Tempting the Highlander (Pine Creek 4) by Janet Chapman

Author:Janet Chapman
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-03-02T00:16:26.687000+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Cody was settledin his bed with an ice bag on his face, a ginger ale for his upset stomach, and the promise of some stew when he felt better. Dinner had been a quiet affair, with Robbie and Marcus conspicuously absent and Nora and Nathan back to their quiet selves. Gunter had decided he needed a walk more than he needed supper, and Rick and Peter were doing the dishes without even being asked. Catherine was now in the barn, facing her two children as they sat on a bale of hay and stared at her with rounded eyes filled with uncertainty.

“What happened in the kitchen earlier was nothing more than a terrible mistake,”

Catherine began, sitting on another bale directly in front of them. “Nora, if anything ever scares you, then you are right to come tell me immediately. Gunter is the one who jumped to conclusions without checking the facts first.” She leaned forward and touched their knees. “And you saw how misunderstandings can lead to a terrible mess. People can get hurt when you react without finding out the truth first. I still want you both to tell me when something or someone scares you,” she said. “But you also have to begin trusting people,” she added, pointing to herself. “We all do, including me.”

“You told Gunter you trust Cody,” Nora whispered.

“I did tell him that,” Catherine agreed with a nod. “Because I do. All of the boys have been extra nice to you, haven’t they? Do you trust them to look out for you, Nora?”

The little girl nodded.

Catherine pulled her daughter into her arms. Nora was six years old. Not sixteen. Not twenty-six. She was just a little girl who had spent her entire life with a frightened and overly protective mother.

“We are all done running from your daddy,” Catherine whispered, leaning forward and putting her hand on Nathan’s shoulder, too, smiling at them both. “There’s nothing he can do to us, and that’s why we aren’t going to be afraid of him anymore.”

“He could hit you again,” Nathan whispered. “He could hurt you bad enough that you go to the hospital like before.”

Catherine shook her head. “No, Nathan, he can’t,” she assured him, relaxing back on her bale of hay. “Just like you guys, I’ve grown up these last three years, too. Your daddy can’t hurt me because I won’t let him. I just forgot that truth for a little while and ran away. But it stops here. This is our home now.”

She canted her head at them. “Do you know what they call people who live in Maine?

Maineiacs. And that’s what we are now. We’re Maineiacs.”

“But that means crazy people,” Nathan said.

Catherine nodded. “Then that’s what we are. We’re so crazy that we aren’t afraid of anything or anyone. You both like going to school here, don’t you?”

They both nodded.

“And you like the boys?”

“Gunter kind of scares me,” Nathan said.

“Gunter learned a very valuable lesson tonight,” Catherine assured him. “Remember how I told you

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