Spellbound Falls by Janet Chapman Page B

wearing pajamas like a baby.”
Mac gave a quiet chuckle. “Delia is obviously proud of the man you’re becoming, Henry. Why don’t you have a quick nap with me here in the warm sun,” he suggested when the boy yawned again. “And we can skip dinner tonight if you wish.”
“But I have to keep watching for flags.”
“I believe the fish are about to take a nap, too. So close your eyes, little man, and rebuild your strength for tonight. Though it might be sized for your hand, in the morning I believe your muscles are going to let you know your sword’s no toy.”
But instead of closing his own eyes, Mac allowed his gaze to wander over the scene before him; the five ice-fishing traps—flags obediently down—and Henry’s kite half buried in the snow to keep it from blowing away. The ice auger he’d used to drill the holes lay next to the two empty and four full bottles of beer sitting in the carton Olivia had handed him when they’d first arrived, which was sitting next to the sled they’d used to haul everything out to the shanty. And Oliviawith her daughter sleeping in her arms, both their cheeks kissed pink by the sun over the last few hours, and himself with his own child tucked securely against his heart.
To a neutral observer they could be any family out enjoying a beautiful early spring afternoon on one of Maine’s more massive lakes.
The very idea stirred something deep inside Mac; a powerful sensation he innately knew was as ancient as the earth itself suddenly making his world shift slightly off center. The word
home
whispered around him on the dying breeze, drawing his gaze to the heavily forested mountains surrounding the lake, their rolling peaks lined up like sentinels charged with keeping the maddening world at bay.
And Mac understood why Olivia had stayed in Spellbound Falls.
He tried to wrap his mind around his contentment, as
home
for him was the ocean, the very womb that had given him life and now sustained it. And still he’d traveled inland for Henry’s sake, two hundred miles away from the very essence that pulsed through his veins like blood.
Yet the awareness stirring deep inside him, the whispered litany on the breeze, the expansive lake and towering mountains, the familial scene—all of it triggering something deep inside him that he couldn’t describe but desperately wanted to deny. A new and powerful yearning that suddenly scared him far more than having a son did.
“Can I take Henry to go see the falls, Mom?” Sophie asked as Olivia started to open her truck door. But before she could answer, her daughter addressed Mac. “I promise we’ll stay on the bridge and I’ll hold his hand.”
“Or all three of you could go see the falls,” Olivia suggest as she climbed out, “while I go in and return the shanty key to Ezra.”
Mac opened his door and also got out. “Or we could all return the key and then all go see the falls,” he said over the hood of his truck, dropping one of his provocative smileson her like a loaded hand grenade. “That way we won’t have to drag you out of some dark corner of the store again.”
“Yes, I do believe Dad and I should go with you, Miss Olivia,” Henry said before she could think of a snappy comeback. Only the boy’s smile was more compassionate than challenging. “I could even hold your hand if you’d like.”
Good Lord, did the child think she needed protecting?
Granted, their first meeting hadn’t been under the best of circumstances, but it did seem to have left him with the impression that she was a damsel in distress. Especially since Sophie had ingenuously announced in the truck this morning that her mother had needed to be rescued from Simon.
“That’s very chivalrous of you, Henry, but I think I can return the key without getting into any trouble. And besides, Ezra’s pretty good at keeping a lookout for me.” She checked for vehicles and started across the road without making eye contact with Mac, not wanting to see his