going to begin living happily ever after in the arms of your
sexy husband.” Peg started walking backward, only to stop
and point the plunger at Olivia. “And you stay away from the
groom! He can’t see the bride until you’re walking down the
aisle looking al radiant and beautiful, so he’l realize he’s
the luckiest man on the planet.”
Olivia took a deep breath, threw back her shoulders, and
broke into a radiant smile. “Thank you for reminding me that
he’s the lucky one.” She canted her head. “Can you tel
me how we’ve lived in the same town for nearly twelve
years and only became best friends two weeks ago?”
“That’s easy; you were too busy managing Inglenook for
your ex-in-laws, and I was too busy making babies.”
Olivia’s eyes turned pained. “You wil find love again,
Peg.” She smiled sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders.
“Heck, if it can happen to me, it can happen to you, too.
You’ve been a widow over three years, so please don’t
make the same mistake I did by giving up on love. You just
have to start believing in magic again.”
Peg laughed and started walking backward. “I’m afraid
it’l take more than magic to find a man who’d be interested
in a woman with four young children.” She shook her head.
“And then I’m not sure I’d be interested in anyone crazy
enough to date me.” She stopped walking and pointed the
plunger again. “Now quit stal ing and go turn yourself into a
beautiful and deliriously happy bride.”
That said, Peg pivoted and started jogging away before
Olivia decided that she should be deliriously happy in love,
too—which was the last thing Peg needed. She was ful y
resigned to the fact that she would remain a widow until the
day she died, considering she’d learned the hard way that
her family’s curse was more than just some funky old
legend. It was bad enough living with the guilt that she was
in some arcane way responsible for Bil y’s death; she
wasn’t about to kil off a second husband like her mother
and aunt had.
And just what was she supposed to tel Charlotte and
Isabel when they each came to her and announced they’d
found the man of their dreams? Well sure, sweetie, go
ahead and marry the poor schmuck, if you don’t mind that
he won’t live long enough to see his children graduate
from elementary school.Because any man who married
any of the women in her family never made it past his
thirtieth birthday. And even when Peg’s mom and aunt had
waited until they were into their forties to remarry, they’d
both lost their second husbands in freak accidents.
Peg often wondered what wicked sin the first black
widow had committed to have placed such a horrible curse
on five generations of female descendents—even as she
continued to wonder what it would take to break it.
Heck, she’d actual y thought shehad broken the curse
the day she’d slid Bil y’s thirtieth birthday cake in the oven
just hours before the surprise party she’d planned for him.
Only the kitchen had fil ed with smoke as she’d stood
staring at Bil y’s boss and another coworker, utterly
insensate from their news that her husband was dead.
“Mom, wait up!”
Peg turned to see Charlotte and Peter running toward
her. She immediately looked at the gazebo, and sighed in
relief when she saw Isabel and Jacob sitting quietly
watching the beach.
“Can Peter and I go to the barn?” Charlotte asked.
“Sophie said most of the horses are leaving tomorrow
because Inglenook’s not going to have any campers this
summer, and Isabel promised to watch Jacob, and I won’t
let Peter go in the stal s. We just want to give them each a
pat good-bye.”
Peg looked toward the barn. “I don’t think Sam’s around.”
She looked back at her daughter and eldest twin son.
“You remember that Olivia told us Sam is her father, so he’s
probably busy getting ready to walk her down the aisle.”
“And Mr. Ezra is her grandfather,” Peter added with a
semitoothless grin. He suddenly frowned. “Only how come
Miss Olivia didn’t know he was her grandfather? She saw
him at his store in town al the time.”
Peg ruffled his hair. “It’s a confusing story. And the
important thing is that Olivia and Sam and Ezra are final y
together now.”
“So can we go see the horses?” Peter asked. “I promise
not to let them drool on my shirt, and we’l go right back to
the gazebo after.”
“Only if you also promise not to go in their stal s.” Peg
started walking toward cabin three again. “And thank you
for asking.”
“Mom!” Jacob shouted from the gazebo where he was
standing on a bench. “Isabel thinks she just saw a whale
blow! Only I missed it ’cause I was watching the beach. It
looks like they’re gonna take out the submarine. Can we sit
on that rock over there to see better?” he asked, pointing
toward the boulder on the shoreline. He lowered his voice
as she approached. “I promise I won’t talk to any of the
scientists.”
Peg eyed the large, flat rock jutting out into the new
Bottomless Sea. She wasn’t worried the kid would drown
since the water wasn’t deep and Jacob swam better than
most fish, and she real y didn’t want to squelch his
enthusiasm, considering his traumatic run-in with one of the
scientists yesterday. Besides, what could be more
entertaining for three hours than to watch a tiny two-man
sub being launched?
“Okay, but you don’t go any closer than the boulder, got
that?”
“I got it!” Jacob shouted, jumping off the bench and
running down the gazebo steps. “Come on, Isabel. I’l help
you climb up the rock.”
“Mommm,”her daughter whined, giving Peg a rather
impressive scowl. “I can’t climb a rock in my party dress.”
“Then sit on the log next to it,” Peg suggested, once
again heading off on her mission. God, she hoped the
bastard who’d scared Jacob was staying in cabin three,
because if he was, she intended to use his headfor a
plunger.
Since when was some stupid submarine more precious
than the tender heart of a young child? For crying out loud,
Jacob was four! Wel , he’d be five in a couple of months,
but her younger son was way behind his boisterous twin
brother in many aspects. Peter was her daredevil, where
Jacob was a sensitive soul.
But thanks to the family curse, her sons didn’t have a
whole bunch of males to emulate, now did they? Wel ,
except for her father-in-law and Bil y’s older brother. Only
Peg figured she had more testosterone than the two of
them put together.
Honest to God, Clive Thompson sent his wife to
investigate anything that went bump in the night, and his
idea of sports was putting on an engineer’s hat and playing
with toy trains. As for her husband’s hulk of a brother,
Galen … wel , everyone knew Arlene wore the pants in that
family. And damn if the one time Peg had cal ed Galen to
come check out a strange vehicle in her gravel pit if Arlene
hadn’t shown up instead.
At least her sister-in-law had brought along a shotgun.
Peg knocked on cabin three’s door, then walked inside
when nobody answered, only to nearly trip over a pile of
diving … stuff. “Be careful of that gear,” a voice said from
somewhere inside another pile of stuff on the couch. “It’s
expensive.”
Peg picked her way through the clutter, but stopped at
the couch to peer over the guy’s shoulder. “Hey, is that a