down on the accelerator, pretending not to see Duncan
MacKeage waving at her as he left Mac in the parking lot
and started running to intercept the van—only to have to
jump out of the way when she sped past him in a blur of
blinding tears.
Duncan stood with his feet planted and his hands on his
hips, scowling at Peg Thompson fleeing from him. “What in
hel is up with that woman?” he growled when Mac walked
over. He pointed at the cloud of dust trailing in her wake. “If
that’s your idea of a good friend, Oceanus, I’d hate to meet
your enemies.”
Instead of answering, Mac arched a brow at Olivia as
she walked toward them. “Mind tel ing me what that was al
about?”
“Peg quit her job,” Olivia told him, though she was glaring
at Duncan.
“Because of me?” Duncan asked in surprise.
Olivia turned her glare on Mac. “Fix this,” she said,
gesturing toward the knol . “She needs this job even more
than I need her.”
“Then why did she quit?” Mac asked.
“Because she can’t afford daycare for the twins.” Olivia
went back to glaring at Duncan. “After what happened
Saturday, Peg doesn’t dare bring her children to work with
her anymore.” She looked back at Mac. “So fix this.”
“How?”
“I don’t care how.” She stepped in the shadow of her
husband, out of Duncan’s line of sight. “Pul a rabbit out of
your hat or something,” he heard her whisper tightly. “Better
yet, pul out a nanny. Because I’m not getting on that bus
until you fix this.”
Duncan smiled, realizing Olivia was asking her husband
to use his magic. And even though she was upset and
obviously desperate, she was also acutely aware that she
had an audience.
“You don’t have to whisper, wife,” Mac said. “Duncan
knows who I am. Al the MacKeages and MacBains and
Gregors do.”
“Then fix this,” she growled loudly.
“I’m sorry,” Mac said, slowly shaking his head. “It’s not my
place to interfere in people’s lives.”
Duncan didn’t quite manage to stifle his snort.
After glaring over his shoulder at him, Mac looked back
at his wife. “Peg’s journey is one shemust walk, Olivia. And for me to magical y clear the obstacles in her path would in
essence be robbing your friend of her free wil . It’s the trials
and tribulations people overcome and how they deal with
the ones they can’t that define a person.” Mac smiled
tenderly. “Just as you are empowering Sophie by letting her
save her half brother’s life, you must also al ow Peg to
empower herself.”
“Yeah, wel , that may be how they do things in
mythological Atlantis, but in Maine we helpeach other
through our trials and tribulations.” She stepped around
Mac and went back to glaring at Duncan. “So youfix this.”
“Me? Why should I be expected to fix something I didn’t
break? She’s your friend; you fix it.”
“I can’t,” Olivia snapped, pivoting away. “Because I have
to go spend the next two months in a bus with my ‘divine
agent of human affairs’ theurgist husband, who can turn an
entire state upside down but apparently can’t help my friend
find daycare.”
Duncan actual y took a step back when Mac turned
on him. “By the gods, MacKeage,” the wizard said quietly—
which sure as hel contradicted the wild look in his eyes. “I
have no intention of traveling across this country and back
with an angry wife. So fix this, dammit.”
“But I didn’t break it. I only just met Peg Thompson two
days ago.”
Mac glanced at Olivia stomping up the stairs to the
lodge, then turned back to Duncan with a heavy sigh and
scrubbed his face with his hands. He dropped them, the
wild look having been replaced by desperation. “Then help
me fix it.”
Holy hel ; the wizard was asking him—a mere mortal—for
help?
“Only we have to find a way that doesn’t involve
the magic,” Mac continued. He folded his arms over his
chest, looking thoughtful. “It’s my guess that Olivia is mostly
concerned that Peg needs the income, as Olivia’s father,
Sam, is more than capable of looking after Inglenook while
we’re gone. So I believe if we can find some way for Peg to
earn a decent living and stil look after her children, then my
wife won’t spend the next two months glaring at me.”
“Wel , hel ; if that’s al you need, then consider it fixed,”
Duncan drawled. “Peg Thompson owns a gravel pit, and
I’ve just spent the last two days trying to talk to her about
hauling out of it until I get far enough up the mountain to
open my own pit. The money I’l pay her this spring for
stumpage would be more than she could earn in two years.
And the best thing is she won’t have to lift a finger other
than to cash the checks.” He frowned. “Assuming that
horseback of gravel continues running west. When I was
there yesterday, I noticed most of the pit was flooded with
seawater.”
Mac stared at him, clearly nonplussed, and then shook
his head. “I specifical y cut the fiord along Peg’s land so
she would end up with valuable oceanfront property.” He
grinned. “I felt the pit would make a good marina.”
Duncan turned to head for his pickup. “So much for not
interfering in people’s lives,” he muttered.
“Where are you going?” Mac asked. “I thought we were
hiking up the mountain to decide where to position the
road.”
Duncan stopped and looked back. “It’l have to be this
afternoon. Right now I need to go place myself in front of the
widow Thompson so she can take another shot at me.” He
headed for his truck again. “Because with a little more
practice, I’m hoping she can final y finish me off and move
on to her next victim.”
“MacKeage.”
Duncan stopped.
“I believe you’l find that vein of gravel takes a sharp turn
north rather than continuing west.” Mac hesitated and then
stepped toward him, his bril iant green eyes turning intense.
“And I would consider it a personal favor if you kept an eye
on Peg and her children for me while I’m gone.”
Duncan stared at Mac in silence for several heartbeats,
uncertain if he was being given an imperial dictate or if the
powerful wizard was actual y asking. He final y nodded and
slowly walked away, wondering how he was supposed to
keep an eye on a woman he couldn’t even get near, much
less one who recklessly attacked a man nearly twice her
size.
Duncan pul ed his truck up behind the tired-looking minivan
and shut off the engine as he stared at Peg Thompson’s
house, which appeared to be in rougher shape than her
transportation. Although the dooryard was neat to a fault,
time and weather and basic neglect had obviously taken a
tol on the double-wide mobile home, and he was surprised
it hadn’t col apsed under the weight of this past year’s
record snowfal .
He climbed out of his truck and careful y looked around
like he had yesterday, half expecting to be ambushed again
if not by a smal tribe of heathens then at least by a dog. But
just like yesterday, he was greeted by silence. Which was
baffling, since practical y every house in Maine—especial y
if it sat back in the woods and was ful of kids—had one or
even several dogs in residence to discourage coyote and
bear and al manner of uninvited visitors, including two-
legged. Only the Thompsons didn’t even seem to have a
cat, judging by the squirrels coming and going through the