chuckled. “No, really. He’s right. You’re as pretty as he said. Congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thank you.” She nodded toward the rental. “Do you need help with your luggage?”
He shook his head. “All I have is a duffel bag.”
“I’ll get it,” Nova offered. “Molly can show you to your room. Oh, and just so you know, the McGregor mansion is haunted.” Nova left Chance with Molly and hurried to the SUV.
Molly clucked her tongue. “Don’t let him scare you. The ghosts here are benevolent. They rarely make a nuisance of themselves.”
Chance followed Molly into the old mansion. “I never knew Nova believed in the supernatural.”
“Oh, neither one of us did at first. It took some hocus-pocus on the ghost’s part to convince us. He can tell you all about it. After I show you to your room, I have to get back to my kitchen. I’m baking bread and need to get a start on it to let the dough rise.”
“You don’t have to show me around,” Chance assured her. “Just point. I can figure it out.”
She looked at him, her brows coming together. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
In the large front gathering room, Molly pointed to the top of the massive staircase. “Hang a left at the top and your room is the third door on your right. I gave you the room with the view of the cape. The bathroom is down the hall. Let me know if you need anything.” Molly hugged him again. “Nova is thrilled you made it. I believe he really would have postponed the wedding if you couldn’t have come.”
“I take it his family will be here for the wedding?”
She laughed. “He said as many as could make it. I think there will be at least twenty of them.” Molly held up a hand. “Don’t worry. Not all of them are staying here. We have several vacation cottages reserved. His parents and grandparents will be staying at the B and B. Siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins will be scattered along the shore in the cottages.” She waved her fingers. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”
The front screen door banged shut behind Chance.
“Molly isn’t used to large family gatherings,” Nova said. “It’s just her, her brother, Gabe, his wife and two kids. You’ll like Gabe and his wife, Kayla. She’s a renowned artist and he works for the local police department.” He hefted the duffel bag onto his shoulder. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
Chance didn’t bother telling Nova he’d just informed Molly he could find his room on his own. Instead, he climbed the staircase, following Nova to the top.
“I just got back from an assignment in Los Angeles. Molly was getting worried I wouldn’t be here for our wedding.”
“What did Fontaine have you working on?” Chance asked.
“I tailed a suspected terrorist for a couple weeks. Long enough to know he was plotting to blow up one of the major movie producers’ lots during a big social event.”
Chance frowned. “And why was SOS called in for that?”
“The terrorist was the new husband of the California senator’s daughter. The senator is up for reelection and they wanted everything to be kept on the down low.” Nova opened a door and stepped back. “This is your room for the duration. It’s the largest guest room and has the best view.”
Chance entered. The room was nicely decorated with antique furniture, a large mahogany bed with a matching chest of drawers and a full-length floor mirror. But it was the French doors leading out onto a balcony that captured Chance’s attention. He pushed through the door and stepped outside.
“Molly calls that the Juliet balcony.” Nova stepped up behind Chance. “She says I’m the romantic, but she’s just as much so. That’s why I love her so much.”
“You’re a lucky man.”
“I know. I never thought I’d find the woman of my dreams in some obscure town in Oregon.”
“About that.” Chance turned to face his friend. “How is it there are enough SOS agents in this town to start a regional office?”
Nova shrugged, a grin spreading across his face. “There’s something about this place that draws you in. And once you come to Cape Churn, you can’t leave for long. It keeps calling you back.”
Chance clapped a hand on his back and smiled. “Or is it the people you meet here that keep you coming back?”
Nova nodded. “It’s a combination of both, with the people we meet at the top of the list.” He winked. “Watch out. You might be the next to fall victim to the magic.”
“First you tell me there are ghosts here. Now you’re telling me there’s magic, too?”
Nova turned back into the room. “Just saying you never know what surprises might happen in Cape Churn.”
“Well, I’m not here to find a wife. I’m here to see that you get married and settle down. And if I can get a little R & R, even better. I could use it.” Chance ran a hand through his hair.
“You still battling PTSD?” Nova asked.
Chance nodded.
Nova’s lips pressed together. “Sorry to hear it. I have dreams, but for the most part, I’m managing.”
“I’m sure it helps having someone like Molly to keep you grounded.”
That ready grin spread wide on Nova’s face. “Sí. Not only is she muy bonita, she’s smart, tough and a fighter.”
“You need a woman like that when you’re in the business we’re in.” Their SOS assignments took them all over the world.
Chance’s last assignment had been to Syria to rescue a missionary surrounded by an organization by the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Had Chance not arrived when he had, the missionary would have been tortured and killed as a warning to other Christians. Luckily, he’d arrived on the outskirts of the small village as a twenty-man contingent raided the missionary’s hideout.
By staging an explosive distraction, Chance had been able to slip in, free the missionary and get him out. But it had cost him.
The explosion and the resulting gunfire threw his mind back into his final mission in Afghanistan before he was medically retired from the army rangers. It was all he could do to keep his head on straight and pull the missionary out while his mind played tricks on him, making him think he was fighting the Taliban.
Everything that could have gone wrong did on his final active-duty mission. No matter how much his gut told him it was a bad deal, he’d had no choice. The intelligence guys had gotten a hot lead. One of the most notorious Taliban leaders had taken refuge in a small village. His team had to move quickly, but from the moment they’d put boots on the ground at the drop zone, everything had gone to hell.
Rappelling from the chopper, one member of his squad hit hard on a big rock, rolled his ankle and broke it. The chopper was forced to land to retrieve him and two other teammates had to help get him back into the helicopter, thus slowing the entire mission.
They’d scaled the village wall and moved in, seeking their quarry. The village was quiet. Too quiet. Chance had opened his mouth to tell his men to fall back when all hell broke loose.
An explosion rocked the walls around them, and automatic gunfire filled the air, tracer rounds lighting the night.
Too late to turn back, the men had to fight their way out, outnumbered two to one. One by one, his men were picked off. All Chance could do was get as many out as possible.
His radio communications man called for reinforcement before he took a hit that rendered his radio unusable, and he nearly