The Highlander Next Door

by Janet Chapman

  Mac crossed his arms over his chest, his expression equally beleaguered. “By the time Julia is pregnant with your sixth son, you’ll be lucky if he’s not sleeping in a bureau drawer, since the more children you have the less nesting is needed, apparently. Olivia has put Sophie and Ella in charge of decorating their new sister’s room, and to date I’ve ordered and canceled three different furniture sets, now know more about themes than any man should, and have painted the walls five times.”

  Aye, Niall thought with a silent chuckle; having been told last week that Olivia was expecting another girl, the wizard obviously didn’t like that Nicholas was having only sons, since it was looking as if young Henry would be Mac’s only male heir.

  “Why don’t ye just have the resort facility crew do the painting?” Duncan asked, obviously fighting a grin.

  “Because Sophie informed me that modern dads participate,” Mac explained—Sophie being his twelve-year-old stepdaughter.

  “Oh, come on,” Niall said. “What does a wee babe care what color its room is? I’m not even sure they can see past their noses for several months.”

  Three sets of incredulous eyes turned on him, and Titus merely sighed again.

  “The babes don’t care,” Duncan said. “Their mothers do.”

  “Women nest,” Nicholas muttered, “and the nest has to be lined with perfect feathers.”

  “At least for the first one or two babes,” Mac added. “Then they turn everything over to the older siblings and us husbands.”

  “Aye,” Duncan agreed, “while constantly threatening to kill us in our sleep if we get them pregnant again.”

  “Until their friends get pregnant,” Mac countered, shooting a pointed glare at Duncan and then at Nicholas, “and they suddenly announce they want ‘just one more.’” Mac then turned his glare on Niall, as did the other two expectant fathers. “You want to be part of this conversation, MacKeage, go steal yourself a wife and get her pregnant.”

  Knowing he didn’t have a hope in hell of changing this subject, Niall stood up with a laugh. “Thank you for the advice, gentlemen, but I believe I’ll wait for a brave lass to come along and steal me.”

  “You might want to be careful what you wish for,” Titus said quietly, “lest you find yourself being taken on a one-way boat ride up the fiord by a pint-sized spitfire.”

  On that note, Niall hightailed it for the door as he tried to recall if he had ever referred to Miss Callahan quite that way around the scheming old magic-maker.

  • • •

  Niall exited the Bottoms Up to find Shep licking an ice-cream cone being held by what appeared to be a three – or four-year-old tourist; the only problem being he wasn’t sure if the little girl was wanting to share her treat with a dog that looked her level in the eyes, or if she hadn’t dared say no. As for the girl’s parents . . . Well, the mother looked poised to whisk her child to safety and the father appeared ready to use his camera bag as a weapon even as he kept snapping pictures of his daughter feeding a stray dog in Maine. Niall cleared his throat, causing Shep to whip his head around in surprise, only to sigh when the dog turned back and gave the girl’s face a lick before trotting over—too happily licking his own snout to be feeling guilty, apparently.

  Niall sent the parents a sheepish nod and stepped into the brightly painted crosswalk glistening under the newly installed streetlamps, which were already on even though it was nearing the longest day of the year. But the town proper sat in the looming shadow of Bent Mountain, which was responsible for the waterfall that thundered into a deep pool of frothing water before Spellbound Stream continued under the foot – and road bridges and shot into Bottomless.

  “Am I going to have to take ye back to Kenzie Gregor for another little talk?” Niall asked when they reached the old railroad bed the grange ladies had converted to a footpath. Besides being Matt’s brother, Kenzie was an eleventh-century highland warrior who lived down on the coast near Trace Huntsman, along with their good friend William Killkenny, an Irish nobleman who’d come to this century seeking Kenzie’s help when an old hag’s curse had turned him into a dragon twelve hundred years ago.

  Maine, it would appear, was growing rife with time-travelers.

  When Niall had first gotten Shep, he’d barely been able to get close enough to tend his wounds, and coaxing the snarling, defensive dog to eat out of his hand had been an exercise in patience. Shep’s distrust of people—males in particular—had at first forced Niall to camp out in the woods for fear of putting Winter and her children at risk. That is, until Matt had suggested the dog might benefit from a visit to his brother in Midnight Bay, since Kenzie was able to . . . talk to animals.

  Not that Niall thought the highlander’s gift strange, considering Kenzie had spent several centuries living as various animals—most recently a black panther—before Winter had helped Matt turn him into a man again.

  Niall stopped on the trestle bridge and crouched down to grab hold of Shep’s snout, forcing the dog to look at him. “The deal is you’re supposed to be an invisible first officer,” he explained, talking only loud enough to be heard over the thundering falls. “The whole point of ye not wearing the K-9 police vest Jack Stone gave ye as a going away present was to make you appear unassuming.”

  But when Shep merely took another swipe of his sticky nose, Niall stood up with a chuckle. “Aye, maybe there is nothing more invisible than a street beggar.” He scanned the length of town in the deepening dusk. “Now if I were Macie, where would I plan on meeting a man I wasn’t even supposed to talk to?”

  Not in a public park, he didn’t think.

  Niall looked up to see several daring tourists standing on the viewing platform perched at the top of the falls, thinking the forested trail leading up to it had many resting benches where two young lovers could meet. But he just as quickly decided that a woman growing cumbersome with child probably wouldn’t risk the steep climb.

  Niall headed toward the park at a leisurely stroll, nodding to fellow strollers as he decided he would drive down to Turtleback tomorrow. Trying to split his time evenly, he’d made a point of visiting all the businesses in both towns like Jack had suggested—not that he’d needed to be told the value of building a good rapport with the people he’d sworn to protect, since that in essence had been his job as laird. He turned down the path leading to the park that surrounded the deep pool at the bottom of the falls, giving a chuckle when he passed the bronze marker telling the legend of a mystical spell being cast over any couple brave—or foolish—enough to kiss while standing in the mist.

  Niall wondered if he were brave enough to kiss Miss Callahan in the mist.

  Nay, that probably would be foolish, as the woman would likely spray him with bear repellent, then push him in the pool.

  Apparently needing a drink to wash down the ice cream, Shep bolted for the water, and Niall chuckled again when he heard a loud splash not a heartbeat after the dog disappeared into the mist. He continued following the path, which wound through plantings of young fir and white birch trees surrounded by carefully tended flower beds, then stopped at a signpost. Deciding the less-traveled, thickly wooded trail that followed the base of the mountain offered plenty of places for a private meeting, Niall headed into the forest as he kept his ears tuned for the sound of conversation.

  Not really worried he might be overstepping his duty to serve and protect, since he only intended to make sure Johnny truly was a pacifist, Niall grinned at having guessed correctly when ten minutes later he heard two people talking against the backdrop of the distant falls. He left the trail and quietly made his way through the forest that was nearly pitch-black now that the sun had set completely, then crouched several feet away from the couple sitting on a fallen log—his grin widening at the realization that, if anything, Johnny better hope Macie was also a pacifist, judging by her tone. But not five minutes after Niall had settled comfortably ag
ainst a tree, Johnny suddenly stood up.

  “Come on, Mace,” the young man said as he stood facing her. “How many times are you going to make me apologize for something I had no control over?”

  “Dan didn’t let the lack of control bother him.”

  “Because he was new. He didn’t have anything invested in the settlement, so what did he care if Sebastian kicked him out?”

  Dan, Niall happened to know, was actually Dante—an Atlantean warrior Nicholas had brought to Nova Mare as a security guard. It had been at Titus’s request that Dante go undercover at the colony, hoping to learn what sort of magic they were practicing.

  “I swear to God,” Macie said tightly, “you’d better not tell anyone it was Dan who helped me escape. I told you that in confidence.”

  Johnny gave a humorless laugh. “Exactly which god are you swearing to, Mace? Certainly not the one we’ve been trying to call forth, because he’s still not here.”

  Aye, but he was, Niall thought with a scowl, only nobody knew what the bastard looked like or where he was hiding.

  “That’s because he’s supposed to be a goddess,” Macie shot back. “And why would she be in a hurry to show up if it means having to deal with Sebastian?”

  There was a long silence, then a heavy sigh. “Are you ever going to forgive me?”

  “Are you ever going to leave the settlement?”

  Another silence, and then, “Getting close to the kind of magic that can move mountains was your dream, too, Mace.”

  “It was, until Sebastian showed up and started bossing everyone around,” she muttered, standing up and starting back toward the park.

  “But the baby’s gonna be here in a couple of months,” Johnny said as he ran to catch up with her. “And I really want to be part of its life. And yours.”

  Unable to hear Macie’s answer because they were too far away, Niall got to his feet and followed. He watched Johnny catch hold of Macie’s hand when they reached the park and give her a hug that lasted until a group of people walked past. The young man stepped away, hesitated, and made a helpless gesture, then turned and walked up the path to the trestle.

  Macie continued staring after him until he disappeared down the road in the direction of Turtleback, then sat on one of the benches along the outer edge of the park. Niall walked over and stood in front of her, breaking into a grin when she gasped and nervously glanced at the trail she’d just exited before looking up at him in horror.

  “Would ye care for some company, Miss Atwater?” Niall asked. He gestured at the woods behind her. “And maybe allow me to meddle in your business a little?”

  She dropped her gaze, her cheeks clearly flushed in the lamplight, and scooted over to make room for him on the bench.

  Niall sat down beside her and stared at the mist rising from the pool. “I don’t have Miss Callahan’s schooling,” he began, keeping his voice only strong enough to be heard over the noise of the falls. “But I do seem to have a knack for taking a man’s measure.” He shot her a grin. “As well as an occasional woman’s. And from what little I overheard of your conversation, it appears to me that your child’s father is a good man. He might have his priorities confused, but his heart seems to be in the right place.”

  “Johnny didn’t do anything when Sebastian realized I was pregnant and dragged me out of the bathhouse wearing only a towel and then locked me in a room for two days,” she returned, a touch of anger in her voice. “There’s no telling what would have happened if one of the other men, a guy named Dan, hadn’t helped me escape.”

  “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Sebastian,” Niall said, nodding when she looked over in surprise. “I made a point of introducing myself the day after I became chief of police to let him know I was dealing with the people protesting the colony.”

  “I’m never going back there.”

  “What I’m trying to say is that I can see how your young man got caught up in Sebastian’s vision. Charisma is a powerful force, and when someone like Sebastian shows up with an agenda similar to your own . . . well, few men are immune to that sort of passion.”

  “Then how come none of the women fell for his charisma?”

  “Because history has taught women to distrust power. Tell me, did ye not find it odd that Sebastian made Johnny one of the five priests, when there were older men to choose from?”

  She looked toward the pool and frowned. “Most of the older men left with their wives and children a couple of weeks after Sebastian showed up and started talking about creating a new god. Most everyone that stayed is in their twenties.”

  Niall nodded. “Which likely suited him, since younger minds are easier to bend.”

  “How do you know so much about men like Sebastian?”

  “Ye may not have noticed, but I happen to be a man.” Niall set his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet, then turned and extended his hand. “On second thought, I think it’s time I get ye home before you’re missed.”

  Macie slipped her hand in his and let him help her stand. “You’re not at all like Sebastian,” she said with all the conviction of an innocent lamb.

  Niall tucked her arm through his and started up the path toward the road. “Don’t let my good looks and sunny nature fool ye, lass. All men have agendas.”

  “If that’s true, then what’s yours?”

  “To see you happy,” he said, patting her hand clutching his arm. “Which I suspect for you would be a home of your own and a husband you can count on to help raise your babe in a loving and secure environment.”

  “You think I should marry Johnny?”

  “I’m thinking ye might consider letting the man prove he loves you more than he loves the power Sebastian has given him. What I heard tonight was Johnny asking if he had any chance of winning back your trust.”

  “But how can I ever trust him again?”

  “You could start by letting him court you proper,” Niall suggested. “If Johnny were to move into town and get a job, would that not show how much ye mean to him?”

  “And if he starts talking about us returning to the settlement together?”

  “It’s a simple matter of saying no.” He patted her hand again. “And ye have a mighty powerful ally to help keep him on the right path.”

  “You?” she said, the lamplight exposing her smile.

  “Nay,” he said with a chuckle. “Your babe. I noticed Johnny’s gaze kept going to your belly when he wasn’t soaking in the sight of you.”

  Macie stopped when they reached the old railroad bed and turned to him. “You think Johnny would take me on a real date?”

  “I guess that’s something you’d have to ask him.”

  She stared up at him for several seconds then suddenly started walking again. “Maybe I will.” But then she sighed. “Birch will probably go ballistic if Johnny comes to the house to take me out.”

  “Or she might help ye get ready for your date. She’s on your side, too, Macie. We’re all hoping to see you settled into the life you want.”

  “Um . . . you don’t think Birch wants to see me settled without a husband?” Macie flashed him another smile. “I wouldn’t say she actually hates men, but I think she finds you guys are more trouble than you’re worth.”

  Niall merely chuckled, figuring the lass may be right.

  “Hazel told me Birch sold their house in Montreal,” Macie continued, “then made Hazel move here with her. Apparently Birch thinks her mother is too trusting, especially when it comes to men. And she treats everyone as if they’re twelve; Hazel and the shelter residents.”

  “Because she cares. If this were just a job for her, I doubt the shelter would have gotten so many residents in the three short weeks it’s been open.”

  “She’s actually going out and finding them. I think it was Ezra who told her that he saw a bruise on Cassandra’s
face when the girl came in the Trading Post with her aunt last week. Birch got directions to their house, drove out to the Binghams’, and came back with Cassandra that same afternoon. And she talked Noreen into leaving her husband, and even took her home to pack up some of her stuff.” Macie shrugged. “I just wish she would care a little less . . . intensely.”

  Seeing the lass hug herself when a breeze sent the mist swirling toward them, Niall took off his jacket and settled it on her shoulders. He then pulled out his shirttail so it hung over the back of his belt, gave a single sharp whistle to call Shep, and started toward his truck parked in front of the post office. “I’ll give ye a ride home,” he said as Macie pulled the edges of his jacket around her with a murmured thank-you. “What?” he asked when he saw her glance over at him—specifically at his chest.

  “Have you ever shot anyone in the line of duty?”

  Niall touched the butt of his pistol sticking out of the shoulder holster he was wearing. “Nay, just seeing the gun usually makes a man settle down.”

  “How come you don’t wear it on your belt like most policemen?”

  “Because I prefer to keep it hidden under my jacket.” He flashed her a grin. “My size alone seems to make women and children nervous.”

  “You’re going to look funny wearing a jacket when the weather finally warms up.”

  “Aye,” he agreed, walking to the passenger’s side of his truck. “Shep, no,” he rushed on when the dog came racing up just as Niall opened the passenger door.

  “Ewww, he’s soaking wet,” Macie said with a laugh, stepping back when Shep gave a good shake and covered them both with cold water.

  “We’re still working on our manners,” Niall said dryly as he helped Macie up into the seat. He handed her the seat belt, then closed the door, headed around the front of the truck, and got in behind the wheel.

  “Wait, what about Shep?” Macie asked when he slid the key in the ignition.