Rosalie licked Kolby’s muzzle. She was so ready for the party to end so they could retire to bed. She’d never wanted to be in bed as much as she did now that she had Kolby in her life.

  14

  That night at the party, Kolby had expected for the intruder to show up because it had been Eric’s birthday, but he didn’t. Maybe with all the people there, he decided not to. Or maybe he wasn’t Eric’s father, or if he was, maybe he didn’t know his birth date. In any case, Jack stayed overnight, but they didn’t have any disturbances.

  At breakfast, Eric said to Rosalie, “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  “What what means?” she asked, genuinely perplexed. She glanced at Kolby.

  “You know I have my learner’s permit to drive already. Now I’m sixteen. Once I take my driver’s test, I can drive without an adult having to ride with me.” Eric smiled broadly. “You can continue to teach me to drive, Kolby.”

  “Actually,” Kolby said, “that’s part of the ranch hands and my birthday gift to you. Even Ted said he’d come and help you learn how to drive.”

  “Oh, wow,” Eric said, looking just thrilled.

  Kolby had offered to teach Eric to drive before, but she hadn’t expected all the guys to teach him. She loved being here because everyone was so willing to help with so much. “If you still need me to help you practice, I’ll certainly do that.”

  “Good. Because if I’m going to work at the ranch, I need to drive myself,” Eric said.

  “We were talking about that too,” Kolby said. “We’re going to put in a cattle guard and open up the fence in one spot between our property. Hal’s already putting in a road so that none of us will have to drive the long away around on the main road to get from the mansion to the ranch, if that’s all right with you.”

  “It would be perfect. Then Eric could even just drive to the ranch by himself before he has his driver’s license, if he’s not driving on the main road—after he gets a number of lessons under his belt,” Rosalie said.

  “And we can have a walking path for when we want to cross as big cats,” Kolby said.

  “That’ll be wonderful.” She loved the idea because they had a lot more acreage than she and Eric and Kolby had so if they wanted to run on Hal and Tracey’s property, they could easily do that. Sure, they could jump the fence, which is what Eric must have done when Kolby first saw him in his snow leopard coat, but she was thinking about making it easier for everyone that way.

  Kolby handed the Jeep keys to Eric. “This is my birthday present to you. No driving it by yourself until we say so and that means having several lessons first.”

  “Your Jeep? I can have your Jeep? For real? Not just to learn on? No way.” Eric couldn’t have looked any more thrilled than he did now.

  “Yeah. She’s all yours. Take good care of her.”

  “Yeah, I will.” Eric gave him a hug. “So when can we have some more lessons? Rosalie let me drive a little, but I think I made her too nervous.”

  Kolby laughed. “Rosalie can give them to you during the day, if she’s free. When you go in with me to the ranch, I can let you drive and when I’m off, I can take you out to drive.”

  “Yes!”

  Rosalie was so glad everyone was eager to help her brother learn to drive.

  For the next ten days, the sheriff, deputy sheriffs, and special agents with the CSF came to stay at the mansion, waiting for the intruder who never came. Kolby and some of the men had installed the new windows of the greenhouse but no one who was a ghost sensitive had felt any presence while out there at the time. Rosalie was glad.

  Kolby had taken her out to the movies twice, a steakhouse restaurant, and a pizza parlor in Loveland—though on the pizza date, they had to take Eric. He promised he’d sit at another table so they could have their intimate date, but they enjoyed being there with him, watching the pizza chefs tossing the dough in the form of pizzas into the air, and having homemade root beer. They’d enjoyed trips on dates to Joe’s Mexican Restaurant in Yuma Town and Mrs. Fitz’s bakery also for soups and sandwiches. It didn’t matter that Rosalie and Kolby were already mated, planning their wedding for March, but these were their special date nights. They’d also been to the Watering Hole Bar and Grill for dinner one night, and the Cup and Cone as an afternoon Saturday treat.

  Eric had even done several extra-curricular activities with other homeschoolers from sewing to woodworking. He had also finished the murals in the Haverton’s kids’ rooms. They loved them. He was still planning the painting for the Town Hall, and Mrs. Fitz had commissioned a painting from him for her shop even, so he was working on that next. Avery and Andy had spoken to their Great Aunt Mae and she wanted a cat mural done in one of the rooms where she kept her cats. Even Bobby’s mom ordered a picture for Bobby for Christmas.

  Everyone had also gone to the grand opening of the library where Rosalie and Eric had cut the ribbon at the ceremony, dedicating the library in name to Charity Squire. Rosalie had been so proud of Eric’s beautiful murals too. He was so eager to show her the shelf where her whole spell caster series were lined up. She laughed and was thrilled to see them in the new library.

  Eric had told her both he and Kolby had made sure Dottie had ordered the books for the library. She thought the world of them for doing it.

  After Eric drove Kolby to work at the ranch that morning, Rosalie headed to Yuma Town to pick up groceries and stopped in to talk to Ava about desserts for the Halloween party.

  “Oh,” Ava said, “Mrs. Fitz and I are making all the desserts. You don’t have to worry about it.”

  “Okay.” Rosalie smiled. “That sounds good.”

  “Everyone wants to share in the decorating and preparing foods. You are just providing the facilities, so you don’t have to do anything really.”

  “Oh, I’ll help with the decorations.” Rosalie was so excited about it now that she was finished with her brother’s birthday party and had turned in her book to her publisher.

  Ava’s sister, Nina, came into the shop, smiling broadly. On duty, she was wearing her deputy sheriff’s uniform and gave her sister a hug. “Well?” Ava asked.

  “Yep. We’re pregnant too.”

  Surprised and thrilled to hear the good news, Rosalie smiled at them. “Congratulations, Nina and Ava.”

  “Thank you!” Ava said. “My mate is thrilled.”

  “Mine too,” Nina said.

  Rosalie was thinking she would love to have babies with Kolby. Then she said goodbye to the ladies and headed to the grocery store. Eric called her and she wondered what was up.

  “Hey, sis.” Then he proceeded to tell her all the things he’d forgotten to add to her grocery list this morning.

  She laughed. He always did that to her when he didn’t go grocery shopping with her.

  “I got it.” Then she picked up all the groceries and returned home, put them away, and began bringing out their Halloween decorations. They didn’t have enough to really fill the mansion it was so big so she planned to put all the decorations just in the living room. She was glad others would bring decorations that would help to make it look great for the party.

  The ranch hands had already said they’d decorate the greenhouse to turn it into a haunted house. Kolby would take charge of the efforts. Eric was thrilled to help with it.

  Dan and the deputy sheriffs were in charge of the haystack maze. Ted and Stella were working on all the scarecrows. Ava and Mrs. Fitz were planning all the desserts. Addie, Dottie, Shannon, and Bridget were in charge of planning the food. The CSF agents Travis, Leyton, and Chet were in charge of the band and stringing orange lights around the manor and greenhouse. Drs. Kate, William, and Vanessa would provide a medical station manned by them, nurses, and vet techs in shifts, just in case anyone was injured during the frivolity.

  Stryker, Chase, and Leyton planned to do a séance in the greenhouse. They were setting up battery-operated candles in all of the mansion’s windows.

  Rosalie would put on a magic show. Nina and Ava wanted to have a fortunetelling “booth.” Ava said giving readings used to bother her, but she had grown more used to doing them so they would take turns. Bridget said if anyone wanted her to read their minds, she would.

  Rosalie figured Kolby and Eric and she could celebrate her birthday the day after Halloween since they were going to be so busy with the Halloween party.

  The day of the Halloween party, the final touches were being made. Rosalie, Kolby, and Eric carved their jack-o’-lanterns and set them in the entryway of the front door. Rosalie had created a witch, Kolby the profile of a horse’s head, and Eric outshined them with a beautiful dragon. Then she lit the pumpkins with her special ability.

  The party would start at two so that everyone could participate in the hay maze, taking rides on an old wagon through the pumpkin patch filled with scarecrows, and play games while it was light out.

  Eric was running back and forth, helping everywhere he could. He was already talking about the feast everyone wanted to have in their big dining room! This was becoming to be known as the party place because of the seating arrangements in the two big dining rooms.

  Chase had even worked with a bunch of the teens on the flooring as an extra homeschooling curriculum. They had a blast working on all the stairs’ banisters and polishing the floors.

  Rosalie, Kolby, and Eric had replaced the counters with granite ones, added a kitchen island with five bar stools, and replaced the sinks with stainless steel. All the rugs had been cleaned. And they’d even bought another widescreen TV, this one to add in the den so that if they wanted to watch different shows, they could. Everything looked just right for the party.

  Mrs. Fitz had gotten back with Rosalie about Eric’s dad and said, “My sources say he’s in the backcountry in Alaska.”

  “So he wasn’t here breaking into the mansion’s basement?” Rosalie asked.

  “He could have been. It’s been weeks since you had an occurrence.”

  “But Ava said he would come to see Eric,” Rosalie said.

  “Someone. Not the dad, for sure,” Mrs. Fitz reminded her.

  “Okay, you’re right. Thanks, Mrs. Fitz.”

  “You’re welcome. We’re still looking for him, so if he turns up on our radar, we’ll let you know.”

  That afternoon, everyone started arriving at the mansion dressed in their costumes: witches, warlocks, Ninja turtle kids, Ariel mermaids, Snow White, Baby Sharks, and pirates. Ava and Nina were wearing fortune telling costumes and were taking turns giving fortunes in one of the meeting rooms. Ava, Mrs. Fitz, Chase’s wife, Shannon, and Dottie had taken over the kitchen and dining room to decorate and coordinate food displays.

  Because of all the people coming in and out, the kittens were put in the cat room where everyone could come and play with them, but they wouldn’t get lost, or be underfoot.

  Several people had already asked if Rosalie would mind having the annual Christmas party here, and she agreed. New Year’s too, and they were talking about a disco party for that. Too much fun.

  But at the Halloween party, Kolby was a wise wizard. Eric was dressed as an elf magic user. Most of the women were sexy sorceresses, including Bridget who was reading Dan’s mind, despite him telling her she wouldn’t be able to. Mrs. Fitz was Maleficent and she looked magnificent.

  The ranch hands were all manning the greenhouse and so they were wearing zombie, mummy, and vampire costumes. Everyone was already having a blast. Chase, Stryker, and Hal had been busy taking the kids through the hay maze earlier on. Ted had been giving hay wagon rides.

  Rosalie was teleporting drinks from the kitchen to the dining room tables and had easily drawn a crowd.

  “Can you teleport me?” one boy asked.

  “Nothing too heavy,” Rosalie said. “Maybe up to about twenty pounds. Beyond that, I can’t lift anything for long with my mental powers. So if your dad runs the car into a ditch, I couldn’t move it. But”—she pointed at Travis’s phone in his hand—“I can make electronic devices go off.”

  Travis’s phone rang and he nearly dropped it. He looked at the Caller ID. “It’s blank.” He tried answering it, but there was no one there.

  “Now that is the coolest thing,” Kolby said.

  She showed off her ability to produce a light in her hands, and then she was exhausted from the mental workout. She smiled. “Okay, onto the next great adventure.”

  Everyone there clapped.

  Rosalie felt since it was her and Eric and Kolby’s place, she had to actually host the event, but Kolby took her hand and led her outside, not about to allow her to miss out on enjoying the party. She so appreciated him.

  She had been forbidden from going through the maze while they were setting up things so that it would be a surprise for her. The same with the haunted greenhouse. After she had seen the replacement of all the broken windows, she hadn’t been allowed in there while they were turning it into a haunted house. She hoped the spirit living there wouldn’t be upset by all the wild goings ons.

  Thankfully, everyone knew everyone, so if the intruder showed up, they’d know he didn’t belong, so he wouldn’t be able to crash the party without them realizing it.

  “The maze is made like a triangle?” Rosalie asked Kolby as he led her to it.

  “A witch’s hat,” Kolby said, leaning over to kiss Rosalie before they entered the maze.

  Green beads covered the entrance, and they pushed through the beads to start walking through the maze. Eerie green lights colored the stacks of hay as they made their way hand in hand through the beginning of the maze.

  A witch cackled up from the top of the bales of hay, startling Rosalie and she screamed. Then laughed. It was Bridget, a Hocus Pocus witch.

  “I can read your mind,” Bridget said.

  “I bet. You scared me to pieces.” Rosalie laughed again. “That’s what you read.”

  “Yep. Have fun you two.” Then Bridget disappeared on the other side of the haystacks and Rosalie was wondering if she’d heard them and wanted to scare them or was lost and wanted to sneak a peek over the wall to see if that was the exit.

  They hadn’t gotten very far before they ran into a warlock, this one Travis, Bridget’s mate, also a special agent with CSF. “I cast a spell over you,” Travis said.

  Rosalie cast her spell of light and Travis smiled. “I haven’t quite mastered that spell yet, but your ability is damn cool,” Travis said.

  Rosalie smiled. “I’m so glad others here have abilities so I don’t feel like the odd man out.”

  “No way, but I certainly am.”

  Kolby shook his head. “Me too.”

  “Oh, Kolby, you have all kinds of special abilities.” Rosalie smiled at him.

  Travis chuckled. “I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole, as they say.”

  Then she and Kolby continued on their way. This was so great. At one dead end, they found light sticks with a sign that said: Take one.

  They grabbed one and then continued on their way, lighting it. It cast an eerie pink light, mixing with the green ones from up above. They had started off in another direction and suddenly ran into three Hocus Pocus witches—Shannon, Tracey, and Bridget. The ladies were running through the maze in their adorable costumes.

  “Hocus pocus,” Shannon said, waving her hands in the air as if she were going to cast a spell.

  But Rosalie cast her light spell and tossed it at a stack of hay the ladies were standing next to and they all screamed.

  “She has powerful magic,” Tracey said. “Let’s begone.”

  Bridget laughed and agreed, and the three vanished down another path, their long colorful skirts, purple, blue, and green fabrics swishing as they hurried off, still laughing. They were so cute, and this was already the best Halloween ever!

  Kolby and Rosalie headed down a different path and they ran into Chase, dressed in a midnight blue cloak and gown. He stomped his wizardly staff on the dirt path and frowned at them. “Have you seen three witches come through here?” He scowled, looking perfectly lethal and Rosalie smiled.

  “They went that way.” Rosalie totally misdirected him.

  “Aye, thanks.”

  Kolby laughed. When Chase was gone, Kolby said, “You know the next time you’re driving a little over the speed limit and Chase is patrolling the area, he could ticket you, for steering him wrong.”

  She laughed. “He better not. My wizardry skills are much more powerful than his.”

  “I’ll say.” Kolby kissed her cheek, and they came to another dead end.

  “Are you sure there’s a way out of this?” she asked.

  “Yeah, we have to reach the tip of the witch’s hat.”

  “Okay. I figured we were headed that way but—”

  “The tip of the hat is bent and curled.”

  “Ah, okay.” Then they found a little table with scented candles on it. Please Take One, said the sign. She smelled several of the candles and decided on the cinnamon one for Christmas. She handed it to Kolby to carry.

  He smiled at her. He was already carrying their light stick also and his wizard’s staff.

  Then they continued on their way, finding Ricky in his steampunk wizard costume, since he wanted to be a wizard like so many of the other men, but he loved steampunk. “Have you seen Mandy?”

  “Not yet,” Rosalie said, and then Ricky shook his head.

  “Those witches of Eastwick have led my lovely mate astray,” Ricky said.

  They laughed. Rosalie and Kolby continued down one maze path and then another, dead end after dead end.

  “Don’t you remember how to get through here?” she teased Kolby.

  “I sure do.” He smiled down at her and then they met up with three wizards—Dan dressed in all blue, Hal wearing green emerald, and Leyton dressed in silver. They all looked great.