shake on it,” he said with a laugh, turning onto the Inglenook

road and bringing the truck to a halt.

“Mom, why are we stopping?” Pete asked when Duncan

undid his seat belt and opened his door at the same time

Peg did.

“Because I’m going to drive our brand-new truck,” she

said excitedly as Duncan glanced in the rearview mirror

and saw al four children gaping at her, only to look over

and see her I-mean-business scowl make an appearance.

“So today’s chal enge of no muddy feet continues

indefinitely.”

“What’s infiniditly mean?” Pete asked.

“It means forever,” Duncan answered before she could.

“You’re a bit of a tyrant, ye know that,” he muttered as he

got out.

“Oh, yeah?” she said when they crossed paths in front of

the truck. “Then maybe I’l let you be the boss of them on the

picnic tomorrow, and see how long you last before you’re

either barking orders or throwing yourself off a cliff.”

“Not a problem,” he said across the hood when she

reached the driver’s door. “I’l just make sure to wear my

sword.”

Peg sat with Olivia on the steps of the main lodge, watching

their children down at the paddock trying to coax the huge

draft horses over to the fence with carrots. “Where are Ezra

and Sam?” she asked. “I thought they’d be here to see

you guys off.”

“We said our good-byes this morning,” Olivia said with a

sad smile. “And I swear it turned into a tear-fest, with me

doing most of the crying.” She sighed and looked around. “I

guess I’m excited about going, but I real y don’t want to

leave Inglenook for two whole months, especial y with

everything that’s going on in town.” Olivia gave her a

sidelong glance. “What happened the other day, Peg?

Henry and Sophie weren’t too happy I made them help

pack the RV instead of letting them stay at the barn with

your tribe, but the truth is I was surprised that Alec and

Robbie were watching your children. And then I saw you get

out of a car and climb into Duncan’s truck, and you looked

wet and cold and … angry.” She touched Peg’s knee.

“Where’s your van? Did you have to take it in for repairs

again?”

“No, it’s definitely dead this time.” Peg shot her a smile

and waved toward the parking lot where Duncan and Mac

were studying what appeared to be a site map spread out

on the hood of Duncan’s—no, of her shiny gold SUV. “And

that’s why I am now the proud owner of that fancy truck

down there.”

“That’s yours?” Olivia said with a gasp, looking from it to

Peg. “You bought it from Duncan?”

“No, I bought it from his mom, but it was Duncan’s idea

that I pay for it by taking one day’s worth of gravel off the

check he’s going to give me every Friday.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, Peg. And smart. I know you’re

going to love driving it, since I can’t keep my hands off

Mac’s. I told him he’s going to have to buy himself an old

pickup when we get back, because he’s not driving that

beautiful SUV up a half-constructed muddy road to see his

work site.”

Peg snorted. “I guess that’s one way to take over his

truck.” She looked down at the men again and pul ed in a

shuddering breath. “I’m in real y big trouble, Olivia.”

“Now what did Duncan do?” Olivia asked with a laugh.

“He keeps stealing kisses.”

Peg flinched when her friend suddenly hugged her. “Oh,

Peg, that’s wonderful.” Olivia leaned away. “Wait, how is

that big trouble?”

“Every time I tel him to stop doing it, he kisses me again.

Sometimes I think he does it just to shut me up, then

sometimes I swear he’s just trying to make me angry. And

sometimes,” she continued in a growl when Olivia started

laughing again, “I think he does it just to get a reaction out

of me.”

Olivia folded her hands on her lap and tried to quit

smiling. “Men do like to push our buttons.” She nudged Peg

with her shoulder. “So how do you react? Do you kiss him

back or punch him in the bel y?”

“I just stand there like an idiot fighting not to cry,

because …” Peg hid her face in her hands. “Because it

feels so damned good.”

“Oh, Peggy,” Olivia said, wrapping an arm around her.

“Being kissed by a big strong man is supposed to feel

damn good.” She gave her a squeeze. “And the only

reason you want to cry is because you’re scared.” She

brushed Peg’s hair back to see her face. “And maybe

feeling guilty that you’re alive and Bil y isn’t?” she said

softly.

Peg sucked in a shuddering sob. “I loved him.”

“Good,” Olivia said, straightening away. “Then you know

what love feels like. But what you don’t seem to know is the

difference between a broken heart and a dead one. Yours

took quite a blow, but it’s stil beating strong enough to fal

in love again.”

“It … I wouldn’t survive another heartbreak.”

“Of course you would, because you’re stronger than your

fears.” Olivia leaned into her again. “I was scared to death

to fal in love with Mac, but I was more scared of dying a

lonely old widow without ever having experienced honest to

God passion. Do you real y want to hide in your safe little

prison for the rest of your life just to protect yourself from

something that might happen? Or do you want to shock the

pants right off of Duncan the next time he steals a kiss by

kissing him back?” She ducked down to look Peg in the

eyes. “Because I’m here to tel you that experiencing honest

to God passion with a man who makes your insides clench

and your mouth go dry and your heart pound so hard you

think you’re going to pass out is definitely worth the risk.”

Peg felt her lips twitch. “Oh man, you’ve got it bad,

haven’t you?” She looked at the parking lot again. “But what

if my passion kil s him? I don’t think you can even

understand what I mean, Olivia,” she said, looking at her.

“You can’t imagine anything kil ing Mac because he’s so

big and scary, just like that mythical god … what was his

name? Hercules or Atlas or whichever one of them was

holding up the world.”

Olivia suddenly paled and went very stil , but then shook

her head with a laugh. “Duncan MacKeage is big and

scary, too. And he’s got shoulders that appear broad

enough to hold up your world. Do you honestly believe that

he’s going to die if you fal in love with him? Honestly and

truly?”

“I wrote my family’s curse off as nothing more than freaky

coincidences just like you did the other day, until I found

myself standing in the middle of my kitchen listening to

Bil y’s boss tel me he was dead.”

Olivia darted what appeared to be an uncertain glance

toward the men, then took hold of Peg’s hands. “Do you

believe in magic?” she whispered. “I’m not talking about

special delivery fairies,” she rushed on, giving Peg’s hands

a squeeze. “I’m talking about earth-shaking, mountain-

moving magic that can’t be explained. Have you ever

thought about that kind of magic?”

Peg felt her lips twitch again. “Not since I found out Mom

was Santa Claus.”

“Then if you don’t believe in magic, how can you believe

in curses?”

Peg blinked in surprise.

“If one is real,” Olivia continued, “then wouldn’t they both

have to be real?”

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Peg murmured, looking

toward the Bottomless Sea. She looked back at Olivia.

“Are you saying you think the earthquake last month was …

magic? Not just some freaky act of nature?”