Courting Carolina (21 page)

“Hush, baby,” Rana crooned, pulling her back into a fierce hug. “Duncan will protect his nephew.”

“But his ribs are still bruised from a fall he took, and the men pummeled him.” Jane straightened again. “Alec didn’t know who I was. He thought he was helping an ordinary woman named Jane Smith. I have to go back and explain why I lied so he won’t hate me. Oh God, I hurt him worse than Mac did,” she sobbed, burying her face in her mother’s bosom again. “Please help me, Mama.”

“I’m sorry,” Rana said thickly, her lips touching Jane’s forehead. “But I doubt the combined power of the gods could get you out of here now.” She threaded shaking fingers through Jane’s tangled hair and tilted her face up. “We didn’t know if you were dead or alive, Caro,” she whispered, her own tears spilling free. “Or what unspeakable horrors you were experiencing. Why didn’t you come to us? Why did you run to Alec MacKeage instead of Maximilian?”

“This is why! I didn’t want to be locked away like a misbehaving child, then given to the first man brave enough to ask for my hand in marriage.”

“I’ve managed to keep that from happening so far, haven’t I?” Rana said calmly, brushing her thumbs over Jane’s cheeks. “My word, Caro; I won’t let your father force you into marriage. But,” she said, dropping her hands to grip Jane’s shoulders, “I’m afraid I couldn’t stop him from scouring the world looking for warriors to bring here to court you in the weeks leading up to Nova Mare’s grand opening ball.” Jane reared back with a gasp, but her mother’s grip was unbreakable. “Listen to me,” Rana said firmly. “It’s time for you to get serious about settling down. You’re nearly thirty-one years old, and your childbearing years are waning.” Her eyes softened. “Don’t you want babies, Carolina? Beautiful sons and daughters who will fill your heart to near bursting as you and Maximilian have filled mine?”

“Not if it means I have to marry a man I don’t love.” Jane jerked away and jumped to her feet, hugging herself. “Mama, please, you have to make Father stop this insanity. This is the twenty-first century,” she cried, gesturing angrily. “Fathers do not force their daughters to marry in this time.” She gasped when her mother lowered her gaze. “No! No, I refuse to live in any other century!”

Rana lifted beseeching, pain-filled eyes. “I persuaded Titus to give you two years to find a husband in this century, Carolina.” She stood up and walked over to touch Jane’s cheek. “Two long, heartbreaking years with the entire world at your disposal, and you still couldn’t find anyone to love.”

Jane threw herself into her mother’s arms again. “I promise to stop being so fussy! I just need more time.”

“Hush now,” Rana crooned, holding her tightly. “You mustn’t ever stop being fussy, Daughter, or settle for anything less than true love.” She leaned away, smiling tenderly. “You deserve a husband you absolutely adore. A man who steals your breath away and makes you glad you were born a woman.”

“But I did find such a man,” Jane said, dropping her head to her mother’s shoulder again on a lingering sob. “Alec makes me feel smart and strong and feminine and alive.”

“Then why didn’t this wonderful man bring you home to us?”

She straightened. “Because he doesn’t believe in treating a grown woman like a mindless child. He was waiting for me to decide how to handle Father, and offered to stand
beside
me instead of fight my battle
for
me.”

Rana tucked a lock of Jane’s hair behind one ear, her eyes crinkling with her smile. “Then you did indeed find a rare treasure, Caro. But,” she said, gripping Jane’s shoulders again, “I’m afraid Alec MacKeage is not one of your father’s or Maximilian’s favorite people at the moment. You might see him as an exciting, modern male, but they see him as the bastard who put us through ten days of hell. It wasn’t until Olivia finally told Duncan what was going on that Duncan said he suspected you were right here in Spellbound Falls.”

“Then that makes Duncan the bastard,” Jane hissed, pulling away. “He betrayed his own nephew.”

“No, he most likely saved Alec’s life.” All the tenderness left her mother’s eyes. “I swear I wanted to kill him myself for the terror we lived through. We thought you were
dead
, Carolina. Or worse, that our enemies had you. Did you not care how worried we would be after receiving that fistful of hair and your ankle bracelet?”

Jane dropped her gaze. “Yes, I cared,” she whispered. “I just didn’t…I was afraid…” She lifted her chin. “I knew once Father got hold of me again that he’d take away what
little power I have and marry me to the first man he could find.” She pulled up her pant leg. “And I was right, wasn’t I? Before I even dismounted, Nicholas held me still while Father replaced my shackle.”

“That’s not a shackle,” Rana snapped. “It’s your protection.”

Jane dropped her pant leg with a snort. “It is until someone else comes along and cuts it off.”

“Trust me, Caro, Zeus himself couldn’t get this one off.” Rana cupped Jane’s face, her eyes turning tender again with her smile. “How about if we form a pact, you and me, in which I will continue to ensure that you don’t have to marry a man you don’t love, and you give me your word that you will at least try to give the six warriors coming here a chance to take your breath away?”

“Alec MacKeage already stole it—as did this century and all of its wondrous possibilities.” Jane smiled sadly, already knowing the answer to her question. “Are any of Father’s hand-chosen warriors from this time?”

Rana rolled her eyes as she turned away and walked to a small table beside the chair, then picked up a piece of paper and started reading. “Ranging from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, there’s a knight of the Round Table, a Bedouin, a Crusader, a Prussian prince, a Norseman, and…” She looked up, her expression turning wary. “And a highland laird named Niall MacKeage.” She lifted her hand questioningly. “I can only assume Titus must have felt that one of Duncan’s ancestors would be a good match for you.” She brightened. “Which means there may be hope for your Alec.” But then she shook her head, tossing the paper back on the table. “No, I might be able to persuade Titus to give your young man a chance, but when Maximilian heard who was hiding you, he became…Well, let’s just say your father threatened to leave him behind when they went after you if he didn’t calm down.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why Mac feels as he does about the MacKeages, considering how close he is to Duncan, but when he saw Niall’s name on the list he tried to talk Titus out of inviting him.”

“Mac doesn’t like the MacKeages?” Jane asked on a gasp.

Rana shook her head again. “I don’t believe he dislikes them, exactly; I think he simply doesn’t want you marrying one of them.”

“But why?”

“I guess that’s something you’ll have to ask him.” Her mother walked over and grasped her shoulders. “So do we have a pact? You’ll open your mind to the men coming here to court you, and in return I’ll make sure your father opens
his
mind to the fact that you’re a grown woman capable of knowing what you want?”

“What I want is to live in this century, not the tenth or any one in between. And I
don’t
want to spend the next three weeks being polite to a bunch of ancient, full-of-themselves warriors expecting to win a quiet, demure,
obedient
wife who will give them a dozen baby princes and princesses.”

Rana closed her eyes on a sigh, and Jane leaned away when her mother opened them again and actually gave her a shake. “I’m asking you to
try
, Caro. Because if your father sees you’re finally taking a sincere interest in marriage, I will have an easier time persuading him to let
you
choose your husband instead of him choosing for you.” She gestured toward the table. “If not one of these six, then we’ll let him scour the world for six more he approves of, preferably from a more recent century or even this one. And another six, if that’s what it takes.” She clasped Jane’s head to look her directly in the eyes. “But your father has to see you
trying
.”

“Well, fine then,” Jane growled. “I will be the epitome of grace and demureness for these six kowtowing buffoons.”

Rana pulled Jane to her with a laugh and gave her a fierce squeeze. “Now that’s the daughter I raised.” She turned with her arm still around Jane and started toward the hallway. “So let’s get you cleaned up and dig through my closet for something you can wear, as I believe two or three of your buffoons have already arrived, and I feel it’s imperative we begin our campaign immediately.” She stopped to run her gaze over Jane and frowned. “And I’ll see what I can do to
disguise the mess you made trying to fix your hair. I swear it looks like you finished hacking it off with a knife. First thing in the morning we’ll have Olivia drive us to Turtleback Station to buy you a temporary wardrobe while I send Leviathan to get what’s left of yours at home, and we’ll find a salon and see about getting your hair styled.”

Jane gathered her tangles in a protective fist. “I like my hair the way it is. And I didn’t finish hacking it off, Alec did. And I think he did a wonderful job.”

Rana leaned away to gape at her—that is, until a sparkle suddenly came into her eyes. “I must say that on the few occasions I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Alec MacKeage, I never once realized there was a hairstylist hiding behind all that roguish charm,” she said with a laugh, heading them down the hallway again. “I wonder what other hidden talents your modern, breath-robbing man has.”

“Oh, the scoundrel has all sorts of amazing talents,” Jane said, only to rush in the bathroom pulling her fleece up over her head to hide her blush when Rana gaped at her again. Sweet Athena, she had to be careful what she said! Her mother might be her greatest ally, but the poor woman would have a heart attack if she knew just how
passionately
her daughter had embraced the twenty-first century.

Jane began her campaign immediately following her bath; her first order of business being her refusal to sleep under the same roof as her father. And when her mother suggested she could stay in the main lodge with Mac and Olivia and the children, Jane had simply given her a hug and headed down the wooded path—having absolutely no intention of sleeping under the same roof as her brother, either.

Nicholas had immediately fallen into step behind her. And although the man had wisely remained silent, Jane had not, letting him know exactly what she thought of his actions today. She’d abruptly shut up, though, when she’d looked over her shoulder to see him grinning.

Nicholas was…well, Nicholas. And dammit, she loved
him. Even when they’d been kids running carefree all over Atlantis, the more she had railed at him the wider his grin had gotten. He’d grown into a man of few words who had the patience of a saint, the body of a gladiator, the mind of a scholar, and the social skills of a hermit. And that’s why when Jane had suddenly stopped in the middle of the trail and turned to see his grin grow tender, she’d thrown herself into his big strong arms and soaked his shirt with tears.

Once finished, she’d pushed Nicholas ahead of her to knock on the door of the massive log-and-stone lodge with instructions to ask to speak to Olivia—while she had safely hidden behind a tree. Olivia had run outside and then proceeded to soak
Jane’s
blouse with tears as they’d hugged each other fiercely, after which her sister-in-law had insightfully offered Jane a cottage of her own before she’d even asked.

They’d gotten into one of the cute little electric carts in front of the resort’s office, with Nicholas opting to jog to the cottage instead. “I swear those were the most words I’ve heard that man utter since he arrived,” Olivia said once they’d driven out of earshot. She reached over and squeezed Jane’s hand. “Damn, Carolina, you gave us a scare. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mac so crazy.”

“Me, either,” Jane said, shaking her head. “And I am truly sorry for selfishly not letting someone know I was safe.”

Olivia patted her hand, then turned the cart onto a path that wove up through towering oaks covered in burnished leaves glistening in the setting sun. “I guess what I can’t believe is that Alec didn’t tell anyone, not even Duncan.”

“He thought I was just an ordinary woman named Jane Smith.”

Olivia glanced over at her. “Yes, I was told you claim Alec didn’t know who you were, but Mac believes he
did
know and simply didn’t care.” She gestured at nothing. “Mac thinks all the MacKeage men are contrary that way, and that having even one of them on the payroll is sometimes one too many.”

Jane grabbed Olivia’s arm. “But Alec didn’t do anything
wrong, Olivia. I
lied
to him. Oh please, you have to talk Mac out of firing him. Alec loves his work.”

Olivia stopped the cart in front of a small log cottage sitting on a wooded knoll with an expansive view of the Bottomless Sea. “I don’t have to talk Mac out of anything, because as my dear sweet husband keeps reminding me, Nova Mare is mine. I do the hiring and firing, and Alec isn’t going anywhere until he finishes my wilderness trail.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice as Nicholas came walking up the path. “Tell me truthfully, Caro; do you look at Alec’s big broad shoulders and charming smile and suddenly feel your insides clench and your mouth go dry and your heart start pounding so hard, you think you might to pass out?”

Jane blinked at her, even as she felt her cheeks flush with heat. “I…um…”

Olivia got out of the cart with a laugh, dragging Jane with her. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.” She guided Jane up the stairs. “Because I don’t want your dear sweet brother drilling me for details of how you spent the last ten days.”

“Princess.”

Jane pulled away just as Olivia opened the cottage door, turned to Nicholas standing at the bottom of the stairs, and arched a brow. “Yes, Nikki?”

One corner of his mouth twitched slightly. “I have to go help Titus settle in some newly arrived guests.” He gestured back down the path. “You may move about freely, but I’ll know the moment you step off the resort grounds.” That hint of amusement disappeared. “Don’t force me to come after you.”