13. Beth

Beth sighed heavily when her front door was practically ripped off of the hinges the next morning and someone stomped into the room.

"Mother."

"What in the world are you doing?"

"Cooking breakfast," Beth said as she flipped the French toast. "Did you know that French toast isn't really French? People in the United Kingdom have been eating it for centuries. They call it eggy bread."

"I didn't come here to discuss breakfast foods with you," she growled.

"No? I can't imagine what else you would want to talk about," Beth said, knowing exactly what was on her mother's mind.

"You were with him last night."

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I know that wolf shifter spent the afternoon with my granddaughter at the fair, and then he came here last night. You slept with him."

"You don't give a damn about your granddaughter. But yes, she did spend the afternoon with her father. As for whether I slept with him or not, that is my business. None of yours."

"I knew that I should have killed him. I did him a favor by putting the memory spell on him. You should have left well enough alone."

Enraged, Beth turned to face her mother. "I don't get you. You don't care about either me or Taryn. You wouldn't care if either of us died tomorrow. What is your issue with me seeing Conner?"

"He's a wolf shifter. He is nothing but a filthy animal. We are witches. You have a legacy to uphold."

Taryn is a wolf shifter," Beth growled.

"Yes, but she is also a powerful witch. She could be very useful."

"Useful for what? Taryn isn't any more inclined to join your devilish cult of evil witches than I am."

"We'll see. Meanwhile, you should send your cowboy packing. You're making a huge mistake by being with him. He's no good for you, and he's just going to hurt you."

"It is my mistake to make, and I'll decide what's good for me and what isn't. Stay out of my business and leave Conner alone."

"You can't say that I didn't warn you." Matilda laughed and walked back out the door.

"We need to find some kind of spell that would keep her from coming in that door," Taryn said.

"She would just come in a window or down the chimney," Beth said. "There is no stopping her when she wants something."

"Is she going to hurt Dad again?"

Beth thought about assuring Taryn that Matilda wouldn't do anything to hurt Conner, but she wasn't going to lie to her daughter. She sighed heavily and said, "I honestly don't know. He knows that she is dangerous, so he'll keep an eye out for her."

"She's sneaky. She isn't going to do anything while he's watching. Grandmother will get him when his back is turned. It would be better if he just went home," Taryn said.

"You're probably right, although I have a feeling that he'll refuse to leave if we suggest it to him."

"What if she does something worse to him than just making him forget us?" Taryn asked.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

Beth and Taryn stopped by the shop before they headed to the fairgrounds. Anna smiled widely when they came in and wrapped them in a huge hug.

"I hear that you've been a superstar," Anna said. "You're taking home all the prizes."

"A lot of them," Taryn said, smiling.

"I'm proud of you." Anna smiled. Then, she looked at Beth. "You've made an enemy. Do watch your back."

"I promise," Beth said. "How are things here?"

"Perfect," Anna said. "We stay busy. My daughter comes in during the afternoons because that's when we get a lot of customers. The fair is bringing in people from all over the state, plus some folks from northern Colorado."

"Awesome. Make sure that your daughter logs all her hours," Beth said. "Call if you need me."

"I will. Good luck tonight," Anna said.

The place was buzzing when they got to the rodeo grounds. Some superstars came in to compete, and everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of them and get an autograph.

Taryn was a little nervous because she was competing against someone who had been barrel racing a lot longer.

"Just do your best. You and Pegasus are awesome together," Beth said. "If you don't win, that's okay. You know that you gave it your all."

Taryn nodded. She was over the moon excited when she took first by one-tenth of a second. Jenna took third place. The girls were over the moon. Beth loved seeing the huge smiles on their faces. She hadn't liked the idea of Taryn getting involved in the rodeo at first, but now she was glad that she did.

Beth happened to look up and saw Matilda in the crowd, watching. The dark witch saw Beth looking. She smiled and gave a little wave. Beth's heart clenched in her chest.

"Why is she here? What is she going to do?" Beth muttered under her breath. She threw a protection spell around Conner, hoping it would be enough.

She couldn't breathe when it was time for Conner to compete in the bull riding event. Beth glanced over at Matilda, who was grinning. It was all Beth could do to keep from screaming Conner's name and begging him not to get on that bull.

He mounted the bull in the chute and wrapped his hands in the rope. Conner gave the signal that he was ready and the chute opened. Beth counted the seconds along with everyone else in the arena. Conner was the favorite to win the night's competition. They got to five and the bull twisted and bucked at the same time. Conner was thrown through the air, clear across the arena, and slammed into a fence post. He hit the ground hard. Beth imagined that she could hear the thud. All eyes were on Conner.

Everyone in the crowd gasped and started chattering about how they had never seen anything like that before. Sure, they had seen men thrown off bulls, but not that far.

Beth looked over at the spot where her mother had been. Matilda had disappeared into the crowd.

The rodeo clowns rushed into the arena to distract the bull.

The bull instantly calmed down and seemed to willingly go back into the chute.

"She did this," Beth hissed under her breath.

The crowd cheered as Conner stood up and shook his head, as though he was trying to get the cobwebs out. He waved to the crowd and trotted over to the fence, climbing over, and disappearing.

Beth was actually surprised that Matilda didn't do anything worse to him. Conner didn't seem to be hurt. If anything, just a little dazed.

She thought about going to find him but decided that she would wait. Beth breathed a sigh of relief when his name was announced for the saddled bronc riding event.

Was that a warning?Beth wondered. She would be surprised if it was. Her mother wasn't the kind to give warnings. She was the kind to go for the kill. Beth wasn't stupid enough to think that her mother had gone soft.

Conner did well in all the other events, so there must not have been any lasting damage done. She was still anxious for the night to be over so she could see for herself.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, every horse and bull had been ridden, wrangled, and roped. It was time to go home. She quickly made her way through the crowd and spotted Conner in the center of a huge gaggle of women. Beth waited patiently until all of them had gotten their autographs. She smirked when she saw how Conner blatantly ignored flirting and even outright offers of a great night in bed. He simply signed whatever it was they had and sent them on his way.

He grinned when he saw her. Beth rested her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She used the opportunity to scan for any injuries that he or the paramedics might have missed.

Conner must have sensed what she was doing. "Am I good to go, Doc?"

"Yep. I don't find anything except for a couple of bruises, which will only take you an hour or so to heal from."

Taryn rushed up to him and said, "Are you okay? You flew across the arena. Everyone was talking about how they had never seen anyone go so far in their entire lives."

"It was definitely an interesting experience," Conner said. "It was a first for me, and I've been thrown off a lot of bulls and horses in my lifetime. I hit that post hard and for a second, I couldn't move. I was afraid that I had broken my back."

"I saw Mother in the crowd earlier. She disappeared right after you were thrown. I'm pretty sure she had something to do with it."

Conner sighed. "At least I know who we are. I didn't forget one or more of us this time."

"I'm just worried that she's going to do something worse."

Shaking his head, Conner said, "I guess we'll deal with that when it happens."

Beth stretched and yawned. "I'm ready for bed. Come on, Taryn."

"I'll walk you to your car," he said.

Beth's heart sank when they got to her car. All four tires were completely flat. The knife gashes were clearly evident.

"What in the…" Conner looked at Taryn and said, "Hades happened?"

"I've heard worse at school," she assured him.

"Not from me," he said. "I'll give you three guesses who did this, and the first two don't count."

"Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Rogers, and Her Majesty, the rodeo queen," Beth said through gritted teeth.

She was already on the phone with her insurance company. Beth explained that someone slashed her tires and told them what size tires she had.

"They'll be here in half an hour to an hour," she said. "I guess we wait."

"I'm sorry," Conner said. "I knew that she was a nasty individual, but I never guessed that she would do something like this."

"She confronted me earlier. Kelly told me to stay away from you guys because you were in a relationship. You had to keep it on the down low, because, to make your roles as queen and cowboy more appealing, you had to seem as though you were single and available for potential romantic hookups."

Conner shook his head. "I don't know what she's smoking, because I've told her over and over again that I have absolutely zero interest in being her friend, let alone anything beyond that."

"Some women just don't get the hint," Beth said. "Speak of the devil."

All three of them looked at the woman, still dressed in her sequined outfit, strolling up to them, almost as though she was on a runway in Paris.

"Oh, my goodness," Kelly said, with fake shock, putting her fingers over her mouth. "What on Earth could have happened?"

"I think you know damned good and well what happened," Conner growled.

"Language. There's a little one here," Kelly said, sweetly. "We wouldn't want to upset the child, now, would we."

"What do you want?" Conner asked.

"Why, I just saw you guys standing out here by her car and I was worried that something was wrong. I simply want to help."

Her fake, sweet voice was getting on Beth's last nerve. Never in her life did she want to so badly take a swing at someone.

"I think that you've done enough," Conner said.

"At least let me give you and Taryn a ride home," Kelly said.

"No thank you," Beth said. "As Conner said, you've done enough."

Kelly pretended to gasp in shock. "I really don't know what you mean. I'm just trying to be nice."

She turned and walked away. Beth caught a glimpse of the smirk on her face as she disappeared into the darkness.

I just hope she doesn't try anything more drastic,Beth thought, with a shudder. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."