They had done the best they could to remove any leftover residue from their bodies, but Rick knew there were still bits in their hair. Anyone with an observant eye would be able to spot the clingy orange stuff, especially in a good light. He had no doubt Mr. Blakeney had both.

            Kimberly drove the microbus to the farmhouse to let him meet the family. It was a mere formality, since the sex hex had proven that he and she were a true love pair, but he was looking forward to finally getting to know everyone. Having grown up as an only child, the idea of being part of a big family had always been a dream of his. He glanced at the old clock in the dash, but the dashboard light was too poor to read it.

            “It's just after midnight,” she told him.

            Rick pretended to wipe his brow. “Whew! Made it under wire.”

            She giggled and reached over to squeeze his thigh. Her touch sent another spark of lust racing directly to the head of his cock, and he could feel the muscle nudging the seam of his jeans. He gave her a warning look. “Careful. I snagged a couple more pumpkins before we left.” He was rewarded with hearty laughter.

            After they'd left the pumpkin field, she continued to follow the dirt road. Before long, he could see a two-story house looming in the distance. What appeared to be a hundred lanterns ringed the white clapboard home, set at intervals along the white picket fence. He blinked and stared harder at the lights, wondering what kept them lit, since none of them appeared to have wicks.

            As they drove underneath the carport, the front door swung open, and a group of women ran out onto the porch and down the short flight of steps. They were squealing with delight as they rushed out of the gate and surrounded the van. Rick allowed himself to be dragged from his seat as the sisters inundated him and Kimberly with hugs and kisses. He felt like a rock star being mobbed by fans.

            The Blakeney sisters led him and Kimberly back into the yard and up to the porch where their patriarch stood with his hands in his pockets. Their giggling and laughter died down, and Rick found himself facing a very imposing figure.

            Blakeney was a big man, with wide shoulders and chest, but narrow in the hips and belly. It was obvious Kimberly got her coloring from her father, right down to the eyes. Rick stepped forward, holding out his hand.

            “Mr. Blakeney? Hello. My name is Frederick Carr, and I am very much in love with your daughter. With your permission, I want to marry her.”

            Manderly Blakeney stared at him with an unreadable expression. Several seconds passed in silence while he studied the young man. Rick remained determined and kept his hand out. Whether or not the older man agreed to Rick's request, or even shook hands, it wouldn't change the way he felt about Kimberly. Nor would it change his plans to marry her.

            He started to say as much when Blakeney pulled a hand out of his coveralls pocket and gripped his fingers. But instead of shaking his hand, he covered their grip with his other hand. A trembling smile creased his weathered face.

            “You are welcome into our family, Rick. I know you're going to treat my little girl with respect, and you're going to love her unceasingly.”

            The man turned to look at Kimberly, who remained surrounded by her sisters. “The hex worked for you this time. Now, the two of you will reap its rewards, and I pray you'll have many years of happiness.” He let go of Rick's hands and opened his arms to embrace his daughter, who hurried up the steps to accept the hug. Rick watched the farmer's unabashed display of love.

            “What are we standing out here for?” one sister, the redhead, shouted. “Let's go inside and have some champagne to celebrate!”

            The other sisters whooped in agreement, and the one other sister with long black hair like Kimberly's looped an arm around his. She flashed a smile at him.

            “Hi! I'm Sandy. I'm Kimmy's twin.”

            He glanced at her hair, then her face. Her eyes were a lighter brown, and her features were similar, but she wasn't an identical twin. “Hi, Sandy. You'll be easy to remember,” he greeted her back.

            She giggled and brushed bits of dried pumpkin sauce from his shoulder. “You look like you have orange dandruff. Yeah, we're all very different from each other. Trust me, you'll be able to tell us apart very quickly.”

            Rick looked around for Kimberly. Instead, he saw a pair of headlights heading up the road, directly for the farmhouse. At the same time, Manderly Blakeney said, “Looks like we have unwanted company.”

            Unwanted company? It puzzled him how the man would know that before the driver arrived until he felt a tug on his other arm. Kimberly laced her fingers through his as she watched the vehicle approach. It took another couple of seconds before Rick recognized the car. And the driver.

            Booey pulled up behind the microbus and stopped. He jumped out of the car and strode quickly to the gate, but stopped short of opening it and walking in.

            “Hey, Rick! Hey, man, I'm glad I found you before something happened.” He motioned for Rick to join him. “Let's go, dude! We're packed and gassed to get out of town!”

            “Get out of town? And go where?”

            “Back to Chicago, man!”

            The man was blatantly drunk. Rick frowned. “Booey, you're smashed. Go back to the inn and sleep it off.”

            “Can't.” Booey wobbly shook his head. “I checked us out of that dump. Got our bags packed and in the trunk.”

            Rick could feel the burn of anger in his face. He stepped off the porch, but Kimberly's attachment kept him from going any further. “What did you do that for?” he demanded of the man. “Who gave you permission to do that?”

            “I did it for your own good!” Booey insisted. He pointed at Kimberly. “I couldn't let you be overtaken by those witches, man!”

            “Overtaken?” The word made him laugh. “A lot you know, asshole! Kim and I are getting married, and I don't give a shit whether you approve or not!”

            Booey looked confused, inebriated, and dumbfounded that his friend refused to drop everything and hop into the car. He stuffed his hands into his pocket, mumbling something Rick couldn't quite hear.

            “Speak up, Booey! What did you say?”

            “I said I also called the plant and left a message on the answering machine that we ain't coming back. I told that old man he could take his smelly fish and shove 'em up his ass!”

            “Booey! ”

            “Well, hell, Rick! Can't you see what's going on? This bitch has put a spell on you! A-a love spell! No telling what else she has planned for you!”

            Rick started to snap back when Manderly Blakeney's deep voice carried clear and loud in the still night air. “You're on private property, young man. I advise you to leave before you do or say anything further to upset me or my family.”

            “Fuck you, grandpa!” Booey shot back, giving him the finger. “I'm not leaving here until my friend comes with me!”

            “I'm not coming with you!” Rick yelled at him. “Better get that through your friggin" head! I'm staying here with Kimberly, and we're getting married! I was going to have you be my best man, but that's obviously not going to happen. So go back to Chicago! Go! Just let me have my duffle first.”

            Booey gave him a bleary smile. Rick could tell the man had loaded up on more than liquid courage before driving out here.

            “You want your duffle? Then come get it.” He pulled the keys out of his pocket and held them up, giving them a little shake to tease him.

            Rick started to take up Booey on his offer, but Kimberly squeezed his hand harder and pulled on his arm to hold him back. “No, Rick. Don't.”

            “I'm not letting him ruin this for us,” Rick told her.

            She shook her head. “He's planning something. I can feel it.”

            Patting her hand, he tried to reassure her. “He's three sheets to the wind. Plus I can whip his ass any day when he's sober. I'll be okay, Kim. Let me get my duffle, and bid him goodbye. It's the least I can do after nearly twenty years of friendship.”

            He slowly extradited his fingers from hers. Patting her arm, Rick turned and headed for the gate where Booey waited. “All right, Booey. Hand them over.” Rick stepped up to his friend and held out his palm.

            Booey grinned, stepping back and away. “Come and get them, witch fucker.”

            Rick made a grab for them. Booey's reactions were too dulled to jerk them out of range, and Rick snatched the keys. But Booey's grip was like a bulldog refusing to relinquish its favorite bone. They struggled briefly for the key ring.

            Rick could feel Booey quickly weakening, and tried to twist the man's wrist to make him drop the keys. He didn't expect the man to suddenly duck underneath his arms and head butt him directly in the stomach.

            Rick heard someone scream his name in the distance as he bent over, gasping for breath. Pain flared in his head as Booey rammed his elbow into his temple, and the ground started to spin. He dropped to his knees, his stomach heaving.

            “I'm gonna get you out of here, Rick,” Booey muttered, grabbing him under the arms. “Get you away from these goddamn witches. When you wake up, you'll understand. You'll thank me.”

            Rick could feel himself being dragged, but the blow to his head had stunned him. He couldn't think. He couldn't move his muscles. He couldn't fight back. And he couldn't stop Booey from piling him into the car.

            There was another scream. He was dropped onto the gravel driveway as Kimberly launched herself at Booey to try and stop him. Rick felt his body tingling as his nerve endings came back to life, and he rolled over to see her going after Booey, fighting the guy with her nails as Booey struggled to get her off of him.

            Rick got to his feet and started to rejoin the battle when Booey grabbed a handful of her long hair and jerked her neck back hard. There was a popping sound, and terror froze his heart at the thought that the guy might have snapped her neck.

            Yelling in rage, he started to lunge at the man, when the world exploded in crackling white light. The shock waves knocked Rick backwards. He barely missed hitting the car's fender, and landed beside the tire.

            “Kim! Kim! ”

            “Here!”

            The light slowly dissipated, until he could see her lying a few feet away from him. He scrambled on hands and knees to reach her, pulling her into his arms for protection as he looked around to see where Booey could be. Standing behind the gate, Manderly Blakeney slowly lowered his hands as remnants of white light sparkled in his palms.

            “Rick.” Kimberly tugged on his shirt and pointed at the body lying several feet away.

            Rick stared in shock. “Is he still alive?”

            “He's alive,” Blakeney replied.

            “Wha... What did you do to him?” Rick whispered.

            “What it took to protect my family,” the man said.

            Kimberly snuggled against him. Rick glanced down to see his stunned expression reflected in her eyes. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

            “Yeah. You?”

            “I'm okay.”

            He could sense her struggling with what she wanted to say next. “Rick...”

            Laying a finger to her lips, he shook his head. “He wouldn't have stopped. You know that. Your father knew that. He would have kept on trying to get me to leave. Trying to convince me that being here, and being with you, was the worst decision of my life, next to moving to Toppers Cove.” He looked back at the still form of his ex-friend. “Booey deserved what he got. He brought this on himself. Besides, it's not as if he didn't have plenty of warning.”

            “Except for one thing,” Kimberly added with a wistful sigh.

            “What's that?”

            “Somebody should have told him that nobody messes with Daddy.”