4 Witching On A Star by Amanda M. Lee

been together?” Sam kept pushing.
    “A few months,” Landon said. “Is there a reason why you care?”
    “Just curious,” Sam replied. “I wasn’t aware Bay had a boyfriend. Brian never mentioned it.”
    “Well, Brian is a douche,” Landon wrinkled his nose distastefully.
    “You don’t like him?”
    “Let’s just say we’re not going to set a golf date anytime soon,” Landon said.
    “And what do you do for a living?”
    “I’m with the FBI,” Landon said pointedly.
    “Really?” Sam looked genuinely surprised.
    “Really,” Landon nodded his head.
    “And how did you and Bay meet?”
    “Oh, that’s a fun story,” Clove clapped. I figured she was trying to draw Sam’s attention back to her.
    “Why don’t you tell it, Clove,” Thistle interjected dryly.
    Clove didn’t need another opening. She launched into the story with gusto. By the time she got to the end, I was relieved she had left any magical bits out – because she had went into great detail on just about everything else. At least she hadn’t completely lost her mind in the shade of Sam Cornell’s brown eyes. When she was done, she turned to Sam expectantly. “It’s that romantic?”
    Landon snorted. “I don’t remember thinking it was that romantic when I had a bullet in me.”
    “Well, it all worked out,” Clove sniffed.
    Landon cast a sidelong glance at me. “Yeah, it definitely worked out.”
    “I’m just fascinated with your family,” Sam said suddenly. “You have roots to this area that stretch back centuries, right?”
    “We do,” Clove agreed. “We’ve been here for years.”
    “How did you know that?” Thistle was on edge again.
    “I’ve just done some light reading on the area,” Sam said smoothly – although I sensed an evasive quality to his words. “I’m a history buff.”
    “Me, too,” Clove smiled.
    “Since when?” Thistle challenged her. “Your idea of history is watching Downton Abbey .”
    “That is history,” Clove grumbled.
    “Not really,” Thistle shot back.
    “What do you know about the history in this area?” Sam broke in quickly.
    “It was mostly uninhabited until the early 1930s,” I replied. “There were small homesteads and families, but no real town so to speak.”
    “That’s interesting,” Sam mused. “From some of the stuff I read, even though there wasn’t an actual town here, there was a real sense of community.”
    “In what way?”
    “Well, the homesteaders in this immediate area were believed to be performing witchcraft,” Sam said, suggestively waggling his eyebrows in Clove’s direction. “Real black magic and stuff. That’s why they thrived when others were failing. Or that’s how the legend goes, anyway.”
    I felt Landon stiffen next to me. “You don’t believe in that stuff, do you?”
    “Of course not,” Sam shook his head. “It’s still fascinating to think about. The people in this area did so well that the people in the outlying area thought they were using magic to grow their crops and thrive. That just makes a great story, doesn’t it?”
    “I guess it depends on who you’re asking,” Landon replied carefully.
    “Well, I think it makes a great story,” Sam said, his attention turning to the front door as the delivery boy arrived with our food. “I’d like to buy everyone lunch as a thank you for the warm welcome.” He got to his feet and moved towards the delivery boy – Clove right on his heels.
    “That is so nice,” she cooed as she followed him.
    Once he was out of earshot, Landon turned to me. “Well, he’s up to something.”
    “See,” I shot my tongue out at Thistle. “I told you.”
    “I’ll never doubt you again,” Thistle mumbled. “What do we do?”
    “Let me run a background check on him,” Landon said. “I’ll know more tonight. Just be careful around him.”
    The sound of Clove giggling filled the air. Landon scowled. “And pull Clove away from him somehow.”
    “Any suggestions on that?” I