Witchy Tales: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fairy Tale Read Free

something she’s obviously been planning for weeks.”
    “It will be fine, Bay,” Landon said, slipping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer until my chin could rest against his shoulder. “We’re going to have a big fight, and Aunt Tillie is going to curse us with something nasty, but then we’re going to have the whole day - just the two of us. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
    It did sound nice. “Did you set the alarm?”
    “You can stay in bed when I get up tomorrow. You don’t have to get up.”
    “It’s my family,” I said. “I should be there.”
    “It might be better if you’re not.”
    “I’m going,” I said. “Don’t bother arguing.”
    Landon gave in. “Okay. If that’s the case, then we need to get some sleep. We’re going to need all the energy we can muster if we’re going to take on Aunt Tillie tomorrow morning.”
    “Really? You just want to go to sleep?”
    “Oh, well, I have one last detour I want to make before we travel to dreamland,” he said, giving me a soft kiss. “I want to make sure you’re tired enough to pass out. It’s really for your benefit.”
    “I’m always glad to be your personal charity,” I said, smiling.
    “Be prepared for my donation.” Landon made a face. “Huh, that went to a creepy place I wasn’t really expecting.”
    “Shut up and kiss me,” I ordered. “Morning is going to come before either one of us is ready to deal with it.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”

 
     
    The first bed was too hard. The second bed was too soft. The third bed was just right. What’s the lesson here? Don’t touch other people’s stuff or you risk getting eaten by bears.
    – Aunt Tillie’s Wonderful World of Stories to Make Little Girls Shut Up

Two
    I woke before the alarm clock the next morning, taking the opportunity to stretch languidly before getting a grip on my surroundings. It was still dark, no light filtered through the curtains, and my internal clock was muddled. What woke me?
    I rubbed my bare feet along the sheets, pushing them to my left and searching for Landon’s warm presence. I found only emptiness. I reached over with my hand, thinking he must have rolled to his other side in sleep. Just touching him would be enough to let me settle down and drift off again. There was no sign of him, though.
    I propped myself up on my elbow, scanning the room. It was too dark to see anything and yet I knew Landon wasn’t here. His heavy but always regular breathing couldn’t lull me back to sleep because he wasn’t in bed with me.
    I swore under my breath, threw the covers off and swung my legs over the side of the mattress. He’d gone up to the inn without me; his worry about instigating a scene with Aunt Tillie caused him to sneak out without waking me. Part of me thought it was a sweet gesture. The other part was irritated. I wasn’t a child. I could handle a fight. Heck, I’d grown up with the woman. I was used to fighting with her.
    My bare feet landed on the bedroom floor, and I groped along the rug until I found my jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes from the night before. I’m not much of a housekeeper. I don’t generally pick up my clothes until it’s time to wash them. At a time like this, my slovenly ways were a godsend.
    I considered brushing my hair, knowing my mother would make a stink if she saw it disheveled, but I was too annoyed to care. I don’t like fighting with Landon, but I could feel a big one brewing. It’s one thing to try to protect me. It’s quite another to take charge. I hate that about him. I love the man dearly, but he often falls into that trap of having to be right. Of course, since I have trouble being wrong, we’re quite the couple.
    I moved around the end of the bed, smacking my shin into something hard, causing me to inadvertently cry out. “What the … ?”
    I aimlessly felt around, my hands running over a hard surface that I recognized as a trunk. The only problem with that realization is that there’s no trunk