal is all I would ask for,” he said, turning and walking away.

  Eve wanted to kick herself. When had she turned so bitter that she couldn’t accept help without being suspicious?

  Maddy plucked another dish out of the rinse water, then stepped back to the window to watch Kenzie tossing wood onto the conveyor belt.

  “I swear, if you sigh again, I’m going to dump dishwater on you,” Eve said. “The man puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like every other man.”

  “But he sure fills them out nicer than most,” Maddy said, giving an exaggerated sigh as she came back to the sink for another dish. She nudged Eve’s hip with her own. “Susan wasn’t telling tales. I pretty near fainted when he shook my hand.”

  “Which you shoved at him like a love-starved teenager,” Eve said, nudging her back with a laugh. She nodded at the window. “But do you see why he annoys me? He’s out there doing my job, while I’m in here doing dishes like a good little woman.”

  “The no-good, rotten bastard,” Maddy said, walking back to the window. “Omigod—he took off his shirt and is wiping his chest!”

  Eve darted a glance toward the living room, where her mother was helping Sarah with her homework, and dragged Maddy back to the sink. “Can you get your mind off sex for just one minute? Honestly, I don’t like being indebted to him. He split all my firewood for free, and stocked our cupboards with enough food to feed a nation. And now he’s loading the truck for tomorrow’s delivery. I don’t like it.”

  Maddy folded her towel and set it on the counter. “You know what I think? I think you’re attracted to Kenzie Gregor, and that’s what bugs you about him.”

  “What?”

  “The man is making you crazy. I remember when Parker rented Betty Simpson’s cottage that summer. You took one look at him and trampled over all of us other women.”

  “I did not.”

  Maddy laughed. “You were like a guided missile aimed right at Parker’s heart. The poor jerk didn’t know what hit him.”

  “What does Parker have to do with Kenzie Gregor?”

  “Your tracking system locked onto Kenzie the moment you met him.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “No, I’m right.” Maddy grabbed Eve by the sleeve and pulled her to the window. “So maybe it’s time for you to be honest, Miss I-think-she-doth-protest-too-much. What do you see when you look at Kenzie Gregor?”

  “A stranger with an unknown agenda.”

  “Really? Because I see a man who just might be handsome and charming and nice enough to heal my friend’s broken heart,” Maddy said softly.

  “You’ve been reading too many romance novels,” Eve growled, turning away from the window. “And Parker didn’t break my heart, he just made me wiser. Besides, I’ve only been divorced two months; it’s too soon to be jumping into a new relationship.”

  “You told me your marriage had died several years ago, so that’s not an excuse.”

  “Is there a reason we’re having this discussion at all? Kenzie Gregor isn’t attracted to me. We’ve just stuck together because of circumstances.”

  Maddy rolled her eyes. “Have you looked in a mirror lately? He’s not out there chopping up your wood for the fun of it; he’s trying to burn off his lust.”

  “Maddy!”

  Her friend laughed. “I’m not saying you should fall head over heels in love with the guy. I’m just trying to make you see that there is life after Parker. Get over the cheating bum by indulging yourself in a hot, sweaty, burn-up-the-sheets affair.”

  “You don’t think it’s a little immoral to use one man to get over another?”

  “Kenzie Gregor is a male, and we both know what simple creatures they are. Keep his belly full and his lust sated, and he won’t mind helping you get over Parker one bit. I promise.”

  “My God, you’re serious,” Eve muttered, utterly floored.

  The door suddenly opened and Father Daar and Kenzie walked in. Eve ran into the back room. Maddy was two seconds behind her, her hand over her mouth to keep in her laughter.

  “You are so bad,” Eve whispered, fighting to contain a giggle. “You’re going straight to hell, and you’re trying to take me with you!”

  “But what a ride it’ll be!”

  Kenzie stuck his head in the door. “I’m done for the night, and Daar has gone to bed. Is there anything you ladies need from me before I head out?”

  “No!” Eve blurted before Maddy could suggest something outrageous.

  Kenzie lifted a curious brow. “Okay, then.” He smiled at Maddy. “I look forward to meeting your husband. Does he fish? I would like to ask a local fisherman about what bait to use in the stream.”

  “I don’t have a husband. I divorced the no-good bastard six years ago.”

  “Forgive me. I just assumed…” He cleared his throat. “You’ve done a fine job of raising your daughter. She’s a delight.”
/>   “She’s nine going on sixteen.”

  “Are you all set for the night, Eve?” he asked.

  “All set.”

  “Good night then,” he said, turning and walking out.

  The moment they heard the screen door shut, Maddy sagged against the old chest freezer with a sigh. “Please have an affair with Kenzie Gregor. For me?”

  “You’re the one who won’t stop sighing. You have an affair with him.”

  “I can’t. I make a complete fool of myself whenever I get within ten feet of a handsome man.” She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “I can’t believe I blurted out my divorce to him like that.”

  Eve patted her shoulder. “There, there,” she crooned.

  Maddy spread her fingers and peeked at Eve. “But you could handle having an affair with him.” She dropped her hands and smiled. “And I’ll just live vicariously through you.”

  “I am not having an affair with Kenzie Gregor.”

  “Why not?” her mother asked, walking into the room. “If I was forty years younger, I’d certainly have a go at him.”

  “Mother!”

  “You’re making that face again, Evangeline.”

  Eve headed into the kitchen. “Hey, Sarah. Did you get all your homework done?”

  “Who’s that old man sleeping in your front bedroom?” the girl asked in a whisper. “He dresses funny.”

  “That’s Father Daar, and he dresses that way because he’s a very old priest.”

  “His cane is cool,” Sarah continued. “Is Kenzie Gregor your boyfriend?”

  “No, he’s our landlord until Mom and I find a new place to live. Mr. Gregor bought this farm.”

  “You could come live with us. Uncle Rick is graduating this year and leaving for college in August. You can have his room.” Sarah made a disgusted face. “But you’re probably gonna have to fumigate it first. It stinks really bad.”

  “Thanks for offering, sweetie, but I think Mom and I have too much furniture to move in with you and your grammy. We’re going to need a house all to ourselves.”

  “Samantha Graves is moving to Idaho as soon as school gets out. Maybe you could live in her old house.”