Free Mountain Charm by Sydney Logan

peppermint?”
    Celia sat down in her rocking chair. “A little. I had a feeling you might need something to relax you this morning. Call it a mother’s intuition.”
    “Right. You knew exactly what was going to happen last night, didn’t you?”
    “What happened?”
    Angelina sighed deeply and drank her tea.
     “You know my visions aren’t synchronized to a clock. I never know when something’s going to happen.”
    “But you knew we’d kiss, didn’t you?”
    Celia’s face transformed into a beautiful smile.
    “Yes, but to be fair, I don’t think my psychic powers were needed to make that prediction. Sparks flew from the moment you two met. Surely you aren’t surprised.”
    The kiss itself wasn’t surprising. It was her unexpected reaction to it that was throwing Angelina for a loop.
    “What if it’s not real?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You believe in that stupid curse, right?” Angelina asked, and her mom nodded. “So, what if whatever we think we’re feeling is just the spell weaving its magic on the two of us? What if it’s bogus?”
    Celia’s face grew thoughtful. “Do you think my marriage to your father was bogus?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Our relationship started just like this,” she said, smiling at the memory. “I cast the spell when I was thirteen, just like you. Your father arrived when I was twenty-one. Granted, I didn’t try to shoot him, but still, I’d like to think it was love at first sight for both of us.”
    Angelina groaned. “Would you please not joke about this? I’m so confused. How can I trust how he feels? Or how I feel?”
    Celia tilted her head in her daughter’s direction. “That must have been some kiss.”
    You have no idea.
    “I struggled with the same insecurities when I met your father. Did he really care for me, or was it just the spell? Could I trust his emotions? Could I trust mine?”
    “Did you come to any conclusions?”
    “There’s something you’re forgetting, Angelina, and it’s the same thing I failed to remember until your grandmother pointed it out to me.”
    “Which is?”
    “No one has cast a spell on you .”
    Angelina frowned. “What does that mean?”
    “My sweet daughter, it means that whatever you are feeling has absolutely nothing to do with magic—not in the traditional sense, anyhow.”
    “I don’t know what I’m feeling. Everything is so confusing, and now I’m getting all this attention from guys in town that I don’t even want. All because of some ridiculous spell? I’m suddenly a magnet for men just because I turned twenty-one? How nuts is that?”
    Her mom smiled. “You’re a beautiful young woman. Why wouldn’t they be attracted?”
    “But why now ?”
    Celia laughed. “Sweetheart, I hate to break the news to you, but you’ve always turned heads. You’re just noticing now, that’s all.”
    The phone rang, and Celia headed inside. Cash raced behind her, leaving Angelina alone in her confusion.Closing her eyes, she traced her fingertip along her lips, recalling the heat of Dylan’s kiss and how the memory of it kept her awake all night long.
    No one has cast a spell on you.
    “I’m not so sure about that,” she whispered.
    Minutes later, a laughing Celia reappeared on the porch. Angelina gave her a strange look as her mom placed a set of car keys into her hand.
    “Am I going somewhere?”
    “To the sheriff’s department. Take your checkbook.”
    “Why would I need my checkbook?”
    Celia was trying to stifle her laughter.
    “For Dylan’s bail.”

    “You are unbelievable, do you know that?”
    Celia had warned her daughter to keep her temper in check, but the entire situation was just too ridiculous. Who gets into a drunken brawl with a complete stranger?
    Dylan peered at the speedometer. “You’re going to get a ticket, Angelina.”
    “ Now you’re worried about breaking the law?”
    He groaned and closed his eyes.
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you have a headache? Am I too loud ?”
    “I