For your enjoyment,

It was a beautiful late April day in Mustang Valley, Montana. Well, if you liked mud, slush and crusty snow it was beautiful, there were a few patches of green grass where the snow had melted away. Some people were grumbling, ready for the snow to be gone and the warmth of spring. We were nestled at the foot of the mountains and could look forward to a few more weeks of this. The resort was happy because they still had skiers. 

Mustang Valley had been settled by witches and shifters who had fled the east coast in the 1800s. It has become a haven for witches and shifters, if you didn't mind the small-town rural lifestyle, it wasn't for everyone. This was my family's hometown and I moved here after my divorce. My son, Marc and I have thrived here.

Shadows, my Aunt Jody's occult store, was originally a bakery. The front part of the bakery had been renovated to be a store. Aunt Jody had kept one of the bakery cases to exhibit athames and expensive products, the cash register sat on the countertop of the case. The back wall had a bookcase where occult and new age books were shelved and a door leading into the room where I do massages and healing treatments. I'm a witch, and my power is healing. I'm also a massage therapist and a reiki master. The treatment room, storage, office and the breakroom were originally the bakery kitchen. Behind the counter was the doorway leading to a hallway and the storage, office, breakroom and back door. The back door automatically locked. When I don't have clients I work for Aunt Jody in the store

I was sitting in the little break-room behind the office having a cup of coffee when my phone chimed. I had a text from Jordan.

Jordan: Where do you want to go to dinner tonight? I need to make reservations.

Paige: Let's go to Rancher's Feast. I'm in the mood for a good steak.

Jordan: Is Marc coming? 

Paige: No, He said we need some time alone.

Jordan: Reservation for two then. I'll pick you up at 6:00. 

Paige: Sounds good, see you then.

Deputy Jordan Garfield was an attractive man. He kept himself trim and fit. He had sandy blond, collar-length hair, and gray eyes. He had a narrow nose, a strong chin, a beautiful smile, and very kissable lips. I should know, I have kissed them many times. In addition to being a deputy, Jordan was a witch with a unique ability. He could talk to animals. Well, not really talk, he could get impressions of emotions from animals. It's thought that this power comes from shifter blood. 

We had been dating for two years and I think he spent as much time with Marc as he did with me, and included him in many of our dates. Lately Marc had been hinting that Jordan and I should get married. I don't think Jordan was against it but I wasn't sure I was ready. My ex had hurt me pretty badly and to make it worse, when Marc had started shifting at age ten he claimed that he wasn't his son, so he had a right to cheat. I had to get a paternity test to prove that Marc was his in order to get child support. It was all ridiculous, he knew that my family was paranormal, I didn't keep that secret from him. He hadn't contacted Marc in five years. I think Marc missed having a family.

I finished my coffee, clocked in on the computer, and went into the store. Two teenage girls, tourists from the ski resort, came into the store. They were giggling and looking at the books on Wicca. One of the girls grabbed a couple books and they migrated over to the amulets and necklaces. I started over to see if they needed help but Jessie beat me to it. I went to straighten some shelves. 

I looked up when I heard the bell over the door chime. As the teen girls left with their purchases, Jack Ransom, a coyote shifter, stormed into the store. He looked around and zeroed in on Aunt Jody.

"You better fix this, Jody!" he yelled as he stomped across the store.

Aunt Jody looked up, an innocent expression on her face, "What is it you want me to fix, Jack?"

"You know damn well what I want you to fix," he growled.

"I'm sorry, Jack, I really don't," she said, all innocent.

"I have boils on my butt," he said through gritted teeth, "and you put them there."

"Oh, Jack," Aunt Jody said, "I put boils on the butt of the coyote that was chasing my geese last night. Was that you? Should I alert the sheriff that you're shifting and attacking poultry?"

"Th tha that wasn't me, it it must have b been a real coyote," Jack stammered. "N no need t to go to the sh sheriff."

"Well, if you weren't the one chasing my geese then I couldn't have put boils on your butt," she said reasonably. "They must have occurred naturally."

"You're right, they must be natural," he said and practically ran out of the store.

"Stay away from my geese," Aunt Jody called after him.

The minute the door closed behind Jack, I burst out laughing. "That was great!"

"Good job, Jody," Sam Wilson had a huge grin. "I've had some chickens come up missing, I couldn't prove who it was. I bet he thinks twice about it now."

"I do feel bad for him though," Aunt Jody said. "In February his wife packed up the kids and left town, then he was fired from the resort."

"What happened?" I asked.

"He was night security, he was drunk as a skunk and sleeping it off in one of the empty guest rooms," my aunt explained. "He asked Bob for a job, but Bob doesn't need anyone until the guest ranch season."

"That's too bad," Jessie said, "but what does that have to do with chickens and geese?"

"I think he's eating them," Sam said. "He came to me for a job too. I told him when I opened the lodge for fishing, I would let him know. Everyone knows we close for the winter after hunting season."

Jessie snd I looked at Sam incredulously, "You would hire a drunk to work as a fishing and hunting guide? Are you crazy? He could hurt someone," she said.

"I agree with Jessie," I said.

Sam shook his head, "Jack isn't a drunk. It was right after his wife and kids left. He had asked for the night off but couldn't find anyone to take his shift."

Aunt Jody backed Sam up, "In fact until then Jack wasn't a drinker at all. I don't think he has touched a drop since."

"Then why did his wife leave him? Jessie asked curiously. "I mean, if he's such a good guy?"

"Oh, I didn't say he was a good guy?" Aunt Jody said. "He was caught with another woman. His wife is a normal and when she left him, she decided that it would be better to move away where she didn't have to deal with shifters."

"But what about the kids? Surely, it would be better for them growing up around their own kind," I said. "I know it's been good for Marc to be around other shifters."

"That's not an issue," Sam said. "Neither of them are shifters. It happens sometimes." He shrugged.

"Sometimes the child or children take after the normal parent," Aunt Jody added. "Then a few generations later a witch or shifter pops up and no one knows why this happened unless the family knows about the past. It's not bad for a witch, but it can be bad for a shifter, unless the young shifter is smart enough to hide it."

I nodded, I could see that. People might think they were possessed, or worse, some kind of monster. They also risked being shot by animal control if they shifted in a city and were running around a neighborhood.

"Now that the show is over, can I get something for you, Sam?" Aunt Jody asked.

"Actually, yes, do you know that my oldest son is being inducted?"

"Congratulations!" Aunt Jody said, sincerely.

"There's an athame he's been eyeing. I want to get it for him as an induction gift."

***

The store was quiet, Jessie was manning the counter and Aunt Jody and I were in the stockroom. Jessie popped her head in. "Jody, Paige, can you take a couple of minutes? I could use your opinions. I have to turn the sample pamphlet into the council tomorrow and I can't decide which of these pictures to use." Jessie waved a large envelope.

"Sure, let's go to the break room," Aunt Jody said.

"But what if someone comes in?" Jessie asked. "Wouldn't it be better to look at them at the counter?"

"We'll hear the bell if someone comes in," Aunt Jody pointed out.

Jessie pulled out a pile of photos and set them on the table. "Some of these I got from the businesses and some of them I took myself."

"How many photos are you using for each business?" Aunt Jody asked. 

"I'm going to shrink them down so I can use two or three, for each one," Jessie answered.

"In that case, for Shadows, I think you should use this one of the front of the store, this one of me helping a customer and this one of Paige giving a treatment. You can't see the face of the customer or client in either of them."

We spent the next half hour looking at the photos and giving Jessie our opinions. When we got to the photos of Old Town, I gave out a little chuckle.

The first photo was of the main street, a ghost dressed in cowboy garb was walking up the street. The second photo was of the inside of Pete's Saloon, the ghost was sitting at the bar next to a man having a drink. The third photo was of the desk at the Clarion Hotel. A ghost was behind the counter looking at the hotel register book.

"These are really good," I said. "How did you manage to get the ghosts?"

Jessie smiled, "Oh that was easy. I told them that it would help bring tourists to Old Town. These three thought it was a good idea and agreed to pose. But these three like to interact with the living. I didn't ask any of the scarier ghosts."

"Some people will think they're faked," Aunt Jody said.

 "Until they actually go to Old Town," Jessie smiled. "Then they will be shocked that the photos are real."

I looked at the time, "I have to get going. I need to make Marc's dinner and get ready for my date," I said. "Bring the pamphlet by in the morning before you go to town hall so I can see the finished product."

"I will," Jessie said. "See you in the morning."

***

Jordan and I sat at the bar while we waited for our table. The restaurant was packed with skiers, and locals alike. It always surprised me how many die-hard skiers the resort got in April. The resort had a fancy restaurant, but if you wanted a good steak you came to The Rancher's Feast. 

"What can I get you two?" The young, pretty bartender asked as she smiled at Jordan.

"I'm not drinking tonight, I'll just take an ice tea," I said.

"Same for me," Jordan said. "I'm on call."

"But you worked all day," I said, a slight whine in my voice that I wasn't happy about.

"Keith is on vacation until Saturday and the sheriff's wife is sick so he's home taking care of the kids," Jordan explained.

"You know, we have mocktails," the bartender said. "The owner's fiancé doesn't drink very much, but he doesn't want anyone to know so he asked us to start making mocktails. We have a whole guide on them."

I thought about it for a minute. "Can you make a mock pina colada?"

"I make the best virgin pina colada," she smiled, "And you, deputy?"

"I'll stick to ice tea. I don't need someone to see me drinking, even if it isn't a real drink, when I'm on call."

The bartender gave us our drinks and I took a sip of my mock pina colada. "This is really good," I said, "Thank you for recommending mocktails."

The hostess came over to us. "Excuse me, Mr. Garfield, your table is ready." She led us to a table for two near the rear of the restaurant.

Jordan pulled out my chair and I sat down. He took the chair opposite me. "Your waitress will be here shortly," she said and left us alone at the table.

"I already know what I want," I said to Jordan.

He smiled at me, "let me guess, you want a ribeye, medium rare, a loaded baked potato, roasted asparagus, and a salad with blue cheese dressing on the side."

I chuckled, "you know me so well."

The waitress came over with the menus. "How are you tonight?" she asked. "Would you like to hear the specials?"

"No need," Jordan responded, "and we don't need to see menus. We know what we want."

The waitress pulled out her order pad. "In that case, what can I get for you?"

"We will both have the ribeye, medium rare, loaded baked potato, roasted asparagus, and salad, the lady will have blue cheese dressing on the side and I will have ranch dressing on the side. Oh, and bring a plate of beer battered mushrooms for the table."

The waitress read the order back to us and Jordan nodded, "That's right, thank you."

"Alright," she said with a smile, "I'll be right back with your salads and mushrooms, what kind of dressing do you want with the mushrooms?"

Jordan looked at me. "Ranch is good," I said.

The waitress left to put in our order and get the salads. Jordan said, "So Marc doesn't think we get enough alone time? Is that what you think?"

"I think it's just an excuse. He's probably sitting in the goat house waiting for Dolly to go into labor. Last night I caught him trying to take his sleeping bag out there." I laughed. "He's convinced that she can't give birth without him. He's read everything he can find on assisting goats with birth, he even has the vet's number programmed into his phone." I reached across the table and took his hand. "No, that isn't what I think. We have plenty of alone time, and I'm glad that you include Marc. It means a lot to me, both of us really." I said. "You know his father hasn't had anything to do with him since the divorce. He even signed off on us moving here without a second thought."

"I know, and I'm happy to spend time with Marc. He's a great kid, despite his father's indifference." He rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. "You've done a great job with him."

"Marc is a great kid," I smiled, "But it's not all on me. He has wonderful, loving people in his life, you, my parents, Aunt Jody, and Bob. He has good friends in Jasper and Nikki. Jamie and Mandy welcome him over there anytime." I took a breath, "That's his village."

Jordan placed his phone on the table. I raised my eyebrow. "I'm sorry," he said, "In case I get a call."

"Yeah, yeah, of course," I said. "You're on call."

I had just taken the first bite of my perfectly cooked, tender steak when Jordan's phone rang. He picked it up and one look at his face told me all I needed to know. I motioned the waitress over.

"We need these to go," I said. 

She nodded, "I'll be right back with go boxes and your ticket."

Jordan disconnected the call, "I'm sorry, Paige, Roman needs backup. We're going to have to go."

"I'm way ahead of you," I said, trying to hide my disappointment. "The waitress is bringing us to go boxes. And here she is."

We silently placed our dinner in the boxes, paid the bill and headed out to Jordan's truck. As we reached his truck I caught sight of Aunt Jody and Bob. They were walking across the parking lot to the restaurant. They were holding hands and Aunt Jody was giggling. "They look so happy, don't they?" I said.

Jordan looked over at them and smiled. "They really do. She's giggling like they just started dating and they've been together for five years," Jordan said. "I hope that's us in three more years, but this isn't the time to talk about this. Right now, we're headed to Old Town to break up a full-blown bar fight in Pete's Saloon." 

"Wait, what?" I said, "Pete's? There are never bar fights in Pete's. The older locals hang out at Pete's, they don't fight."

"Yeah, well, Roman says, according to the call, a group of hotshot young guys from the resort came swaggering in, wearing cowboy hats and bandanas tied around their necks. They ordered shots of whiskey and then attacked Dave Robinson."

"The Black Bear's foreman?" I asked. "Why did they do that?"

Jordan shook his head, "That's the question isn't it." He pulled up in front of the saloon, the ambulance pulled in right behind us. Jordan jumped out of the truck cab, I started to go with him. The air was filled with shouts and crashes coming from the saloon. A chair came crashing through the front window and crashed into the boardwalk rail. Jordan grabbed my shoulders. "Stay here," he said firmly.

"Are you kidding? I have to see this. I've never seen a saloon fight before," I said, running after him.

Deputy Roman Harris met us at the door. "I need help breaking this up." His voice was high and squeaky. "Even the ghosts are involved. Look!"

I looked through the door as a cowboy ghost lifted a chair and smashed it over one of the tourist's backs. He laughed as the man hit the floor. The bartender ghost was throwing bottles into the fray. The bottles were smashing on the floor, glass fragments were hitting the brawlers, lodging in their arms, legs and torsos. The actual bartender was trying to stop the ghost from throwing the bottles. 

A big wolf shifter growled as he picked up one of the tourists and tossed him out the door. Jordan shoved me out of the way and the man crashed into him and sent him flying.

"Jordan!" I yelled, "Jordan are you okay? Are you hurt?" I knelt beside him.

"I'm okay," He groaned as he sat up, looking just in time to see a saloon girl ghost toss a guy out the door, barely missing him. "Paige, call Dr. Spenser and have her bring an emergency kit, the paramedics aren't going to be enough."

Jordan got to his feet and started toward the door of the saloon. "Excuse me. sir," a disembodied voice said. Two ghosts in old uniforms appeared in front of him. "I'm Johnny, and this is George. I was a medic in Vietnam and George was a medic in Korea. We can help. We don't know how to use this new equipment, but we can do triage and pull-out glass shards." George nodded in agreement with Johnny. 

Jordan sighed and looked at me. "Take the gho… take Johnny and George and co-ordinate with the paramedics and Dr. Spenser when she gets here. Do what you can to help these guys."

"Of course, that is my power." I said, a little hurt that he thought he needed to tell me.

Jordan went to Roman and quietly spoke to him. I saw Roman nod his head and together they pushed their way into the saloon. I heard Jordan shouting for everyone to freeze. I knew it didn't work because I saw Roman duck and a chair slammed into the wall. Over the noise of the bar fight I heard the bang of a gunshot and jumped. Then I heard a second shot. All of the noise in the bar came to a stop and it was silent.

Roman came out and said "Medics!"

Dr. Spenser said "Johnny, George, remove glass shards. Paige, pain management. Paramedics, if someone needs to go to the hospital take them, otherwise clean wounds. If stitches are needed, they can come to my office." She looked at each of us, "Let's go, people!"

The inside of the saloon looked like a tornado went through, or a rather, an intense, old-fashioned saloon fight. Chairs had been tossed around, and several were broken. The tables were tipped over. The poker table was upside down, poker chips were scattered across the floor. The large front window was broken. I counted eight men and one woman, not counting the bartender. Four of the men were tourists in their early twenties. The rest were locals ranging from mid-thirties to early fifties. All of them had cuts and bruises. Luckily, there were only two serious injuries, the tourist the ghost hit with the chair and a local that was hit in the head by a flying bottle. They were taken to the hospital. By the time all the wounds were checked, Jordan and Roman had read everyone their rights and arrested all of them. They had taken statements and determined that the tourist that went to the hospital was the one that took the first swing. They also determined that it was his idea to go to the saloon for the purpose of having an old west type saloon fight.

I sat across from the dispatch desk while Jordan helped Roman book everyone and get them in the cells. I sipped the cup of coffee that Rosie, the dispatcher gave me before she went to help with the booking, they needed a woman to book the woman.

It was after 11:00 when Jordan was finally able to take me home. He heated up our dinners in the microwave while I went to the goat house, woke Marc up and sent him to bed. 

Jordan and I sat at the table and ate our dinners. Both of us were too tired to even talk. "Are you going to stay?" I finally asked.

"If you don't mind if we just sleep," he said at the end of a yawn.

I copied his yawn, "Not at all, sleep sounds wonderful, and I can wake up next to you."