Spellbound Falls [5] For the Love of Magic by Janet Chapman Read Free Book Online

Carolina from falling in love with Alec, Titus thought with a silent chuckle as he handed the wheel back over to Duncan. But then, being very much her mother’s daughter, once Carolina made up her mind on a matter, the gods themselves couldn’t alter her course.
    “What in hell is that?” Duncan asked, leaning out of the wheelhouse. “When are people going to realize that a sea with strong currents and friggin’ whales is no place for bathtubs posing as boats,” he muttered, changing course to avoid the small sailboat entering the choppy swells in front of the point of land separating the fiord from the main body of Bottomless.
    Yes, Maximilian’s little epic stunt four years ago, when he’d sent an underground river surging inland from the Gulf of Maine and moved mountains to create a fiord that extended Bottomless another twelve miles northward, had turned Spellbound Falls and Turtleback Station from forgotten dots on a wilderness road into tourist boomtowns.
    “Maybe what the idiot needs is a good scare,” Duncan continued, adjusting their course again to cut across the sailboat’s bow. He blew out a heavy sigh. “I’m thinking we probably need a marine patrol more than we need a police force.”
    “That’s well and good, Duncan,” Titus said with a chuckle, realizing Rana had discovered he’d unlocked her boathouse. “But I prefer you not teach this particular idiot a lesson, as I do believe that’s my wife.”
    “Mother?” Mac said, shooting to his feet as Duncan immediately brought the boat back to an idle.
    “What in Hades is she doing in that barnacle-infested old scow?” Nicholas asked, also standing to lean against the rail. He looked at Titus. “You can’t mean to let her on Bottomless in that tub. The water is barely above freezing and that boat’s not safe in anything over a breeze.”
    Titus brushed at nothing on his jacket. “I apparently no longer have any say over what Rana does.” He met Nicholas’s glare with one of his own. “You think you can fare any better, then by all means you try talking some sense into her.”
    Mac stepped between them and gestured at the fiord. “Well, gentlemen, it would appear Mother is nicely dealing with the barnacle infestation.”
    Titus moved to stand at the rail beside Nicholas in time to see Rana reef in the mainsail, and his heart swelled with pride when the small boat rolled onto its side and cut into the choppy sea with the agility of a porpoise—which was nicely exemplified when two harbor porpoise suddenly shot out of the bow wave beside it.
    “At least bring one of her sloops from Atlantis,” Nicholas muttered.
    “She didn’t seem to have any problem getting her belongings moved down the mountain to her hovel,” Titus said, watching the sun play off his wife’s beautiful, spray-drenched face as she wrung every last drop of speed out of the old sailboat. “I’m sure she wouldn’t have any trouble getting one of her sloops brought here if she wished.”
    He didn’t have to turn his head to know Nicholas was glaring at him again. “You’re lucky she ran away,” the warrior said, “instead of getting you drunk and holding a pillow over your face the moment you passed out.”
    Titus walked back to the wheelhouse. “I wasn’t aware our conversation had returned to
your
wife,” he said, nudging Duncan away from the wheel. Titus pushed the throttle forward and aimed the bow toward the marina two miles up the fiord. “As for your worry about the colony, Duncan,” he continued, “I suggest you hire Niall MacKeage as your chief of police and see if giving the man a
meaningful
way to burn up all that passionate energy might keep him out of trouble.”

Chapter Four

    “Why am I hearing huffing and puffing?” her daughter asked.
    Rana smiled at the road ahead as she reached up and adjusted the volume on the Bluetooth receiver in her ear. “Because I’m walking and talking at the same time.”
    An exasperated sigh came