He pushed down the plunger without hesitation, and several of the brides screamed at the sound of a deafening explosion very close by.

"That," Abigail said with quiet satisfaction, "was the Shamus O'Flynn. I have it on good authority that my granddaughter came to Seattle on board that feeble excuse for a ship. Good riddance to it. I've done Seattle a favor ridding the waterfront of that eyesore."

"Me ship!" Clancey whispered hoarsely, and sank into the nearest chair. "Not me ship!"

Lottie immediately went to comfort him, but he didn't even seem to notice her presence. Jason balled his fists and once again advanced on his grandmother, heedless of the weapons pointed in his direction.

"You miserable old witch! That I've got even one drop of that icewater that passes for your blood flowing in my veins disgusts me!"

"Then by all means, feel free to spill some of it," she invited him, "which you surely will do if you come one step closer."

"Jason, don't!" Joshua cautioned. "She's not worth it."

Abigail put her hand over her heart and sighed dramatically. "A pity none of my grandchildren were taught to have any respect for their elders. Now, I'll ask again. Where is my granddaughter? You might be particularly interested to know, Mr. Stempel, that your mill is targeted next."

"And you might be interested to know that I've only ever met one person with a heart blacker than yours," he said.

Barely restraining her fury, Abigail was about to order the detonation when the door to the saloon swung open to reveal Jonah.

"Don't!" she cried. "Don't do it! I'll do whatever you want!"

"Jonah, no!" Jason said. "Get away from here, now!"

She shook her head. "I can't let this happen."

"We can rebuild," Aaron said. "But we can't give you a new life."

"Clancey's already lost his ship. You'll lose your mill—the both of you will lose everything you've worked your entire lives for. And the brides—if the dormitory is destroyed they'll lose all the possessions they have in this world—irreplaceable family heirlooms, pictures. And then they'll all probably return to New Bedford en masse, and my brothers will lose the mountain—it's got to stop. I love this town too much."

Abigail smiled approvingly. "I'm glad to see you inherited some of the Spencer common sense."

"And none of the Spencer cold-heartedness," Jason said.

"I brought along my personal chaplain from San Francisco," she continued, pointedly ignoring Jason. "We can have the wedding on board the Midas Touch."

"And the wedding night as well," Thaddeus said with a wink and a leer. Seconds later he was on the floor, reeling from a roundhouse right delivered by Jason. "Are you going to let him get away with that?" he demanded of Abigail as he rubbed his aching jaw.

"Yes," she decided. "You deserved it. It was a tasteless remark."

Jason strode over and grabbed Jonah by the shoulders. "I can't let you do this. I won't!"

"It's not your decision. It's mine," she said. "Believe me, if there was any other way—"

There had to be! Jason's mind worked furiously, but events were moving too fast. He had to buy some time. "It's a forced marriage, and we have a large number of witnesses to that effect. We'll be able to have the marriage annulled."

Jonah shook her head. "Grandmother has nearly all the judges in San Francisco on her payroll."

"And even if I didn't, by the time all the legalities were ironed out, it's highly likely that Jonah would be, how shall I put this in mixed company—ah, yes. In the family way."

Bile rose in Jonah's throat at the thought of carrying Thaddeus's child, and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to turn and run out the door. Jason's mouth tightened as his anger threatened to overwhelm his common sense. She was so damned brave and self-sacrificing. How could he have ever thought she had left willingly four years ago?

As if reading his mind, Jonah suddenly demanded of her grandmother, "Before I do anything I want you to tell my brothers the truth about why I left Seattle with you."

Seeing as her long-dreamed of plan was about to come true, Abigail was in a conciliatory mood. "Very well. It doesn't matter anymore," she said with a shrug. "Do you gentlemen recall a series of lucrative contracts that came your way about four-and-a-half years ago? One right after the other, an incredible run of good luck. I believe some of the companies were called The Reserve, Las Alamedas, Cheyenne Railroad, and the Snake River Holding Company?"

"Quite well," Jason said grimly, anticipating what was to come.

"And based on those lucrative contracts you promptly overextended yourself to buy sorely needed new equipment and hire extra loggers."

"And then mysteriously, all those so-called 'guaranteed contracts' were rescinded," Joshua said bitterly. "Orders were filled, then rejected. No payments were ever made. And we couldn't afford a lawyer to fight it."

"Precisely. So you had to take out a large mortgage on your precious mountain to meet your debts, and I owned the Olympia-based bank that held that mortgage. You'd never have discovered it. Thaddeus here is quite good at concealing such things. But I did let Jonah in on my little secret when I came to Seattle. I told her that if she didn't do exactly as I say and come back with me to San Francisco, that I would call in the debt immediately. So she wrote the note to you exactly as I dictated, and played that nasty little scene quite well in my library when you came to take her back to Seattle."

Jason clenched his fists as she continued. "How did it feel, Jason? How did it feel to have the person you loved most in this world taken from you? Your father did it to me; I merely returned the favor. He took my daughter; I took his. My only regret was that he wasn't alive to see it. But I got more than enough satisfaction witnessing how it devastated his sons."

How his mother could have been born of this woman would forever mystify Jason. He looked for some trace of her innate kindness or gentleness, but found nothing but brittle coldness and vile hatred. "A changeling," he murmured. "She had to have been a changeling."

"Eh? What was that?" Abigail demanded.

As he strode over to where she sat, he whispered to Joshua and Jeremy, "Wait for my cue." Then, facing his grandmother, he said, "My father used to tell us a legend of the Scottish highlands—how fairies would sometimes steal human children and leave another in their place. They called these children changelings; they were nothing like their parents in looks or temperament. There's no other explanation of how my mother could have been born to you."

The old woman nearly choked on her indignation. Shakily she got to her feet and hissed, "You are as vile as your father!" She raised her cane to strike at him, and Jason grabbed it from her hands, snapping it in two over his leg. That brought Josiah running over, and Jason yelled, "Now!"

Pandemonium broke out as Joshua and Jeremy, who attacked the thugs closest to them, and the loggers and Clancey's crew followed suit. Even some of the brides got into the act, tripping Abigail's hired guns and breaking whiskey bottles over their heads. Jason and Josiah were rolling around on the floor trading punches, while Abigail, appalled by the unseemly spectacle of physical violence, backed away. In the midst of the confusion, Thaddeus made his way to the table where the other detonator lay unguarded. He would have his revenge on all the Bolts by laying waste to Stempel's mill. Without the mill they couldn't hope to fill their orders, and the resulting breaches of contract would ruin them financially.

"Don't touch that detonator, Thaddeus!" Jonah warned as he neared the table.

"And what are you going to do to stop me, darling?" he sneered as he reached for it.

Pulling a gun from a holster concealed beneath her bulky jacket, she said, "Shoot you."

The force of the bullet knocked him against the stairwell, where he stared in shock at his bloody shoulder. Calmly and swiftly, Jonah took a pocketknife and cut the detonator wires, then turned her attention to Abigail, who was surveying the goings-on with distaste.

"Call them off, Grandmother," she ordered.

Abigail gave her a frosty glare. "If I don't, will you shoot me too?"

"If she doesn't, I will," said Lottie, who had produced a small, pearl-handled derringer from behind the bar. Clancey still sat in the same chair, deep in shock, muttering to himself, oblivious to the chaos around him. This woman had taken his livelihood, his home, his very reason for being, without even blinking an eye, and Lottie itched to be given a reason to pull the trigger.

Sizing up the situation with a practiced eye, Abigail decided that since her men seemed to be losing the battle, it wouldn't hurt to give in—for now. "Enough!" she said, but her slightly raised voice couldn't be heard above the din. Fortunately at that moment, a bloodied Josiah landed at her feet. "Clark, call the men off."

"With pleasure," he muttered, and staggered to his feet. "It's over, boys!" he bellowed. "Stop fighting and hand over your arms."

After a few more random punches and kicks, the fighting ceased, and the disgruntled thugs lined up one by one, laying their weapons on the bar. Aaron led another group of heavily armed men out to gather up those who were laying down the explosives. Lottie forced a sullen Abigail to one of the upstairs rooms and she locked her in.

"Nice work," Jonah commented to her brothers.

"Nice shooting," Joshua said, nodding at Thaddeus, who was moaning and clutching at his shoulder. "I'm assuming you meant to give him just a flesh wound."

She winked. "Maybe."

He threw back his head and laughed. "It's good to have you back, Trouble."

Her response to the childhood nickname he used to tease her mercilessly was muffled as he hugged her close. Next it was Jeremy's turn.

"What made you come back?" he asked.

Smiling, she pulled out the locket from beneath her shirt. "This. I was a few hours from town when I realized it was missing. Then I remembered how I rode into a low branch as I was heading out of town, so I doubled back, praying it was there, and sure enough, there it was, snagged on the branch. When I saw the Midas Touch in the harbor and shortly after that saw Clancey's ship explode, I knew it was Grandmother's doing, and that I had to put a stop to it."

Jason, who had been hanging back, suddenly came forward. "Can you ever forgive me for doubting you the way I did?"

"She manipulated us all. You believed exactly what she wanted you to believe. You had no other choice," Jonah said.

"Oh, but I did. I could have realized that you would never have willingly turned your back on us, or on this town." He held open his arms to her. "Am I forgiven?"

"Of course you are!" she cried, and smiled as his arms closed around her, the same arms that had held her as a little girl when she woke up from bad dreams, or carried her to bed when she fallen asleep in front of the fire after listening to one of his fantastic stories. For the first time in four years, she felt totally protected, totally safe—and totally loved.

"Welcome home, my girl," Jason whispered. "Welcome home."