Moonlight Warrior

by Janet Chapman

  Eve cut a large piece of pie and set it on Daar’s plate—to which he added about a cup of whipped cream—and her stomach suddenly tightened. What in heaven’s name had she gotten herself into?

  The trip to Pine Creek took a while, especially since Eve had made Kenzie stop three times so she could throw up. She’d tried to cover up her motion sickness by claiming she must have drunk some raw milk, which was odd. She’d been drinking a lot of milk lately, but she always scalded it, then cooled it, then poured it into jugs that she labeled EVE’S MILK in bold black letters.

  After they arrived and she felt better, he would take her for a ride up the mountain. He couldn’t wait to get her alone—away from Daar, Mabel, Maddy, and everyone else she used as a shield to avoid being alone with him.

  He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since the storm, because he couldn’t get Eve out of his head. Her taste still lingered on his lips, and the feel of her sweet body surrounding him still haunted his dreams.

  He was through torturing himself. He wanted Eve so badly he was willing to risk everything to have her, including the new life he’d been granted—because he finally realized he’d rather be dead than alone. He could no longer live as only half a man, watching Eve flitter about every day and not claiming her as his.

  Once he got her up on the mountain and away from her small army of shields, he would declare his intentions. She would probably balk at first, but she would come to love him—because he would settle for nothing less.

  Kenzie finally pulled into Gù Brath and turned off the engine.

  “Oh my God,” Mabel exclaimed, her nose pressed up to the rear window. “It really is a castle.”

  “It’s built of black stone. And look, Mom, there’s even a moat!” Eve said with equal excitement, pointing at the stream gushing under the bridge that led to the large wooden doors.

  “Is that Greylen and Grace MacKeage?” Mabel asked as two people walked across the bridge toward them.

  “That would be them,” Kenzie said, opening his door.

  “What a handsome couple,” Mabel said.

  Kenzie opened Eve’s door, then quickly walked around and opened Mabel’s and Daar’s.

  As he turned, Grace threw herself into his arms. “Oh, Kenzie, I’ve missed you,” she said, hugging him tightly. She stepped back, keeping her hands on his arms. “I’ve been so worried you would turn into an old hermit like Daar,” she said with a laugh.

  She then stepped over and hugged Daar. “I see the salt air agrees with you, my old friend,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ve missed you, too.”

  “No need for all this hugging and kissing,” Daar said gruffly, smoothing down his cassock. “You women make such a fuss over everything. We’ve only been gone a few months.”

  “And Gù Brath has remained standing despite your not being here,” Greylen said with a laugh.

  “Grace, Greylen,” Kenzie said, “this is Mabel Bishop and her daughter, Eve Anderson. They’re the ones responsible for keeping me from turning into a hermit.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you,” Mabel said, shaking the hand Grace held out to her. “Kenzie’s told me so much about you. And it was nice meeting your daughter, Winter, when she brought Kenzie’s horses. What a beautiful home you have.”

  “Thank you.” Grace took Eve’s hand, cupping it between both of hers. “I’m glad you decided to come with Kenzie. Grey and I have been wanting to meet you ever since Kenzie told us he’d bought the house you were living in.” She glanced over at Mabel. “Your brother-in-law should be shot for what he did.”

  Mabel shrugged. “I’ve long since decided Alvin did us a favor. Things have worked out even better than we could have hoped for. Kenzie is a delight, and Father Daar is a joy to have around.”

  Grey started coughing, and Grace finally let go of Eve’s hand to pat her husband on the back. She then looped her arm through Mabel’s. “I’ll show you and Eve to your room. I hope you don’t mind doubling up. We’re still celebrating the summer solstice, and are packed with people. Daar, you leave the desserts in the fridge alone!” she called out to the priest, who was already halfway across the bridge.

  “Go on,” Kenzie told Eve. “I’ll get your bags.” He turned to Grey as soon as she left, and shook his hand. “Thank ye for sending down those mares.” He chuckled. “And the next time they come into heat, Curaidh will be thanking ye, too.”

  “You mean that stallion didn’t tear down his stall trying to get to them last month?” Grey asked, taking the bag Kenzie handed him from the back of the truck.

  “Nay, I kept the horny beast in the woods with William, upwind of the barn.” He chuckled softly. “A warhorse and a dragon becoming friends, now that’s a sight I never thought I’d see. I’ve a fear William will try to steal Curaidh, once he’s a man again.”

  “Do you think that will happen?” Grey asked. “It’s my understanding that Killkenny’s head is harder than granite and twice as dense.”

  Kenzie glanced toward the house as the women disappeared inside, then looked back at Grey. “Mabel has befriended William, and I think she might actually be the key to this whole thing.”

  “Mabel?” Grey said in surprise. “How? I understand she suffers from some sort of aging disease, so Killkenny would be comfortable around her, but how can she possibly help him?”

  “This is the first time I’ve seen William interested in anyone besides himself. Mabel is openly affectionate and so accepting of him just as he is, that he’s grown quite fond of her. It’s my hope that William will finally open his heart.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears, Gregor. Come on. We better go save your pretty little housekeeper. Camry has been her usual impatient self all morning, waiting to meet ‘your new girlfriend.’ “

  “Eve will be my wife by the fall equinox, if I have my way.”

  Grey stopped and stared at him, then roughly pounded his shoulder. “It’s about damn time! Matt was worried you might never come to your senses. Congratulations.”

  “Don’t congratulate me,” Kenzie warned. “I haven’t told Eve yet.”

  Grey waved that away and started across the bridge. “If she gives ye any trouble, just steal her away and don’t let her go until she agrees to marry ye. I happen to know where there’s a secluded cabin up in the mountains you could use.”

  Kenzie chuckled. “I wonder if you’d be spouting the same wisdom if a man stole one of your daughters?”

  Grey stopped and glared at him. “Your brother kept Winter up in that cave on Bear Mountain, then flew her to Nevada to get married without asking my permission.” He shook his head. “As for Camry, I fall asleep every night praying some poor brave bastard will steal her out from under my nose. I even leave the front door unlocked when we go to bed.”

  “But I thought Camry’s been at NASA all spring?”

  Grey shook his head. “She goes back to work, but she’s gone only a short time before she finds another excuse to come home.”

  Grey opened the door and Kenzie walked inside, only to nearly be run over by an ecstatic young dog being chased by a troop of children brandishing wooden swords and yelling war cries.

  Kenzie was pleased to see that some things never changed.

  Grace and Mabel were coming down the stairs, Grace holding on to her guest because Mabel was too busy gawking at everything to watch where she was going.

  “Where’s Eve?” Kenzie asked, worried Camry had already ambushed her.

  “She’s having a nap,” Grace told him.

  “Another one?” he asked in disbelief. “But she slept most the way here—when she wasn’t throwing up on the side of the road.”

  “She’s sick?” Grace asked in alarm.

  “Nay, I believe she just doesn’t travel well.” He looked at Mabel. “She kept muttering that it was going to take forever for us to get here because I drive like a geezer. Would you know what she meant by that?”

  “She meant you were driving like an old pe
rson.”

  “And do I?” he asked.

  “You’ll eventually get the hang of it,” Mabel said, patting his arm. “Just don’t start driving like you ride, okay? I’ve seen you on Curaidh.”

  “Come on, Mabel, I’ll show you the kitchen,” Grace said, leading her down the hall to the back of the house. “I hope Daar left us some cake to have with our tea.”

  “Kenzie!” Camry cried, running into the foyer.

  Kenzie dropped the suitcase he was holding to catch her. “Camry, darling,” he said, swinging her around. He gave a loud groan and set her down. “Have ye gained weight?” he asked, knowing it would rile her.

  Instead of a scathing comeback, she dropped her gaze and turned pink.

  He lifted her chin with his finger. “I was teasing, lass. You’re as beautiful as ever.” He made a show of looking behind her toward the living room. “So, where’s your new boyfriend? Or was your Frenchman not brave enough to face his future in-laws?”

  “He is not my boyfriend,” she said, her blush intensifying. “And he’s not even French; he’s from British Columbia. He’s working in France for one of Mom’s old race-into-space rivals.” She gave him a fierce glare, which she also turned on her father. “And even if I did have a boyfriend, I certainly wouldn’t bring him here.” She made a production of looking behind Kenzie, then around the foyer. “Where’s your new girlfriend?”

  “She heard you intended to ambush her, and is hiding in her room.” Kenzie picked up Eve’s bag and handed it to Camry, knowing he couldn’t stop the inevitable. Besides, he owed Eve for her geezer comment. “Since ye have every intention of harassing the poor woman as soon as I turn my back, why don’t ye make yourself useful and bring up her bag?”

  Camry snatched the bag out of his hand and bounded up the stairs.

  “That wasn’t wise,” Grey said, watching his daughter race along the balcony.

  Kenzie picked up the suitcase he’d dropped. “Any suggestions as to what I should have done, short of locking Camry in the lab downstairs for the next three days?”

  “You could have talked William into coming with ye,” Grey said. “That would have occupied her.”

  “As well as Jack Stone.”

  Grey waved that away. “Jack’s too busy rescuing all the lost treasure hunters who have been mobbing Pine Creek lately.”

  “When did Pine Creek get a treasure?”

  “A week ago, on the summer solstice, in fact. A UFO was sighted streaking across the northern sky in broad daylight. First only the local news stations mentioned it, then the national networks picked up the story. Since then, we’ve been overrun with treasure hunters.”

  “What’s a UFO?”

  “It’s an unidentified flying object. Or as Grace would tell ye, it’s probably just a meteor, an old satellite that’s fallen out of orbit, or debris that fell to Earth. But many people believe it’s a spaceship from some other planet, and they’re flocking here to find it. But they’re unprepared for the terrain and keep getting lost, and Jack has to keep going out to find them.”

  “That must not sit well with Megan, seeing how they have the baby now.”

  Grey shrugged. “Jack’s never gone more than a day. He goes out by himself, and seems to know right where to find them.”

  Kenzie snorted. “Yet he continues to claim he doesn’t possess any of his great-grandfather’s shaman heritage.”

  “He’ll have to acknowledge it eventually, when little Walker starts showing his own powers.”

  “The baby’s a shaman?” Kenzie asked.

  “He comes from a long line of magic makers on both sides of his family. I’m eager to see what comes from a mix of Celtic drùidhs and North American shamans.”

  Kenzie looked up the balcony to where Camry had disappeared, then back at Grey. “Speaking of the magic, could ye give me a clue as to how I’m supposed to explain it to Eve? Or do ye think Grace would be willing to talk to her for me?”

  Grey took the suitcase out of Kenzie’s hand and set it on the bottom step, then threw his arm over Kenzie’s shoulder and headed toward the front door. “Come on out to the barn with me. I have a bottle of fine Scotch hidden in the hay, and since this might take a while, we might as well be comfortable.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  There was a knock on her door, and Eve sat up just as it opened and a beautiful woman with short red hair peeked inside. She smiled when she saw Eve was awake, and walked in carrying Eve’s overnight bag.

  “Hi. I’m Camry,” the woman said, dropping the bag by a chair as she came to sit on the foot of the bed. “I’m Winter’s sister.” She held up three fingers. “I’m daughter number three, and the only MacKeage girl smart enough to remain single.”

  Eve instantly liked Camry MacKeage. “Eve Anderson, and apparently I’m not very smart. But I do usually learn from my mistakes, so I’ll probably stay single from here on out, too.”

  Camry laughed at that. “Are you really not feeling well, or are you just allergic to chaos? Because either way, I can find an instant cure for you.”

  Eve wished. “I…my stomach’s a bit queasy, is all. I’m an elementary-school teacher, so I’m immune to chaos.”

  “Then we’ll go see my Aunt Libby,” Camry said, standing up. “She’s a doctor. Trauma’s her specialty, but she’s got this eerie way of knowing what’s ailing a person and can usually fix them right up.”

  Eve hesitated. She didn’t want to see a doctor who had an eerie way of knowing what was ailing her—especially one who was sort of related to Kenzie. Besides, she had an appointment with Maddy’s ob-gyn next Tuesday in Ellsworth.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” Eve said, getting up. “In fact, I’m feeling better now that I’m not riding in anything that Kenzie is driving.”

  “My God, you really are a pixie,” Camry said, running her gaze up the length of Eve, now that she was standing.

  “Pixie?”

  Camry lightly touched one of Eve’s curls. “Kenzie called you a pixie a couple of times during our phone conversations, and now I see why. You’re so tiny and cute and delicate-looking, I bet you have to beat men off with a stick.”

  “Kenzie called me a pixie?”

  “He was complimenting you,” Camry assured her with a laugh. “Everyone thinks pixies are cute and cuddly, but they’re really powerful little mischief makers. Let’s go down to the kitchen and get a cup of tea,” she said, heading for the door. “I promise not to let the little heathens capture you, and we’ll take our tea outside and go for a walk. I’m just dying to hear how Kenzie has really been getting by on his own,” she said, leading Eve down the hall.

  He’d called her a pixie? Eve didn’t know which confounded her more: that he thought she was a mischief maker, or that he’d been talking to Camry about her.

  Eve followed Camry in the opposite direction Grace had brought her upstairs, and she assumed this was the back way to the kitchen. She still couldn’t believe there was an authentic castle up here in the western mountains of Maine. For all of its modern conveniences, it looked like it had been built a thousand years ago. And she’d swear some of the artifacts hanging on the walls were not reproductions.

  “You grew up in a castle,” Eve said. “What fun it must have been for you as a child.”

  Camry suddenly stopped. “See this section of floorboards?” she said, pointing at the oak. “They’ve got a creak in them that we girls spent countless hours trying to fix.” She pointed at the tall door on their right. “That’s our parents’ room, and we suspect Daddy kept undoing our repairs so he could hear whenever we were trying to sneak out.”

  “Why didn’t you just sneak out the way we’re headed now?”

  Camry started walking down the hall again. “Because our uncles slept in the rooms on either side of the back stairway before they got married, and there’s more creaky planks outside their bedrooms. They had us boxed in—or so they thought, until my twin sister Sarah tied all our bedsheets together, and we shimm
ied out Winter’s bedroom window because it was over the kitchen roof.”

  “Did you get caught?”

  “Oh, yeah. By the time we made it to the ground, Daddy was waiting for us.”

  “And?”

  “And it took the seven of us two weeks and over a hundred gallons of paint to spruce up the barn and all the outbuildings. How about you? What sort of pranks did you and your siblings pull on your parents?”

  “My mother was forty-two when she had me, and I’m an only child,” Eve told her. “The worst trouble I got in was when I was fourteen and I snuck out one night to meet my friends.” She made a face. “My parents never punished me, because a skunk did it for them. When it rains, I swear I still smell like a skunk.”

  Camry laughed, looping her arm through Eve’s. “I can’t imagine being an only child. But don’t worry, once you marry Kenzie, we’ll be your sisters if you want. In fact, I think we’ll start our sisterly duties by taking you to the new bar in town. Everyone’s been dying to go.”

  Eve barely heard the last of what Camry was saying, because she’d stopped in her tracks to gape at her.

  “What?” Camry asked, walking back to her.

  “I’m not marrying Kenzie.”

  “Sure you are. You just don’t know it yet.”

  “We went on one date, and it had to have been the weirdest date in the history of dating. Besides, I swore off men when my husband ran off with my neighbor’s wife five months ago.”

  “Kenzie would never run out on his wife. In fact, he’ll probably smother you to death with his attention.”

  “Where did you get the notion that we’re getting married?” Eve asked curiously.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Camry drawled, starting them walking again. “Maybe from the fact that Kenzie can’t stop talking about you whenever I call him. Or that you’re so curious about his family that you came up here with him.”

  “I came because my mother wanted to come.”

  “And then there’s the little fact that you’re keeping house for him,” Camry continued. “And oh, yeah: he’s rich and handsome and more man that one woman can handle, and you’d be an idiot not to fall in love with him.” She shot Eve a smug smile. “And I doubt you’re an idiot. So, about tonight. If you didn’t bring anything to wear to a bar, after our walk we’ll go raid some of my sisters’ suitcases.”