Heart of Fire: a Moonbound World series (Witches of Whitewood Book 1) (9 page)

J
amie wasn’t
at breakfast the next day.

Kyle had been up before dawn, making biscuits from scratch and a rich sausage gravy that sent a savory, smoky scent around the camp and eventually drew guests to the campfire like the Pied Piper. Yet, one person remained impervious to his cooking, and he was ready to spit nails.

The hot-cold thing frustrated him more now that they’d had sex.
As intimate as it gets, right there.

She’d laid on him the previous night for a good fifteen minutes, mostly silent, before they went their separate ways. And before he dropped her at her tent, he’d given her a kiss that left no doubt as to his intentions. Or at least, he hoped it had.

He’d certainly wanted it to. Kyle hadn’t felt this deeply for someone since his first love—which was so distant a memory, it rarely felt real. Like a crazed teenager, he wanted more.

He had no idea what Jamie wanted. One minute, she seemed to want nothing to do with him. The next, she wanted to fuck him.

Hell, he still had bite marks on his shoulder.

But everyone cleared out for the corral, breakfast was cleaned up, and by the time he had a chance to head up to the landing, the guests were saddled, mounted, and headed out.

Jamie circled around behind them on her big paint horse and met his gaze. A dark cloud passed over her face, but he kept walking.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head and pulled her horse up. “I’ve been up for a long time, getting ready to get them on the trail.”

“You should have come to breakfast.”

“Not hungry.”

The sinking inside was unmistakable, and yet, something hidden in her eyes made him more curious than hurt. He moved to take hold of the bridle, but she pulled her horse again and backed toward the rest of the departing trail riders.

“We’ll be back late today. Dinner near to dark.”

“Jamie, can’t we talk about this?”

The satiny skin of her cheek twitched. Kyle wanted to pull her off the damn horse and kiss her again.
Remind her of what she’s running from, or dodging, or giving up, or whatever the hell she’s doing
.

“Talk about what?”

He narrowed his gaze. “You know what.”

Jamie glanced back at the riders taking off across the rolling sagebrush valley. They were far enough away, Kyle wasn’t going to pull any punches.

“Last night, Jamie.”

She winced. “Can we
not
do this, Kyle?”

God, had it been that bad?
He crossed his arms and stepped back. “We’re gonna have to talk about it sometime.”

“It’ll have to be tonight.” Jamie dug her heels into the paint and yanked the reins to one side.

Stunned, Kyle watched her gallop to the head of the loping line of guests. Lana’s blonde head, covered in a cowboy hat, turned as Jamie sped by her. She offered him a wide, knowing grin, and laughed.

Even though he couldn’t hear the sound, he could still feel the pierce of Lana’s laugh after so many years of hearing it directed at him. His shoulders slumped out of sheer habit. It was an odd feeling to have his wife—no, ex-wife—enjoying his inability to land a second date, and not one he wanted to repeat.

Had Lana talked to Jamie? Had Jamie heard something?

There had to be something else going on. Maybe it had nothing to do with him at all.

Dammit.
If she was coming back to talk, then he would have to make the best dinner of his life and hope his cooking put her in a better mood.

* * *

A
ll the couples
were safely in their lunch spots, and Jamie sat on top of the ridge, her thighs burning from the hike, looking for a quiet place with good service. She could see all seven couples, with their lunch boxes and their picnic blankets, and everyone appeared to be engaged in some kind of conversation.

She swiped open Charity’s contact information and hit the dial button.

Her friend picked up on the first ring. “I’ve been waiting for you to call,” she whined.

“I had to wait until we got all the way out into the valley and stopped for lunch.”

“Awww,” Charity’s voice took a turn up at the end. “Are you at the red rock?”

“Yeah.” Jamie ran her fingers along the craggy surface of the old lookout post. It had carved initials and dates all over. They’d found it in the wilderness one day and Charity had made up a story about Cavalry officers stopping here in the 1800’s. But Jamie had no idea what any of it meant. Not an uncommon occurrence for her.

“Who’s on the docket this week?”

“A couple of insurance salesmen from Cheyenne, an East Coast lawyer, a divorcee from Stapleton. Not much exciting this time.”

“No rock stars or celebrities?” Her joking voice started to edge Jamie’s nerves. This wasn’t a co-worker catch up call.

She pressed her heel into the dirt at the base of the big rock. “Look. I’m not sure about this plan anymore.”

“What plan?”

“You, staying at the cabin. Me, trying to get your job back.” She looked out over the valley, laughing couples and awkward couples and lunches…everything felt so tense.
And Kyle.

Kyle had been a mistake. More specifically, feeling something for Kyle had been a mistake.

“Did Brady find out?” Her friend’s voice took on a note of panic, and Jamie rolled her eyes. Zero to sixty in the drama department.
Always.

“No. Brady is oblivious.”
Well. Not oblivious. But still.

“Then what happened?”

“I just… this guy’s good at his job, Char. And you always hated cooking, on some level.” Jamie sucked in a quick breath. “Let me talk to my mom about bringing you on as program staff with me, and you could help just with the trail rides, and we could keep Kyle.”

There was a long silence at the other end and her heart thudded hard. She wished it could be a sign that her friend was going to listen to logic. But it was more likely that Charity was coiling up for some big strike.

Jamie tried to strike first. “Look, I’m just not sure it’s fair to this guy. He needs the work, too. And I can try to find you a job at the Gallagher place in Springhill.”

“I don’t want a job in a restaurant, Jamie. I want to work with Paul. And with you. I want to be at the ranch.” There was a knife’s point of sincerity in Charity’s voice. Either she was holding back real emotion, or she was lying, and Jamie could never be completely sure which was which.

And after her night with Kyle…she wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

Memories of the night flooded over her with a curious urgency, making her blood race hot in her ears. His hands on her, his mouth on her…she’d been having spontaneous memories all morning, and it wasn’t making this any easier.

I need to get clear.

“Tell me why.” Jamie cleared her throat. “Tell me why you want to be with my brother.”

“Because I love him.” The words tumbled out of Charity’s mouth like dominoes.

“Whoa,” Jamie whispered. “You love him? That’s the first time I’ve heard you say that.”

“Well, it’s hard to think clearly when I’m around Paul.” With a soft laugh, she paused. “He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”

“So, you love my brother?”

“I do.”

She gripped the edge of the rock. This whole revelation wasn’t helping her think straight, or clear, or at all.

Charity wanted her to get Kyle fired so she could work on the Silver Spring Ranch, because she was in love with Paul. But her brother had been flirting with Lana—which was putting it mildly. They’d practically dry humped at dinner.

“Does Paul love you?”

“Of course he does.” There was enough certainty in her voice, at least
she
believed that statement.

Whether it was true or not was another story.

Jamie breathed through a long moment of silence. She wasn’t totally sold on telling Charity about Paul and Lana. And she wasn’t totally sold on Paul’s feelings for Charity. And she definitely couldn’t tell her friend about Kyle.

God.
Kyle.

What she really needed was to talk to her brother.

“Okay, you stay at the cabin for another day.”

“I’m not sure how much longer I can stay here,” her friend said. “There’s not a lot of food left, and I need something to do.”

“I know. Just don’t go find Jeff. Please. I need to talk to…Brady.” She held her breath. She hated the fact that she suspected Charity of lying to her. But she couldn’t help it.

It was one thing, when Charity was sobbing and cleaning out her room in the bunkhouse, and Jamie promised her to help get her job back. It was another thing entirely to be almost a week later, and looking at trying to get a good guy fired. Just so Charity could get a job back that Kyle was better at, anyway.

It would be better for the ranch business to have Kyle on the trails.

Even though it might not be better for Jamie.

“You need to get Brady out on the trail with you.”

“Brady will be out again tonight to bring supplies out to Kyle.” Jamie found herself saying the words, even though she didn’t want to. It was the truth, though. Her brother always resupplied in the middle of the trail. Probably to keep tabs on her, too, but that’s what big brothers were for.

“Then you know what you have to do.” The dark inflection in Charity’s voice made Jamie’s shoulders rise in defense.

“I’ve…” She stopped herself.
I’ve already slept with him
didn’t seem exactly the right way to put it. It wasn’t just the sex that was the problem.

It was the feelings.

She cared about what happened to Kyle. She felt guilty for having sex with him. But in that moment, it hadn’t been about Charity. There weren’t enough ways to explain that to the sinking feeling in her stomach.

“I’ve got to go, Charity. I still have to hike back down before we get back out on the trail.”

“Text me tonight after Brady gets there.”

“I will.”

“And say hi to Paul for me.”

The line went dead and Jamie watched her phone click back to home screen and then go dark.

She couldn’t imagine passing along a message from Charity to Paul. Why was that? Didn’t Charity love Paul? Didn’t Paul love Charity?

Then, why was there still a hard lump in her stomach?

Jamie pushed herself off the rock and dusted her jeans off. She looked over the valley. This was where the white woods trickled out into regular pine, and not far away was where the Gallagher land began and the Banfield land ended. The edge of her world, really.

Was she ready to risk the safety of that world for Charity?

She started down the hill toward the match-made couples. Her heart still wasn’t in the trail ride, which she’d been planning for months.

All she could think about was that they were on their way back to camp, and that meant she would be seeing Brady soon. And Kyle. And if she was going to ruin a man’s life, she was going to have to act tonight.

But she didn’t want to ruin Kyle’s life.

She wanted Paul and Charity to get their shit figured out, and she wanted Kyle to stay. Hence the stomach lump.

She wanted Kyle to stay.

M
attie Banfield unloaded
the last of the meat from her coolers into the wagon freezer and turned on the generator. The low hum of the motor broke into the silence of the woods and she checked the gauge on the gas levels. “Don’t forget to top that gas off before you go to sleep,” she said, but when she turned around, Kyle was gone.

He’d taken the cooler back to her Jeep and settled it into the seat.

She still needed to ask him about the spice rubs, but she didn’t want to push too hard. If he complained to Brady, then all bets would be off. She hated lying to her son, but it was time that Jamie got her happy ending. Brady didn’t understand that yet, but he would. Once he saw what magick could do.

When Kyle returned, he went around to the smoker to check on the meat, and started to slice potatoes in the kitchen.

Mattie walked around the kitchen, smiling at him when he looked up at her. He didn’t offer any information. Didn’t ask for help. Just kept on slicing. The speed of his hands doing the work was almost mesmerizing. It hadn’t occurred to her that Charity might not have been to culinary school until she watched Kyle slice vegetables. He was like an Iron Chef.

She headed past the campfire toward the corral. The group had come in from their trail ride, and she could see Brady opening things up to let the first of the horses inside.

Jamie brought up the back of the group, her cowboy hat sitting low on her forehead. She had a gray t-shirt on, and not the
Silver Spring Ranch
shirt she was supposed to be wearing.

Mattie came up alongside her horse, putting her hand on Jamie’s leg. “How was the ride, my girl?”

“Fine.” Her daughter grabbed the reins and held them tight as she climbed off the horse. She looked around the group and called out, “The guys are on horse duty tonight. Ladies, head on down to your tents or make for the river. Probably about an hour yet until dinner.”

Mattie smiled at each of the girls as they left their horses and circumvented the camp, heading toward the girls’ tents. It wasn’t long before they disappeared into the trees and were out of sight.

When one of the guys took Jamie’s horse, her daughter headed straight after the girls.

Mattie jogged after, catching her arm. “Where are you going?”

“I’m headed down to the river, Mom, with everyone else.” She nodded back toward the corral. “Brady’s here today. He can supervise the corral while I get cleaned up.”

“Where’s your staff t-shirt?” She pulled on the bottom of Jamie’s gray tee. It was tattered and frayed on one side and looked like it’d been washed one too many times. Or forty.

Jamie looked down, eyes blank. “I’m not sure. I guess I was…Yeah, I must’ve forgotten this morning.” She yanked the shirt back and walked away from the corral.

“It’s not a big deal. I was just wondering.” Mattie fell into step beside her daughter, their boots cracking twigs as they left the path. When they were out of earshot of the boys, she pulled on Jamie’s hand. “Are you okay, J? You seem… sullen.”

“Sullen?” Her amused tone didn’t erase the tension on her pretty features. “I’m just trying to get a quick wash-off before the guys come down to the river.”

“You’re all cranky.” Mattie squeezed her daughter’s hand. “I can tell.”

“I’m not cranky. I’m just…I’m tired.”

“It’s more than tired.”

Jamie’s breath came out fast and she yanked her hand away. “Jeez, Mom. Seriously. Leave it alone.”

“Is this you being cranky about your little friend losing her job, still? Brady told me you were—”

“Stop it!” The quaver in her voice shook Mattie deep, and when her daughter stopped walking, she stopped, too. Jamie sank back against one of the white trees and leaned over her legs. “Just. Stop.”

Mattie’s heart twisted at the tears in her daughter’s voice. She stepped forward, but Jamie swiped at the air. Her features were twisted in a silent sob, and when she sucked in a breath, the sadness came with it.

“Will you just… Stop?” Jamie blinked at her, all red eyes and tears.

Mattie clenched her fists against her chest. “Fine. But tell me what’s wrong.”

Her daughter’s thick, dark hair swished back and forth as she shook her head, strands getting caught in the tree bark. “I can’t tell you. If I do…” Her voice trailed off. “I…just can’t.”

“Jamie.” Mattie stepped forward and caught her hands as they came up to fight again. “You have to tell me what’s going on.”

“I…I…” Her daughter’s eyes were round, desperate, red. She blinked and looked away, around. “I slept with Kyle last night.”

Mattie couldn’t help a momentary internal squeal, but something was off. This wasn’t the
I-don’t-want-to-talk-to-my-mom-about-sex
embarrassment. There was something else going on. She tightened her hands and pulled Jamie towards her.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. You don’t have to worry about sleeping with Kyle.” She smoothed Jamie’s ponytail to one side, pulling the strands away from the tree and her daughter fully into her arms.

“What?” She yanked herself back. “Are you…don’t…Mom! I mean, apart from the fact that you think he’s married, I can’t believe—”

“He—” Mattie froze.
Married?
“I didn’t…I didn’t know that.”

“He’s not married anymore.” Jamie sighed. “He got divorced, but Brady thinks he’s married still. That’s why he hired him.”

“Why he—” She clapped her mouth shut and put a hand over her lips.
Oh God. What have I done?

“That’s the whole reason he got this job. So there wouldn’t be any…well…” She waved her hands toward the campsite. “This. This is exactly what he was trying to avoid. Now things are awkward between us and I don’t know what to do. But we can’t get away from each other, because… This stupid trail ride.”

Mattie looked around the thickening woods, trying to find somewhere for her eyes to rest. Brady’s insane quest to force Paul into recovery was impacting more than just Charity Keller. Something had to be done.

“Well, now you’ve told me, and we’ll worry about your brother.” She nodded, trying to convince herself that somehow magick hadn’t screwed this all up beyond repair. “It just can’t happen again out here. For the sake of the business.”

Jamie’s forehead wrinkled and she bit the edge of her lip. “Not that easy.”

“Why not?”

“Because now I have…feelings for him, which is just—” She barked out a laugh. “I hate feelings.”

Mattie rocked back and forth from toes to heels. Magick had screwed up this situation beyond repair.
First Brady, then Paul, and now Jamie.
Sharp heat burned its way up the back of her throat and she choked back tears of her own.
Maybe it’s time to put the magick away. For good.

“Jamie. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t do this to me. It’s just life.” She hugged herself with bare, pebble-skinned arms. “I either have to confront Brady about the stupid rules, or I have to—” She stopped, flipping her eyes up toward the sky.

Mattie pushed out a long breath. Her children had been dealt their share of hard knocks in the last several years, and she was tired of it. She had half a mind to try contacting her aunt Sarah and ask for the forgetting spell. It was the one spell Mama had written about, but never transcribed.
Too dangerous
, she’d always said.

But she wanted happiness. She wanted it for Brady. And for Paul. And for Jamie. And maybe this was the only way. If they could all just forget. Make new lives.

A tear leaked out the corner of her eye and she brushed it away, plastering on a smile. “I’ll tell you what. You go down to the river, and I’ll talk to Brady. See if maybe I can relieve you, and we can tell people that you…I don’t know…got food poisoning or something. I’ll finish out the trail ride with Kyle and it will be like nothing happened.”

“I love you, Mom. But I need to fix this myself.” Jamie sniffed and shook her head. “I just…it’s not going to be much fun. And there will be fallout, all over the place.”

“I’m not sure why.”

“Because there will be. Trust me.” Jamie’s brow furrowed hard. “I’m going to go down to the river. I’ll see you at dinner.”

When her daughter walked away, Mattie couldn’t help the pang of guilt that threaded its way through her system. All the way through. This was all her fault and she was going to fix it.