Jack shook his head. “I’ll get mine out now, then come back with your father tomorrow or the next day.” He turned and started walking away.

Megan ran to catch up with him, grabbing his sleeve to make him stop. “Jack, I want you to come back with us now.”

“No, you just don’t want me alone with Kenzie,” he told her quietly, turning so the others wouldn’t hear. “Which makes me wonder, are you worried about his welfare or mine?”

“Fine, then. I hope you both get frostbite,” she snapped, turning to flounce off to the plane.

He pulled her around to face him before she had taken two steps, completely ruining her dramatic exit. “Forget those DNA samples and everything else for today,” he told her, seemingly unaware of—or more likely ignoring—her outrage. “The moment you get home, I want you to go to your doctor and get checked out. You might have gotten some lake water in your lungs and you could develop pneumonia. Have your mom go with you.”

“Any other orders before I leave, Chief Stone?”

“As a matter of fact, yeah,” he said, pulling her against him and kissing the scowl right off her lips. He leaned back just enough to look her in the eyes. “Fasten your seat belt, and see if the name Walker works for you, for our son.”

“We’re having a girl!” She shoved him away, and this time she ran to the plane.

She climbed in the passenger side and fastened her seat belt. “I don’t care what I dreamed last night; you’re a girl,” she told her belly, giving it a pat. “And don’t you worry, I’ll teach you to hold your own in this world. Especially against men.”

Matt climbed in beside her with a chuckle. “Sorry, sis, but you’re having a boy.”

She gave her brother-in-law a smack in the arm. “I wanted to be surprised!”

“Hey, don’t kill the messenger. I didn’t decide the kid’s sex, his father did. Speaking of which, I see he’s back in your life.” He put on his headphones before she could form a comeback. He started the engine, ran through his preflight check of gauges and controls, then gave the plane enough throttle to turn them facing up the lake into the slight breeze. Megan stared out her window, watching Jack and Kenzie on their knees, chopping the sled free.

As the plane’s skis skimmed over the snow and rose into the sky, her gaze moved to the shoreline, where she could see the fire trailing up a thin plume of smoke. When Matt banked left toward Pine Creek, Megan lost sight of their cozy little camp, effectively putting the most wonderful night of her life behind her.

Chapter Eighteen

“I would ask what yer intentions are toward Megan.”

Jack stopped chopping and looked across his snowmobile’s seat at Kenzie. “Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

If his expression was any indication, the huge Scot obviously didn’t like having his question answered with another question.

Jack was beginning to see why Grand-père admired these historically fierce Highlanders. Kenzie Gregor could be a throwback himself; despite his modern clothes and short hair, Jack could easily picture the man on a medieval battlefield, wearing a kilt and wielding a sword with lethal accuracy. The guy was well over six feet tall, and when he’d taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, Jack had seen enough muscle to make a bear turn tail and run.

Or make a woman’s heart melt?

“Megan’s like a sister to me,” Kenzie said as he began chopping again.

“It’s just as well you feel that way about her. She doesn’t particularly like tall men, anyway.”

Kenzie looked over the sled at him, his eyes narrowed. “For the last five months she hasn’t liked men in general. I’m still waiting to hear your intentions, Stone.”

“I intend to marry her, preferably before our son is born.”

“Are ye, now?” Kenzie said, suddenly amused. “Then I hope you’re prepared to drag her kicking and screaming to the altar. I didn’t exactly see her returning yer kiss a moment ago.”

Jack shrugged and started chopping again. “She’ll come around.”

“Matt said you did what ye did because Megan was in danger in Canada. He also said ye think the problem may have followed her here.”

Jack straightened and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “News runs through your families like fire through sagebrush. Yes, I think she has something Mark Collins wants.”

“And ye don’t want her to give it to him?”

“A man was murdered because of the information Megan has. So she’s going to give it to me, and I’m going to turn it over to the Canadian authorities.” He began chopping the ice away from the rubber track, being careful not to damage it.

“Ye intend to let the authorities deal with Collins?”

“Yes. Once I turn over the information, Mark Collins will leave Megan alone, and that’s all I really care about. What was the favor you asked Megan for the other night, when you came to her house?”

Kenzie bent down and started chopping again, this time up toward the ski. “That’s none of your business.”

“Anything that involves Megan is my business.”

“It’s a simple favor a brother would ask of a sister, so ye needn’t worry about it.”

Jack flinched at the sound of metal striking metal. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t chop off the ski,” he said, tossing down his hatchet and standing up. “Let’s see if we can rock it loose.”

Kenzie also stood up, tossed down his hatchet, then grabbed the running board of the sled. Jack did the same on his side, and they alternated lifting until Jack skipped a time and lifted when Kenzie did. The track suddenly broke free.

Jack walked to the front, grabbed the handle on the ski, and lifted it free. Kenzie did the same, and together they dragged the heavy snowmobile forward twenty feet onto the packed snow. Jack stepped back to the handle-bars and turned the key. The starter engaged, but the sled didn’t start. He flipped the choke, turned the key, and the starter whined and the engine sputtered, but it still didn’t start.

He plopped down on the seat with a muttered curse and gave Kenzie a speculative look. “You know anything about snowmobiles?”

Kenzie shook his head. “About as much as I know about airplanes, which is that I don’t care for either.” He eyed the sled. “I’d be more help if it were a horse.”

“Tell me something, Gregor. Before MacBain interrupted you that night of the break-in, were you trying to kill me to protect your little pet, or just disable me?”

“What in God’s name are ye talking about?”

“You ambushed me when I started after whatever the hell it was that ran out of that store.” Jack shrugged. “I was wondering just how far you’d go to keep your dragon a secret.”

“A dragon? Ye think I have a pet dragon?” Kenzie actually took a step back. “Are ye touched in the head, mon?”

“No, I believe that of the two of us, I’m probably the more grounded. Where you, my friend, seem to be straddling two worlds.”

The towering Scot crossed his arms over his chest. “Am I now? And just which two worlds would those be?”

Jack reached over and gave the key another turn on the off chance the sled would start. The engine only whined and coughed, so he gave his attention back to Kenzie. “I’d say you’re standing on the wrong side of society’s door right now, Gregor. Or maybe you’re simply wrestling with life in general.” He stood up, squaring off against the giant. “I don’t want Megan caught in the middle of this, so drop whatever favor you need from her.”

“Caught in the middle of what, exactly?” Kenzie asked, his expression implying he had no intention of dropping anything.

“Megan and I both got a good look at your pet last night when it crossed in front of our headlights, then flew toward that mountain,” he said, pointing east. “Megan startled it when she came through that opening in the peninsula, and she broke through the ice when she tried to avoid hitting it. She knows that you know where it lives.”