Curt hugged Missi to him. “Ma’am, I’d never make her leave her home. I’d like to take her to Everlasting to meet all my friends there and maybe help me make arrangements for my businesses up there to be run without me close by. Then I’d like to see to it we build a home here in town and start a family.”
“Gonna be hard to do with you not bein’ allowed to touch her and all,” snapped her father.
Mémé Marie-Claire smiled wide. “Don’t be silly, Walden. It’s already done.”
“What?” asked Missi’s father and Curt at the same time.
Blackbeard lifted a hand and his magic raced around the shop, settling on Missi. The pirate grinned. “She’s right. It’s already done. Congratulations are in order. That is, if you think the flashy guy is a prize.”
Curt grunted.
Winston began to whistle ZZ Top, causing Curt to shake his head and shield his eyes with his hand as if he couldn’t bear to look anymore.
Missi leaned against her mate and caressed his chest through his shirt. “I do consider him a prize.”
Curt moved his hand from his face and locked gazes with her. She went to her tiptoes and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. “I’ll have you know I’m not that flashy.”
“Uh-huh,” she teased. “Sure.”
“Yay, another celebration to plan!” shouted Ms. Cherry, tearing up as she did. “I just love a happy ending.”
“I’m gonna be a grandpappy?” asked Missi’s father.
Her mother went to him and hugged him. “Yes, you are. And don’t try to fool anyone. You’re happy. You’ve been wanting this for some time.”
“Yes. But Arizona and Georgia were supposed to find their mates first. They’re oldest. Not my baby.”
Her mother laughed. “Mother’s spell may be broken on Curt and Missi, but it’s still in effect for the rest of the kids, Jasmine included.”
Curt squeezed Missi tight as she soaked in what everyone was saying.
“No,” she whispered, unable to believe it.
Curt grinned from ear to ear.
Her eyes widened. “Why do you look so happy?”
He tilted her chin and locked gazes with her. “Because today has been the best day of my life.”
She stared at him. “But you were cursed for most of it.”
“I know, right? Getting cursed is really the best thing to happen to me. I got a wife and family out of it.”
“You’re okay with all of this?” she asked.
He bent and kissed her passionately.
Her father cleared his throat.
“Loosen up a little, Walden,” said Mémé Marie-Claire.
“I’ll loosen up just as soon as you face Petey. He should be back soon enough from helpin’ York,” said her father.
Mémé Marie-Claire gasped. “On that note, I should be going. Welcome to the family, Curt.”
Chapter Thirteen
Curt sat on the dock, overlooking the water in a camping chair with his feet propped on a cooler. To his right was Sigmund, Leo and Hugh and to his left was Jake, Petey and Wilber.
“Place kind of grows on you, doesn’t it?” asked Sigmund as he sipped his beer, staring out at the water with something close to longing on his face. The half-moon reflected off the water top.
“You ever planning to go home?” asked Curt.
Sigmund’s face tightened, and he gripped his beer more. “I don’t know that I can. I mean, I know people understand what happened, but I’m not ready to forgive myself right now. I might not ever be.”
“So you’re thinking of staying down here for good?” asked Curt.
“I honestly don’t know what I’m thinking,” confessed Sigmund. “I just know I’m not ready to go back to Everlasting just yet. Broke the news to Aunt Jolene early this morning over the phone. I’m guessing she’ll be down here before too long, yanking me by my ear back home.”
“Of that you can be sure,” added Wilber.
“Are you and my aunt dating?” asked Sigmund of the older hunter.
Jake laughed. “Watch out. He gets cranky when you ask about what is and what isn’t going on between him and Jolene.”
Wilber gave Jake a murderous look before Jake burst into a fit of laughter.
Leo even grinned as he watched Jake. “When beer is added to you, you’re all right.”
Jake nodded and took a swig from his beer. “Funny, the more I sit here drinking, the more you grow on me too.”
“We’re not hugging again,” snapped Leo.
“Did you toss the rest of the baked goods that were tainted?” asked Curt of Hugh.
His friend nodded. “Yes. Took me three searches of Petey’s room at the inn. I swear he found hiding spaces I couldn’t even wrap my mind around.”
Petey pointed at him. “You are a fun killer. Your friend murders Shirleys and you murder fun.”
“Speaking of Shirley,” said Leo, glancing down at Curt. “I think I’ll be able to get her all rebuilt for Missi. Her dad keeps a garage full of tools and what not and I think I can get the bike back to like it was before.”
“Can you give her streamers?” asked Petey, his eyes wide. “Oh, a bell. I love bikes with bells.”
Leo grinned and drank his beer. “Yes. I’ll give her both.”
“Thank you,” said Curt.
Hedgewitch Cove had been home to Curt for all of three days now and he had to admit that it was growing on him. He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as if the entire town had sought he and Missi out to congratulate them. Curt had also lost track of the number of impromptu celebrations that had been organized on the fly over the past few days. All seemed to revolve around Curt and Missi. He was starting to think the townsfolks invented reasons to get together and eat.
Not that he was complaining.
He liked to eat as much as the next alpha male. Even with that, he had to admit his new friends and neighbors had outdone themselves. The small refrigerator at the apartment couldn’t handle the sudden influx of casseroles and pies that descended upon them from everyone in town. Petey and Hugh had made a decent dent in them but even the two bottomless pits couldn’t seem to keep up. Missi had started to fill the fridge at her sister’s restaurant with them.
Hugh groaned as he leaned back in his chair and patted his torso.
Wilber snorted. “Uncomfortable?”
“I watched him eat two entire sweet potato pies before we came down here,” said Curt with a laugh. “You should have seen him go at the fried chicken Ms. Cherry brought. I don’t know how he’s not sick.”
“Because he didn’t hold his wind in,” added Petey who had surprised Curt and brought sweet tea with him to drink in place of whiskey. He stared out at the water, his eyes moist.
Curt hadn’t pushed the man even though he knew that Petey had been going out of his way to avoid Marie-Claire. She’d been doing the same, so it wasn’t Curt’s place to step in. Each one asked about the other often, and it was clear they cared, but neither had taken the first step.
Missi, Virginia, and their mother had other ideas and had been doing their best to get Marie-Claire and Petey in the same location at the same time.
“He’s coming,” said Leo, holding his beer with one hand on his jean-covered thigh as he relaxed in his chair.
Curt stiffened as Blackbeard materialized out of thin air. The man was totally solid, nothing ghost-like about him. He held a bottle of rum in one hand and a folding camping chair in the other.
Curt gave Petey a hard look. “You just had to invite him to boy’s night?”
Hugh laughed. “He’s all right for a pirate.”
Blackbeard grunted. “Thanks. You’re all right for a shifter.”
“Wait until you bring Penelope down here and she sees him,” warned Curt. “When you see your mate drooling over another guy’s chest, you change your mind on the guy, real fast.”
Hugh seemed to think on it. He sat up straight in his chair. “Never mind. I don’t want my mate anywhere around hi
m and his pirate-hot-ness.”
Jake chuckled. “Hey, I plan to keep my woman far from him, but I already knew Blackbeard’s appeal on women. It’s always been that way. I swear he’s like the Pied Piper of chicks.”
Blackbeard appeared uncomfortable with the topic of discussion as he set his chair next to Leo and took a seat. He glanced at the young hunter. “Heard you were planning to stay on and help Louis with the antique shop and the artifacts now that he’s got a spell of chaos on him.”
Leo nodded. “Wil thought it would be best.”
Wilber cleared his throat. “I thought Warrick was hell-bent on ending the world by way of breaking artifacts. Louis is fast taking the lead. That young man has nearly killed himself and everyone around him a good ten times in the last seventy-two hours.”
“Hardly his fault,” added Blackbeard. “Marie-Claire’s spell is wreaking havoc all throughout that family. York’s boat has had how many issues since the curse started?”
Sigmund nodded. “York finally decided to stay on land. Seems like every time he steps foot on his boat something bad happens.”
“Missi told me her other brother and sister are suffering the effects of it too,” added Curt.
“Oh, I’m sure,” said Wilber. “Marie-Claire’s line of witches is darn powerful.”
Petey rubbed his wiry chin. “That they are.”
“You made out though with the curse,” said Blackbeard to Curt. “A new wife. A little one on the way. Seems like you did well for yourself considering.”
Curt didn’t want to like the guy who seemed to turn every female’s head, but he had to admit that like Hedgewitch Cove, the pirate was growing on him. “I did. Never thought I’d be happy I got cursed.”
“Who is that?” asked Leo, pointing down the dock.
A lone figure approached. He had on a dark surrey hat and matching rainslicker, even though it wasn’t raining. That wasn’t all the man had on. No. He was also wearing a sign that had This is the End painted across it. He had a megaphone in his hand. Lifting it, he shouted, “Beware. The end comes. It’s upon us.”
Blackbeard groaned. “Arnold, what did I tell you?”
The man stopped and hung his head. “That I’m not the bringer of the apocalypse or harbinger of doom, and I’m not allowed to walk around town announcing anything about the world ending.”
Apocalypse Arnold?
Curt and Hugh shared a look before they glanced down at Petey.
“Turns out, Petey really did once know everyone,” said Curt with a snort.
“You ready to head out in the morning?” asked Hugh of Petey.
The older man continued to stare out at the water. “I think I might stay on down here for a while longer myself. Figure Warrick, Bails, and Leo need someone to keep an eye on them all.”
Wilber stood and folded his chair. “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, Petey. I’m heading back to Luc’s and calling it a night. I’m also planning to book a flight home. Hugh, Jake, want me to do the same for the two of you so you don’t have to drive all the way back in Sunshine?”
Hugh and Jake stood fast, both shouting “yes” at the same time.
Curt laughed. He’d miss them all when they left but he knew they’d continue to see one another. This was hardly the end for them, but it was a new beginning for Curt.
* * *
THE END
Note to readers: Want to read Hugh’s story? Buy Once Hunted, Twice Shy today! Want to read Jake’s story? Buy Total Eclipse of the Hunt today!
Excerpt: Once Hunted, Twice Shy
The following material is free of charge. It will never affect the price of your book.
Once Hunted, Twice Shy by Mandy M. Roth
Welcome to Everlasting, Maine, where there’s no such thing as normal.
Wolf shifter Hugh Lupine simply wants to make it through the month and win the bet he has with his best friend. He’s not looking to date anyone, or to solve a murder, but when a breath taking beauty runs him over (literally) he’s left no choice but to take notice of the quirky, sassy newcomer. She’d be perfect if it wasn’t for the fact she’s the granddaughter of the local supernatural hunter. Even if he can set aside his feelings about her family, Penelope is his complete opposite in all ways.
Penelope Messing wanted to get away from the harsh reminder that her boyfriend of two years dumped her. Several pints of ice cream and one plane ticket to Maine later, she’s ready to forget her troubles. At least for a bit. When she arrives in the sleepy little fishing town of Everlasting, for a surprise visit with her grandfather, she soon learns that outrunning one problem can lead to a whole mess of others. She finds herself the prime suspect in a double homicide. She doesn’t even kill spiders, let alone people, but local law enforcement has their eyes on her.
The secrets of Everlasting come to light and Penelope has to not only accept that things that go bump in the night are real, but apparently, she’s destined for a man who sprouts fur and has a bizarre obsession with fish sticks. Can they clear Penelope’s name and set aside their differences to find true love?
* * *
Excerpt from Once Hunted, Twice Shy
Penelope Messing tapped her cell phone, wondering what was happening to her GPS. It had suddenly lost its mind. She sat in her rental car, pulled off to the side of a narrow road near a large lighthouse. The navigation system had been fine one second and had tried to route her into the ocean the next. The voice, which was set to a female one, had been rather insistent that she continue onward. The screen with the map displayed had very clearly shown nothing but water, but that didn’t seem to matter.
The darn thing had unrelentingly told her that her destination was ahead. It even had a flag graphic shown on the display with nothing but blue surrounding it. Unless her grandfather had taken to living in a submarine and no longer resided behind his shop, in the center of town, the directions the system was giving her were faulty.
Even worse, the rental car came equipped with navigation in the dash, and it too seemed to think she needed to be in the ocean. Having two different navigation systems want to drown her was unnerving to say the least.
She pulled up the address on her phone that she’d keyed in at the airport to be sure she’d not made an error. She hadn’t. This one-lane road did not look like Main Street to her. If it was, the town of Everlasting had sure downsized since she’d last been there, not that it had been a sprawling metropolis or anything before.
Prior to finding the lighthouse, all that had surrounded Penelope had been trees on both sides of the road, leaving barely any shoulder to the road at all. The dense woods had gone on for what felt like an eternity. She’d been excited when she found a structure at the end of the narrowing road. As she glanced at the huge lighthouse, she wasn’t so sure it was her saving grace after all. With the heavy rains, winds and thunder booming, the lighthouse looked less like a welcoming beacon and more like an ominous warning.
If she thought she’d be able to find her way back to the airport, and to the city, she’d have already turned around and made a go for it. At least there she’d be able to find a hotel room for the night and wait out the weather. As it stood, she was committed and starting to feel as if she’d driven to the town time forgot.
Just then, lightning slashed the sky behind the lighthouse, causing Penelope to jolt upright in the car. She hit her knee on the steering wheel and winced. “Son of a bumblebee, that hurt.”
On the verge of tears, she rubbed her knee, rethinking her life choices in a big way. Had she just stayed in Chicago, she wouldn’t currently be lost and parked near the spooky lighthouse. Had she just turned Craig down two years ago when he’d insisted they go to dinner together, she wouldn’t have a broken heart.
Frustration gnawed at her, picking away at her inner defenses like a festering wound. Everything had led her to this point, and second-guessing it all was getting her nowhere fast.
She’d wanted to get away from the city, away from her
life there, away from her ex and his newly announced bride-to-be, and spend time with her grandfather. It should have been easy.
So far, the flight in had been delayed several hours due to a broken windshield wiper that wouldn’t go down. Once they’d finally gotten on their way, turbulence had rocked the plane nonstop. Upon landing, she’d found out they’d lost her checked luggage, but the airlines were quick to let her know that should they locate her bags, they’d have them delivered to where she was staying. And what should have been an easy drive to Everlasting was proving to be anything but.
“You are not going to die by the creepy-looking lighthouse, surrounded by even creepier woods and an ocean that looks like it wants to swallow you whole.”
Now if she only believed herself, all would be well.
I’m a goner.
As she tapped her phone, she caught the slightest of movements out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, she spotted a man in the window of the lighthouse. Maybe the lighthouse wasn’t so creepy after all. Especially if she could get some help there.
Hope welled, and she considered getting out to ask for directions. If he lived here, he surely knew his way around.
That thought died the moment the man backed up from the window, and she got a good look at what he was wearing, or rather what he wasn’t wearing—pants.
He was in a sports jacket and a pair of plaid boxers.
Nothing else.
“Oh my stars,” she breathed as her eyes widened. She let off the brakes momentarily, and the car crept forward, toward the cliff side. She hit the brakes and put the car in park, needing to get her bearings and then put some distance between herself and the older gentleman wearing boxers. It was that or drive off the cliff to her death because the sight of him there was like a train wreck—something she couldn’t look away from.
A series of sneezes came over her, and she held tight to the wheel, thankful she had pulled the car to a stop. Had she not, the GPS might have very well gotten its way and had her swimming with the fishes. Every bad mafia pun she could think of rolled through her head, causing a nervous laugh to escape her. She sneezed more, so hard that she nearly hit her forehead on the steering wheel.
Don’t Stop Bewitching_A Happily Everlasting Series World Novel Page 14
