Spellbound Falls

by Janet Chapman

  “I think you should wear this,” Sophie said, pulling out the hem of a deep red dress for her to see. “It makes your eyes stand out.”

  It was also the dress she’d worn when she and Keith had left on their honeymoon a lifetime ago. “No, I think it’s got a couple of buttons missing,” she said, grabbing the only thing in her closet that wasn’t even remotely connected to him. “Here, what do you think of this?” she asked, holding the tailored blue blouse under her chin. “With my black wool slacks and pumps? It says clean sophistication, doesn’t it?”

  Sophie frowned. “Isn’t that your funeral outfit? I was with you when you bought it to wear to Miss Doris’s funeral last year.”

  “That doesn’t make it a funeral outfit,” she said, slipping the blouse on over the only lace bra she owned. “Dig around in the bottom of my closet and find those black pumps, would you, sweetie?”

  Olivia then pulled her wool pants off the hanger and slipped them on over her only pair of sheer knee-highs that didn’t have a run in them. God, she really needed to drive to Bangor and update her wardrobe. No wonder nobody asked her out; she dressed like a shabby lonely widow.

  “They’re here!” Sophie cried, tossing the pumps on the floor and running out of the room when a vehicle drove up next to the house. She stopped in the hallway and looked back. “Hurry up and finish dressing, Mom. You don’t want to keep Mr. Mac waiting,” she said, running off again at the sound of a knock on the door.

  Olivia tucked her blouse into her pants—several times, actually, because for some strange reason her hands had started trembling—and turned to look at herself in the full-length mirror. When she noticed her shoulders were hunched, she took a deep breath and threw them back.

  She could do this. She just had to get through tonight without embarrassing herself, and then she could relax and enjoy the rest of their affair.

  Because right now it wasn’t the least bit fun.

  Olivia practiced her smile in the mirror, aiming for a confident look—only what she got was a deer caught in the headlights of an impending disaster.

  “Mom!”

  “I’m coming,” Olivia called softly, trying to sound calm and aloof. No sense appearing too eager for her let me think about it and I’ll get back to you date.

  “Mom, he’s waiting,” Sophie hissed from the bedroom doorway. “And he looks really handsome.” She suddenly smiled. “I bet Mr. Mac could be a model, too. His shoulders are almost as wide as our doorway.”

  Good Lord, when had her daughter started noticing men’s shoulders?

  Sophie waved her along. “Come on, Mom. You’re pretty enough.”

  Olivia headed after her fleeing daughter but stopped when she saw Mac’s jacket lying on her bed. She stuffed it under the pillow, then squared her shoulders and headed down the hall with what she hoped was a confident smile by the time she reached the kitchen.

  Heaven help her, he was tall and imposing and impeccably dressed in black pants, the collar of a crisp white shirt accentuating the V of his blue sweater. His hair was still damp, his jaw clean-shaven, and his eyes… Olivia felt her smile faltering when his eyes ran up the length of her, hesitated at the base of her throat—where her pulse was pounding so hard he could probably see it—and then locked on hers.

  She jumped when Henry took hold of her hand. “Miss Olivia, you look quite beautiful this evening,” he said, his own eyes sparkling. “And isn’t it a coincidence that your blouse matches Dad’s sweater.” He pulled her down toward him. “Auntie Caro helped me pick out what he should wear, and she said that particular blue is the color of the ocean surrounding the mythical continent of Atlantis. Did you know that?”

  “No, I can’t say that I did,” Olivia whispered before straightening and going over to take her long wool coat off the peg. She really should have a talk with Carolina about this mythology thing, considering how Henry soaked everything up like a sponge. Then again, could bed-hopping gods be any worse than the violent cartoons on TV today?

  Mac took the coat and held it up for her to slide her arms into its sleeves, then wrapped it around her shoulders, his arms encompassing her in a circle of heat. She stepped away and grabbed her purse off the counter.

  “Shall we go, then?” he said, taking one last curious look around her tiny kitchen before opening the door and waving Sophie and Henry ahead of him. “Henry didn’t wish to cross your fence,” he said as Olivia walked past, “but I told him that a gentleman meets his date at her door. Was I right to do so?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  He closed the door behind him. “Do you lock up your house?”

  She laughed at that—though she was afraid it sounded more nervous than humorous. “No. If anyone came to Inglenook looking to steal anything, they’d likely hit the main lodge instead of the groundskeeper’s cottage. Sophie,” she called out as Henry and her daughter headed toward cabin ten. “You will behave for Miss Carolina, and you let Henry pick out which movie you watch tonight. Oh, and don’t forget I put a couple of bags of microwave popcorn on the counter. Remember, three minutes a bag, and you watch that they don’t burn,” she said, remembering Carolina’s proficiency in the kitchen. “And there’s soda in the fridge.”

  “I know, Mom,” Sophie said, walking backward. “You told me already.”

  “I… I’ll see you in the morning, then.”

  “Yeah. Good-bye. Have a good time,” the girl called over her shoulder.

  “She’ll be fine,” Mac said with a chuckle, placing his hand at the small of her back to usher her toward his truck.

  “The house will feel so empty tonight, knowing she’s not just down the hall.”

  He stopped before opening the passenger door, giving her a strange look.

  “Even when we have pajama parties in the dining hall, I only let her attend if I’m at them, too.” She stepped back with a laugh so he could open the door. “I really need to stop hovering and let her grow up.”

  No, she needed to shut up!

  Or maybe what she really needed was to stop letting Mac rattle her. She jumped into the front seat the moment he opened the door, then fastened her seat belt before he did it for her. Honest to God, every time he touched her she panicked.

  And that’s why they were going to a restaurant that didn’t have dancing.

  He walked around and got in behind the wheel. “All set?”

  “Mm-hmm,” she returned with a nod, afraid she’d start rattling off again.

  Were all affairs this disconcerting?

  Or was who she was trying to have an affair with the problem?

  God, he was beautiful.

  Okay: If she survived tonight—an everyday, no-pressure dinner date—without making a total fool of herself, then maybe she would give him back his jacket and let him take over from there.

  She frowned out the windshield as he pulled onto the lane leading past the main lodge. That is, assuming he wanted to take over, considering he’d balked at just going to dinner. Maybe Mac was having second thoughts. Maybe seeing his sister again had gotten him thinking about his family obligations and marriage-minded father. Hell, maybe he’d taken one look at her standing next to Carolina this morning and realized good old invisible Olivia Baldwin wasn’t worth bothering with. Not when Daddy had a beautiful candidate sitting in the wings back home.

  What in hell kind of a name was Gadzalina, anyway?

  It sounded an awful lot like Godzilla to her. And apparently to Henry as well, judging by the look on his face when he’d mentioned her to Olivia the other day.

  Wait; maybe Mac had every intention of marrying his father’s hand-chosen bride when he left here in the fall, and just wanted to sow some wild oats before he tied the knot. Yeah. The man was obviously bored to the point that he was working for her, so maybe he figured a little summer fling with one of the natives might be fun.

  Olivia used the excuse of looking for something in her purse to cover up the awkward silence—only to go perfectly still when sh
e touched the condoms she’d found in an old box in the back of her closet. Granted, they were over six years old, but she’d stuffed them in her purse for… for just in case.

  Did condoms have expiration dates?

  “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t bring my jacket,” he said into the silence as they finally pulled onto the main road. “Any particular reason why?”

  She set her purse down by her feet to disguise her flinch, and then clasped her hands on her lap to disguise her trembling. “I guess I assumed you no longer want me to give it back. I don’t understand, Mac. You said that if I asked you’d say yes, but this morning when I did, it took you all day to decide if you even wanted to go out to dinner with me tonight.” She tried to shrug nonchalantly. “So I figured you’d changed your mind about our… our being together.”

  He slowed the truck rather suddenly, pulled to the side of the road and put it in park, then shifted against his seat belt to face her. But when she continued to stare down at her hands, he took hold of her chin to make her look at him.

  “I haven’t changed my mind,” he said quietly, his stare so intense she had to drop her gaze to his mouth. He splayed his fingers along her jaw and gently lifted her eyes back to his. “But I do seem to have grown a conscience. I find myself liking you more than I intended, Olivia, and you deserve better than what I can offer you.”

  “But . . .”

  He slid a finger over her lips. “I’ve yet to meet a woman who can give herself to a man without her heart eventually becoming engaged, and I’m starting to care too much for you to let that happen.”

  Oh God, he had changed his mind. “But I promise I won’t fall in love with you!” She jerked away and buried her face in her hands. “Dammit, I just want to feel alive again. To feel something.”

  Utterly mortified, she unfastened her seat belt and opened her door, escaping his grasp as he snarled a curse when his own seat belt pulled him up short. Ignoring his calling her, Olivia ran toward the turnoff, stumbling onto the pavement when she couldn’t see because of her threatening tears.

  Dammit, they hadn’t even made it to the naked part and she’d already embarrassed herself. She wasn’t so dense that she couldn’t recognize a flat-out rejection when she heard one. The jerk had been taking her on a consolation date!

  Olivia came to such an abrupt halt that she screamed, and was swept off her feet and thrown bottom side up over his big broad shoulder before she finished gasping.

  “I believe Turtleback Station is in the other direction,” he said quietly, his arm around her thighs tightening against her struggles. “Which is where I have every intention of taking you.”

  “Don’t do me any favors!” she snapped, only to go perfectly still. Wait; weren’t there supposed to be more words at the end of that sentence? Like, to dinner? She started struggling again. “Because I’ve changed my mi—” Olivia gave another yelp when he unceremoniously stuffed her in the front seat of his truck, then leaned in to slip the seat belt around her and click it shut.

  “You will stay put,” he said, backing out and gently closing the door, then slowly walking around the front of the vehicle.

  She immediately grabbed the buckle to jump back out again, only it wouldn’t release. She twisted to look down, shoving again and again on the red rectangular button, but the damn thing wouldn’t release!

  Mac got in behind the wheel, put the truck in gear, checked his mirror, and started off down the road again as calmly as if they were taking a Sunday drive.

  “My seat belt buckle is jammed,” she said, continuing to push the stupid button. “It won’t release.”

  He said nothing, only smiled.

  “Did you hear me?” she said a bit louder. “My seat belt’s stuck.”

  “It’s likely only tension making it uncooperative. I’ll see what I can do to alleviate the problem when we arrive at our destination.”

  Uncertain of his mood, Olivia silently sucked in a shuddering breath and clasped her hands on her lap. “You said I deserve better,” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “And that your newly discovered conscience doesn’t want us to have an affair.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Then take me home, Mac.”

  “I intend to… first thing in the morning.”

  Olivia took another steadying breath, trying to figure out how things had gone so terribly wrong so quickly—as well as how her invitation to dinner had turned into breakfast. “I don’t need sympathy sex.”

  His foot jerked on the accelerator as he made a sound: sort of half snort, half growl. “Trust me, Olivia; it’s not exactly sympathy I’m feeling at the moment.”

  She fell silent at that, wondering if in her wildest dreams she’d ever thought she would need to bring a baseball bat on a date. Olivia spent the rest of the interminably long thirty-mile drive to Turtleback staring out the window, only to realize that the farther away they got from Spellbound Falls the less snow there was from last night’s storm, until it disappeared completely at the town line. The sun was setting later now that they were well into April, and the unusually warm spring had already started showing up in the form of sinking culverts and expanding potholes.

  Not that Mac’s truck seemed to notice, as it appeared to practically glide over the road with the same quiet determination to get them to their destination as its driver.

  What in hell had she gotten herself into? For crying out loud—which was still a possibility, she was afraid—all she’d wanted was a simple, no-frills, unemotional affair. Well, except for passion. She really wanted to experience some honest-to-God passion at least once before she died.

  Instead she’d found a man who liked her too much to give her some.

  She stifled a snort; apparently not too much to listen to his conscience, because he intended to take her to Turtleback anyway, and not bring her home until morning.

  Oh, what the hell. At this point even sympathy sex was better than none at all. And really, she’d put on her sexiest underwear, dabbed her ancient perfume in all the appropriate places, and shaved her legs and everything. So why not simply relax and go with the flow, seeing how she couldn’t be any more embarrassed if she tried?

  “Um, that was the restaurant,” she said, craning to look over her right shoulder as she pointed at the building he was driving past.

  “We’ll order in room service… later,” he said, pulling into the parking lot of the only upscale resort on Bottomless Lake—which she knew charged the highest rates in the entire county, even in the off-season.

  He stopped under the portico. “Stay put,” he said, shooting her a smile that said he wasn’t worried she was going anyplace. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Olivia waited until he disappeared into the office before she started pushing the red button again. Not that she intended to go anyplace, but it was the principle of the thing. What in hell was wrong with this stupid buckle? Because the more she pushed and tugged and cussed at it, the tighter the damn seat belt got.

  She yelped in surprise when his door opened and he got in, causing him to raise an eyebrow as he put the truck in gear.

  “There are laws about holding a person against their will, you know,” she said, arching a freshly plucked eyebrow right back at him.

  “I am aware of all the laws in your country.” He clicked something in his hand and guided the truck through the electronically opening gate, and then idled down the pine-studded lane past an array of flawlessly detailed, utterly charming cabins.

  Olivia slunk down in her seat and watched the gates automatically close behind them in her side-view mirror. Oh yeah; if Mac wasn’t richer than God he was damn close, because she knew for a fact this illusion of Maine woods camping cost more for one night than she charged for an entire week at Inglenook.

  “Several of which make no sense, and most of which I prefer to ignore,” he continued, though for the life of her Olivia couldn’t remember what they’d been talkin
g about. “Oh, look,” he said, his tone provoking. “All their cabins are numbered in sequence. Here we are,” he murmured, turning into the driveway of the very last cabin on the point of land jutting into the southernmost cove of Bottomless Lake.

  He shut off the engine, but instead of getting out he set his hand back on the steering wheel and stared through the windshield at the cabin—which looked big enough to sleep ten and had smoke coming out of its fieldstone chimney.

  He’d made reservations?

  “Ask me, Olivia,” he said quietly. He looked at her, his eyes revealing nothing. “I would prefer to be invited.”

  She pulled in a fortifying breath, held it for five pounding heartbeats, and then slowly released it. “I… I want to be with you, Mac.”

  Other than his eyes seeming to grow darker and slightly more imposing, she still for the life of her couldn’t read his mood.