The ranch hands started arriving and everyone helped carry in the food. Mrs. Reyes had outdone herself today. The table was laden with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, gravy, several kinds of fruit, steak, biscuits, sweet corn cakes, fried potatoes, and llapingachos. They were mashed potato and cheesecakes. A recipe that had been handed down in the Reyes family for generations.
One thing was certain, Harley was a curvy girl and wasn’t shy around food. Though her figure closely resembled Marilyn Monroe, Harley had always thought she was too curvy.
Her husband David, had referred to her weight often when he was in a foul mood. This did little to help Harley’s self-esteem. Carmella and Hector Reyes had done a lot to bolster Harley’s self-esteem. Latin men liked their women to be curvier than many Americans.
Breakfast was always a happy affair at the ranch, one she would get around to naming eventually. She loved interacting with the men and women who helped her run the ranch.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A little over an hour later, Harley was headed to the barn. Hector had seen to keeping Aiden busy. He would be spending the day helping with a new load of horses and riding fence line. Magic might keep the fence line clean, but real hands still had to mend it.
Harley headed to Star’s stall. Star was an eight-year-old appaloosa mustang that Harley had rescued a few years ago. It had taken months to gain her trust. Now they were best friends.
Star was a beautiful bay, blanket appaloosa. On her tail and rear, her spots made the shape of an angel with its wings spread out. It was one of Harley’s favorite things to photograph. She had hundreds of photos of the angel.
Harley saw it as a sign that Star and she were meant to be. She also had a beautiful white star on her forehead, which is where she got her name.
She enjoyed a long ride on Star before returning to the house and going to her den. Lunch time came and went. Harley was in the den surrounded by dozens of thick tomes.
Most of them were decades old, some were older than that. She had started collecting them when she was 16. Harley worked all summer to buy her first paranormal book.
Not the modern kind you could find at Amazon or any other store. These were the kinds you spent hours researching online, and going to every used bookstore you could find.
Long before Harley had begun to study witchcraft, she was drawn to all things paranormal. She joined her first coven when she was 18.
Late in the afternoon, she heard a knock on the door. Mrs. Reyes came in carrying a tray.
“You have to eat something. You cannot stay locked in here all day without some nourishment.”
Harley smiled brightly at her. She would be lost without this woman. The tray she left was piled high with food. Slow roasted beef on homemade thick cut white bread, vegetable soup, fruit, and a large slice of apple pie.
Mrs. Reyes had even brought her a large glass of sweet tea with lemon and a small pitcher for refills.
By the time, she took a break the sun had already set. She stood up stretching, trying to get the kink out of her neck.
Heading toward the kitchen with the empty tray she saw that the table had already been cleared. She had missed dinner, good thing Mrs. Reyes had given her extra food for lunch.
Aiden was sitting at the small table in the kitchen talking to Hector.
“You look tired, Aiden.”
He looked up a smile flitting across his face. “It’s been a long time since I put in a long day of physical work.”
“I bet.”
Hector excused himself leaving the two of them alone.
“Did you have a productive day?”
“I spent it working, just not outside.”
“It felt good to be outside. I actually grew up in the country on a small farm.”
“Really? Where at?”
“In Northern Texas. Just my mom and me. My dad took off when I was five.”
“That must have been tough. Did you know you were a jester before the shift?”
He shook his head. “No. The change came over me during the middle of the night. I woke up with this bright green hair and glowing eyes. My mom was so good about it. She had seen the news and didn’t freak out.
“She stood by me when the students in school started picking on me. She went to court with me when I accidentally used my powers on some bullies. I didn’t kill them, but I did injure them.
“My mom was my rock.”
“How old were you when it happened?”
“The court or the shift.”
“The shift.”
“I was 12.”
“You are only 22?”
“Yeah, is that a problem?”
“No, not at all. I just thought you were a few years older.”
He shook his head in agreement. “Most people do. So, you gonna let me stay another night or are you giving me the boot?”
“I guess you can stay another night. Is Luc really worried about Zoe?”
“Luc, now is it? Yes, he is. Zoe is a loose cannon.”
“He insisted I call him Luc. Is that a problem?”
“No, not at all. Tell me more about you. After all, I’m staying in your house. I should know something about you.”
“I’m a hereditary witch. Only, I didn’t know that until the shift. I practiced witchcraft before the shift, only not to the effect that I have now.
“My husband died six years ago, changing my life in more ways than I could ever imagine. His parents helped me pick up the pieces.
“A year later I decided to move back to my hometown and open up a witch agency. I worked with a few agencies in New York, so I
