“Emergency, my ass,” she mumbled to herself before keying the mic to respond to Joel. “Get a number, please. I promise I’ll call him back. My break is in about fifteen minutes. I’ll put an end to the calls, I promise.”
“Thanks, Hawk!”
Rachel recognized the female voice across the radio as belonging to Mercy, the good-natured security guard who was everyone’s favorite at the mill.
“Hey, Charlie!” Rachel shouted across the radio. “Can you cover me while I go get rid of a man?” She leaned forward in her seat and watched the man walking on the stacks of steel to the west of her crane. The older man in his bright yellow hard hat looked up at her and gave a thumbs up, then put his radio to his mouth. “Sure, Hawk! Long as you don’t make me an accessory. Take her to the landing, and I’ll run her while you take a break.”
“Thanks, Charlie!”
She hurried to park the crane at the landing and made her way down the several flights of steps. She patted Charlie on the back as she headed out the man door of the mill to the security building.
Joel was still there as she pushed her way through the door. He was nervously fidgeting through several piles of paperwork between glances out the window at the number of trucks waiting to be loaded.
“Here’s the number, Hawk,” Mercy said. “He sounds sexy!” She gave her a wink as she pressed a yellow sticky note into Rachel’s hand.
The number made Rachel frown. It wasn’t any of the numbers Caelan had used when calling her cell phone. “Hey Mercy. Can I make the call in First Aid, so I can have some privacy?”
Rachel fished her cell phone out of her coveralls and patiently waited while Mercy calmed Joel down by deciphering his paperwork for him, gave directions to three drivers, and printed load sheets for two other drivers all at the same time.
Mercy waved her toward the door to First Aid. “Just promise me I can have him whenever you’re done with him!” She shoved Joel out the door just as he was about to sputter an angry retort about fifteen minute breaks and quickly flipped the bolt on the door so he couldn’t get back into the room. “Hurry!” she said as she leaned back against the door.
Rachel rushed into the triage room, punched in the number, and listened to the ringing on the other end, wondering who was going to answer. As soon as she heard the voice, she rolled her eyes and glanced at her phone to make sure it wasn’t roaming.
“Don’t hang up, Rachel, and no, you’re not roaming. This is a number you can call from your area. I already checked.” Jayden Smith’s voice was crystal clear on the line as though he stood in the room beside her.
“What do you want?” she said, clipping her words and couldn’t believe she had wasted her fifteen minute break on one of the idiot males she’d had to souse down in her yard last night.
“I wanted to apologize for my behavior and ask you to give me another chance.” His voice lowered to a sultry purr, and she almost pictured a huge jungle cat, with its eyes half closed, hanging on a tree limb.
“Another chance at what?” She glanced at her watch. Five more minutes, and she still needed to pee before she climbed those stairs back up into the crane.
“Another chance for you to find out that I’m not the Neanderthal I appeared to be last night, and I really wish you’d speak to me in more than just four-word sentences.” His voice had taken on a bit of a strain, like a spoiled brat used to always getting what he wanted. Jayden Smith was the last thing she needed in her life.
“Sorry. Have to go. Don’t call here again. I’m not in the market for complications of any kind right now, and that includes relationships—be they friend or be they foe. I’ll give your number to my friend Mercy. You’ll really like her. Bye.” She ended the call, powered down her phone, and pushed her way back into security.
As she headed out to the restroom, she tossed the balled up sticky note with the number to Mercy, shouting back to her over her shoulder. “He looks like he’d be good in bed, but other than that I bet he’s a real jackass.”
With a wicked grin, Mercy smoothed out the note and began punching the number into the phone. “Hmm…I’m up for a ride on a mule anytime.”
“Emrys!”Caelan bellowed, fueling the shout with every bit of rage and frustration hammering through him. His yell echoed through the woods but went unanswered except for the wind shushing through the trees and the wee birds chirping and chattering. Sam stood patiently by his side, his tiny head cocked as though straining to hear Emrys’s response.
Working his way deeper into the trees, he finally came upon what he thought of as Emrys’s pond even though it was really Rachel’s. Disappointment ratcheted his irritation tighter as he scanned the banks of the wee bit of water and found it deserted except for a squirrel skittering down for a drink. The old druid’s usual spot on the limestone shelf overlooking the pond was littered with pine needles, pinecones, and small branches blown free during the last storm. Apparently, the seer had not sat upon his stony throne for a while.
“If that sorcerer traveled back in time without me, I shall wring his ancient neck.” A sickening dread churned in the pit of Caelan’s stomach as he continued searching through the grove.
“Maizy!” he shouted, deciding on a different tactic to find the man. The golden lab never left Emrys’s side. She had even taken to curling up at the foot of his bed every evening, having moved herself into their apartment over the garage. While Rachel was Caelan’s soulmate for all time, it would seem Maizy was Emrys’s match.
“Why must ye always bellow?” the druid asked from his perch atop a large boulder wedged between a pair of oak trees so huge they had to be hundreds of years old. True to her nature, Maizy sat beside him, faithfully leaning into his side.
“Why do ye refuse to answer when I summon ye?” Caelan leaned against the rock, his heart aching as he stared off into the woods. “I fear she’ll never forgive me.” He scrubbed his face with both hands and bowed his head. “Pray tell me I’ve not lost her for good.”
“Did I not advise ye to go carefully in this time?” the ancient one gently asked. “Ye canna address things here as ye would address them in the past.” Emrys blew out a heavy sigh. “The imbalance in the energies here is taking its toll upon me. Ye must try harder, Caelan.”
“It was him who ye saw upon the surface of the pond. The evil one intending to do her harm. The feckin’ devil tried to seduce her right in front of me! Was I expected to stand there and do nothing while he devoured her, then spit her out?” Raking his hands through his already wild blonde hair, he bared his teeth, aching with the need to hunt that bastard down and end him.
“Did it ever occur to ye that the man was testing the two of ye, and ye played right into his hands?” Emrys shook his head while staring down at Maizy and rubbing her ears. “I saw it in the waters. He’s now drawn to her because she revealed her inner fire when she hosed ye both down. His only interest was her land until he witnessed her anger. And, aye, he’s evil, but the man is no fool. He knows any woman capable of such fury can also reach unbelievable levels of passion.” He poked Caelan’s shoulder, then shook a bent finger in his face. “That also explains why the Goddess has protected the lass. There are few like her left in this time.”
The seer frowned, knotting his scraggly white brows as he scratched his beard. “The way I see it, the only thing ye have left in your favor is that the lass does not wish to have a relationship with anyone at all. She still trusts no one. Therefore, she will more than likely spurn his advances.”
