by T. M. Cromer
“Until this blows over, you could bind her powers like our parents did.”
“No! Absolutely not. You see how well that worked out for us.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Besides, we didn’t know. Chloe does. You think she won’t be upset we didn’t trust her?”
“We need to bring Zane in on this,” Knox said. “As a lawyer, he might have a better solution. He might also be able to file for full custody and get an emergency hearing on Monday.”
Keaton grabbed Knox’s head between his hands and laid a big smacking kiss on him.
“Dude! What the fuck?”
“That’s for being a brilliant motherfucker!”
Coop pulled out his cell phone. “Do it again. I want a picture for his Instagram.”
“Fuck you both!” Knox growled good-naturedly.
Keaton slapped Knox on the back. “You only get one chance. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Yeah, I’m real broken up about it. Go pedal that crap with Autumn, why don’t ya.”
“Shit! Autumn! She’s supposed to take Chloe for a pedicure.”
As if on cue, a vehicle pulled into the drive.
The men peered around the corner of the house as the laughing Thorne sisters piled out of Winnie’s SUV.
Autumn was the first to see them and waved. “Is Chloe ready?”
Keaton shook his head. “About that…”
“You don’t want her around me.” Her voice and expression remained bland, but a deeper study showed her eyes reflected hurt.
“No! That’s not it at all.” He filled the sisters in on the events of the afternoon and Chloe’s confession.
Autumn’s white-faced rage mirrored his initial reaction. As she paced, her hands opened and closed in anger.
He approached her cautiously. “Autumn?”
She punched him in the stomach—hard.
With the wind knocked out of him, Keaton doubled over.
“Dude!” Knox crowed and stopped Coop from rushing forward. “That is a helluva right.”
“Shut up, you asshat!” she raged.
Knox made a sign of zipping his lip and rested his shoulder against the column to watch the show.
She bent over and got in Keaton’s face. “You had to pick up that two-bit ho-bag to sleep with and marry, didn’t you? Now she’s taking out her bitterness and hatred of you on your kid. A great fucking kid who I would’ve… would’ve…” Unable to finish, she shot a vicious kick toward one of the pool lounge chairs. “Fucking dammit!”
When he had his breath back, Keaton straightened. “Are you done?” he asked coldly. He’d had it with violent women.
“No, I’m not done. I won’t be done until that bitch is tarred and feathered with her head on a pike in the square.” Fury rolled off her in waves.
His anger at Autumn dissolved as suddenly as it had formed. He realized her rage wasn’t directed at him. She was furious at the situation—and at Diane in particular. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that Autumn had acted more like a mother to his daughter in one week than Diane had in the eight years of Chloe’s life.
“Babe.” He placed his hands lightly on her shoulders and squeezed. “I know.”
She spun about and buried her face in his neck. “She’s an innocent kid, Keaton. She doesn’t deserve Diane as a mother.”
She deserves you, he wanted to say but didn’t dare. “If you’re still willing, I think she could use that girls’ day at Dixie’s,” he said instead. “It will allow us time to speak with Zane and see what we can come up with custody wise.”
Autumn drew away and ran shaking fingertips under her damp eyes. “Of course. Whatever you both need.”
The realization he still loved her hit him out of the blue and nearly drove him to his knees.
“Keaton?”
Shell-shocked and light-headed he could only stare.
“Are you okay?” Her hand cupped his cheek, and he closed his eyes.
Moisture burned the back of his lids, and he felt like a complete fool as he stood in front of an audience and fought back tears. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “I need a sec.”
He squeezed her hand before he strode away.
Chapter 9
The sisters were true to their word and treated Chloe like their honorary Witch Club President. She picked the polish color for their pedicures and decided on the toppings for their pizzas. Dixie created virgin daiquiris for Chloe and Winnie while the others indulged with a shot of rum in their drinks.
“Miss Autumn?”
“Just Autumn.”
“Autumn?”
“What’s cooking in that brain of yours, small fry?”
“Do you love my dad?”
Autumn froze in the process of sipping her drink. With deliberate care, she set the drink on the side table and shifted into a position identical to Chloe’s: shoulder and head resting against the leather seat, facing each other.
Not willing to lie, she said, “I don’t know what I feel for your dad. We have a lot of old history between us, and it makes my feelings on the subject a bit confused.”
“If my mom hadn’t had me, would you love him?”
Autumn’s mind tried to wrap itself around the child’s logic. When she regained her wits, she reached for Chloe’s hand and interlaced their fingers. “You are not now, nor have you ever been, the issue. You certainly won’t be our future issue. If anything, your dad’s love for you makes him more attractive to me.”
“I want you to love my dad,” she said tearfully. “I want you to be my mom.”
“It doesn’t work that way, kid.” Autumn lifted their joined hands and dropped a kiss on Chloe’s knuckles. “But I will always be a friend, a mentor, and a sister wh—uh, club member—to you,” she said with a wink. “I’ll always look out for your best interests. Will that work?”
“We’ll be besties?”
“Pinky swear.”
The two of them interlocked their pinky fingers and shook.
“I love you, Autumn.”
“I love you, too, kid.”
“Aww, isn’t this sweet!” The voice was anything but sweet and held a sharp, ugly edge.
Chloe’s eyes went wild and her lip trembled.
Autumn shifted in her seat to study the woman with her hands on her hips and a dark scowl on her face.
The years had not been kind to Diane Marshall. Where once she’d been a perky blonde cheerleader at their local high school, now bitterness had etched deep lines in the grooves on either side of her mouth. A permanent wrinkle between her brows marked her tendency to frown a lot. Her bleach-blonde hair, while coiffed perfectly, did nothing to enhance her looks. Diane’s brown eyes narrowed and her lips thinned as she glared at their group—and Autumn in particular.
“Chloe, you deliberately disobeyed me. Let’s go,” Diane commanded, tone edged with a threat of punishment.
Anger sizzled along Autumn’s nerve endings and created a pounding in her head. She’d either have a damned stroke or send a fireball straight at the mop Diane called a hairdo.
Autumn surged to her feet and waved off the nail technician. “Chloe isn’t going anywhere with you, Diane.” She directed her next comment over her shoulder without removing her gaze from Chloe’s mother. “Summer, call Coop and Keaton. There is about to be an incident.”
“You cannot keep me from my daughter. I don’t care if you are screwing my husband.”
Tired of accusations, Autumn raised her index finger. “First, that language is not appropriate in front of a child.” She held up a second finger. “Second, last I checked, Keaton isn’t your husband. He hasn’t been for close to five years.” She held up a third finger. “And third, not that it’s your business, but no, you effectively destroyed anything he and I might’ve had years ago. I’m sure you’re still patting yourself on the back for that one.”
“You’re a liar! Everyone knows the Thorne sisters are whores!”
Based on her conversation with her virgin s
ister earlier today, Autumn found the statement laughable. “Wow! If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is. But I’m only going to warn you this one last time to watch your mouth in front of Chloe.”
“You act like you’re such a badass, Autumn. What did you do when Keaton turned to me? Nothing! You ran away like a whiny baby,” Diane sneered.
Water sloshed behind Autumn, and Chloe stepped into view with her sparkly purple sneakers clutched to her chest. Dread and fear made the child’s face pale.
“Don’t yell at her anymore, Mama. I’ll go with you.”
Chloe’s bravery was admirable, but there was no way in hell Autumn would allow her to be alone with Diane again. “No, you absolutely will not go with her!” Autumn said as she stepped between mother and daughter. “Chloe, please go back to your chair and finish your pizza. We will continue to enjoy our afternoon when I get back.” She grabbed Diane by her flabby upper arm. “Come with me,” she ground out.
She wasn’t surprised when her nemesis dragged her feet, but Autumn wasn’t a skilled witch for nothing. She mouthed a silent incantation and forced Diane to fall in line.
Autumn didn’t stop until she’d propelled Diane to the narrow alleyway beside the old brick building. With one hand to the other woman’s throat, she pinned her to the wall.
“Let’s get something straight, bitch,” she growled. “If you ever lay a hand on that kid again, I’ll personally rip it the fuck off.”
“This is assault!”
“You haven’t seen assault yet, but I promise you, you’ll see it up close and personal if you hurt Chloe again.”
“She’s my child. I’ll discipline her the way I see fit,” Diane yelled into her face.
Autumn had a difficult time reining in her fury. “Try me. Just fucking try me, Diane.” She hauled back and slammed the smaller woman into the bricks. Sometimes it helped to be Amazon-sized.
“You think because you’re Keaton’s flavor-of-the-month that you can get away with treating me like this. I’ll see you in jail for attacking me.”
“And you think because you’re Chloe’s mother that you can get away with smacking her around or belittling her?” Autumn’s voice rose in relation to her rage. “It doesn’t work that way. Not in this town. One word to the supposed friends you value so much, and you’ll be blackballed. No more invitations to parties or inclusion in what constitutes society events. Poor, lonely little Diane will have no more friends.” Autumn sneered her disgust. “Keaton may not tear you a new asshole because you’re a woman, but I have no such problem.”
“You can’t threaten me!”
“I think she just did,” a dry voice inserted.
Diane’s eyes went wide at the sight of the man entering the alley.
Autumn didn’t need to turn to see who had joined their little party. No one’s voice contained the arrogance of Alastair Thorne. “Hello, Uncle.”
“Toying with the locals again, niece?”
“I have a real issue with child abusers,” Autumn returned, never removing her fierce gaze from Diane. “Makes me want to kill something.”
“You remind me of my dear departed mother. She was as fierce as she was beautiful. Could never tolerate others who put on airs.” He strolled casually in their direction as if he had all day. “She especially hated bullies. Why, she had the perfect remedy. But back then people could practically get away with murder.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Uncle. Something tells me I might get away with murder if I planned it carefully.”
His wicked laugh echoed off the stones around them. “Yes, child, I believe you could.” When he reached them, he placed a fingertip on the crevice between Diane’s brows. “But enough of this. There are more important matters that need your attention.” He murmured a smattering of Latin, and Diane’s gaze went blank. “You’ll never hurt your child again in any way. Go home, have some wine, and think kind thoughts about my lovely niece, Autumn.” He snapped his fingers.
Like a mindless zombie, Diane walked in the direction of the parking lot.
“Nice,” Autumn muttered. “I need to learn that trick.”
“I’ll be happy to teach you. After you retrieve my stone.”
“You’re like a damned dog with a bone, you know that?”
She gestured to the retreating Diane. “Will she be able to drive home okay?”
“Do you care?”
She didn’t, but she would feel guilty if Diane took out someone else in the process. “I don’t want to see anyone else hurt.”
“She’ll be fine. Consider it autopilot mode.”
“I need to get back to Chloe.”
“When do you leave for China?”
“How did you know we narrowed the stone’s location to China?”
Amusement lit his sapphire eyes. “I have my ways.”
Suspicion clouded her mind. “Holly or Quentin? Which one is your little spy?”
Alastair’s arrogant air dropped, and for a moment, he seemed as if he cared. “I’m sorry you were hurt to the point you trust no one.”
Unexpected emotion clogged her throat, and tears burned her eyes. Her unpredicted response to his empathy had her swallowing hard. “I trust people.”
“No, child, you don’t. But perhaps it’s a good thing.”
Autumn dug deep to find her standard sass. “You aren’t getting all sentimental and shit, are you? The last thing I need is for you to get all touchy-feely on me.”
His delighted laughter echoed throughout the alley. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were my mother reincarnated. Promise me you’ll never change.”
The scuffle of soles on pavement behind her indicated someone running in her direction.
“Autumn!” Keaton skidded to a halt next to her. “Where’s Diane?”
“She went home.”
He glanced between her and Alastair. “In a pine box?”
She bit her lip to hold back an inappropriate giggle. “No. But my uncle wasn’t above a little mind control. I believe if Diane is ever around Chloe again, she may be a better mother.”
Keaton’s dark brows rose skyward, and he addressed Alastair. “How long will the mind control last?” Another thought occurred to him, and he frowned in her direction. He lowered his voice to ask, “Isn’t doing that against the laws of witchcraft or something?”
“I didn’t do it. I don’t believe in taking someone’s free will,” she stressed. If her tone was sharper than normal, it couldn’t be helped. She was fed up with the constant insinuation that she was a puppet master to the people around her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll finish my pedicure.” She made it five steps when Keaton cut her off.
“Babe, I didn’t mean it like that.” He placed his right hand over his heart. “I swear to you, here and now, that I truly believe I love—loved—you of my own free will.”
“You’re not still angry I bound you from speaking the truth?”
“Maybe a little. But I think I’m more disgusted with myself because I didn’t give you a choice.”
“It’s like you kids have made up. We should have a celebration,” snarked Alastair.
“Way to kill a moment, old man.”
Alastair’s droll mood turned deadly. “Mind your tongue, boy. I don’t particularly care for your tone.”
The frigid quality of Alastair’s voice unnerved Autumn. She rushed to intercede. “I leave the day after tomorrow for China. I should have a bead on the stone’s location by the day after at the latest.”
Her uncle nodded, cast one last long look at Keaton, and teleported away.
“I am never going to get used to people disappearing into thin air,” Keaton said as he raised a hand to run through his already mussed hair.
“You will. It will be second nature to you soon enough,” she assured him. “Come on, let’s see about Chloe. I’m afraid Diane was as ugly as she could be, and your kid had a first-hand view of the drama.” Autumn filled him in on the details
of the confrontation as they walked toward the salon.
When she finished, he backed her up against the wall and rested both hands on either side of her head. “Thank you for protecting my little girl,” he said gruffly. “I owe you more than words can say.”
Because his intensity made her uneasy, she concentrated on the passing gawkers. “We should get back,” she hedged.
“Babe.”
Inch by inch she turned her head to face him, unable to ignore the emotion he projected in that one word.
Words were unnecessary. They always had been. The feelings between Autumn and Keaton transcended the ordinary. One look, one touch, one kiss said it all.
He lowered his head and brushed his lips softly against hers. Once, twice, and at the third contact, he slipped his tongue between her parted lips. Time stood still as Autumn drank in his desire. Whatever fire had burned ten years ago was nothing compared to what she experienced today.
She loved him. The simple realization struck her right there on main street. With nothing but his mouth on hers and a husky “thank you,” he’d laid waste to all her carefully erected walls.
Chapter 10
Chloe, who’d been hovering by the front window of the salon, flew into Autumn’s embrace the moment the front door opened.
“Hey! It’s okay, kid,” she said, hugging the child tight.
“Can I stay?”
“Pfft. Of course! No one is taking our club president away.” Autumn lifted Chloe in a fireman hold and skipped to the pedicure station. The little girl laughed her delight.
The sight melted Keaton’s heart. This was how a mother and child should be together. He followed the two loves of his life through the salon.
“Can I, Dad?” Chloe asked from where she now perched on her pedicure throne. The faux purple stones in her tiara caught the light as she lifted her pleading eyes to him.
“Can you what?”
“Can I get a facial?”