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notice first thing Monday morning.
    And now it was Monday. And after a third sleepless night, she still couldn’t see any way around it, since Olivia had hired her when Inglenook had been a family camp that offered programs to keep her children occupied all day. Only a little over a week ago that camp had closed when Olivia’s ex-in-laws had sold the property to Mac and that freaky earthquake had turned Bottomless Lake into the ninth wonder of the world.
    She still had a job because a small army of scientists had replaced the campers, but now there weren’t any organized activities for her children. And that meant this was no longer a safe environment for the twins, and she couldn’t in good consciencedraw a salary when she’d have to spend her time watching out for them instead of working. And besides, she really wasn’t needed anymore, since several of Inglenook’s original staff from town were looking after the scientists renting the cabins.
    Dammit to hell, she needed this job!
    What she didn’t need was to look out her kitchen window every morning at her flooded gravel pit, especially now that she actually had a chance to make money off it. Duncan MacKeage had come to see her yesterday, but not finding her home, he’d left his card tucked in her door with a note on the back saying he wanted to speak to her about buying gravel for Mac and Olivia’s resort road. Except most of the pit was underwater thanks to that stupid fiord, and the Land Use Regulatory Commission was pretty strict about disturbing ground near a lake.
    Peg wiped her eyes for the hundredth time since she’d left Peter and Jacob with Billy’s mom, and tried to take a deep, steadying breath. Only she wasn’t surprised when she failed yet again, considering she hadn’t taken a full breath since Billy had died. Damn, she was tired of holding it all together all by herself. She’d been fresh out of high school when she’d signed on for happily-ever-after, never dreaming she’d end up sleeping in an empty bed every night and raising four children all by herself.
    Not that she’d give one of them up, not even for all the money in the world. Because what good was having gobs of money if she didn’t have kids to take to the Drunken Moose for Vanetta’s infamous cinnamon buns? Or to dress in beautiful clothes that didn’t come from the thrift shop? And what good was being able to stop driving all the way to Millinocket to spend her food stamps so no one in town would know how desperate she was, if she didn’t have children to worry about being—
    Peg gave a startled yelp when the passenger door opened and Olivia slid into the opposite seat.
    “Sorry,” her friend murmured, folding her hands on her lap and staring out the windshield. “I just wanted to see what you found so fascinating that you’ve been sitting out here for over ten minutes staring at the lodge.”
    Peg buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.
    “Hey!” Olivia cried, turning Peg to face her. “Have you been out here crying all this time? Peggy!” she growled, giving her a shake. “What’s wrong?”
    “I … I have to quit my job.”
    Olivia reared back in surprise. “Why?” She gasped. “Is this about that little incident on Saturday? Because really, you had every right to go after Duncan MacKeage like you did.”
    “It wasn’t a
little
incident; it was a violent and utterly embarrassing attack.” Peg held up her hand to stop Olivia from responding. “It was also a rude awakening. I can’t work here now that Inglenook doesn’t have programs for Peter and Jacob, or for Charlotte and Isabel once school gets out. I can’t keep asking the girls to watch the boys, because that’s not fair to any of them, and I can’t watch them and do my job at the same time.”
    “Then we’ll come up with another plan.”
    Peg shook her head. “I spent all weekend trying to figure something out, and the only solution I came up with is for me to quit.” She