by T. M. Cromer
The boys laughed, and Chloe took delight in his discomfort.
Her expression changed in an instant, a look of horror replacing the smugness. “Is that Daddy’s truck?”
“I’m sorry, midg—uh, Chloe. There was a bit of an accident.”
Tears pooled in her wide brown eyes, and he wanted to vomit. Why did females have to cry?
“Daddy’s going to be so mad.”
“He knows already.” He squatted in front of her and smoothed the sides of her dirt-smudged shirt. “Look at it this way, you and your dad can start over from scratch. You already have the experience under your belt. The second time around will go faster. Not only that, but this lets you draw out the project.”
She nodded, but didn’t appear one-hundred percent convinced.
“Why don’t you and the boys head over to Monica’s Cafe? Get an ice cream? Tell Monica I said put it on my tab.”
“Okay, Uncle Coop.” She lifted her leg and spun the crank arm until the right pedal was on top for perfect takeoff position. With a frown she asked, “Did Miss Summer do this?”
“The Ford? No, honey. She had nothing to do with the truck.” Not directly anyway. Her ape on the other hand…
4
“That side-winding snake in the grass!”
“Summer, calm down.”
“That two-timing, yellow bellied, low-life scum sucker!”
“Summer—”
“I’ll turn that turd into a toad! That’s what I’ll do!”
“Sister—”
“He’ll be pissing blood for a week when I kick him in those grapes he calls nads!” She spun around and faced her three sisters, who all struggled to hide their amusement. “It’s not funny! That asshole has humiliated me for the last time.”
She sneezed but didn’t stop to worry about the results of her swearing.
All humor was wiped from their faces as they realized the deeper meaning here. Not only was Coop trying to take away all Summer loved, he’d set out to do it publicly and rub her nose in it along the way.
“Everyone knows what you are trying to do here, sister. They’ll be on your side.” Autumn stood and smoothed the wild gold curls back from Summer’s face. “Hell, you’ve treated or taken in everyone’s rejects at one time or another, and that includes the people.”
Tears welled, and she was powerless to prevent them from falling. “Why does he hate me so much? What have I ever done to him?” She sniffed. “I wasn’t even home before the call came through. Not ten minutes before he’d been acting as if he w-wanted…” She halted, unable to continue.
No sense going there. Obviously she misread his intent when he’d touched her earlier. The little caress that sent her heart into orbit hadn’t even caused his to lift off. Because he doesn’t have a heart!
Her sisters’ expressions ranged from bewildered to helpless. They had no answers for Coop’s behavior either.
Winnie rose to her feet. “Come, sisters. It’s time we cast a spell.”
“We doing this? Turning Coop into a toad?” Spring asked, half serious.
“No. We are going to make sure the meeting tonight ends in Summer’s favor,” Winnie informed her as she wrapped Summer in her warm embrace. Her nature was in direct odds with her name. Winter was the warmest, most loving of the four Thorne sisters.
“Uh, Winnie, magic on our own behalf is a big no,” Summer said.
“We aren’t doing it on your behalf. We are doing it on behalf of those poor animals in need of help. The Goddess will approve of us taking care of her creatures.”
Summer couldn’t fault Winnie’s logic. What she could fault was her own abilities. “Should I sit this one out so it doesn’t backfire?”
“Absolutely not,” her three sisters replied in unison.
“You are one of the four, sister. You—”
A banging on the front doors interrupted Spring’s speech. The group shared a wary glance.
“Autumn Thorne, get your ass down here!” Keaton yelled from his place on the porch.
For once, Autumn’s expression was devoid of humor. Pale and shaky, she said, “He knows I torched his truck.”
“How? How could he know?” Winnie asked, the voice of reason.
“I don’t know how, but he does.”
Summer had to agree with her sister’s assessment of the situation. Keaton sounded over-the-top angry. Only his child or his beloved truck could be the cause for such a mellow guy to lose his cool.
The banging started again. “I know you’re in there. Open up.”
Four faces crowded the window and craned to see below.
“This is all my fault. I’ll go,” Summer offered after another minute of listening to him slam his fist against the wood.
She stepped toward the bedroom door only to have Autumn place a hand on her arm and halt her progress.
“No. I’ll own up to my actions.”
Autumn was a braver soul than Summer. Had the situation been reversed, if Coop was pounding the doors down, she’d have gladly sent a mediator in her place.
“We’ll all go,” Winnie insisted, loyal to a fault.
As one, they headed to the foyer.
“Stop stalling. He’s going to leave a dent,” Summer finally said after another minute of Keaton’s thumping against the solid mahogany and iron double doors. “Heads will roll if Dad comes home to a damaged door. That thing is an antique.”
Their father, Preston Thorne IV, was an antiquities dealer who traveled the world looking for exotic pieces to add to his personal collection as well as to sell in his downtown shop. As such, he rarely remained in one place for any length of time. But the man would know if there was even the slightest nick on any one of his precious pieces.
“Pfft. He can’t damage that thing. It’s solid.” Autumn, determined to stall, crossed her arms over her chest.
Another thud shook the door on its hinges. Summer raised a brow. “Uh, you were saying?” She stepped to the door and threw back the bolt.
“Autumn, you—” Keaton halted his charge when he noticed the wrong sister had answered and saw evidence of her upset. “Summer, what’s wrong? Is everyone—” His eyes took in the four sisters. Only one of which had tear-stained cheeks. “Oh. Tonight’s meeting. Look, I’m sorry about that. Coop…” He shrugged then turned his laser focus on Autumn. Angry lines bracketed his mouth. “You!”
With a false air of arrogance, Autumn crossed her arms under her breasts.
Keaton’s eyes dropped to the ample cleavage displayed in the white tank top and his face grew flushed.
Score one for Autumn. The woman knew men.
Ah, to have that ability. Summer heaved an internal sigh. What couldn’t she accomplish if she had full use of her powers and a playboy-pinup body like Autumn?
At five-ten, her sister was the perfect compliment to Keaton’s six-three. She boasted a pair of high-sitting D cups, a trim waist, and a firm ass that made men’s jaws unhinge and tongues dangle when she shook her money-maker down the street.
Summer wouldn’t have been surprised to see big red hearts pulsing in place of the men’s eyes.
With her blazing hair and challenging amber eyes, Autumn was a man’s wet dream. Jessica Rabbit in human form.
Summer tamped down her envy.
Being gorgeous came with its own set of problems.
Rather than stay silent and watch the uncomfortable gawking, Summer intervened. “What’s going on, Keaton? Why all the yelling?”
It took an act of congress, but he finally ripped his gaze from Autumn’s chest. His expression turned ugly. “She set fire to my damned truck!”
“Me?” Autumn splayed her fingertips over the expanse of skin at her chest.
Her little-ol’-me act wasn’t fooling anyone—especially Keaton. Although, his eyes did dip to where her fingers rested before snapping above chin level again.
“Why do you think she set fire to your truck? Couldn’t it be the thing was an old piece of crap with cro
ssed wires?” Winnie hedged.
Wrong thing to say. His already dark countenance blackened. “I have been painstakingly restoring that truck with my daughter for the last six months. Trust me, the wires were not crossed.”
He took a step in Autumn’s direction.
As one, the sisters took a step back.
He continued on his trajectory, not stopping until Autumn was backed against the foyer wall. His chest pressed to the one he’d been obsessed with since the ten-foot tall mahogany door opened.
“Why?” Had his tone been harsh instead of ragged, the sisters would’ve been on him like white on rice. But he genuinely seemed bewildered and hurt by Autumn’s fire bombing.
“We needed the distraction.” Autumn shrugged and portrayed an unfeeling wench. The sisters all knew differently. Inside she was still bruised by Keaton’s defection years earlier.
If family lore was to be believed, once a Thorne found their one true love, their heart would never veer off the path of that love. It made for devastation and heartbreak when those affections weren’t returned. Such was the case with Autumn. Such was also the case with Summer.
Both sisters tried to hide the fact they were suffering from unrequited love, but the truth was obvious to any who cared to see.
“Distraction? The goats weren’t enough?” He nodded to encompass the group’s guilty expressions. “Yeah, I knew what you were doing. But I’m here to tell you, your distraction has broken my daughter’s heart,” he ground out. “You owe her an apology.”
Autumn snorted. “Not in this lifetime.”
Oh, boy. Summer closed her eyes. Nothing like drawing a line in the sand for a man who wasn’t afraid to cross it.
“You little bitch,” he snarled. “I dodged a bullet nine years ago.”
If he’d have slapped Autumn, it would’ve hurt her less. The challenge died from her eyes. Void of their spark, the amber turned to a murky brown. Pain radiated from her as if she could no longer contain the heartbreak. Each of the sisters physically felt the impact.
Autumn skirted sideways and presented her back to one and all as she moved toward the stairs. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll stop by, write a check for the damage, and apologize on my way out of town tomorrow. Is that good enough for you?” she threw over her shoulder.
“Out of town? Where are you going?” Keaton demanded.
“I’m sure it’s none of your business. And honestly, I can’t see why you’d care. Suffice it to say, I won’t be around to destroy the truck once it’s repaired. Good enough?”
She swept up the stairs with all the majestic grace of a queen, back straight, head held high.
“Autumn!”
When Keaton would’ve charged after her, Summer and her sisters blocked his path. “You should go. You’ve gotten what you came for.”
After a long stare, he acknowledged Summer’s words with a resigned nod.
“Oh, and Keaton, I’m sorry about Morty, but he’s not going anywhere. Be sure to tell your brother to bring his A-game tonight. I don’t plan to lose my Sanctuary,” she vowed.
After he’d gone, she turned to her sisters. “Let’s cast that spell. But first, I need to check on Autumn.”
As she crossed the threshold of her elder sister’s room, Summer registered that Autumn was indeed packing.
“You’re really going?”
“I am. I’m sick of this hick town. How the hell do you stand these self-righteous asshats?”
Her sister hadn’t meant to be derogatory. The question was legit. Summer, because of her dealings with her mobile vet’s office and the rescue center, had a lot more interactions with the residents of this town.
“Some of them aren’t so bad.”
“We’re outcasts, sister. We always have been because of those fucking Carlyles.”
Autumn dumped the whole of her underwear drawer into a cardboard box she conjured. Jean shorts and tank tops followed suit. In her rush to pack, she wasn’t taking care to fold her clothing. It said a lot about her mental state because Autumn was the family’s neat freak.
Seeing her so riled hurt. “Don’t go.”
“I have to get out of here. You, of all people, should understand why.”
With an absent nod, Summer wandered over to the dainty vanity. The piece looked like it belonged in a museum. The color, a robin’s egg blue, was distressed with hints of a soft blush pink paint bleeding through the cracks. The pulls had deep red tassels, and the top was a dark honey mahogany.
Summer ran her hand over the top. She’d always loved this piece.
“You can have it.”
Spinning about, she faced Autumn. “No. Mom brought that piece home for you on her final trip. I know what it means to you.” She hugged her sister. “Wherever you get settled, we’ll see it delivered.”
Uncharacteristically quiet, Autumn nodded her acknowledgement.
“I’m sorry about Keaton, Tums.”
The nickname brought a ghost of a smile to her sister’s face. Only Winnie still used hers. The rest of them had reverted back to their given name sometime during high school in an effort to appear more sophisticated.
“He broke up with me all those years ago.”
The haltingly whispered words shocked Summer. Everyone always believed Autumn told Keaton to take a hike. Believed he’d found comfort in another’s arms and gotten the other woman pregnant by accident. The resulting marriage had been for the baby’s benefit. No one was surprised by his divorce four years later.
Never once had Summer suspected Keaton dumped Autumn. “What happened?”
Autumn’s guilt-filled eyes rose to meet her steady gaze. “I confessed to being a witch.”
Summer sat, missed the edge of the bed, and landed on her tailbone with a thud. “Shit!”
She sneezed.
Squeaking started mere seconds after she swore, and four little mice lined the baseboard by the door.
“I’m good, guys. Thanks.” She waved off the rodents.
With a twitch of its whiskers, the largest of the mice led the others out of the room.
“If anyone knew you were the swearing Pied Piper of Leiper’s Fork, you’d never live it down,” Autumn laughed through her tears.
“I know.” She grimaced and scrambled to her feet. “Why did you tell him, Tums? You had to know he wouldn’t take it well.”
“We were getting serious. I thought he loved me enough that he’d be okay with it.” Autumn swallowed hard. “If the Goddess blessed us with children, they would be witches. He had to be forewarned.”
She nodded. Autumn’s reasoning made sense. “But he wasn’t okay with it, was he?”
“No. Not at all. He accused me of putting him under a love spell. Demanded I remove it. Said it explained why he couldn’t go a minute without thinking about me.”
“Oh, Tums.”
“Yeah. When I told him I hadn’t—couldn’t—because things didn’t work that way, he flat out called me a liar.” Autumn swiped at the new tears forming. Of the four sisters, she hated to show any weakness. “Goddess, I loved him. He was my everything.”
“Past tense?”
“How can I love Keaton as he is today? He’s angry and awful to me whenever we’re in the same room.”
“Did you tell him we were witches too?”
Autumn nodded regretfully. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He seems to have kept it a secret.”
“That would be my doing. After his initial angry reaction, I did put a spell on him. I made it so he couldn’t reveal what we are.”
One thing bothered her, and Summer voiced it. “Why doesn’t he treat the rest of us poorly? If he is afraid of you because of your powers, it would stand to reason that he would be afraid of us.”
“You didn’t cast a ‘love spell’ to bind him to you for all eternity,” Autumn snarked, her bitterness at the unfairness of the situation bleeding through.
“But then neither did you. You know how this works better than
any of us. You had Mom to teach you.”
Silence reigned for a moment. Both reflected on what was lost when their mother had died.
Summer could scarcely recall the woman who had given them birth. Twenty years was a long time to try to keep only a handful of memories alive.
Autumn, on the other hand, had a few more years of guidance. Hers and Winnie’s acceptance ceremonies within the coven had been orchestrated by their mother, Aurora.
Summer and Spring had missed out. Instead, they’d been sponsored in the ceremony by their Aunt GiGi a few years after their mother’s passing.
She shrugged off the melancholy. “Where will you go?”
“Perhaps the Keys? I could always bartend in Key West.”
“With that creamy skin? You’ll look like a lobster in an hour.”
“North then? I’ve always wanted to visit New England. Meet that branch of the Thorne tree.”
“I don’t want you to go,” Summer said softly.
“None of us do,” Spring piped in from the other side of the wall.
Autumn’s bitter laugh caused their sisters to join them.
“You’d think after nine years of constant exposure, I’d be over Keaton and his stupidity. But I’m not. And I won’t ever meet anyone as long as I’m here.” Autumn softened her decision to leave with, “I need a break. If only for a little while. A year, two at the most.”
“That’s a lifetime without our big sister,” Winnie croaked out.
“You’ll have to be the big sister for a bit, Winnie. You can do it. Besides, I’m only a snap away.” Their big sister hugged each of them in turn. “Now, let’s get on that spell for protecting Summer’s rescue animals. Packing can wait another day.”
“No offense, Summer, but because you are the weak link here, you need to purify yourself. Autumn, I think you should do the same because of Keaton’s angry energy. When you’re both done, come to the attic. In the meantime, Spring and I can purify the space and prepare the circle.”
“Well, look at you, taking charge and shit. It’s like you’re already stepping into the role of the elder, Win,” Autumn teased with a light hug. “Thank you. A bath is just the thing.”