Eve glanced at Maddy, since they both knew the Graveses were moving to go live with Mr. Graves’s parents because he’d lost his job at the lumber mill. She smiled at Sarah. “I’ll check into it. So, young lady, if you’ve finished your homework, I believe pie is in order.”
Sarah ran and sat down at the table. “It’s not blueberry, is it? Grammy made me help her put up so many blueberries last summer, I hope I never see another blueberry again as long as I live.”
“Sarah Jane!” Maddy scolded. “Mind your manners. You’ll eat whatever kind of pie they have.”
“I believe I saw some chocolate chip cookies in the pantry,” Mabel said, opening the pantry door. “Come on, Sarah. We’ll have our treat in the living room, so we can watch America’s Funniest Home Videos. Eve and your mother have some packing to do.”
“You know, maybe Sarah’s onto something,” Maddy said when they were alone again. “The bank foreclosed on the Graves house, and they’re not going to be able to sell it anytime soon in this economy. You could see if the bank would rent it to you.”
“It’ll be seven more weeks before school’s out and they move. I can’t expect Kenzie to camp out for another two months. Besides, have you driven by the Graves house lately? If the inside looks half as bad as the outside does, the place should be razed. It’s a dump.”
“What about the Taylor farm? Old man Taylor died last fall, and the house has been empty ever since. His son lives in Vermont, I think. You could contact him and see if he’d rent it to you.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll call the Town Hall Monday and see if they’ll give me his address.” Eve looked around the kitchen and sighed. “Where should we start?”
“Boxes would help.”
“There’s some in the attic. You’re not afraid of spiders, are you?”
Maddy grabbed the flyswatter hanging by the door, shouldered it like a rifle, and saluted. “You lead the way, and I’ll back you up. If any crawly critters try to jump you, I’ll knock them into tomorrow.”
Chapter Five
“Is the dark-haired woman as handsome up close as she is from a distance?”
Kenzie dropped another log on the fire and looked over at William. “When did you see her?”
“When she arrived. Is she comely? What color are her eyes?”
“They’re brown. And yes, she’s a handsome woman.”
“She has a child, so I suppose she also has a husband,” William said with a sigh.
Kenzie chuckled. “She told me she divorced the no-good bastard six years ago.”
William sat forward, his back bristling. “He abused her?”
“There seem to be any number of reasons a woman can get divorced today, William. And at first glance, I doubt Maddy would put up with any sort of abuse from a man.”
“Maddy? It must be short for something…Madeline, maybe? What’s her daughter’s name?”
“Sarah. She told me she’s in the third grade, and that she’s going to the fourth grade next fall because she got straight A’s—whatever that means.”
William went silent and stared into the fire.
Kenzie glanced over at the beast, bolstered by William’s interest in Eve’s friend. Maybe a bit of lust would pull him out of his depression.
As long as William didn’t try to do anything about it.
“You mustn’t wander too far afield, especially during the daylight hours,” Kenzie reminded him. “You should be okay here on the farm, but don’t go near town, day or night. The last thing we need is for someone to see you.”
“I’m being careful. Did you bring any pie with you?”
“Nay. I left it for Eve to feed to her visitors.”
William leaned back against a tree. “Maddy,” he said, as if trying out the name. “Maddy and Sarah.” He chuckled. “The wee lassie didn’t stop talking from the time she got out of the car to when she went inside.”
Kenzie looked at him sharply. “Just how close did you get to the house?”
“I was in the barn. Don’t worry, Gregor, I can avoid being seen when I want. I once snuck five dozen warriors into an enemy’s keep in broad daylight.”
“This isn’t the ninth century, and since you’re no longer a man, you don’t exactly blend in anymore.”
“So,” William said, dismissing the warning, “there seem to be plenty of single women around here.” He glanced at Kenzie, his large dark eyes reflecting the firelight. “I noticed you stopped working long enough to watch Eve Anderson walk into the house. When was the last time ye had a woman, Gregor?”
“It’s been a few years.”
William snorted. “More like a few hundred. You should bed the blonde; you seem attracted to her. Though she doesn’t appear all that enamored with you,” he added with a chuckle. “She does have some fire in her, though. She might actually give you a good ride—assuming you don’t break her in half.”
“You’re a crude bastard, Killkenny. It’s no wonder that old witch turned you into the monster ye are.”
“Christ, Gregor, you’re a highland warrior. Would you have me believe you didn’t indulge in the soft flesh of your enemy’s women after a battle?” he scoffed. “You Scots populated half my village with your bastards.”
Kenzie gave William a warning glare. “For someone who traveled centuries to ask for my help, ye have a strange way of going about it. You never mind about Eve Anderson. And Maddy, too, for that matter. Stay away from those women.”
“You can’t have both of them.”
“I don’t want both of them.”
“Just the blonde?”
Kenzie stood up and looked William level in the eye. “My intentions are not the issue here—yours are. If I catch you anywhere near Maddy or Eve or any other female, I will dispatch your slimy soul to hell myself.”
William also stood. “You can’t, Gregor. You’ve given your word to help me.”
Kenzie stepped closer. “I only promised to help you lift the old hag’s curse and become a man again, Killkenny. I never said anything about your being alive when it happens.”
William stepped back, tripped over his tail, and nearly fell. “At this point, death would be a blessing!” he snapped. “Christ’s blood, when are you going to make it happen?”
Kenzie sympathized with William’s impatience. Having lived a multitude of lives as several different animals for nearly two centuries—thanks to his drùidh brother’s fateful decision when Matt had found him mortally wounded on a long-ago battlefield—he was very well acquainted with William’s frustration.
But at least he’d always been a natural animal, not a mythical beast. He’d been a panther when he’d come to this modern time three years ago, which had made it somewhat easier to blend in—whereas William would stick out like the monster he was.
“It’ll happen when you stop fighting your curse, William, and learn from it instead.”
“I’ve spent centuries trying to figure it out! You’re my last resort, Gregor. I was told that you could make everything right again!”
Kenzie sat back down and said nothing.
William stood stiffly, his powerful muscles humming with tension, his massive wings twitching with anger. He finally sat down with a snarl, coiling his tail around him.
“It doesn’t work that way, Killkenny,” Kenzie said softly, staring into the flames. “I have no magic wand to turn you back into the man you once were. You were urged to come find me because I can help displaced souls like yourself find your own paths back.”
“But your brother did it for you. Why can’t he do it for me? He’s Cùram de Gairn, the most powerful of all wizards.”
Kenzie gave a humorless laugh. “Matt didn’t do a damn thing. It was me, William. I had the power all along to choose my fate. For two hundred years I believed Matt had caused my misery, when it was my own doing. When Tom finally explained to me that blaming someone else for my situation only prolonged it, the change simply…happened.”
William s
at up. “Who is this Tom fellow? Maybe he can help me.”
“Thomas Gregor Smythe,” Kenzie said. “He’s Matt and Winter’s grandson.”
William snorted and leaned back. “He isn’t even born yet. You must have dreamed him.”
“If you traveled forward twelve hundred years to get here, why couldn’t Tom have traveled back to this time?”
“Because he isn’t born yet,” William repeated.
“Then that would mean you and I are long dead, my friend.”
“Goddammit, Gregor, I don’t know how the blasted magic works! I just know that if I don’t get home soon, as myself, I’m not going to have a home to return to. If my enemies haven’t stolen it from me already, you can be damn sure my friends will.”
“You’re not going back, William,” Kenzie said gently. “Once you return to your old self, you won’t be able to breach time again. This is your home now. Just as I must, you too must live out the rest of your natural life in this century.”
William recoiled in horror. “Are you saying I’m stuck in this accursed place?”
“No, William. You still may choose to return to your time.”
“As the monster I am!”
“Yes.” Kenzie shrugged. “But you could still learn your lesson back in the ninth century, and become yourself again in your own time.”
William leaned forward, his ears twitching with eagerness. “Then teach me what I need to know here, and I’ll go back and use it there.”
Kenzie just stared at him.
“What?” William snapped when the silence stretched between them.
“I’m trying to decide if ye truly are as dense as you appear, or if you’re just so damned stubborn ye simply refuse to get it.”
“Get what? You’ve spent the last four months talking in circles, Gregor. Just teach me what I have to know and I’ll go back and use it!”
“And you continue to let my words go in one of your ears and out the other. Once knowledge is gained, Killkenny, then ye know it. The moment you unlock the secret, the change begins, and it’ll be too late for you to go back. So either resign yourself to remain here until ye die, or take your chances on going back and figuring it out on your own.”
William grabbed his head with a groan. “Christ, my head aches. I need a drink.”
“We’ve already established that modern ale doesn’t agree with you. Why don’t ye go take a refreshing swim in the sea?”
William lifted his head just enough to glare at him.
Kenzie settled back onto his bedroll with a chuckle. “Then go enjoy the freedom to roam that the night gives you. I’m going to sleep. I have to start building stalls in the barn tomorrow. Matt and Winter are coming to visit next week, and they’re bringing horses.”
“War horses?” William asked, suddenly sounding interested.
“Are there any other kind?”
“You’d be surprised at the number of pansy beasts I saw on my flight down to the coast. There were a few nags I was tempted to have for dinner, just to put them out of their misery.”
“Go away, Killkenny.”
Kenzie nestled deeper into his bedroll, turning his back on William. Silence settled over their campsite but for the crackle of burning wood, until he heard the whisper of air moving over leathery wings. As large as a horse yet as silent as an owl, William disappeared into the night.
Kenzie knew he still wasn’t alone. “I’m too tired tonight for one of our philosophical chats, Fiona.”
The red-tailed hawk perched on a branch overhead cooed softly.
“Aye, we’ll visit tomorrow. Good night, little sister.”
Eve had gone past panic to hysteria. She couldn’t find her mother anywhere. She had awakened early, and while her mom was still sleeping, she’d taken a shower and started breakfast. But when she’d gone back upstairs to wake her up, all she’d found was an empty bed.
She’d searched every square inch of the house as well as the barn and shed, and even her car and the delivery truck. Now she was standing in the yard, yelling for her mom at the top of her lungs, frozen in place. She couldn’t bring herself to go search the woods or shoreline, immobilized by the horrifying image of her stumbling across her mother’s lifeless body.
“Eve. Eve!”
Someone had hold of her shoulders and was shaking her.
“Leave me alone!” She pushed at the broad chest in front of her. “I have to find Mom!”
Kenzie let go of her shoulders and cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “Breathe, Eve. Look into my eyes and take slow, deep breaths,” he said calmly. “Come on. Look at me.”
She finally made eye contact.
“Your mother’s fine, Eve. Do you understand? She took a morning stroll down by the sea, and is on her way back right now. She’s fine, I promise.”
Eve shuddered violently.
Kenzie wrapped his arms around her and gently cupped her head to his chest. “I didn’t speak with her,” he continued, his soothing voice matching his steady heartbeat. “I didn’t want to intrude on her pleasure. Mabel appeared quite herself, so ye needn’t worry. She had a bag of bread with her, and was spreading crumbs for the birds.”
He kept up the gentle chatter, but Eve stopped listening and simply felt the cadence of his voice. She couldn’t stop shaking, and her heart seemed determined to thump out of her chest.
“Keep breathing, and it will pass.”
She was beginning to feel light-headed as the heat of his embrace worked its magic. Her muscles slowly relaxed to the point she felt boneless, and she sagged against him.
“There ye go,” he whispered into her hair. “You’re okay, little one. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Eve tried to remember the last time a man had held her like this; asking nothing, only offering his strength until she could regain her own.
“Good morning, Kenzie, Evangeline,” her mother said brightly. “Isn’t it a wonderful day to be alive?”
Eve gasped and tried to step out of Kenzie’s embrace, but her knees buckled and he pulled her back against him with a soft laugh.
“Easy, now. She’s already up the steps and gone into the house. Give yourself a minute. Ye try to go running off, and you’re going to fall flat on your face.”
Eve buried her hot cheeks in her hands, unsure which horrified her more: that mother had just caught her and Kenzie embracing, or the reason she was in his arms.
“Ye had a fright,” he said, rubbing her back. “And it drained all your strength.”
She looked up at him, stricken. “But why did I panic like that? What if she’d been in danger?” She started shaking again, and dropped her head to hide her shame. “I couldn’t have helped her. I was completely frozen.”
“But she wasn’t in danger. She just went out for a walk.”
“But what if she had been?” She stepped away, locking her knees to steady herself. “She could have been drowning, while I just stood in the middle of this yard, screaming like an idiot.”
“Ye would have found your wits soon enough.”
“You can’t know that!”
“I do know,” he said calmly. “I’ve experienced what you just did enough times to know that when it really matters, we get it together and do what needs to be done. Especially if someone we love is involved.”
He took her hand and led her over to an old farm implement, urged her to sit down, and sat down beside her. “Eve, ye can’t possibly watch Mabel every minute of every day. Nor should ye even try. She’s not a child.”
“But you saw what happened the day we met. She got trapped on the island.”
“And if you hadn’t found her, what would she have done?”
Eve blinked. What would her mother have done? “She might have tried to wade across the gravel bar by herself and drowned.”
“Ye told me Mabel has a strong will to live. And when people get confused, their instincts usually take over. There’s an equally good chance that Mabel sim
ply would have waited until the bar was exposed again.”
Eve leaned away in surprise. “Are you saying I should ignore the fact that she’s losing her mind, and go about my business as usual?”
“No, I’m merely suggesting that you might remember that, even confused, Mabel’s mind is still that of a mature woman. Everything your mother has seen and done in her lifetime is in her head somewhere, even if it sometimes gets jumbled a bit. I’m just asking that ye keep that knowledge in the back of your mind the next time she goes missing. Even if ye can’t immediately find her, the odds are she will be fine.” He smiled gently. “And if you coddle Mabel too much, she might feel smothered and deliberately start sneaking off.”
Eve couldn’t believe her ears. This guy was actually lecturing her on taking care of her mother? Who the hell did he think he was?
Eve stood up. “Thank you, Mr. Gregor, for your pearls of wisdom. If you will excuse me, I have to go to work now.”
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Chapter Six
Eve stopped the empty delivery truck in front of Bishop’s Hearth and Home, shut off the engine, and looked at her mother. Though she was loathe to admit it, something Kenzie had said this morning had her wondering if she might be creating more problems than she was solving.
“So, do we have a deal? You’ll tell me when you’re going out for a walk?”
“And if you’re in the shower?” Mabel asked, staring out the windshield, not at all happy with the conversation.
“Then leave me a note.” Eve touched her mother’s arm. “I’m not trying to take away your independence, Mom. I’m just worried about you.”
Mabel sighed and patted Eve’s hand. “I know, Evangeline. And I’m sorry for scaring you this morning.” She suddenly brightened. “Although it certainly warmed my heart to see you in Kenzie’s arms. Now be honest, was it really so hard to let a man comfort you?”
“It cost me a ten-minute lecture.”
Mabel laughed and got out of the truck. “It’s a small price to pay,” she said when Eve walked around the truck to join her. “Trust me, there’ll come a day when you’ll wish you had someone who cared enough to lecture you. What I wouldn’t give to have Jens or Nathan back, telling me how to fix my problems.”
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