Teaser Thursday!

It doesn't quite have the ring that Teaser Tuesday does, but we'll get by.

This scene is from MacDowell Sisters & AnnaBeth, which is available in print on Amazon and many ebook formats.

In this scene, AnnaBeth is exiting the MacDowell sisters house after visiting them. The previous evening she had a date with their adopted son, Justin. The book she is holding contains her family history. Also, she's a witch. I hope that's enough setup.

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Into the mass of gargantuan maples and elms and leafy plants in batches labeled with signs, I plunged with my grandmother's book in my arms. The farther I wound away from the back door on the path, the greater I felt the accomplishment. I had fulfilled Nanna's requests.

Laughter reached me again and this time a splash accompanied it. Then I heard a guy’s voice, not Justin but his friend Derek. I recognized the sound of it because we'd endured the same algebra class. If Derek was there, so was Justin. I hurried along the path to reach him. I had hoped to see him that day.

I turned a corner and found a pool unlike any other I had seen. Embedded in the garden like part of the landscape, its walls and edges were ashen gray and textured like natural rock. A five-foot waterfall poured at the far end. And swimming in the pool and scattered around the pool in chairs were all of Justin's friends from high school.

I gasped a little and halted. Most of the varsity football team, their cheerleaders, a couple of other notable faces from the Fosters Branch High alumni, these people were not my people.
There at the center of it all, lounging on his stomach on a chair with his girlfriend from high school, Rachel, applying tanning oil on his shoulders and back was Justin.

I wished my newfound energy enabled me to turn invisible.

The path led directly alongside the pool. If I went that direction, they would all see me. If I tried to cut through the thicket, Justin would hear me. Either way, I was done for. I froze like a deer in headlights.

Dark-haired Rachel, tan as Justin and sporting the teeniest bikini I'd ever seen, leaned down and whispered something into his ear. I saw him look up and give her this sexy, coy grin and irrational fury gripped me. It was irrational because I barely knew him and because we weren't even officially a couple. It was irrational because for all I knew, he'd betrayed her by kissing me.

I could have written an essay about why I shouldn't have felt that way. Yet anger sparked within me. I couldn't deny it. I couldn't act on the anger either. So I stood there, stewing and staring at them like a lunatic stalker.

Move. I told myself. I made a beeline for the other side of the pool where I would be safe from awkwardness and insecurity. I wouldn't have to explain my presence or say something I would regret if I was in a rush. People in a rush have those luxuries. It was a state of being that excused universally. No need to explain and no need for pleasantries because I am in an r-u-s-h.
I practically ran for the trees. I powered by them, head down, and was reminded of Thomas Williams who I'd seen leave Reau House executing the same posture just before my tea in the roses with the sisters.

Justin looked up. They all watched me as I passed. Their heads swiveled in unison.

My face ran hot. I could feel myself blush hard.

"AnnaBeth?" Justin called.

"In a rush!" I raised one hand in a quick wave and kept on trucking.

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When Anna inherits her grandmother's mansion, she receives more than just a house. She inherits the family secrets and, interestingly enough, her grandmother’s strange friends.

Vestra and Madeline MacDowell draw her into their circle with the promise of power and the possibility of romance with their son, Justin. But there are consequences when you ally yourself with those who practice witchcraft.

AnnaBeth will risk everything to protect the town of Fosters Branch and the people she loves.

Want to read more? Chapters 1-5 are up for free reading on Scribd.

More information and links to buy the book are on my website.