Midnight Surrender: A Paranormal Romance Anthology Read Online Free PDF Page B

ain’t none of your business.”
    Abby snorted and folded her arms across her chest. “But, it ain’t fair.” The whiney sound of her voice was worse than fingernails on a chalkboard.
    Daddy’s face bloomed scarlet. “Abundance, that’s enough.”
    Everyone froze, even the trips. When Daddy used your power-name, you knew you were in trouble. Channie started counting silently in her head and prayed she’d get to ten without Daddy taking off his belt …eight …nine …ten.
    Daddy exhaled through pursed lips then rubbed the side of his face with his palm. “I’ll be in the bus.”
    Everyone else heaved a sigh of relief and went back to whatever they were doing.
    Momma grabbed Zeal with one hand then licked her thumb and rubbed at the corner of his mouth. “What in tarnation have you been eating?”
    “ Nuffin.” He squirmed out of her grasp and made a dash for the door with Coco hot on his heels.
    Savvy tugged on Momma’s dress and batted his feather-duster eyelashes at her. “It’s booberry jam. Coco shared wif Zeal but not me.”
    Momma held Savvy’s chubby cheeks between her palms and kissed his forehead. She narrowed her eyes at Abby. “That jam was on the top shelf. You’ve got to do a better job of watching these babies. Especially Courage and Zeal.”
    Abby rolled her eyes. “You’re the one that gave ‘em their power-names, don’t blame me.”
    Channie ducked outside before she got caught in the middle of Momma and Abby’s argument. She rarely agreed with anything Abby said, but she was right about the trips’ power-names.
    Daddy laid on the horn then stuck his head out the window of their old VW bus. “I’m leaving! Y’all better git your bee-hinds in this here vehicle right now or plan on walking.”
    ~***~
    By the time they got to the gathering, most of the food was gone. Channie wasn’t surprised. Most folks’ pantries were bare by the end of winter. You came to Spring Gathering for the games, music and dancing, not the food.
    Momma gave orders as she spread their quilt out next to Old Pappy and Aunt Wisdom. “I expect everyone to stay in the clearing. Don’t go wandering off into the woods. Abby, don’t let them babies outta your sight for one second, you hear me, girl?”
    Abby rolled her eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “ Channie, take the food to the community table and if you see so much as a single fly, recharge the bug-be-gone spells.”
    “ For the whole table?” The darn thing was made out of heavy cedar planks and spanned the north end of the clearing. If she protected the entire table, not only would it drain most of her magic, it’d leave her too tired for dancing.
    Momma raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. “You got a problem with that?”
    “ No, ma’am.” Channie waited until she was out of range then cast a bug-be-gone spell on herself. She kept her gaze lowered to the ground to be sure she didn’t see any damn flies.
    A line formed behind Channie as she wove her way through the crowd.
    Momma fed the family biscuits and gravy before they left so Channie wasn’t hungry. She set Momma’s squirrel casserole on the table and scooted it to the side so the folks behind her could dig in. But she hovered over the apricot pie and scanned the crowd, looking for Hunter.
    The pie would be gone in a matter of seconds, so she cut a piece and put it on her plate. Her mouth watered but this piece was for Hunter. Where the hell was he?
    Hunter’s daddy waved her over. “I’ll give you a catfish for that there piece of pie.”
    “ Sorry, it’s spoken for.” Channie ducked her head to hide the blush heating her cheeks.
    Mr. Feenie rubbed his chin and smirked at her. “You wouldn’t be planning to waste that on one of my boys, now would you?”
    “ Uh …”
    He laughed and patted her back then pointed towards a crowd of young men. “They’re all over yonder, watching Hunter and Shep arm wrestle.”
    Channie’s face went from warm to hot. “Thank you,