Lure of Song and Magic (28 page)

She tickled him, and he giggled, tumbling from her lap, reassured even if he had no understanding of what she'd just said.

The conference ended, and the video connection snapped off. Pippa wanted nothing more than to run over to the Blue Bayou and fling her arms around Oz's neck and thank him for his wizardry. But she would ruin everything by appearing in public after he'd worked so hard to make her disappear, so she refrained.

Oz's RV was still in the parking lot. She didn't want to place any significance on that, but she hoped and she waited and she read to the children while Donal happily dismantled Conan's computer.

***

Hours later, Oz dragged into the RV feeling battered, bruised, and in desperate need of a nap or a drink before he rescued Donal from the day care. Between working on the news conference and staying up to watch over the kid, he hadn't slept all night.

An apparition in silky white floated out of the shadows in the rear of the vehicle. The scent of roses preceded her.

He wasn't so tired anymore. “Pippa?” he asked, unwilling to believe his eyes.

Long fingers reached around his neck to ruffle his hair, and a tall, slender form leaned into him, filling his arms with glorious warmth and curves. He could taste roses when he lowered his lips to hers.

He didn't want more questions. He didn't even want answers. He simply wanted Pippa. Without a word, he lifted her onto the narrow mattress that passed for a bed and covered her with his body so she couldn't escape. Or evaporate. Or whatever the hell the woman could do when she wanted.

“Don't ever do that to me again,” he warned.

“I know,” she murmured against his mouth, brushing kisses everywhere she could reach. “I'm sorry. I never would have done it if I hadn't feared I'd cause more trouble than I was worth.”

Oz leaned his forehead against hers and took a deep breath, trying to settle his pounding heart before speaking. “You need to know that you'll never be more trouble than you're worth to me. I didn't tell you that before, so I can't blame you for running—although I still want to scream and holler and demand that you never leave me again. But I've learned from my mistakes, so I'm telling you now so you'll excuse the shouting later. I love you. I want you in my life. In Donal's life. Any way we can have you. If it's okay with you, I want to make love to you now.”

“I won't throw you in the pool,” she promised with laughter on her lips as she ripped at his shirt buttons. “And no, I shouldn't have waited for you to tell me anything. I'm perfectly capable of speaking for myself these days. But sometimes… I'm not perfect.”

Oz laughed, rolled over so she was on top, and yanked her floaty gown over her head. To his joy, she wore nothing under it. “You're so absolutely perfect for me that you're terrifying. I don't believe in luck or magic, but I'm starting to believe in hope again.”

“Soul mates,” she declared, tackling his belt. “I can't hurt you with my Voice. You can't hurt me with your silly obstinacy. I'll tell you no when others won't.”

“That works.” He tugged off his clothes and rolled her under him again, and together, they launched their future.

Epilogue

Donal paddled happily in the pool while Gloria tossed balls to him. Fortunately the weather was warm, because Donal had dismantled the heating equipment and almost electrocuted himself before Oz flipped off the electricity. Gloria had recommended hiring an electrician to teach the boy. Donal's scientific mind was beyond her ability to teach—although she promised Oz a few lessons in empathy he could pass on should Donal develop any woo-woo Malcolm tendencies.

Oz had declined her offer—for now. Pippa had a feeling he might need to tune his natural empathic instincts once he realized Donal had more of Conan's scientific mind than anyone realized.

It had been almost a week since the news conference, but so far the media had respected Oz's request to leave him and Donal alone. That didn't mean the hounds weren't baying around Bakersfield in search of Syrene and Donal's story. Every minute of Donal's life this past year was slowly unfolding on the news, as was Syrene's childhood. And the poor nanny's involvement.

The guy Pippa had nearly unmanned outside the school had turned out to be a local reporter who was convinced he'd been taken down by the criminal mastermind behind the kidnapping. He was tearing the nanny's life apart in search of the connection. Pippa would happily kick every reporter she met if that was always the result.

But so far, journalists apparently had no reason to chase a children's book author too shy to appear on stage when they had lovely Audrey to question. Pippa's agent was fielding inquiries about her books and requests for interviews, but none were particularly persistent.

Under the umbrella, she poured more strawberry smoothie into her glass and snuggled closer to Oz on the double lounge while he checked his email.

“What has Conan found out about Heidi that the media hasn't?” she asked, unable to read the monitor at this angle, unwilling to sit up and lose Oz's arm around her. He was good at one-thumb typing.

He squeezed her to let her know he was as aware of her as his work. “It's a classic case as far as we can tell. Heidi's family was back in Austria. She didn't know anyone here. She was lonely. Her boyfriend ditched her. She lost a baby in a miscarriage. She's been taking cash jobs to support herself so she didn't need ID.”

She watched Donal happily adjusting to her home and knew he'd been well taken care of over this past year. The nanny hadn't overtly harmed him. The story was plausible. “But she never attempted to let you know your son was safe. I'm not feeling the sympathy here.”

“She says I didn't really care about my son.” Pain etched Oz's voice as he scrolled down Conan's report. “She claims I was too busy to bother with Donal and that she thought she was doing the boy a favor to give him a loving family.”

“She's making excuses. Don't believe her. Donal was thrilled to see you. That's not the behavior of a child whose father neglected him.” Pippa squeezed his leg and handed him her smoothie. “What about the Librarian?” she asked, and Oz sipped the healthy drink. He was slowly adapting to her diet regimen.

“That's the weird part,” he said, frowning. “Heidi stole the file of Donal's birth and medical information from Alys's records. I'll give her points for planning ahead. But then she started hunting for Donal's genealogy, just like Alys. What's with women and genealogy?”

Pippa watched Donal climb from the pool to examine a security camera Oz had ordered installed to protect them from intruders. The boy couldn't reach the camera. Yet. “I'm betting they want to know if Edison or Einstein is on the family tree,” she suggested with a laugh.

Oz gave her a puzzled frown and then looked up to find his son climbing on a hibiscus planter to reach the camera. Gloria was already rising from her chair to persuade him down. “He's just being a boy.”

“You keep on believing that, honey pie,” Pippa answered mockingly. “But Heidi went to the Malcolm website, and our Librarian nabbed her, right?”

“The police don't care about the hows or whys of the kidnapping, but Conan accessed Heidi's computer. He says someone calling herself the Librarian communicated with Heidi via email. She sent a copy of the seal song and told Heidi that scientific studies showed that children who learned the song were geniuses. As soon as you promised to come to town, the Librarian told Heidi that she ought to encourage Donal's interest in the musician. Someone played Heidi like a fiddle.”

“She also played us,” Pippa reminded him. “But strange as it seems, the Librarian might be our friend. So who in heck is she?”

Oz traced his finger down her nose and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “Conan is looking. Before I go any further, tell me first, do you think you can love me enough to marry me?”

Startled, Pippa swatted his finger and glared at him. “If this is a trick, Oswin, I'll remind you that I can fling you into the pool.”

He grinned. “No trick. I'm just directing this production, and I need to know if I have my star before I sign any contracts.”

“Impossible man.” She leaned back against the lounge chair, refusing to fall for his manipulation.
Marriage
. She was barely getting used to having people in her life again.

“If I didn't love you, I wouldn't be sitting here,” she answered the first part of his question firmly. This much, she'd had time to consider. “I'm trusting you with my heart, my home, my family. I'm granting you magic powers, Dylan Ives Oswin. How will you use them?”

“By moving up here,” he answered instantly. “I've been talking to Bertha. She has big plans for her day care, and that old building out front isn't suited for them.”

Pippa swiveled her head and stared at him through narrowed eyes. “Go on.”

At her glare, he shifted uneasily. The man knew how to read moods. She didn't know if he was ready to accept that he was empathic, but it was obvious his ability to read people had made him the success he was. She could just about feel his mind shifting gears at her reaction.

“If you curl up and go all
ommmm
on me,” he warned, “I'll heave you in the pool.”

She stroked his thigh, causing him to hum in appreciation. “This works better than yoga,” she decided.

When his brain reconnected, he still responded with care. “I don't want Donal living in the city where he's an easy target. I want to be available when he gets home from school, which means I have to work close to where we live. In this day and age of Internet communication, it's easy enough to operate my office from anywhere. So I thought I could buy Bertha's property and build a house up on the road, one that would be easier for your mother to access.”

“Uh-huh, are you telling me or asking?” Pippa demanded.

She bit back a smile while Oz-the-bully thought about what he'd said, processed it through his blender of a mind, and came up with the right answer.

“I'm asking?” he said in a tone that implied he was humoring her but his mind was already made up. “You could keep your studio and use this place as your office. It would be even more private with a big mansion sitting up front with a wall around it. And Donal and your mother would be safer out of the city, surrounded by people who know them—people they'll learn to trust. We'd have a whole town watching out for them. If that's okay with you.”

“And if it's not?” she asked, challenging him, although the idea appealed far more than she would admit. She hadn't wanted to give up her sanctuary, but she knew the garden path prevented her mother from going into town as much as she would like.

“Then I guess I'll take no for your answer and come up with another plan,” he agreed with a grin.

She punched his bicep and kissed him at the same time. “I love you,” she murmured against his mouth. “I just wanted to be sure I got a say in your next production.”

He caught her chin and heated the kiss to inflammatory. “Is that a yes, Ms. James?”

“That's an I'm-thinking-about-it-but-probably-yes, Mr. Oswin. Does all this planning mean that Conan has found the Librarian?”

He grimaced and removed his arm. “You're an impossible case, but I'll wear you down.” He turned the laptop screen so she could see it.

He'd left the text message open.
Circle the wagons
, it read. Pippa glanced at the sender's name. The Librarian.

“Maybe she's psychic,” Oz said to her questioning look. “Maybe she's predicting an onslaught of paparazzi. We'll have walls, security guards. We'll be fine. I'll build you a labyrinth so you can walk the paths if my crews get on your nerves.”

“Malcolms,” Pippa countered, glancing pointedly to Donal and her mother at the pool's edge. “People with turquoise eyes and weird abilities. Let's find our own kind and circle the wagons. We'll love the labyrinth. Let's do it.”

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all the Magic series readers who encouraged me to write about the offspring but probably didn't expect me to go this far. And thanks to Deb Werksman for seeing the potential in a little contemporary magic!

About the Author

With several million books in print and
New
York
Times
and
USA
Today
bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA Patricia Rice is one of romance's hottest authors. Her emotionally charged contemporary and historical romances have won numerous awards, including the
RT
Book
Reviews
Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards. Her books have been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA® finalists in the historical, regency, and contemporary categories.

A firm believer in happily-ever-after, Patricia Rice is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of Kentucky and New York, a past resident of North Carolina, she currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and now does accounting only for herself. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors Guild, and Novelists, Inc.

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New York Times
bestselling author

Merely Magic

by Patricia Rice

***

She has the magic as her birthright…

Ninian is a healer, but she's a Malcolm first and foremost, and Malcolms have always had a bit of magic—unpredictable though it is—to aid them in their pursuits. She knows she must accept what she is or perish, but then Lord Drogo Ives arrives, bringing the deepest, most powerful magic she's ever experienced and turning Ninian's world upside down…

But Drogo Ives has no time for foolish musings or legends, even if he can't seem to resist the local witch. Thrown together by a series of disastrous events, Ninian won't give herself fully to Drogo until she can make him trust and believe in her, and that's the last thing he'll ever do…

***

Praise for Patricia Rice:

“You can always count on Patricia Rice for an entertaining story with just the right mix of romance, humor, and emotion.”
—The Romantic Reader

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