He walked through the house and paused at the kitchen door. He knew why he was there and where he was. That such a thing was possible was beyond his comprehension, but he knew there was nothing that couldn't be done. He’d never known anything but the continuous loop of his movie and here he was in a cottage by the sea

Crazy, it was crazy. He’d been pulled out of his movie while his wife was still in prison. Part of him wanted to be back because he knew what he had to do. The other part was curious about this place, and the woman who’d chosen him as her companion for the summer. They were destined to fall in love. He couldn’t imagine that happening. He loved one woman and that was his wife. But this was magic time and had no bearing on what happened in his movie life. He was still trying to come to terms with that.

Toni finally took a breath and continued on up the path. When she reached him she knew who he was. Something was trying to come together in her mind. It couldn’t possibly…no…no, this was too cruel.

"Hi, I’m Toni."

"I’m John Brennan." He pulled off his sunglasses.

"I know who you are. I think there’s been a mistake…I mean…I didn’t ask for you. I didn’t ask for anyone to come here."

"I didn’t ask to come."

Toni tilted her head and looked toward the House. "I’m not trying to be rude, but really I didn’t want a season. I just came up here for a few days to relax before going home. I live in France and unfortunately I own this House."

He looked out toward the sea. "It’s a nice place. Why is it an unfortunate place to own?"

"It seems to be making decisions all by itself. I lived here for six years and when I left…oh, it’s a long, long story. You might say I’m a graduate of The House of Four Seasons. I do come back occasionally but not for…for this, John."

"I didn’t have a choice, Toni."

"I know. I know how it all works all too well. It’s probably my fault because I didn’t make my intentions clear when I got here." She’d watched his movie the night before and she realized now what had happened. It was the 1^st　of June and a new season was starting.

"You might as well come on up. Would you like a glass of iced tea?"

"Thanks." He fell in beside her and walked to the house. It was awkward and he wished he wasn’t there.

Toni was was frantically trying to figure out what to do. She’d never in all her time there sent anyone back and wasn’t sure how it was done. Could she just leave him there? Maybe he’d like a nice vacation?

"Sorry, I’m not…this is all too weird." She smiled at him and pulled out a chair. Two tall glasses of iced tea were on a tray along with some lemon squares.

"Well, I can’t help you, Toni. I don’t know how I got here or how to leave."

"Did you arrive on foot?"

"I arrived at the front door and it was open."

"It’s okay if you stay; I’m only going to be here for a few days. One more…maybe." She’d decided to leave the next day. "It might make a change for you." Out of his movie into what could be considered real life although it wasn’t…not really. She had a real life and all he’d know was his movie. She frowned and thought of his wife and son. This must be awful for him.

He looked at her across the table. She was a good looking woman, striking eyes and hair the color of good whiskey with a reddish cast to it. It was then he noticed the shirt she had on. "Are you from Pittsburgh?"

"No, no, I," she looked down following his eyes. "Penguins, well…who knew?" she laughed. "I should have guessed something was up when I found this in my drawer this morning and put it on. It’s not the kind of thing I’d normally wear."

"You wore it for me."

"I guess I did, but I honestly didn’t know. I’m married with three kids." She couldn’t tell him all of it; it was too complicated. "I know you are, too. I watched The Next Three Days last night. That’s what brought you here. Your movie life is pretty intense. This might be good for you to stay here and relax."

He rubbed his eyes and leaned his head back for a moment.

Toni studied him closely. He was older than the rest, older than Max. He was forty-six. There were more lines around his eyes but he still looked damn good. She remembered now that this came right after Robin Hood. He was in good shape physically. He reminded her of Terry with a few pounds and years on him. He wore those years well. She met his eyes across the table for a moment and looked down at the plate of lemon squares. She’d eat one.

The oh-so-familiar hands reached for a lemon square, too. What to do with him? She felt terrible.

"Time stops here, doesn’t it?" he asked.

"It’s magic time. Your movie life stops while you’re here but mine ticks on at a slower pace. Three weeks might be three days. Sorry," she grinned, "you seem to come in threes."

He smiled at her then looked out toward the cliff. "You said you lived here for six years?"

"I did in magic time, but outside when I left it was less than two years. I know that’s hard to believe because the seasons change here and you really feel like you’re marking time. I don’t pretend to understand the magic here other than I know it’s old, very old. It’s the magic of love." She picked up her glass and didn’t look at him.

"I don’t want to stay here if you’re going to leave. I realize you didn’t ask for me to be here and I didn’t ask to be here, so however it works, could you get me back?"

"I can try."　 She could feel the tension in him from across the table. He was wound up tight as a clock. She was angry with the House for doing this without her knowledge. It was embarrassing for both of them. Yet there was something, she was curious about him. He was another character and one she didn’t know. There were many she didn’t know but…he was here.

"Meanwhile, why don’t I show you around?"

"Okay." He brushed the crumbs from his hands.

She walked with him down to the pond. "It freezes in winter and in the spring all the little flowers come out around the edges. I don’t know how deep it is but there are fish in there." She remembered Bud fishing. "There’s a boat house and a little wooden boat. Good trails all over the property to walk or jog." Terry’s footfalls were probably still echoing somewhere along the trails, she thought.

"There’s a pool, too, and the beach. If you like horseback riding there are horses to ride. Bikes to pedal or…" Max’s bike was in the garage…Max.

"It’s like a resort."

"Yeah, kinda." She walked with him around the pond and sat down on the bench. He tossed a few stones in the pond.

"Why do guys do that? My boys do that, toss stones in the fountain or the lake every time they go near it and my husband is no better."

"I don’t know. Maybe we like to make ripples."

Ripples, they certainly did make ripples. Men… these men, the ones she loved. "Men are good at that." She swung her feet beneath her.

"So, uh, you married Terry Thorne?"

"Um, yes I did." Her name was still Toni Thorne although she used Skinner in France. "We’re still married…legally but I’m with Max Skinner. It’s a long story, John."

"The banker."

"You know the other characters?"

"I know who they are. Who were your other seasons?"

"Jack Aubrey and John Biebe."

He looked at her and smiled, "Diverse."

"Oh, yeah. They’re very different."

"Were you born in Pittsburgh?"

"Umm, I think so…yeah. My Dad worked in the steel mills until all that shut down." He turned and looked at her. "You know all that is sketchy, don’t you?"

"Yes, I know." How well she knew. Max and Terry had tried so hard to find their origins, something of a life that said they had lived, that they were real. It bothered Max more than Terry, who’d accepted what he was and went on with it. Of Biebe, she’d never heard anything about him trying to find anything. She was thinking about John Biebe and for a moment heard his skates on the pond. His laugh. She shook her head. John had stopped throwing pebbles in the pond.

"So is this place like Vegas?"

She turned and looked at him with a grin. "I suppose it is. I used to think if I told anybody they wouldn’t believe me anyway. I’ve let it out to other women and as far as I know nothing has hit the evening news. So far there’s only been one who has taken the House for a whole year…four seasons. She took her season out in the end."

"That’s what you did. Took you a long time, didn’t it?"

"Well, when you fall in love with all four how do you pick one above the other? Honestly, John, it’s been a little glimpse of heaven and hell. It still is sometimes. They’re all out now, all four of them. Except one is not quite out. He plays in both worlds now. More one than the other."

He sat back on the bench and she could feel the heat of his body beside her. "Why did you ask me if this was like Vegas?"

"Forget I asked that."

Words once spoken hung around. If Max knew he was here he’d be terribly upset. He probably wouldn’t believe she hadn’t asked for him. Sure she might have felt something for him watching his movie. How could you not? But she hadn’t called him as a season. That thought had definitely not crossed her mind. It occurred to her that he’d asked that question with a thought behind it.

There was a thought behind it. Here in this Eden was a different world that in no way connected with anything John knew. The desirable woman beside him was there for him. He could have her in this time warp and when it was time for him to go back he would not remember her. Or so he’d been told. It was a temptation…a gift he’d been given. A one-off thing that may never come around again. Yes, he was tempted. It was a fantasy come true. He totally ignored the falling in love part. He was already in love with his wife.

Toni was aware of the House’s magic when it came to love. She’d fallen in love with men who were not suitable for her. It had caused her a lot of pain and heartache. She was wary of John Brennan. She wasn’t looking for love or sex. "Maybe we should walk."

"Why?"

"If you want to sit here that’s fine." She swung her feet again. Somewhere in her consciousness she knew she should go right up to the House and throw her bag in the car and leave. She hated to just walk out on him. It was true he hadn’t asked to come here but she didn’t want him here either. She felt bad for him. This was the first time he’d known anything but his movie.

"It’s quiet and here…here there are no prisons or anything. There’s nothing I have to be planning or doing. There’s no one else here but you."

"That’s the way it is here. I wish there’d been somebody else here for you besides me. This is not supposed to happen."

"Nothing is happening."

"No…no, it isn’t." Of course there was something happening. She was familiar enough to know. She now understood the excitement she felt the day before. The seasons were changing and someone else was coming. She thought about going up to the House and beating the walls. What was it thinking? What was it trying to do to her? Max would know, so would the rest of her seasons. They’d all know and then what? She shuddered to think. It was summer; it was Max’s season.

"John, I think it would be best if I just leave. I can go back to Boston and catch a plane out tomorrow. I really cannot stay here with you."

"If that’s what you want to do."

"I hate to do this to you."

"Then don’t."

She was right to be wary of him. Toni stood up and walked to the back of the bench and looked down at the top of his head. She wanted to touch his hair. It was the House’s doings. She stuck her hands in her shorts and walked away. By the time she reached the house she was crying. She ran up the stairs and threw her things in a bag then came back down. Realizing she was still dressed in the sweatshirt, she took it off and ran back up the steps to find another shirt.

"I don’t know why you’ve done this!" she said to the House. "You should know you can’t do this to me."

She immediately felt the warmth and love of the House around her. It only made it worse. "It’s not okay!" she wailed and ran back down the steps.

In the garage she tried to start her car. It wouldn’t even answer her key. "Oh, why, why?" She tried it again then got out of the car and slammed the door.

"Car won’t start?" John was in the door of the garage.

"No." She wiped her eyes.

"Let me try." He tried and again the car was silent. He popped the hood and went around checking her battery cables. "You’ve got gas?"

"Half a tank."

He tried it again and checked a few other things under the hood. "Sorry, I’m not a mechanic but I don’t see anything wrong with it."

She knew what it was. This had happened before to her here at the House when she’d tried to leave.

"It’s all the House’s magic. I’m…I’m stuck." Tears started again.

John closed the car door and came over to her. He shook his head slightly and put his arms around her. She leaned against him and for the first time caught his scent. Clean and masculine, sexy. "Nooo!" she moaned against his shoulder. "Oh, no."

The magic was in both of them. He tried to fight it too because he knew she didn’t want him. She didn’t want him there and he couldn’t make himself disappear. "Hey," he lifted her chin, "we’ll find a way out of here."

They were too close it was all too…he kissed her and her arms went around his neck. They broke apart for a moment and their eyes met.

"I haven’t…since I married I haven’t even thought about it with anyone else."

"This isn’t real, John. It isn’t real." She kept telling herself that. "It’s the reality of this place. I shouldn’t have come."

"Well, it looks like we’re both here until the House decides otherwise."

"I can’t even call out from here. My phone won’t work. I know this place too well." She broke away from him and walked out of the garage. She thought if she could get out of the gate she’d call John Biebe to come and get her. It was a drive for him but he was the closest. She began walking toward the gate.

John ran a hand through his hair and hit out at the garage wall. He’d felt his body respond to her. "Get me out of here!" he said to the rafters in the garage.

Toni tried the gate. She told it to open; she turned to the House and told it to open the damn gate. The gate swung open and she stepped out onto the road beyond. She called Biebe.

"Hey, Toni, what’s up?"

"John, you’ve got to come and get me. I’m at the House and something…it thinks I’m here for a season."

"Oh, yeah? Who’s with you, Max?"

"No, no, it’s all a mistake. The House has gone crazy and sent someone to me."

"What the hell are you talking about?" John sat up straight at his desk, holding the phone to his ear.

"John Brennan is here. I came up for a few days just to be by myself, you know. I’ve got a flight out day after tomorrow. I just wanted a little time. Max knows I’m here. I’ve been in Virginia and I didn’t think; I didn’t make it clear I guess. I forgot how this place thinks. It’s the first of June and dumb me watched a movie last night. I watched The Next Three Days and low and behold John Brennan shows up today. I feel awful about this. I feel sorry for him and I’m in a mess here, John."

John was trying to make sense out of her cobbled up plea. He thought he had the gist of it. "So you want me to come and save you, is that it? Honey, you know how long it takes to make that drive and I can’t leave here right now. Just…stay away from him. I can be there probably around noon tomorrow."

"Noon, John? I need you here tonight!"

"Well, what the hell is he doing? Is he…what’s going on?"

"He’s not doing anything. He didn’t ask to come here. It’s just a bad situation. You know how this place is."

John knew very well how it was. "It ain’t the end of the world, Toni. You want me to call Max?"

"No, God no! There’s nothing he could do but worry and get upset. Why can’t you come?"

"I’m working until midnight. There ain’t anybody else to come in. Too many vacations happening. Don’t you have a vehicle?"

"Yes, but it won’t start. It’s the House, you know. I don’t understand how this could happen to me."

"I don’t think you need to go back there anymore. The last few times haven’t been good for you and you know it. Even Jack said as much when he was there with you. Where are you now?"

"Just outside the gates. John Brennan’s trapped here, too. If I knew how to send him back I would but…it’s an embarrassing situation."

"Hang in there, honey. Best I can do is around noon tomorrow. You’ll be all right until then."

"Thank you, John. I love you."

"Yeah, me too you. I got a call coming in baby."

Toni ended the call and headed back through the gates. She left her bag in the car and walked back to the house. She found John Brennan in the kitchen looking in the fridge.

"I’ve got someone coming for me tomorrow. That’s the earliest I can get away."

He closed the door of the fridge. "I’m sorry about this."

"It’s not your fault, not your fault at all. She sat down at the table. "There was a time when I could tell this House what to do. It knew what to do for me. Now it’s doing strange things. It’s not the same as it used to be. I love it here, I do, but I don’t think I’ll be able to come back again." She bit her lip and felt her eyes filling again.

"What would happen if I just walked through the gates…left?"

"I don’t know. You might disappear back into your movie or not. It’s dangerous because we don’t know. You can’t do that."

"I can’t stay here and cause you such distress."

"It’s not you that’s causing me distress; it’s this House. To think I can’t even come here again alone is…no, it’s not you or anything you’ve done."

"What can I do, Toni?"

"Are you hungry?"

He looked at her a moment. "I think so."

"What would you like to eat?"

"I don’t care, anything. I’m not hard to please."

Toni closed her eyes. It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t so damned attractive. She could hole up in her room and let the time pass. "Lunch please."　 She said to the House.　 "It’s on the terrace."

The afternoon was spent walking on the beach and talking…getting to know each other. Toni told John how she first came to the house and some of the trials she’d been through. The House was pleased.

"And no one has ever recognized the guys?" John found that hard to believe.

"Only once that I recall. Jack and I were in a pub in Gloucester. There was a guy who’d been in there for a while, I think. He said he knew Jack, said he was Jack Aubrey. Jack said he was a sea captain, totally agreed with the man and then the man of course couldn’t believe he was from that era. Jack was pretty slick I thought. I’ve always worried about Max because we live in the chateau. During tourist season we pretty much close ourselves up or move to England for awhile."

"How do you live? What kind of income do you have?"

"John Biebe is sheriff of Belfast, Maine. Terry has his own K&R Company and Max still dabbles in the market and, of course, produces wine."

"And Jack?"

"Jack is still in the Royal Navy. He doesn’t live in this time period, John. He’s able to go back and forth in time and I’ve gone back with him. There’s still a lot of magic attached to Jack. Rose was conceived in his era and born in the present time."

John shook his head. "Wild…it is, you know?"

"Oh, yes, I do know."

They’d walked nearly to the lighthouse and long shadows were falling across the sand. "It’s going to be dark soon," she said randomly. "We’d better start back."

At some point in time they’d joined hands. Toni wasn’t sure when that had happened and only noticed when he pulled her from a wave that came in too close. Now she was conscious of it, conscious of the uneven sand that bounced her into him from time to time. He was steady and looking down the beach. Toni knew little more than his film revealed of him. He had a sense of humor that she liked. She also thought his wife might have been the dominate partner in their relationship. He deferred to Toni if the occasion arose.

He was a complex man and one she’d really like to get to know better. She recognized passion just beneath the surface. He seemed to hold himself in check and she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he let it go. She tried to dispel such thoughts. John would be there tomorrow to take her away from here and hopefully help John Brennan get back to his movie.

The House had other ideas. It had prepared a romantic dinner setting. Toni hesitated in the dining room and then went in with him.

"I feel like I should have showered and changed," he remarked, pulling out her chair.

"I know," she said. "I didn’t expect this."

Music began coming from an unseen source. It was a variety, a little rock and roll and jazzy numbers. The meal was excellent, as it always was. The wine went down quickly from a never-ending carafe. It was all new to John and he was interested in her, in her life outside of the magical House, especially how the men, his brothers, lived. They talked of food and famous people they liked and didn’t. He was her contemporary, not locked into the past. They knew the same movies and music and books.

John was relaxed with her now. It was good to laugh as they lingered at the table still working on the wine. "I think this is a magic carafe. I know we’ve emptied it several times."

Toni knew it too, and she felt it warming her all over. "I think I could use some fresh air. I’m wine fogged."

John smiled and rose from his seat. They came to the bench by the cliff and sat down. "Feeling better?"

"Not yet but I will."　 She closed her eyes and inhaled the salty air. The breeze whipped her hair back away from her face and it felt good. "I love this."

"Do you live near the ocean?" he asked

"Not that far but nothing like this. Jack has a small cottage by the sea. You can walk out of the front door and down a few stone steps and you’re on the sand."

"Where is it?"

"In England near London." She turned slightly and looked at his profile so like the others, like her loves. None of this was real, she reminded herself, not like they were.　 "John Biebe also lives by the bay in Belfast."

"If we had a boat we could get you out of here. What’s around that finger of land out there?"

"Coast line and then Gloucester."

"Is it far to Gloucester?"

"No, Jack’s taken me around the point. Even if we had a boat, John, I couldn’t leave you alone. You couldn’t stay with me for more than 24 hours. House rules, although it seems to be making up new ones now. I’ve had my seasons here. I appreciate the thought."

"Are you afraid of me? I promise you I wouldn’t move on you. Unless you wanted me to."

"I’m not afraid of you; I’m afraid of me. The House has ways of making everything seem all right, making it seem like the natural thing to do."

He smiled a little and she caught a flash of his teeth. "I’ve never found anything unnatural about it."

"You’re not helping me at all."

"Helping you to be a good little girl? I guess I could sleep in your car."

"This is ridiculous!" Toni wrapped her arms around herself. "Stranded at the House, of all things."

"I’m sure it is for you. As for me I am enjoying the company. Beautiful woman, magic house of love…what could happen?" He was teasing her.

Toni turned and looked at him for a minute, then faced the sea. The wind was picking up.

John looked up at the sky. "Clouds are moving in. We may get some rain tonight."

"The garage leaks."

"The roof?"

"I don’t know how I knew that, and have no idea why I said it. I’m not even sure it does."

He was quiet for a little while. She didn’t want him to sleep out in the garage. He didn’t want to either. "Are we going to sit out here all night?"

"No, of course not." Toni got up, feeling the sand still in her sandals. She walked into the House and up the stairs, not bothering to see where or what John might do. The more distance between them the better. She was not immune to him, but her heart lay in four different places.

John sat on the bench awhile longer, thinking about their situation. There had to be a way for her to get out of here. As for himself, he wasn’t really concerned. If he had to sit around the House alone that might be okay for awhile. He thought eventually the House would send him back to his movie world.

Something had passed between them. She felt it and she thought he did too. She didn’t want to put it into words, not even into her thoughts. Let it be there this silent invisible link. Her eyes began to sting. She laid her hand on the table and soon it was in his.

"It...It’ll be all right…for you."

"Yeah." He breathed the word.

Toni wiped the tears that had overflowed her eyes and cleared her throat. He hadn’t moved except to curl his fingers over her hand.

She finally pulled her hand away and stood up at the back door. It had to be noon and where was John Biebe? She wanted him to come…now.

John moved behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. A slight pressure and then he left by the front door. He needed to walk.

Toni paced. John Brennan was becoming too real to her. She wanted to comfort him to…touch his face…and…where was Biebe?

John Biebe was having a problem of his own. The call he’d received the night before kept him busy until almost dawn. He’d gone home and after a few hours sleep he was on the way to Gloucester. However, when he arrived and began looking for the sign to turn off the highway he couldn’t find it. Wearily he’d traversed that same stretch or road three times. The sign, an old weathered piece of wood with an arrow burnt into it, had always led them to the House. As many times as he’d been there he thought he ought to recognize the turn off but he couldn’t even find a road. He was baffled. How could a dirt road disappear? He pulled into a coffee shop in Gloucester and sat by the window with a cup of coffee, trying to figure out what to do. She hadn’t wanted to tell Max but John felt he ought to know what was going on. He pulled out his phone and laid it on the table, staring at it. He thought about calling Terry but like Max he was a half world away. By the time either of them got here another day would have gone by.

He ran his hand over his face. What to do? He picked up the phone and hit his speed dial for Max.

"Hey, Max."

"John, what a surprise."

"Well, the surprise is yet to come." He told Max about Toni’s dilemma, about her phone call to him. "I’m sitting here in Gloucester right now. I swear to you, Max, there ain’t a road, no sign, nothing."

"You’re on the right highway?"

"Of course I am! I know this area like the back of my hand."

"Have you tried to call her today?"

"Yeah, I tried but you know the phones don’t work there. She can’t get a signal out unless she goes outside the gate. This is all the House’s work, Max. She had no business going there by herself."

"You’re right but she wanted to have a few days before she came home. What the bollocks is the House trying to do?"

"It’s trying to give her a season, of all things." John looked across the road at the old seawall. The surf was stewing up foamy whitecaps. "I could try and rent a boat and go around the point but the water’s rough today."

Max had his laptop open now, checking flights. "I can get a flight into DC and then from there into Portland. It will be tomorrow before I can get there."

"Where the hell is Terry’s plane?"

"I don’t know but I’ll find out, John. That might get me out of here a little sooner. Meanwhile keep looking for that road. I can’t believe it’s disappeared." Max closed his eyes. John Brennan? "Was she okay with him? I mean…"

"I think so, Max, at least she was when I talked to her. I don’t know him so I can’t speak for what he’s thinking. I can’t stay around here, Max. I have to be back on the job by ten tonight and I’ve had about three hours sleep."

"You’d better rethink that, John."

"I can’t just disappear from my job. I’m the damn sheriff!"

"That’s your problem and more to the point Toni trumps sheriffing. I’ll let you know when I’ll be coming in and where."

"Yeah, talk to you later." John tossed his phone on the table. A little while later his vehicle was pulled off the highway where he absolutely knew the road was supposed to begin and he was on foot walking up the wooded hillside.

It was clear to Toni that John was not going to arrive at noon. The sun had moved and soon it would be throwing shadows over the terrace. She walked out the back door, ignoring the lunch spread out on the kitchen island. It would still be there chilled and fresh if and when her appetite for food returned. She walked by the pool and thought it really looked inviting. If she’d been alone there she might have stripped down and dived in. She wandered down toward the pond.

John was in the boat house. He wanted to see what kind of boat was stored there, but once he saw it he knew it would not withstand the ocean. He sat down on a wooden bench inside. He was miserable, and like Toni he was feeling trapped. The whole thing was insane. He dislodged an oar from the wall and picked it up, examining it. There were fishing poles attached to the wall as well. Everything you could want, isn’t that the way she’d described it? Send me back, send me back.

Toni reached the pond and also was drawn to the boat house.

"Hi."

John looked at her. "He didn’t come?"

"No."

"Could be delayed, traffic or something."

"Something." She walked over to the bench and sat down beside him. "It’s cool in here. I always liked the damp smell of this boat house." She turned and looked at him, their eyes meeting for a moment before he turned away. "John, I’m so sorry."

"Let’s stop being sorry," he said quietly.

"Okay." She could smell his scent and it drew her to him. She knew that is what it was supposed to do. She knew all about the House and its ways. Still she didn’t move away from him.

"Any idea how long this torture will last?"

She shook her head. So it was torture for him as well. "What do you want to do?"

"Leave." He turned and put the oar back on the wall.

"Well, that doesn’t appear to be an option right now."

"What do you want me to do?"

She wanted him to kiss her. The desire was strong…magic…magic of love. She knew what it was that filled her, trying to push aside reason and common sense. He looked into her eyes and briefly at her lips. Did he know?

He knew he should just stand up and walk out of the boat house. She was so near and the scent of her pulled him. He blinked a few times and his hand went behind her head. She didn’t resist when his lips closed on hers.

She felt herself lifting…he was air. The kiss deepened and her arms went around him. She could feel herself molding to his body. It fit against hers perfectly. Round and round she seemed to be swirling with him and yet neither of them had left the bench.

Their foreheads rested together, both breathing a little faster. "You tell me…do I need to jump in the pond or…what?"

"Don’t jump." She took his face in her hands and kissed him again. His arms went around her and he crushed her to him.

An air mattress on the floor of the boat house is where they lay down. He filled her completely, blocking out anyone else. There was no one except him. She’d been right about his passion and he used his element, something he wasn’t even aware he had. His kisses ignited a fire in her, the feel of him, everything about him engulfing her.

Later, much later, they made their way to the house hand in hand, sometimes his arm around her. They sat down at the island and ate their lunch. Neither of them wanted to talk about what had happened. It just had and that was enough. After lunch she went up to take a bath. He went for a swim.

He was swimming laps, long even strokes, thinking about how it felt to hold her. The magic they’d found together, how good if felt…and she wasn’t Lara. He hoped he wouldn’t remember Toni. He rolled over on his back and looked up at the cloudy sky. Surely they’d blown the clouds away. He felt like he’d been up there amongst them…before he exploded.

Toni completely immersed herself in the tub.　"Can you take it?"Terry’s words came pounding in her ears. The way he used to push her under water while she lay against him in the tub. She’d hold her breath until she thought she’d burst and he’d pull her up and kiss her. She came up for air. "Oh, God, what have I done?" she whispered. He’d know…they would all know…Max.

She quickly dried herself off and dressed. Her hair she put in a damp braid and let it fall over her shoulder. She sat at her dressing table, looking at herself in the mirror. Did she really regret it? She could have stopped him…no, she hadn’t wanted to stop him. Be honest with yourself, Toni. You wanted him and now you’ve had him. Was it worth it? She felt the heat rise in her just thinking about him and the way he’d loved her. She pressed her temples with her fingers and closed her eyes. It’s over and done. Nothing to do now…Biebe hadn’t come.

Biebe stood in the Portland airport. It was late, after midnight, and Terry had to get special permission to land his private company jet. When Max told him what had happened he called Anna in to look after the boys. He had Maxi and Jacky in London. Max had to get a flight to London. They were both exhausted, but not nearly as bleary eyed as the sheriff of Belfast, Maine who greeted them.

"Well?" Max confronted him.

"Nothing, nada. I walked all over the place and found no trace of a road."

"Shit!" Max’s face went dark.

"It’s too late tonight to go traipsing around in the woods. Tomorrow morning. I assume you’ve booked us a room?" Terry looked at John.

"Yeah, I got a couple rooms over at the Airport Hyatt."

Max kept trying to call Toni, just hoping by some fluke a call might make it through. He kept getting a "no service" answer. "Bollocks!" He put his phone away. "This will be the second night she’s there with him."

"Have a little faith, Max." John turned and looked at him as they walked through the airport.

"Faith in Toni is not the problem. It’s the bloody House," Terry answered.

Toni opened the door to John’s room. He was in bed reading. She hadn’t been able to sleep. It was the first time she’d been in there. It looked like a professor’s room with bookcases, comfortable chair by the fireplace. He’d had the TV on and he reached for the remote and turned it off. He looked at her a moment then pulled the blanket down on the other side of the bed.

"Come on."

She crawled up on the bed beside him and put a pillow behind her back. He took his glasses off and turned to her. "Can’t sleep?"

She shook her head. "We haven’t talked about it."

"There’s nothing to talk about."

"I don’t know how I feel about it. Part of me wants to put on the guilty hair shirt and the other part…I’m not sorry. I think it had to happen. I couldn’t stop it, John."

"Hey, it’s okay. Don’t get upset over it. It was preordained. That’s why I ‘m here. Whenever the house decides to let us go, you’ll go home and I’ll go back to Pittsburgh."

"I’ll go home knowing you. You won’t know me once you leave here; you won’t remember."

"I hope I don’t. You’re a very special lady. No magic House has to tell me to fall in love with you. It was easy…too easy.　 It never occurred to me that I’d have these feelings for anyone else. It’s not my fault, not your fault…leave the hair shirt off. I like you better without it." He pulled her against him and kissed her.

She left him sleeping just before dawn and went back to her own room. She sat on her balcony and watched the sun rise over the ocean. Red, bloody and angry it looked.

"I hope and pray we have not lost Toni as well." Max blinked a few times and thought he might actually have tears in his eyes.

Terry walked back to his brothers. "You know what I think; I think we have to have Jack."

"Good luck summoning him. We ain’t the magical boys anymore." John kicked at a rock.

"All three of us concentrating on Jack and sending out an SOS…it’s worth a try."

They tried but had no idea whether anything went beyond the clearing.

Toni walked back toward the House and paused at the front door. She could almost sense Max being there. He always came in summer. As she walked through the House she thought about Terry and John, too. It seemed almost like they were there with her and she wished they were.

"Come and get me out of here," she said aloud. "Jack, come and get me out of here, please." She was falling in love with John Brennan right on the House’s schedule.

"I don’t think anybody listens." John came up behind her and put his arms around her. She leaned against him. "I’ve been saying that for two days."

He released her and moved away.

She turned and looked at him. "I don’t want to love you. I won’t forget when I leave here. What am I going to do with it?"

"It didn’t disappear in two days. She called me from there. It’s all magic mumbo-jumbo. She’s there having a season." John picked up his glass of beer.

"She’s not having a bloody season! She wanted three days. She’s booked out on a flight at six today." Max was still hanging on.

"So what’s Brennan doing there if she’s not having a season?" Terry asked and took a drink from his glass.

"It’s summer, it’s June 3^rd. That’s why he’s there. You always came on the first of June, didn’t you, Max? She didn’t give you any indication that she might want…um…you know?" John raised his brows.

"She bloody well did not."

"Keep your voice down," Terry admonished and looked down the bar at the tavern in Gloucester. "I find it hard to believe that Toni would invite someone else to the House. She wouldn’t do that."

The bartender set a large plate of fries in front of them.

"Who ordered this?" Terry asked.

"I did," John answered. He took the malt vinegar bottle away from Max. "Not on my fries. Get your own."

"I don’t want a gigantic plate of FRIES."

"He’s going to bloody them with ketchup. I can’t watch." Terry turned away. "Ahoy, we’ve got company."

"I might have known in a time of panic and turbulence I’d find you three calmly sitting in a tavern drinking beer."

"Nobody’s calm here, Jack. We’ve run out ideas."

John filled him in on what had happened. "And so this morning all three of us walked all the way to the cliff. Nothing is there, Jack, nothing but the bare outline of what used to be a house."

Jack looked at Max. "You let her go there alone?"

"Uh, yes, for three days. She wanted a few days to relax and…yes, I did say it was all right with me. She’d been down in Virginia with Munchie. Munchie’s been ill. She was excited about going there on her own away from everything."

"I’m glad you got our SOS. We weren’t sure it worked anymore."

"I can see that." Jack frowned at them and took a beer from John.

"We thought maybe our magic was gone. Figured that’s why we couldn’t see the House or the road. Maybe you still got yours."

"John, you still have yours, too. The House is simply having a season. For whatever reason. Who is John Brennan?"

"The latest brother. He’s from a movie called The Next Three Days. He breaks his wife out of prison and escapes to South America," Terry answered. "I’ve seen it."

Jack raised a brow and took a drink of his beer. "She’s asked for him?"

"No, I don’t believe that," Max said. "I cannot believe that she would do that…and…not tell someone."

"How else do you account for his being there, might I ask?"

"It’s a mistake, obviously."

"Have you a sailboat let?" Jack looked from one to the other.

After lunch Toni and John Brennan went for a walk along the woodland trails.

"Are there animals?" he asked.

"I’ve seen birds but that’s all. Insects of course." She brushed a ladybug off her hand.

"You’ve been here through all four seasons. Which do you like the best?"

"I don’t have a favorite really. Maybe spring when everything is new, or summer when it’s like this, warm and sunny. Fall is gorgeous with all the hardwoods turning colors. Winter when it’s silent and covered in a blanket of snow. I’m glad I’ve seen it all because I don’t think I’ll ever come back here. It’s different now. This is a place to fall in love…I’m already there and I have my four loves. When I come back now strange things happen. Like you." She gave him a side glance and a smile.

"I’d hate to be the reason you stop coming here. I can tell you love it. It’s a great place."

"It’s not just you. It wants to heal things that can’t be healed like my heart." She told him about the break up with Terry. "It wasn’t Jack’s fault, although my going off with him didn’t help. That was the thing that set it in motion. Everything happened at once. Max’s wife was killed, John nearly killed in the same accident. He was taking her to the airport. I began taking care of Maxi. At her funeral Terry gave me to Max and he left for Mexico or somewhere. Just…gave me away. I was a long time getting over that."

"I can imagine."

"Even today we look at each other and all we ever felt for each other is there. It’s too late now and I wouldn’t go back to him. I’m happy with Max and I do spend some time with Terry and Jack when it’s convenient. Sounds odd I know, but we are odd."

"However it works for you."

"I don’t mean to go on about myself. Tell me about you."

"I don’t know about me. Things hinted at, I guess I grew up in Pittsburgh. Tough, working class neighborhood."

"Were you tough?"

"No, no, I was just a kid. I was into sports. You can’t live in Pittsburgh and not be a sports fan."

"If you’re a guy."

"Well," he grinned. He was thoughtful for a minute. "I was never the tough guy. My brother probably was more so than me."

"But what you go on to do…you had that inside of you."

"You do what you have to. When you get your back up against a wall you have to fight back. I’m just an ordinary guy, a flunky teacher."

"You’ve very brave."

He took her hand and kissed it.

They came out on the opposite side of the pond from the boat house and they both looked over at it.

"Hope that wasn’t too uncomfortable for you. I didn’t think about it at the time."

"Was there discomfort? I wouldn’t know. I was up floating with the clouds. You’re an air. Your element is air. All seasons have an element."

He chuckled, "If you say so."

"It’s true and you should know about these things if you come back here."

"I won’t be back." He stopped just short of the gazebo.

"You might be. I sometimes lease this house out to discerning women. You might be chosen as a companion."

"I don’t want to come back. Tell them I’m not available."

"Has it been that bad? I know I…."

"No, no, honey, if it’s not you then I don’t want to come back."

"It won’t be me."

"I know."

She went into his arms and he held her close and sort of waltzed her into the gazebo. There he kissed her soundly, pulling her shirt up to press her to his naked chest Toni had uncovered.

"I feel your heart beating," she said softly.

"It’s about to beat out of my chest."

"Let’s go up to the house."

While they were making love in his bed…

"Well, I’ll be damned!" John moved over to the side rails of the sailboat.

"Magic Jack," Terry said.

"I hope we’re not too late," Max added, moving over beside Terry.

"Too late for what? Ah, Max, you know how it is there. Don’t come down on her."

Jack had just cleared the point.

Toni got in his shower and John dressed and went downstairs. He walked out to the cliff to gaze at the ocean and looked down. He was glad to see them and he wasn’t. He went back in the house and caught Toni dressing.

"Your cavalry has arrived." He watched her eyes widen. "They’re on the beach, four of them."

"Oh, my God!" She hastily fastened her jeans and lay her hand on his chest as she passed him.

She stopped at the head of the stairs, "John…"

"Go."