days.” Peg turned to Alec. “So do you,” she said, even as

she realized it couldn’t be true, since she’d just had lunch

with them yesterday when her mom and aunt had fed both

Robbie’s and Duncan’s crews here at the pit.

“We do go through a lot of razors,” Alec drawled, rubbing

his grinning jaw.

“Why don’t ye shut off the truck, Peg,” Duncan said,

straightening to stand with the boys in his arms. “And bring

those blankets so we can al sit out here together and watch

the firemen work.”

“Please put the boys down, Duncan,” she said when Alec

headed to the driver’s door to shut off the truck instead.

“Your ribs aren’t healed enough to hold them.”

“I’m right as rain, Peg,” he said, his eyes lighting with the

first rays of sun peeking over the mountains across the

fiord. He gave the boys a jostle. “In fact, I do believe I’ve

never felt better in my life.”

Charlotte and Isabel jumped out of the back, dragging

the blankets with them, causing the poor pup to tumble out

of the truck with a yelp of surprise. Duncan walked over and

set the boys down, took one of the blankets and folded it

lengthwise on the ground, and then sat down on it. He

leaned against the truck and patted the blanket on either

side of him. “Come on, people; I need to borrow some of

your body heat.”

Peg stood blinking at him as Alec walked up to her.

“What he’s needing is to hold ye al , lass,” he said softly,

giving her a nudge. “It was a hel of a boat ride.”

Robbie came striding up the knol just as al four children

did indeed cuddle up to Duncan, apparently needing him

as wel . Robbie silently shook his head at Peg to let her

know her house was a complete loss, then looked at

Duncan. “There’s something I think ye might want to see,”

he said quietly.

“Whatever it is can wait,” Duncan said, snagging Peg’s

hand. He moved Jacob and Peter onto his lap and pul ed

her down beside him. “Charlotte, hand me that other

blanket, would ye, lass?” He then tucked Charlotte up

against his side next to Isabel and covered them al with the

blanket, wrapped one arm around Peg and one around the

girls, and pul ed them al together with a sigh—the group

hug completed when the pup landed on top of the blanket

and flopped down with a doggy sigh of its own.

“Go away, you two,” Duncan said to Alec and Robbie,

who were both grinning at the picture they must have made.

“We’l be right here when Jeanine and Bea have breakfast

ready.” He sighed again when Peg tucked her head in the

crux of his shoulder. “Just have them feed the firemen

before they feed our crews.”

Oh yeah, Peg thought with a sigh of her own; a hug from

a big strong man was exactly what they al needed this

morning.

Chapter Eighteen

Since her beachfront was ful of men gathered around a

campfire, Peg sat on her deck steps waiting for Duncan to

get through talking to his newly returned crew before she

rode into town with him to attend the hastily scheduled

Sunday night meeting. Folks in and around Spel bound

Fal s had decided it was time to openly discuss the little

resort problem that seemed to be growing into a big

problem, considering the fire marshal had declared her

early Friday morning fire had been arson.

There had stil been puffs of smoke wafting up from the

ruins of her burned-down-to-its-foundation house when

Duncan had Peg’s property turned into Fort Thompson;

complete, she was afraid, with armed guards. Honestly, al

that was lacking were cannons, and she wouldn’t be

surprised if one of those showed up in the back of

someone’s pickup next week. Three of the ten bunkhouse

trailers and Duncan’s own private trailer slated for the camp

up the road were now parked at her pit instead, al plumbed

into her newly expanded septic system—she had no idea

how he’d gotten that permit in only six hours—and tapped

into her wel .

Come to think of it, Peg couldn’t remember Duncan

asking her permission, either, but she wasn’t complaining

because she liked feeling safe when she flopped into her

tiny bed, which Duncan had final y vacated Thursday.

Except now he was sleeping on the other side of her

bedroom wal in his private bunkhouse—that he’d perfectly

aligned so their bedroom windows faced each other.

Peg’s neighbors to the west weren’t very happy with al

the activity so close to their … garden, although Evan and

Carl had come over to say they certainly didn’t mind waiting

until that gosh-dang arsonist was caught before they put out

this year’s crop of hardy seedlings.

Her children were taking losing their new house

fairly wel , with no obvious signs of distress or lingering

fear, likely because al the activity had created quite a

distraction. Wel , that and Duncan’s parents had been

spoiling them rotten for the last two days.

Cal um and Charlotte MacKeage had arrived Friday

afternoon, only to have their son introduce them to Peg and

the kids then rush back into the chaos issuing orders—

after, that is, he wolfed down half a pan of maple-glazed

apple crisp smothered in whipped cream. Cal um had also

eventual y moseyed away, and Peg had watched in awe as

he’d pul ed a virtual town of smal buildings out of the back

of his truck, carried them down to the beach where Peter

and Jacob were playing, and the three of them had gotten

real y serious about the twins’ construction project.

Charlotte had divided up what was left of the crisp

among Peg, her girls, and herself, and they’d spent the

afternoon ignoring the fortress being built around them as

they’d al gotten to know one another. That’s why Peg didn’t

have any problem letting Cal um and Charlotte babysit her

heathens tonight while she went to the town meeting with

Duncan. The meeting that was slated to begin in two hours,

she realized as she glanced down at her watch, which

meant they needed to leave now if they wanted to stop by

the Drunken Moose first.

She fidgeted with the strap of her purse as she watched

Duncan in the last rays of the setting sun quietly talking to

his men sitting around the campfire. His feet were slightly

spread as he stood with his arms folded over his chest in a

stance of authority, and Peg felt her insides suddenly

clench.

Damn, her desire for him was starting to get out of

control, and Peg was worried she was going to act on it

one of these days. She sighed, resting her chin on her fists

as she continued watching Duncan. He hadn’t stolen any

more kisses since the morning of the fire, when he’d gotten

al growly because she’d final y kissed him back. Granted,

her house had been burning down to its foundation at the

moment, but he’d felt so solid and strong and invincible,

and she’d been so scared and needy. Al she’d wanted to

do was lose herself in the passion that had been building

inside her for the last three nights he’d been sleeping in her

bed, while she’d been out on the couch wanting to be in

there with him.

Peg stood up when she saw him striding toward her and

slipped her purse over her shoulder with a fortifying breath.

She walked to her SUV, brushing down the front of her old

spring jacket in an attempt to appear nonchalant. The last

thing she needed was for him to see how scared and