Cursed

“My ass is sore, Thorin. Are we almost there?” A chestnut-haired beauty pressed her hands against her back and stretched away from the pain of four straight days sitting in a wagon.

The dark-haired man beside her rolled his green eyes away from her newest complaint as it lingered in the air of the sultry Louisiana August morning. “Not much longer now, Sweet Girl.”

It finally dawned on her that the only scenery they passed so far was farmland, and she sighed as her fat red lips pouted. “Please tell me there’s some kind of proper shopping and entertainment here. I don’t want to be just sitting around talking to you all day.”

The leather straps pulled a little tighter around his fist as he did his best not to snap at his ordinarily pleasant sister. “I understand it isn’t easy for a young woman to be stuck out here in the country with nothing to do, but we’re in hiding, remember?”

A house came into view through the trees, and he nudged her with his elbow. “We’re home.”

With a quick yank on the reins, the horse pulled right as he made the turn for the drive, and the weeping willow trees lining the sandy driveway presented them with an old white-washed French Colonial. She gasped and threw her hand dramatically over her chest. “Oh, Thorin!” Her hands clapped together before she pointed at the porch. “Look at that swing! I love it.”

Trotting around the driveway circle, the horse came to a stop at the front porch. The dapper gentleman’s perfectly combed hair fell over his eyes as he jumped down from the seat, and he gave his curly locks a push back with his hands before he gave one to Imara. “Go on in and air the place out.”

Little clouds of dust puffed from her skirt as her hands patted it down, and her eyes darted around the old house. “Yes, sir, this will do fine.”

It took a few slaps of her palm against the key to make the lock click, but eventually, the door popped open. The stench of the dusty old house that was closed up too long poured from the door, and Imara coughed as she swatted it away. “Lord have mercy! Thorin, can you bring me my bag, please? It needs a proper saging; this place is full of spirits.”

After he chuckled at her childish fears, he leaned across the buggy and grabbed her bag from the floor. “We’re witches, for Pete’s sake!”

The horse pulling down the drive whinnied, and Thorin narrowed his eyes to the wagon leaving a trail of dust in its wake. He jogged up the stairs and tossed her bag into her arms. “Here you go.” His hands rested on his hips as he smiled and inched away. “Now, when you’re all done chasing away the boogeyman, can you come out and help us with the crates and bags? They’re coming down the road now.”

The back of her hand waved him off as she crossed over the threshold and glanced around the foyer. “I won’t be long.”

With a snap of her fingers, the bundle of sage she pulled from her bag smoked, and she waved it around the rooms as she passed through each one, peeking through one eye while she navigated her way through the house. “Begone, you all. You don’t live here anymore.”

Thorin was waiting for her with the sheets he’d removed from the furniture in his arms when she rounded the corner. “So, what are your thoughts?”

Her slightly upturned nose wrinkled as she nodded. “I got a good feeling; better things are coming for us.”

The giant of a human wearing denim overalls carried a trunk through the door on his shoulder like a bag of feathers. “Where should I put this?”

Imara nodded her head to the other side of the foyer and waved her hand. “The kitchen’s this way.”

The scuffs of her soft leather shoes across the wooden floor got Shaw’s attention, and he glanced up to see her smiling up at him as she inched backward. “What do you think, Shaw?”

He set the trunk on the floor as the thin, blonde butler squeezed around him and laid a crate on the table. His red handkerchief blotted the sweat off his bald head, and he shrugged. “Not a lot of neighbors; seems safe enough. You like it?”

Little hands came together at her chin as if she were praying he’d say yes. “I do. Maybe we could stay here a while this time.”

A smirk and a hot puff of air shot from his mouth as he wiped his neck and wagged his finger. “Don’t go falling in love with this place. This is the third time we’ve moved this year.”

She slumped into a chair with a sigh and puckered her lips in disappointment. “Who’s going to come looking for us out here in the boondocks?”

His massive hand wrapped around her chin as he lifted it to meet his eyes when he bent down. “Things are safe when I say they are.”

A plump woman with fiery orange hair set down a stack of dishes on the sideboard and shoved her fists on her hips as she narrowed her eyes at the two of them. “Are you going to help me? We have deliveries coming and nowhere to put them.”

“Yes, Miss Sofia.” Imara tucked her hair behind her ear and stepped out the side door to meet Thomas with a box ready to hand her.

His blue eyes met her green ones, and he gave her a disapproving shake of his head. “You’re far too old to have Shaw dictating your life to you. You should be off having your own adventures.”

She pulled the box against her chest and scoffed at the thought of it. “They treat me like a child.”

Shaw jerked another trunk from the wagon with the grit of his teeth and placed it on his shoulder. “Stop flapping your gums and move your ass.”

The Englishman pushed his curly blonde hair back on his head and pointed at Shaw. “You’re not her father or any kind of relative at all. It isn’t your place to talk to her that way.”

It wasn’t the first time someone reminded him of his family role, but Shaw didn’t care what anyone thought. “I’ve been watching over her since the day she was born. I’m as much her father as anyone.”

The blast of increasingly brutal summer heat slapped Imara’s face as she returned outside the kitchen door, where Thorin was inspecting the home. With his arms crossed, Shaw shook his head and inched away from the limb sticking out of the roof. “We’re going to need a few workers. Someone has to climb up there, and I’m sure as hell not doing it.”

A throaty cackle came from the handsome old witch as he grabbed the hulk’s arm for support when he bent over laughing. “I never thought I’d live to see the day!” He sighed and wiped the tears from his eyes as he tried to compose himself. “A giant ass man like you afraid of heights.”

He nearly fell when Shaw shoved his hand into his arm and pushed him away. “Shut up, asshole!”

The beating of hooves on the ground made Imara cup her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun as she peeked down the driveway. A wagon with a lone rider stopped in front of them, and the black-haired driver hopped down from the carriage when he saw her standing there. “It’s you.”

The jolt of the tall, dark stranger’s feet hitting the ground was like a bolt of lightning charging through the ground between them, straight to the young witch’s nerves. She shifted on her feet to keep steady when the quake came to her legs, and they buckled.

The bright sun hit his broad shoulders, and Imara could make out the lines of his perfect muscles through his dirty, tattered shirt. Every step closer he came brought a flip-flop to her heart, and her knees grew a little weaker.

Imara glowed like a wildfire while she stood there bathed in sunlight, and he slipped his fingertips through his hair to catch a better glimpse of her magic. A hot breeze caught her body, and it carried the scent of apple pie as the trembling man walked through it. He understood then and there that she belonged to him.

Peeling his eyes away from her long enough to offer his hand to the man beside her, Ben lifted his chin to Thorin. “Mr. Parker. I’m Ben Logan.”

“Oh yes, Mr. Logan.” After shaking his hand, Thorin pointed at him as he glanced over at his sister. “Imara, this is Ben. His family runs the farm right down the road from us.” Dark eyes burned with jealousy as they minded every movement Thorin made as he slid his hand around her back and tugged her to his chest. “Why don’t you say hello to the nice man, Sweet Girl?”

The farmer held his hand over his breaking heart as if he could catch each piece as it fell to the ground, and his eyes followed along as he tipped his head to her. “Mrs. Parker.”

A blast of high-pitched laughter came from the pit of her stomach, and her hand slapped to her chest as she waved the other one in the air in front of her. “Good Lord, no!”

A mouthful of perfect white teeth smiled at the confused deliveryman as Thorin shook his head. “No, Mr. Logan. This lovely creature standing beside me is my sister.” She wiped her eyes with her fingertips until Thorin nudged her with his arm. “Imara, would you be so kind as to introduce Ben to Sofia?”

“Yes, of course, I will.” After she fanned her face and dried her eyes, she nodded to the house. Every primal instinct Ben possessed kicked into gear when her fingers met his arm and tugged him along with her. “Please, come with me, sir.”

Tingles spread over her back while she led him around the side of the house, and she realized he was watching her move. She glanced back over her shoulder to find his eyes on her ass, but they snapped up to hers as soon as Sofia’s voice came from the kitchen.

A blue dishtowel took a quick swipe of the inside of a cup before Sofia draped it over her shoulder and held out her hand. “How do you do?”

Like he was dead for a hundred years, and she was the hand of God, each cell of Ben’s body instantly sprung to life when Imara touched his shoulder. “Sofia, this is Ben Logan from the farm down the lane.” It left behind a cold ache that seeped deep into his bones when she snatched her healing hand away and held it out before her. “Mr. Logan, this is our cook, Miss Sofia.”

Every good manner he ever learned disappeared when his thumb motioned over his shoulder without ever taking his eyes off Imara. “I have your grocery delivery, Miss Sofia.”

Her wise blue eyes darted between the two awkward souls gazing at each other in front of her and nodded to the kitchen door. “You can bring it around the side here, dear.”

The witch fidgeted with the charm on her necklace while explored every inch of him until he cleared his throat when he caught her. The alabaster skin on her face became the deepest shade of pink as she blinked away, but he tugged at her fingers and breathed across her ear before he left. “I’ll be back right back.”

The moment he rounded the corner of the house and disappeared, she fanned her face and turned into Sofia’s arms. “Great balls of fire!”

A shrill cackle came from Sofia’s nose as she rested her chin on the top of Imara’s head. “Yes, he’s quite a handsome fella, isn’t he?”

Sofia rocked her back and forth against her chest, and Imara laughed at the way her body turned against her. “My knees are shaking.”

Chubby hands slid to Imara’s shoulders as Sofia pushed her back and met her eyes. “Yes, I think he was feeling the same.”

The Healer’s hand moved over her heart to soothe the flutter, only to have it kick back in when the wagon wheels rattled as they circled the driveway. “Really? How can you tell?”

She tugged Imara into her side, and she whispered in her ear as the wagon came to a stop in front of them. “He was breathing so hard that I thought he might faint right here on the ground.”

Sofia passed through the doorway to clear a space and give them privacy as Ben climbed down from the carriage. The only words that came when Imara opened her mouth to speak were the ones her brother yelled as he came looking for her. “Imara!”

“Just a moment, Ben.” She held up a thin, shivering finger and peeked around his shoulder. “Yes. Did you need something?”

Still buttoning his vest as Thorin came to her side, he nodded at Ben before he tucked in his watch and pressed his fists on his hips. “I need to run into town to find someone to help fix the roof. Would you like to ride along and keep me company?”

Two fingers waved back and forth in front of Ben as he broke into their conversation. “I can do that for you, Mr. Parker.”

The charming wizard never met a stranger, and he wrapped his arm around Ben’s shoulder, then tugged him into his side like they were already family. “Well, that would be fantastic!” He rubbed the stubble on his chin and shrugged as he stepped away. “Whenever you have a spare moment, of course.” With his lips twisted, Thorin lifted his eyes to the branch and shook his head. “Do you have someone who can help you? Our caretaker is afraid of heights.”

“Um, yeah.” Barely able to keep his eyes off Imara, Ben tried to shake off the spell he was under. “No problem at all. I don’t have anything going on tomorrow afternoon. We can come after our morning work.”

Thorin cringed a little when he realized what he’d walked in on, and he wrapped his hand around Imara’s elbow. “Come, Imara, let’s stop bothering Mr. Logan so he can get his work done. He’s probably eager to get back home to his family.”

He pressed his hand on her back to usher her away, but she glanced back over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers. “Goodbye, Ben.”

Before it drifted off into the breeze, he stole one last deep breath of her, and it was like the first lungful he ever had in his life. The blast of her life force entering his blood made him stumble back into the wooden bed of his cart. A burning ache spread out through his chest, and he clutched at his heart as she turned the corner. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”