Rescued (Book One of the Silver Wood Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel by Hazel Hunter

dirt road and skillfully avoided a large pothole. “Hang on, this is where it gets bumpy.”
    Summer gripped the sides of her seat as they made their way up a steep portion of the road and then went down again, with thick brush crowding in on both sides.
    “Maybe we should have brought a machete.”
    “No one comes out here.” He drove around a pile of rocks that had spilled onto the road and then made one last turn into a clearing where most of the grass and brush had turned brown. “There it is.”
    About half the size of the pavilion, Troy’s house sat like an enormous horseshoe left on the edge of the clearing. A glass-fronted A-frame loft dominated the center of the structure, and more curved glass   panels flowed out in two stacked-level wings. A blend of the modern and primitive, its weathered pine posts and gleaming steel roof supports had a pleasing symmetry that brought a smile to her lips.
    “It’s amazing.” She turned to see him staring at it with a brooding frown. “You did a wonderful job with it.”
    “My mother actually built most of it. Her ability allowed her control over anything made of wood.”
    He climbed out of the Jeep and waited for her to join him before he walked with her up to the center of the house and unlocked the door.
    Inside white dust cloths draped the furnishings, and aside from a few spider webs in the corners the walls stood bare. Still, Summer could see how much care had gone into finishing the golden oak floors and walnut roof beams, and how vibrant the amber paint covering the walls still was.
    “Did you grow up here?”
    “No.” He went over to duck his head into the large fireplace before he stacked some wood in the iron grate. “Would you see if there’s some kindling in the back room there?”
    Summer walked in the direction he pointed and found herself in another, larger room. Here the tables and chairs had not been covered, and for a moment she was stunned by the intricately carved woods that had been painstakingly fashioned into the dining set. When she ran her fingertips over the highly-polished surface of the table the wood grain felt as smooth as glass, and saw intricate Celtic knot work had been chiseled into the backs of all of the chairs.
    Troy appeared on the other side of the table, and frowned at it before he regarded her.  
    “More of my mother’s work. She was very gifted with wood.”
    “Are you kidding? It looks like she was the Michelangelo of wood,” Summer murmured. “So what’s your ability? Dog herding? Super wood chopping? Homeless witch saving?”  
    His expression grew remote. “We’ll talk about it later.”  
    “Okay. Kindling, right, sorry.” She went over to the hearth at the other end of the room, and when she reached down for the open-topped metal box containing bits of fluff and curly wood shavings she felt a faint heat touch her fingers. “Troy, someone built a fire here recently.”
    She bent down and blew a breath over the ash in the grate, making the banked coals flare to life.
    “Probably Wilson. He used to come here whenever he missed our mother.” He came over and retrieved the kindling box. “If you want to have our picnic in here, we can. The meadow’s pretty much dead.”
    “Whatever you’d like.” Summer could feel how tense he was, and smiled brightly. “Why don’t I go get the hamper?”
    “Sure.” He bent down again to place more kindling and wood over the embers.
    Sensing Troy needed some time alone, Summer slowly walked out to the Jeep, and then took another moment to look around his property. Across the edge of the meadow facing the house she saw a frost-edged creek that hadn’t completely iced over, and in the trees she spotted a small barn and storage sheds. Several old paths still ran every which way through the meadow, and after she grabbed the hamper she followed one down to the creek. The water appeared crystal clear, and on impulse she bent down to plunge her cupped hand into it for a