Summer Magic

Book 1: The Thorne Witches

by T.M. Cromer

Genres: Romance; Paranormal Romance; Urban Fantasy; Witches

Synopsis

Life in a small town can be tough. It can be even tougher when you're a witch whose magic regularly backfires. But Summer Thorne only wants one thing: to create the perfect sanctuary for unwanted animals. Nothing and no one is going to stop her. Not even the sexy sheriff who is determined to shut down her rescue center. And certainly not the laboratory where she illegally obtained her mischievous chimpanzee, Morty.

Sheriff Cooper Carlyle has one goal: to keep his town safe. That includes his stubborn neighbor, Summer, whether she wants him to or not. When the animals of Summer's menagerie get loose and create havoc, he decides enough is enough. But things aren't always as they appear, and Coop stumbles upon the secret the Thorne sisters have been hiding.

Coop and Summer discover Morty holds the key to unlock a 20-year-old mystery surrounding the death of Summer's mother. Now Coop is faced with breaking the law he is sworn to uphold in order to protect Summer and her beloved pet from a threat more dangerous than any of them imagined.

Contains mature themes.

Release date: April 17, 2018

Publisher: Fae Press

Print pages: 307

Sample

CHAPTER ONE
“We’ve got a problem, C.C.”
Cooper Carlyle, in the process of cooking breakfast, hung his head, appetite gone. “Please
don’t tell me it’s that damned elephant.”
“Okay, I won’t.” Keaton swiped two bacon strips in passing.
Coop’s head came up. “Really? It’s not the Thorne beast?”
His brother laughed. “Oh, no. It is, but I won’t tell you he’s in our pool again if you don’t
want to know.”
With a litany of curses, Coop threw down the spatula, turned off the burner, and stalked to
the deck. What he saw triggered another long series of swear words. Eddie the Elephant was the
most recent rescue of one Summer Thorne, his all-around pain-in-the-butt neighbor to the West.
Since she’d petitioned and freed the elephant from a miserable life of performing on command,
the ginormous beast had been nothing but a menace to the Carlyle estate. When he wasn’t
leaving massive amounts of gag-worthy crap all over the lawn, he was making himself at home
in the Olympic-sized swimming pool off the back deck.
Today, Eddie was already underwater and using his trunk as a snorkel. Periodically, he
would peek over the edge of the pool toward the rear of the property where the Carlyles’ prized
horses grazed.
The longer Eddie stared at the mares, the angrier and more creative Coop’s language
became. The damned elephant thought he was going to make time with the mares. It didn’t
matter that they were two different species.
“Get her on the phone,” Coop bit out.
“Sorry, man. No can do. Duty calls. There’s a permitting issue I need to address before ten.
But hey, have fun with that.” Keaton gestured to the backyard with his thumb.
“Coward!” he hollered after Keaton’s retreating back.
“Yep!”
Coop mentally ran through removal scenarios. Short of a crane, he didn’t know how to get
the two-ton Tom out of the pool.

How had Summer done it in the past? The last time it happened, he’d received a call that
Eddie was in his pool only to return home and find his nemesis trudging down the road with her
elephant in tow.
A mental rundown of various techniques proved futile.
As he pondered options, he detected movement from the corner of his eye. His training
kicked into gear, and he laid a hand on the firearm at his side. Or where the firearm should’ve
been.
Shit!
He hadn’t yet put on his service belt today. His lack of attention to his attire went to show
how aggravated he was over finding Summer’s elephant in his pool.
Sunlight shimmered off bright golden-blonde hair. The glimpse of his intruder had him
easing back into the shadows of the porch and ducking behind a stone pillar.
Summer Thorne.
Coop fought the instinct to run and hide. Hell, technically he was hiding. But he wasn’t
ashamed.
Heck, no!
The woman was almost as much of a nuisance as the droves of animals she cared for. More
so, if he thought back over all the years he’d known her. Her last name was certainly appropriate;
she’d been a thorn in his side for as long as he could remember.
It all started fifteen years ago when Summer and her sisters had moved to Leiper’s Fork.
From the first day she’d laid eyes on him, Coop had become Summer’s sole obsession. During
high school, anywhere he turned, there she was. Her big blue eyes were as bright as the sky and
stared at him as if he were a gift from the gods directly to her. The adoration and borderline
stalking had unnerved him and made him the butt of his friends’ jokes.
After six months of her shadowing his every step, Coop had had enough and arranged to
crush her affections. He’d planned it down to the last detail.
Step one: Ask her to prom.
Step two: Show up late—without a corsage.
Step three: Continually leave her alone to go off with friends.

Step four: Get caught kissing the gorgeous Rosie McDonough.
His plan had worked brilliantly.
What he hadn’t expected was to feel like the worst sort of asshole for what he’d done. He’d
only wanted her to stop trailing around after him. But seeing her bent double, with tears pouring
from her eyes, had made his stomach ache.
She hadn’t even confronted him that night. Just backed away and caught a ride home from
the dance. Never again did she dog his footsteps or turn those overly brilliant eyes in his
direction. If they ran into each other in the school hallways, she always took care to avert her
face as if he didn’t exist.
To this day, eleven years after he’d tricked her, her large, tearful eyes still haunted him.
Now, whenever possible, they steered clear of one another.
He imagined her reasoning was some prolonged sense of embarrassment. But he’d been
the one who was ashamed. They’d become frenemies of a sort whenever they were in public.
And privately, they avoided each other like the plague.
Exhibit A: Currently, she crept through the shrubbery.
Exhibit B: Here he was, attempting to make himself skinnier than a column—which was
nearly impossible. That’s what he got for all those hours of manual labor in his barn and regular
workouts at the gym.
“Dammit, Eddie!” she muttered. “How the hell am I supposed to get you out of that pool
without help? Levitation?” She sneezed, shot a fist up into the air, and glanced up. “What do you
think, Saul?”
Coop squinted, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him. Nope, they weren’t.
A scurry of squirrels lined a branch over Summer’s head. They chattered among
themselves as if having a discussion about the removal of Eddie from the pool. One furry rodent
got particularly aggressive. If Coop didn’t know better, he’d say it was enthusiasm for its plan. In
its fervor for the subject, the head squirrel misstepped and plunged to the ground.
Summer’s reflexes bordered on the supernatural as she caught the animal mid-air. With a
stroke of one finger over its furry head, she whispered words known only to the animal and

tossed the creature back up to the branch where four other squirrels were leaned over, watching
their companion plummet towards certain death.
“You’re welcome, Saul,” Summer said to the ringleader. “Think nothing of it.” Distracted,
she faced the pool and appeared to contemplate the bigger problem at hand.
Who the hell was this woman? Dr. Doolittle?
“Whatcha doin’?”
The deep voice behind him nearly had Coop coming out of his skin.
“Jesus, Knox! That’s a great way to get shot,” he scolded in little more than a whisper.
“Except you aren’t wearing a gun,” his cousin stated the obvious. “And I happen to live
here.”
“Is that my bacon?”
Knox grinned around a bite of the perfectly cooked meat. “Don’t know. It was sitting on
the counter, waiting to be devoured.”
“Shhh! Lower your voice, or she’ll hear you.”
“She?” asked the voice of an outraged female.
He closed his eyes and sighed. Fighting to keep the sickly look off his face, he spun
around. “Oh hey, Summer.”
The spitting-mad female in question narrowed her eyes and refused to speak.
In an effort to change the subject and not allow himself to think about how much this one
female terrified him, Coop pointed to Eddie. “Your damned elephant is in my pool—again! Want
to tell me what plan you and the Squirrel Mafia came up with to get him out?”
She sucked in air so sharply, she choked. Face an alarming shade of crimson, she attempted
to hack up a lung.
If he took delight as he pounded a little too hard on her back, well, he had to take his
pleasure where he could get it.
Knox handed her his bottle of water, and the grateful look she shot his cousin’s way had
Coop bristling.
At six-two and a hundred ninety-five pounds, Knox had a lean, muscular build designed to
turn a woman’s head. Added to the superb physique, the man’s sun-bleached blond hair and

laughing sapphire eyes cemented his status as town heart-throb. He had only to show that uber-
white smile, and panties dropped left and right.

Summer didn’t appear immune to his cousin’s charms either.
Why the idea of her drooling over Knox bothered him, Coop couldn’t say. After being the
recipient of her blatant crush, he should be happy someone else was now the focus of her
attention.
Except he wasn’t.
“You all right, gorgeous?” Knox asked, the picture of concern.
Coop’s gag reflex triggered. “Laying it on thick, aren’t you, man?”
Both Knox and Summer ignored him.
She ran a shaky hand under her teary eyes and thanked Knox ever-so-sweetly for his
assistance.
“What about my assistance?” Coop asked.
And why the hell was he getting offended? He had absolutely no interest in her. If he never
saw her or a member of her personal zoo again, he’d be ecstatic.
She rolled her eyes and scoffed, “I’ll send you the bill for the chiropractor.”
A bark of laughter escaped Knox.
“C.C.! Help!” Keaton’s shout spurred him into a dead run around the side of the house,
with Knox and Summer fast on his heels.
The sight of a bat-wielding chimpanzee halted them all dead in their tracks. The primate
stood on the hood of Coop’s police cruiser, swinging like an MVP for the New York Yankees.
“What the fu—!”
“Morty, no!”
Summer’s and Coop’s yells canceled each other out.
“Shoot him!” Keaton screamed as the ape wound up to take another swing.
“Don’t you dare!” she screeched.
As Summer moved to intercede, Coop grabbed her arm and yanked her out of harm’s way.
“Are you crazy?” he barked. “Do you know the strength of that animal? He can crack your
head like a walnut.”

“Morty wouldn’t hurt me.”
“Says every victim of a chimpanzee attack,” muttered Knox.
“He wouldn’t,” she stressed. “He has post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ve been counseling
him.”
And with that comment, Summer cemented why everyone in the county thought she was
certifiable. Coop included.
“Knox,” he said quietly. “Get my gun.”
“No!” She fought like a woman possessed.
Morty picked up on her distress and became more agitated by the second. The tip of the
aluminum bat made a sharp clank as it dented the hood of the cruiser.
“Summer, I need you to calm down. The chimp is—”
Keaton’s scream rent the air.
If it came to a choice between his brother or Summer’s monster pet, it was no contest.
Coop would shoot the animal like a rabid dog. “Knox, hustle your ass!”
Knox cast a regretful glance at Summer and ran for the house.
“Cooper, if you shoot him, I will never forgive you.” Her eyes shimmered with unshed
tears. If anything, they looked larger, more heart-wrenching than ever.
His gut clenched. He’d only ever seen her cry the one other time, and the remembered
sight of her silent sobs still made him sick.
“He’s dangerous, Summer. Normally, I would try a tranquilizer, but the tranq gun is in the
Ford. What do you suggest I do?” he asked impatiently.
“Give me a chance to talk to him. I can make him see reason.”
Incredulous, he blurted, “You’re insane!”

Summer winced. She had no illusions as to how this town viewed her. It didn’t matter that
she’d gone to college and earned her degree as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine; she’d always be
the strange woman who kept to herself and collected exotic animals.

Had she held out any hope that Cooper Carlyle might have viewed her in a different light,
it was now gone. Later, when she returned home, she would examine why, after all this time, his
words still had the power to hurt.
Shoving back her shoulders, she cleared her throat. “I’m perfectly sane, Sheriff. Morty was
used for animal testing and was abused by one of the lab techs. Some days, he has flashbacks.
But he’s never hurt a single living being.”
“Then why is he swinging a freaking bat at my head?” Keaton hollered from where he was
trapped between the two vehicles.
“Because he doesn’t know you, Keaton,” she replied. What was obvious to her wasn’t
necessarily obvious to others, but she didn’t have the time to explain. “Now everyone just calm
the fuck down!”
Her hand flew up to cover her mouth and nose. Abruptly, she sneezed.
Oops!
A squeak sounded off to her right, but she refused to look in that direction. She didn’t dare
draw attention to the rodents lining up along the sidewalk. Because consequences like the town’s
soon-to-be-increased mouse population tended to be more than she cared to think about, she kept
her swearing to a minimum.
With any luck, Coop and Keaton wouldn’t notice their new mice infestation.
The sound of the bat smashing against the Ford’s windshield caused Summer to close her
eyes in mental pain. As if she didn’t have enough expenses with the feeding of one perverted
elephant, one chimp with PTSD, a blind owl, three flatulent dogs, about ten too many
kleptomaniac cats, five mischievous squirrels, and seventeen pigmy goats—not to mention her
mobile clinic. Bribing a few officials to get permits for the lame lion she had slotted to come
home this week was going to have to wait until she talked to her finance manager.
“Morty. Come to Mama, sweet boy. Come on,” she urged. She’d have gone to him, but
Coop still had a death grip on her arm.
Her beloved chimp narrowed his eyes on Coop and curled back his lips to bare his teeth. In
a gesture of intimidation, he rose up to his full height. Once again, he raised the bat and brought

it down on what remained of the windshield. The crackle and subsequent sound of shattering
glass filled the air.
Crap!
Morty tended to be possessive of her attention. She had her reservations about his tolerance
should she bring a man home. But in a small town of less than one thousand people, her chances
of a relationship were nil anyway. No one wanted to date the crazy chick.
“Morty, no! That’s not the way we deal with our anger. Remember?” she said softly,
careful to keep her tone soothing.
“Oh. My. God!” Coop bit out.
She could definitely hear the grinding of his teeth, but she ignored him, keeping her focus
on the ape.
“Are you serious right now, Summer?”
His aggression triggered Morty’s, and the ape slammed his bat on the hood of the vehicle
and screamed his rage.
“Morty, baby, you have to behave or no lemon Tastykakes!” It was a last-ditch effort, but
Summer was desperate.
The string of curses emitting from Coop made her cringe.
The lure of lemon Tastykakes did the trick. Morty lowered the bat, cocked his head to the
side, and let out a questioning meep.
“Yep, lemon. Your favorite. But only if you come to Mama right now.” Summer jerked free
of Coop and squatted with her arms wide.
Morty was halfway to her when she heard the cock of a gun. Horror resulted in the speed
of her heart ratcheting into high gear.
That damned trigger-happy bastard intended to shoot her chimp!
“No!” She stood, whirled around, and placed herself between the barrel of the gun and
Morty. Tempering her voice due to the upset shriek behind her, she said, “No, Coop. You’ll have
to shoot me first.”
He looked tempted, as if he contemplated doing just that.
Maybe she shouldn’t have put the idea in his head.

Summer swallowed hard and closed her eyes. The long-term ramifications of him shooting
her chimp didn’t bear thinking about. She’d never be able to look at Coop in the same way again.
While she needed a way to squash her unrequited feelings for him, this was not it.
The love she’d harbored for him would never be reciprocated in her lifetime. She was
convinced that somewhere in the universe a cosmic bookkeeper kept a tally of all the times she’d
made cow eyes at him or secretly wrote Mrs. Summer Carlyle like a flighty teen girl. That
bookkeeper had to be laughing their butt off right about now.
The bat clattered to the pavement, and a warm hand reached up to clasp hers. She sighed
her relief and pivoted toward her pet. “Good boy, Morty.”
He leaped at the same time she tugged. Secure within her embrace, he nuzzled into her
hair. With an arch look in Coop’s direction, she said, “See? He’s really sweet.”
“He’s psychotic. Permit or not, Summer, that animal isn’t safe for you to have around. I’m
going to petition that he be sent to a zoo.”
“And I’ll see you in hell first, Sheriff,” she snarled, any attempt at friendliness gone. She
sneezed. The handful of mice in her periphery doubled. Summer couldn’t worry about that now.
She had to take care of her chimp.
Morty was her baby. She’d had him from a year old, and they’d spent every day for the last
ten months together. Protecting him was second nature, like a mother bear with a cub. Now,
sensing her fear and anger, he pulled back to sign, “Are you okay, Mama?”
“Yes, sweet boy. Mama’s fine. Let’s get you home.”
“What about the damned elephant in my pool?” Coop shouted.
“One crisis at a time. I need to bring Spring back with me. She has a way with Eddie.”
As she strolled away, Summer could feel the eyes of all three men watching her back. She
almost added an extra sway to her hips, but she didn’t want to be accused of trying to entice
Coop. Over the years, she’d taken enough flack for her behavior during her Sophomore and
Junior years.
“Summer!”
She glanced over her shoulder to see three sets of similar eyes watching her with varying
degrees of disbelief.

Coop was the one she focused on.
With a nod toward the smashed windshield, he said, “Bring your checkbook with you
when you come back.”

CHAPTER TWO

“Spring?” Summer called upon entering Thorne Manor. “Sister? Where are you? I’ve got a
serious nine-one-one here.”
Cream cheese bagel in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, Spring sauntered into the
foyer. “Don’t tell me. Eddie is in the Carlyle pool again.”
Summer nodded. “I don’t know how the heck we’re going to remove him either. Three of
the four Carlyle men are present.”
If anyone discovered the Thorne women were witches in bum-fucked rural Tennessee, the
bible-belt of America, then gossip would spread, hell would break loose, and residents would
line the drive with pitchforks. She suspected the locals would recreate the Salem witch trials.
Sure, there were a few open-minded individuals, but as a whole, people were content to go
about their lives firmly entrenched in their belief systems. Any deviation tended to bring out the
ugly. People hated change as much as they swore they didn’t. The idea of witchcraft in this little
town would blow their ever-loving minds.
Her thoughts circled back to Cooper. He’d be the first one tying her to the stake just to be
rid of her.
“We could go with a distraction routine like the last two times. Baked goods and a bikini,”
her sister suggested, chowing down on her bagel. “I have cinnamon buns in the oven.”
“I’m game for that plan. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Summer snagged the coffee mug and
took a sip. After she handed it back, she said, “But you have to be the bikini model this time. I
don’t think I could stand it if Coop believed it’s another ruse to get his attention.”
“Can’t be me. I have to levitate that damned elephant.”

“Then we need to come up with another plan.” Summer shuddered as she remembered the
coldness in Cooper’s steel blue gaze. “One that doesn’t involve me appearing like a pathetic
attention-seeking virgin in front of Coop.”
“You could always let your goats loose in the town square.” Both sisters turned toward the
sound of the cool voice at the top of the stairs. Their oldest sister, Autumn, shrugged and
descended the steps as if she didn’t care one way or another if they accepted her suggestion. “I
would be willing to assist Spring with elephant retrieval. But you’d owe me one—to be collected
at a later date.”
Agreeing would be like making a pact with the Devil, because Autumn’s favors usually
involved Summer getting caught in a humiliating situation. However, she didn’t see where she
had a choice. “But how do I round up the goats after the fact? If I whistle and they all fall in line,
the jig will be up.”
With a flick of her auburn hair over her shoulder, Autumn spaced her words as if Summer
were dull witted. “That’s what Coop and his department are for. Let them round the goats up.”
A quick glance showed Spring thought this was a fine idea. Whatever. Summer would go
with the majority rule on this one.
“Okay. I’ll load up Gertie and her sixteen siblings. You two change into bikinis in case we
need a backup plan. Once I’ve released the goats in town square, I’ll text you.” Summer
swallowed her self-contempt and asked, “Do you think when this is all done, one of you could,
you know, make Coop forget the whole incident? I’d hate to be on his radar any more than I
already am.”
The twin looks of pity caused her to die a little inside. Why did she have to be the family
failure in their little sisterly quartet? If one freaking spell worked properly for her, she’d faint
from the sheer shock.
Unable to handle the shame, she averted her eyes.
“I’ll take care of it,” Autumn assured her. “Now go.”
“Oh, and I need a check to cover the damage to Cooper’s police cruiser,” she hedged.
“What happened to his cruiser?” her two sisters asked in stereo.
“Morty had an episode. Tried to use Keaton’s head for batting practice.”

Delighted, Autumn clapped her hands and laughed. “Remind me to give Morty an extra
banana with his Cheerios. And I’ve got you covered on the check. I just wish I could’ve seen
Keaton’s face.”
“He screamed like a terrified little girl.”
They all broke into laughter at the thought of the studly Keaton emitting a high-pitched
scream of terror.
Autumn took extra pleasure. The two had dated in the past, and while her sister never
confessed what happened to destroy their relationship, they hadn’t ended it amicably. Within the

span of three months, Keaton married another woman, and Autumn became a full-fledged card-
carrying member of the Grudge Club.

Spring sobered first. “Go, before Coop calls animal control. We’ll head over shortly.”
With a nod of thanks, Summer headed out to the animal barn.
It took a bit of encouragement, but Gertie led the way into the small trailer. Where Gertie
went, so did her sisters. Not dissimilar to Summer and her own sisters.
Of course of the four of them, Autumn was usually the one who led the other three straight
into trouble. It had been that way since they were small. Probably because she was the oldest of
the four, she tended to be the bossiest. Not that Spring, Summer, or their other sister, Winter—
affectionately called Winnie—minded. Autumn’s schemes were always great fun.
A short while later, Summer eased into the parking lot behind the Leiper’s Fork church
close to the center of downtown. A quick peek around showed the lot was empty. Now was the
perfect time to strike.
“Okay, Gertie. Do you know what to do?”
“Do those animals really answer you?” a soft voice asked, nearly causing Summer to shed
her skin.
The owner of that young voice was none other than Chloe Carlyle, Keaton’s eight-year-old
daughter.
Freaking great!

Kids were notorious for spilling the beans, and this one was the daughter of the mayor and
niece to the sheriff. Where she’d come from in the seconds since Summer scanned the area was
anyone’s guess.
“Uh, in a manner of speaking,” Summer hedged. “Where’s your dad?”
The dirty, dark-haired tomboy eyed her with suspicion. “Why?”
“Maybe because you’re eight years old and too young to be gallivanting all over town by
yourself? Keaton should keep better track of you.”
“You know what I think, Miss Summer? I think you were about to let those goats loose.”
Panic wrapped its big fat fingers around her throat and squeezed. Called out by a kid.
“That’s a dang lie!” Why was she the one sounding like a defensive child?
A smirk appeared and reminded Summer that Chloe was indeed part of the smartass
Carlyle clan. “If you don’t tell me what you’re doing with the goats, I’m going to scream for my
dad. He isn’t too happy with you right now.”
The Morty Incident.
Had Summer nearly been on the receiving end of a bat, she might not look too favorably
on the owner of the chimpanzee swinging it. Keaton Carlyle had to be ready to string the Thorne
women up.
“Fine. I was about to let them loose. They need to stretch their legs. I thought I’d let them
run around the parking lot since it’s deserted.”
Chloe lifted a brow. “Wrong.”
Red faced, Summer challenged the little tyrant. “What makes you the authority on goat
herding?”
“You’re trying to cause trouble. Uncle Coop said you specialize in trouble.”
“Your Uncle Coop is an as—”
“Don’t say anything you’re going to regret, sister.”
Saved by Winnie’s arrival, Summer took a deep breath and counted to ten.
“Everybody knows you are in love with him,” Chloe continued to taunt.
Temper rattled, Summer lifted her hand.

“We don’t zap small children,” Winnie warned in a whisper as she grabbed Summer’s wrist
and squeezed. “Even if the little shits deserve it.” With a twitch of her fingers, Winnie sent Chloe
on her way.
“I am going to assume she won’t remember we were here?” Summer asked, throwing back
the bolt to the trailer door.
“Not a second of it. Why didn’t you cloak the area when you pulled up?”
Summer cast her sister an exasperated glance. “Oh, I don’t know. Probably because I’d
encase the town in smog or something equally as awful?”
“Point taken.”
It was no secret in the Thorne family that Summer’s magic was hit or miss on a good day.
When emotions ran high, the results were almost always in the miss column.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Spring called and said you might need help. Wonderful sister that I am, I thought I’d pop
over. Not a second too soon.”
In the process of swinging the door open, Summer paused. “You popped over?”
With a dismissive wave of her hand, Winnie snorted. “No one saw me. I made sure to
cloak myself.”
Her sister’s superior skill in all things magic pissed Summer off most days. Why couldn’t
the juju be spread out evenly? She’d be satisfied to master one freaking spell.
The ability to conceal her actions would be nice. To hide behind an optical illusion? Yeah,
she could’ve used that more than once during high school. But better she didn’t possess the
ability. She’d have been tempted to spy on Coop in the locker room showers.
Wait! Did her sisters get away with doing that?
“Did you ever use your cloaking ability for nefarious purposes?” Summer demanded.
“Define nefarious.”
Clearing her throat, she relayed her thoughts.
Winnie’s grin was answer enough.
“You saw Coop in the altogether?” Summer demanded in outraged.
“Not Coop. Zane. And damn, was it amazing!”

“It being it?” At her sister’s nod, curiosity got the better of her. “How big?”
Hands spread close to nine inches apart, Winnie giggled.
“Dang. Maybe I lusted after the wrong Carlyle back then.”
“Back then?” Winnie snorted. “Still.”
“Not hardly.”
Winnie duplicated Chloe’s skeptical look.
“Shut up and help me release Gertie and her crew. We have work to do.”

* * *

“Sheriff Carlyle.”
Coop placed his coffee mug on the deck rail to press the transmit button on the radio
attached to his hip. “Go ahead.”
“We have a problem.”
Didn’t they always if his dispatch was calling? “What’s up, Lil?”
“The town has been overrun with goats.”
“Goats?”
“Yes, sir. Goats.”
He cast a contemplative look at Eddie. “Whose goats?”
“I believe they may belong to Summer Thorne.”
Coop wanted to cuss and kick the nearest object. That woman’s menagerie was going to be
the death of him.
“Where’s Aimes? He’s supposed to be on patrol in town.”
“He’s on scene. But he says they aren’t normal goats.”
“Uh huh. What’s so abnormal about them?”
“He didn’t say. Only to tell you to get downtown STAT.”
“I’m on my way, Lil. Tell him to stay put.”
The time had come to do something about Summer and her varmints.

“And, Lil? Set up an emergency board meeting tonight. First thing on the agenda is
shutting down Summer Thorne’s personal zoo.”
“Yes, sir.”
Did he detect censure in Lil’s tone? “She’s a menace, Lil.”
“She?”
“Uh, her animals.”
“Ten-four.”
Yep. He definitely detected censure, in addition, a liberal sprinkling of knowing in the
word “she”.
He threw the remains of his tepid coffee into a nearby bush and cast one last backward
glance at the giant Don Juan in his pool.
As if Eddie knew he was in the clear for a bit, he grinned and shot water from his trunk.
Coop pinned the elephant in place with a glare and shouted, “Stay away from my mares!”
A trumpeted call was Eddie’s response.
Displeased with the whole mess, Coop stalked to his cruiser. Correction, his smashed up
cruiser.
Sonofabitch!
He’d forgotten about the windshield. No way could he drive that vehicle. Looked like he
was driving Keaton’s old Ford today. With any luck, the junker would get him to the station to
pick up another squad car.
One more thing to lay at Summer’s door.
As he climbed into the cab, he studied the woods along the West side of his property. A
prickle along his spine told him someone was lurking about.
He flipped open his phone and dialed Knox. “Hey, man. I’m heading to town. Do me a
favor and keep an eye on that elephant and the horses, will you? Also, be sure to lock up tight.”
“Another feeling?”
“Yeah, call me paranoid, but...”
“No need to explain, Coop. We all know your intuition is usually spot on.”
He chuckled as he backed out of the driveway. “Usually?”

“Well, I’d only call into question your judgment on one thing.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“Summer Thorne. That chick is smoking hot and clearly adores you.”
“Not this again.” Coop sighed his disgust.
“I’m just sayin’.”
“Enough about Summer Thorne. She’s the reason I’m heading to town. Her and her
damned animals.”
“Then you’ll have no problem if I ask her out?”
The steering wheel jerked in his hands. An oncoming driver honked his concern when
Coop crossed the dotted line.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
Did he have a problem with Knox dating Summer? Why did the idea of his cousin hooking
up with Summer cause Coop’s pulse to kick into high gear? It didn’t bear thinking about.
“What are we talking here, Knox? Your standard quick lay or something more
meaningful?” His voice came across more gruff than usual, but it couldn’t be helped. He may not
want a relationship with Summer, but he didn’t care to see her hurt.
“Summer’s a good girl, Coop. I’m not planning to hit it and quit it.”
Irritable and out of sorts, he punched the dash.
“What was that? Coop? You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied. “I have no problem with you asking Summer out. She means
nothing to me.”
“Good. I didn’t want to step on any toes if you were interested.”
“Nope. No toes to step on.”
“I didn’t think so. I mean, it isn’t like she’s ever forgiven you for that bonehead move at
prom.”
And she never would.
“You have your answer, Knox. Just go check on her damned elephant, will ya?”
On the drive to town, he examined why the idea of his cousin in a relationship with
Summer bothered him. Perhaps his shame played a major role. Or maybe, because he was bound

to see her more often than he already did if she started dating Knox, it would bring up all the old
crap from the past. It certainly wasn’t because he was interested in her himself.
Knox was correct in one thing, Summer did indeed have a smoking hot body. All delicious
curves meant for long, steamy nights of wild monkey sex. He imagined her thick mane of hair
fisted in his hand as he slammed into her.
In his sexual daydream, Coop nearly missed the turn for town. He shook his head at his
own stupidity. Never going to happen. If he’d had a chance with Summer, it had long-since
passed.
The sight that greeted Coop when he arrived downtown was pure chaos. Intersection traffic
was blocked as well as the entrance to multiple side streets.
What appeared to be miniature goats ran about hairy scary—until a horn blared or an irate
driver shook their fist with a yell. Then, like an in-sync water ballet, all the goats would tip over
on their sides, legs straight out as if they’d gone belly up for good.
Curses could be heard over the din. All of them directed at a flustered Summer Thorne.
Coops gaze connected with hers across the road between them.
Hers quickly dropped to the pavement, and a slight pink blush lit her cheeks.
God, she was beautiful with her bright blonde curls and her flashing blue eyes. Her smooth
complexion was marred only by a light dusting of freckles across her nose.
Not that he could see her freckles from this distance, but there wasn’t an inch of her face
he hadn’t memorized the day he’d tore her heart from her chest. His gaze swept the length of her
curvy figure, and his mouth watered. All his fantasies came flooding back.
Yep, he was an idiot eleven years ago for chasing her away, and again today for giving
Knox the green light to pursue her.
With a heavy sigh, he started forward. “Summer!”
A mass bleating echoed off the brick buildings, then all the goats toppled where they stood.
“For the love of—.” He bit off the curse and hurried to her side. “Care to tell me why your
herd is in the middle of downtown when you should be getting that pervert out of my pool?”
Titters of laughter sounded around them, and he glared his response.

Pedestrians scurried away with the occasional backward glance. Where Summer went,
drama was sure to follow.
Her chin shot up and challenge lit her eyes. “I told you, Spring needed to remove Eddie.”
“Uh, huh. So why this?” He waved his arm to encompass the entire street.
Her delectable mouth opened and closed twice—he knew because it was all he could focus
on—and she frantically glanced about as if looking for something or someone to save her.
“Summer, start talking.”
“Maybe we could shelve this for another time, Sheriff.” Winnie sashayed up and wrapped a
slender arm around her sister’s shoulders. “I think the important thing is to help round up these
goats.”
“Care to enlighten me how we go about doing that?” He shot a sharp glance at a
suspiciously quiet Summer. “If I’m not mistaken, these are fainting goats. Any sudden movement
and they drop.”
The sisters shared a secretive look.
They were playing him.
His anger began on a low simmer.
Summer chose that moment to comment. “Exceedingly skittish fainting goats. They were
rescued from—”
His temper erupted. “I don’t give a rat’s ass where they were rescued from or why the hell
they are ‘exceedingly skittish’, Summer.” Using one finger, he tipped up her chin as he leaned in
to relay his point. “You have five minutes to get them off the streets, or I take matters into my
own hands. Are we clear?” A tap of his gun holster clarified his threat. Not that he intended to
shoot her pets, but she didn’t need to know that. If it got her butt in gear and the animals in hand,
he’d use whatever bluff he could.
“You’re evil,” she whispered hoarsely, emotion choking off the tail end of her accusation.
God, please don’t let her cry.
A woman’s tears ripped his insides out. Who was he kidding? This woman’s tears ripped
his insides out.

“Yeah, no one could accuse me of being an angel. But the law is the law, and you’re
breaking it. Shall I tally the offenses?” His thumb caressed the soft skin of her jawline and was at
direct odds with his words.
Damned if her skin wasn’t like silk to the touch. His eyes followed the movement of his
thumb. Was the rest of her equally soft and smooth? And why was his mind suddenly
preoccupied with thoughts of a naked Summer Thorne? He shifted closer.
“Sheriff Carlyle?”
He ignored the summons behind him, lost to the beating pulse at Summer’s throat. The tan
column begged his lips to—.
“Uh, Coop?” the person behind him persisted.
“What?” he snapped, bringing his head around.
“Keaton’s old Ford is on fire,” Deputy Aimes informed him.

CHAPTER THREE

Summer stood shell-shocked and helpless against Coop’s touch. How many times had she
longed for him to wake up and notice her as a woman?
Too many to count.
Now that it happened—granted in the middle of a busy downtown—she froze like a
pathetic loser.
He swore and hurried toward the blazing vehicle, leaping over the goats that toppled left
and right.
“Wow. The whole town witnessed that little display. Think Coop was making his interest
known?” Winnie asked as she came to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
Because coherent sentence forming was impossible, Summer blinked and shrugged. What
was that all about? They’d made avoiding each other a science. Today, they’d broken their
unspoken avoidance rule and encountered each other twice in one day.

Autumn joined Winnie and Summer on the sidewalk. “Mission accomplished. Eddie is
safely back home.” She shot an admiring look in Summer’s direction. “Way to distract Coop,
sister. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
She didn’t, but Summer didn’t intend to tell them otherwise.
“Where’s Spring?” Winnie asked.
“She stayed behind to taunt Knox.” A flash of white teeth indicated Autumn’s amusement.
“She was forced to resort to the bathing suit distraction. Or that’s what she’ll swear happened.”
“The poor bastard doesn’t stand a chance,” Winnie mumbled.
The other two nodded their heads in agreement.
“That was Keaton’s old red Ford, right?” The glee in Autumn’s voice was suspicious.
Summer nodded and raised a questioning brow. “Please tell me you’re not the one
responsible for the fire.”
“Pfft. Who, me? I will say Granny Thorne’s concealment spell works fabulously well
though.”
Summer and Winnie groaned.
Autumn’s Grudge Club ticket had just been validated.
“Time to get the heck outta here before Coop comes back. He doesn’t look happy.”
Summer let loose a sharp whistle.
Gertie and her posse jumped to their feet and formed a line. Like an army of four-legged
soldiers, they trotted in two rows of single formation toward the church parking lot.
“Oh, shit.”
Summer’s head whipped to where Autumn pointed.
Disbelief warred with outrage on Coop’s countenance as he stared at her perfectly behaved
herd. When his fury-filled gaze touched on her, Summer shivered. She needed to get a move on.
The last thing she wanted was to wind up in a cell at the sheriff’s department.
“You’re in big trouble,” Winnie sang.
“Well, I’m not waiting around to deal with his temper. Can’t you, ya know...” Summer
wiggled her fingers behind her hand. “... make everyone forget we were ever here? Like you did
with Chloe.”

“That was the initial plan, but there are too many people. I’m not sure a simple finger-wave
is going to cut it.”
Autumn agreed with Winnie. “It’s going to take a stronger spell.”
“What are we supposed to do? Sneak in and dump a potion in the town’s water supply?”
Summer desperately suggested. The guilty looks from her sisters sparked her outrage. “This is
exactly what I need; another strike against me. This town is going to run me out on a rail!”
“Overdramatic much?” Autumn laughed.
“The freaking goats were your idea!”
“If I told you to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?”
A swan dive off the Brooklyn Bridge sounded great right about then. It didn’t take a genius
to recognize the dirty scowls directed her way meant Summer was the most hated individual in
town at the moment.
She pointed a finger at Autumn. “You suck!”
“Never on the first date and only if he—”
Winnie’s hand over Autumn’s mouth stemmed the retort. “Let’s get a move on. The lynch
mob is forming, and with the way our sheriff looks at the moment, I’m of the belief he might
assist instead of have them desist.”
The three of them beat a hasty retreat, racing around the corner of the building and
laughing like a pack of wild hyenas. Once in the parking lot, Winnie spun back and waved her
hands. The air around them pulsed once then solidified to a normal appearance.
“Let’s get you loaded, ladies,” Summer said to the goats.
The rapid pounding of soles on the pavement caught their attention. Everyone froze. Even
the goats paused to witness Coop approach. When he stopped short, ten feet away, they all
exhaled a collective breath.
Like a bewildered beast, he swung his head back and forth in his search for the Thorne
sisters.
Summer sidled up to Winnie, licked her lips nervously, and whispered, “Can he hear us?”
“No. The spell cloaks sound as well. Or mostly it does.” Winnie offered up a delicate
shrug. “I imagine if there is horrendous banging or screaming, it might be a different story.”

“Yeah, none of this is suspicious at all.” Autumn snorted and snapped her fingers. Gertie
and crew loaded into the trailer with minimal noise.
As her hungry eyes devoured Coop, Summer said, “I really need to perfect this particular
spell.”
“So much for not lusting after the sheriff,” Winnie said with a snigger.
Summer flipped her off. “Shut up and get in the van.”
“This is how every bad abduction starts,” Autumn inserted.
“There’s such a thing as a good abduction?” Winnie asked as she climbed through the side
door.
“Why couldn’t I have been an only child?” Although Summer complained, she didn’t mean
it. She wouldn’t trade her family for anything in the world.
With a quick crank of the engine, they were on their way.
Coop grew smaller in the rearview mirror until he disappeared.
Why couldn’t her obsessive thoughts of him go the same route?

* * *

Cooper had to be losing his mind. There was no other explanation. How else did three
women and a herd of roughly twenty fainting goats disappear in less than two minutes?
Luckily, he knew Summer’s ultimate destination.
Unluckily, he had no transportation to get to said destination.
He turned and stalked back the way he’d come. As he approached the smoldering Ford,
Coop caught his brother’s angry vibe.
That POS Ford had been Keaton’s favorite toy. Keaton and his daughter, Chloe, had
invested their time trying to restore the 1950s F1 to its former glory.
In Coop’s opinion, the old rust bucket was a money pit. Parts needed to be custom made
and took weeks, sometimes months, to get. Still, it gave his brother and niece a project to bond
over.

“I’m sorry, Keaton. I needed to get to town and the cruiser wasn’t safe to drive in that
condition.” Coop rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’ll pay for the damage.”
“Was Autumn here?”
He frowned and nodded. “Yeah, but not right here. She was across the street.”
“Uh huh.”
“You think this is her fault?”
“Oh, I don’t think. I know.”
“Keaton, don’t make accusations you can’t back up.”
His brother ignored him and studied the neighboring buildings. Apparently, he found what
he was looking for because a triumphant, evil grin spread across his face. “Bingo.”
Coop followed Keaton’s line of sight to an exterior security camera.
The two of them shared a questioning look and lifted their brows.
That camera, if working, would provide the evidence they both needed. Coop had no doubt
Summer’s little fiasco with the goats was staged. He just didn’t know why. The video footage
might give him an idea.
“Come on. Let’s see what Old Man Harkins caught on tape.” He checked both ways before
leading the charge to the hardware store.
The recording proved nothing except Old Man Harkins was a crotchety pain in the ass who
refused to cooperate until threatened with a court order, and the Thorne sisters were piss-poor
goat herders. It could be said they weren’t trying very hard to gather the animals, but no
definitive proof of mischief could be detected.
Keaton muttered about sneaky witches and their desire for revenge.
While Coop didn’t feel the women warranted being called names, he did mull over the
revenge factor.
Perhaps Keaton was right. Maybe the Thornes had it in for the Carlyles. After all, the
Thorne estate had been in the women’s family for generations, and before they moved to town,
their grandfather, Preston Thorne, resided there. It was no secret Grandpa Carlyle and Preston
had hated each other.

Coop had thought the ridiculous feud died out with his grandparents’ generation, but
perhaps it hadn’t. Maybe the sisters and their father, the current Preston Thorne, kept it alive and
well.
Had Coop and Keaton reactivated old grievances with their romantic slights to Summer
and Autumn? What was the saying? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?
His cousin Knox needed to be warned. If he truly intended to date Summer, he could be
walking into a minefield. Coop wasn’t about to let that happen. Or that’s what he told himself. If
he had other, more personal, reasons to prevent Knox from asking her out, Coop refused to
acknowledge them.
“I heard you called an emergency meeting tonight.”
Keaton’s words startled Coop. He’d been lost in thought and forgotten he was in the
middle of downtown.
“Uh, yeah. I thought we should address Summer Thorne’s animal issues. You know, the
Babe Ruth of chimps, Marty.”
“Morty,” Keaton corrected absently with a glance at his watch.
“Whatever. Between him and that Casanova of an elephant, we have a problem.”
“C.C., she is going to hate you if try to take away her rescues. They’ve practically become
her pets.”
“Those ‘pets’ are out of control, Keaton. What if it was Chloe that chimp raged on this
morning? She’d be dead right now.” He sighed and shook his head, secure in his decision. “And
Eddie is making eyes at our breeding stock. If he decided to do anything other than show off his
swimming prowess, he could injure one of the mares. We can’t afford the risk.”
Keaton ran his hands through his dark hair, spiking the thick strands in his irritation.
“Look, I get it. But you’d better be prepared for the fallout. My F1 was a casualty of Autumn’s
rage—nearly nine years later! You’ve already got a strike against you with Summer. You do this,
and man, I don’t want to be in your shoes.”
With a point of his finger at the charred vehicle, Coop scoffed at Keaton. “You don’t know
this was Autumn’s doing. Let’s deal with one issue at a time.”
His brother glanced at his watch a third time in as many minutes.

“What’s the deal, man? You have somewhere to be?”
Keaton nodded. “Yeah. City Council meeting. As Mayor, I’m required to attend, but Diane
is late picking up Chloe. It’s her week to have her.”
“Where is Chloe, anyway? I’d have thought she’d have gotten a kick out of the goats.”
“She’s with her friends at the park.”
“Look, if you need to run, I can wait on the tow truck. I have to be here to take statements
from a few of the bystanders. When I’m done with that, I’ll check on Chloe.”
“Thanks, C.C.. Will you text me with the time of the meeting tonight?”
Coop watched his brother hurry away toward the city building before he phoned Lil to
send the next tow truck driver on rotation.
“Yes, sir. The meeting to discuss Summer’s rescue is on the agenda for tonight at six. I’ve
notified all parties involved.”
A sick dread built inside him. All parties involved meant she’d already placed a call to
Summer. “How did she take it?”
“She had a few creative choice words for you, Sheriff.”
When Lil resorted to calling him Sheriff, she was displeased.
“Why do I feel like she has a sympathetic ear in you, Lil?”
“Because she does. I think you’re wrong, but I’m just the hired help.”
A snort of disbelief escaped. Lil was no more the hired help than Morty was a sweet baby.
She practically ran the entire town on her own.
“Will you be there tonight?”
“Yes, Sheriff. I’ll be there in support of Summer. She’s doing a wonderful thing for those
poor animals.”
“Lil,” he groaned. “How will it look if you support her? You’re supposed to be on the side
of public safety.”
Her tone changed from frosty to frigid. “I have never once not looked out for the welfare of
this town in all my fifty-eight years, Cooper Neal Carlyle. I resent you insinuating differently.”
Crap. As his mother’s life-long best friend, Lil was practically his second mom. Everyone
knew when a mother used a middle name you were in deep shit.

“You happen to be wrong because you can’t see straight where that gal is concerned.”
He almost asked what gal, when she clarified.
“You could do a whole lot worse than Summer Thorne. In fact, you have.”
When did this become about his love life? “Let’s keep on track with the reason for this
phone call, Lil. My love life is not up for discussion.”
Her humph told him that he’d offended her greatly. Freaking awesome. The next month of
his work life would be a living hell.
“Six o’clock, city hall, Sheriff.”
She hung up before he could apologize.
“Was that about Miss Summer, Uncle Coop?”
He glanced around to see Chloe and two young boys roughly her same age perched on the
edge of their bike seats, one leg out to the side to balance their ride.
“Why do you ask, midget?”
Her lips formed a grimace at the endearment.
Oops! He’d forgotten she didn’t care to be called the nickname in front of friends. Another
female he’d pissed off today. He was three for three.
Surprisingly, she answered. “Because you get that funny look on your face when you talk
about her.”
Funny look?
He hadn’t realized the question popped out until she answered.
“Yeah, like you sucked on a lemon.”
The boys laughed, and Chloe delighted 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? He was mush when faced with a weepy female.
“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...

CHAPTER FOUR

“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 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 in 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 Autumn’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 was 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 III, 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 of them. Only one 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! I want to talk to 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 once
again dipped to where her fingers rested before snapping above chin level.
“Why do you think she set fire to your truck? Couldn’t it be the thing was an old piece of
crap with crossed wires?” Winnie hedged.
Wrong thing to say.
His already dark countenance blackened. “I’ve 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 women stepped backward.
He continued on his trajectory, not stopping until Autumn was up 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, effectively portraying 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, they 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 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. “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 tiny 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 them all, 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 bled 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. Seventeen 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.” Autumn 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 has coated you. 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.”
Thirty minutes later, the sisters all utilized their specific element inside the circle. They
called to the Goddess to ask for guidance and protection of Summer’s sanctuary.

Through it all, a raven perched in the rafters watching the proceedings. When the circle
was closed, he cawed and swooped down on Summer’s shoulder to nuzzle his head under her
chin.
“Mr. Black approves of our work here today,” she laughed and rubbed the head of Spring’s
familiar. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Blackie Boy. Cooper Carlyle doesn’t stand a chance
against the Thornes.” ...