Truth of Fire

“Thrice around the circle’s edge, we’re protected by your might.

Oh gracious Goddess, watch over all three of us day and night.”

Carly hopped out of the circle of stones and flung back the hood of her cape. “Do you think it will work?”

“Carly!” Her sister Bonnie slapped her upper arm. “Shit. Why do you always have to question the Goddess?” Bonnie turned toward the oldest Jacobson triplet. “Alexis?”

The eldest sister, gifted with the element of air, held up her hand. “Please, you two, let me finish.”

Casting her gaze toward the sky, Carly sighed. She raised her hood and stepped back within the sacred circle.
Oh Goddess, give me strength.

With her arms raised, her palms open to the night, Alexis closed her eyes and finished the spell.

“Oh Goddess of air,

We ask that you be fair.

Use your love and speed

To give us our every need.

Make us strong and bold.

Please bring us a man to hold

Upon this Hallows Eve

To her…to her…to me.

Blessed be!”

The wind picked up around the clearing and whipped Carly’s robe open. She hugged her waist and never took her gaze off Alexis. Her sister’s hood had come off, and her blonde curly hair, which matched Carly’s own, took on a life of its own.

Alexis lowered her arms and opened her eyes. The wind disappeared, and peacefulness settled over the siblings. Carly rushed forward along with Bonnie to support Alexis. Calling upon the elements often drained them, but the wind always seemed especially strong.

“It is done.” Alexis put her arms around each of her sisters. “Are you two ready? We’ve only given the Goddesses one week to do a big job.”

Bonnie snorted. “Are you kidding? I think I’ve waited a lifetime for this moment. I can’t believe the time has come and I will find the right man to love.”

Carly groaned. “I can’t even look at a man without turning several shades of red. I don’t see how this will work. You two are much better at relationships than I am.”

Alexis laughed. “Oh dear sister, it will work. You’ll see soon enough that the Goddesses always know what they are doing.” She winked at Bonnie. “Besides, the powers that be know that they’ll have to give you a little extra help along the way.”

Carly glanced back and forth between them. “What aren’t you telling me? You did something, didn’t you?” She narrowed her eyes. “Come on, spill…”

Alexis grinned. “Get ready, dear sister, because you’ll be the first Jacobson sister to find true love.”

As the antique grandfather clock finished its seventh round of
dongs
, Carly laid down her hairbrush and headed toward the front door.
Ugh, why did I have to pick today of all days to oversleep?

With only a week to go until the end of October, she’d have to work fast to prep the flowers for the haunting celebration the townspeople threw every Halloween and to arrange the cornstalks that were stored in the back of the shop. No one ever thought the floral business stayed busy this time of year, but people still ordered flowers and decorated their homes for trick-or-treaters.

After grabbing her sweatshirt off the coat rack, she slipped it over her head and ran her fingers through all her curls. If she hurried, she’d arrive at the flower shop before the boss noticed she overslept.

A fine mist lay heavy over the quaint little coastal town of Lindbergh, Oregon. She loved this time of year, when the leaves fell and the skies stayed darker. Carly jogged across the one street that ran through the center of town and flew in the front door of Rose’s Emporium.

“Carly!”

She stumbled to a stop, raised her gaze, and lost all ability to speak.

Standing beside Paul, her supervisor, was the best-looking man she’d ever seen. She caught her lip behind her top teeth.
Oh, please tell me you are quitting and this man is here to take over your job.

“Come here and meet the owner of Rose’s.” Paul motioned her over.

Owner? This is Mr. Cortega?
Neither of them had ever met the person who owned the company. In her mind, she’d pictured someone old, rich, and vacationing in Mexico—not this hunk of goodness.

The man flashed a smile and dipped his dimpled chin in her direction. A surge of confidence came over her, and she glided over with her hand held out. “I-It’s nice to meet you, Mr.—”

“Please, call me Max.” His hand swallowed her much smaller one. “What lovely hair you have. I don’t believe I have ever seen curls quite that long before.” He held her hand up above her head, and without letting go, strolled all the way around her. “I think you must be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

Carly tittered. “Oh, well…th-thank you.”

“Mr. Cortega, Carly is our floral designer. She’s made quite a name for herself in Lindbergh for creating wedding and event arrangements.” Paul rocked back on his heels. “In fact, she’s got a big order for this Halloween that we—”

“Paul, I’d like to give you the day off. I’ll handle the orders today. I’d like to get behind the scenes and find out for myself how efficiently things are run here.” Max might have spoken to her manager, but his gaze never left her face.

“But, Mr.—”

“Go ahead, Paul. You deserve some R and R. If I have any problems, I’m sure Carly is quite capable of helping me.” Max’s thumb strummed the top of her hand. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

She nodded. “I’ll help him, Paul. You can go ahead and take the day off.”

Paul cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

The bell on the door jingled and then fell silent. She licked her lips. Max’s dark brown shoulder-length hair begged her to run her hands through it and bring his lips down to her level.
Where are all these thoughts coming from?

“W-well, I better get busy. The black carnations came in yesterday afternoon. I need to cut and have them ready by the weekend.” She stepped around him, paused, and frowned. An incredible urge to turn around and stay beside him came out of nowhere.

Forcing her feet to move across the floor, she pushed through the swinging door into the back workroom. She reached out and grabbed on to the table to steady herself. Her whole body shook with uncontrolled lust for her boss.
What is going on?

“Carly?”

She whirled around. “Y-yes?”
Oh sweetness…it’s him! What is he doing to me?

Max stepped closer. She inhaled a long, slow breath. Even through the floral scents permeating the room, the musky aroma coming from him floated across to her and caused her stomach to flip-flop.

“You are unbelievably gorgeous.” He ran his hand down her cheek.

She tilted her head into his touch.
Oh Goddess, you did it. You brought me someone who cannot deny me and will love me forever.

“S-so are y-you.” She squeezed her eyes shut, opened them, and wrinkled her nose. “I-I mean…”

“Sh. I know. You have been here the whole time working in my shop, and I had no idea…” He brought his other hand up and cupped her cheeks. “I’ve never had anything like this come over me, but I can’t seem to fight it.”

She swallowed. “I know.”

He placed feather-soft kisses on her forehead. She shivered despite the way her body warmed under his attention. Any attempt to slow down and try to comprehend what was happening fled her mind the second he lowered his head for a kiss.

Softly he explored her mouth. Brushing his lips against hers, he coaxed her body into submitting. She mewed. The thought of his weight on top of her, his body pleasuring, consuming her, drove her wild. She wanted to experience it all.

He tasted, teased, and nibbled. She dug her fingers into the long strands of hair at his nape. Her pussy dampened, and she held him tighter to her, urging him for more.

Max pulled back without letting her go. “I want you. I need to feel your body against me.”

Her hand slipped out of his hair, slid down his shoulder, and fell to her side. This wasn’t what she wanted. The spell was for true love, not lust, not something…fake.

“S-stop.” She lowered her head, trying to catch her breath.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He enfolded her in his arms. The proof of his desire pressed against her lower stomach, making this more difficult.

“I… This isn’t what I wanted.” She sniffed.
I want love.

He stepped back and tilted his head to the side. “I don’t understand.” Sliding his fingers down her arm, he then gathered her hand up in his and placed it flat against his chest. “Can you feel that?”

His heart raced against her palm. She sucked in a breath. Everything seemed too perfect. Her body hummed in response. “I-I’m scared.”

“Carly, there is nothing to be afraid of… I would never hurt you. I want to know everything about you, to please you, and love you.”

She flinched. “Oh Max, I can’t. I’ve made a terrible mistake. I-I’m s-sorry…” Carly shook her head. “I’m sorry. This is all a big mistake. I need to leave…”

“What about working with me today?” Max stepped over and ran his hand down her back.

She jumped away from his touch and stepped backward toward the door. “I-I’ve got to go home.” Turning, she pushed through the door, ran through the main shop, and out of the building.

She stopped on the sidewalk, leaned over, and put her hands on her knees, fighting the sobs building up inside her chest. Wiping the tears off her cheeks, she turned toward her family’s house down the street and headed home.
Oh Goddess, what have I done?

Alexis pulled Carly’s arm and forced her to follow her out into the living room. Carly stuck out her lower lip and blew the hair out of her eyes.
Don’t my sisters understand that I want to forget about what happened?

“Oh good, you got her to come out.” Bonnie stood up and rushed over to hug Carly.

Carly rolled her eyes but leaned her head against her sister’s shoulder. “She gave me no choice.”

Alexis chuckled. “We had a feeling you’d fight the spell. You’ve always been the most stubborn of all of us. We let you have most of the day to hole up in your bedroom, but now it is time to tell us what happened that made you come home so upset.”

Carly flopped down on the corner of the couch and pulled the throw blanket off the back to cover her legs. “The spell worked—”

“Of course it did. You’d think twenty-five years’ worth of working with the elements would teach you that spells always work.” Alexis shook her head. “Why did that upset you? It’s what we all wanted. We’ve thought about it all year. It wasn’t something we dreamed up on the spur of the moment.”

“I was going to say, the spell worked, but it is not true love. He only wanted me—wanted sex with me—because he had no choice. The Goddesses made him want me.” She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “It’s not enough. I want love…genuine love like our parents had.”

Bonnie scooted over on the couch. “Listen to you. When has the Goddess ever let you down? Hmm?”

“Today.” She leaned over and wrapped her arms around Bonnie’s waist. “Max kept saying such lovely things to me. He made me feel so special, and I wanted to believe him…”

Alexis stood up and moved over to the altar.

“What are you doing?” Bonnie asked.

Carly raised her head and frowned. She wasn’t in any mood to have a ceremony tonight. In fact, she wanted to go back to bed, pull the covers over her head, and forget she ever met the dashing and mysterious Max.

“Come, sisters.” Alexis carried a white bowl filled with water to the small table in the middle of the living room. She set a tapered white candle in the water and pushed it into the stand at the bottom of the ceremonial basin. The wick stood one inch above the liquid. “There is one way to prove that love is real.”

“Nuh-uh.” Carly shook her head and crossed her arms. “I told you I don’t want to do this anymore. I just need a few days to get over this. You guys didn’t see him. He’s…never mind. I’ve got to forget about him.”

Bonnie pulled her off the couch. “Come on, we’ll help you figure this out. Now, kneel down.” She whipped off the blanket and pushed Carly to the floor.

All three sisters circled the round table. Alexis held the matchbook out to Carly. She took it and frowned.
It would be nice to know if Max had even a little bit of feelings for me…

“Ask to see the truth and only the truth.” Alexis reached for Bonnie’s hand.

Carly inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. Closing her eyes, she swallowed.

“Goddess, here I kneel.

I seek the truth and nothing more.”

She opened her eyes and glanced around the table. “I-I can’t do this.”

“Light the candle, Carly. We will help you.” Alexis smiled tenderly.

She opened the matchbook and struck a match, then lit the candle and reached for both of her sisters’ hands. “OK, I’m ready.”

All three closed their eyes and tilted their heads back. As one voice, they spoke.

“Goddess, here we kneel

And become the power of three.

Show Carly what she cannot see.

Bless her, Goddess, so she may learn.

We’ll let the fire burn.”