Enchantment by Charlotte Abel Page A

was standing on the ground, grinning up at her and waving his chubby little hand.
    “Hi Channie!”
    “Savvy Belks!” Did you talk Zeal and CoCo into climbing the house?”
    “Nope.”  
    Of course not. Little liar.
    Josh peered over Channie’s shoulder to look out the window then turned around and stared at Zeal and Courage. “How old are you guys anyway?”
    “Four.” They answered simultaneously.
    Josh said, “No shi—” He didn’t even get the whole word out before he started gagging.
    Zeal,   Courage and Channie all cringed. There was no way Momma could have heard him. She must have slipped a precautionary clean-speech spell on Josh when she met him. Since he was an Empty, he wouldn’t have noticed — until now of course. And even now, he’d probably come up with some weird explanation as to why his mouth suddenly tasted like soap.
    Josh wiped his tongue with the hem of his shirt and Channie couldn’t help but notice the muscular definition of his stomach. Dang! How did such a skinny kid get a washboard belly like that?
    Josh caught Channie in the act of checking him out and jerked his t-shirt back down past his hips. His cheeks and ears flamed bright red but he had a smirk on his face. “See something you like?”
    Channie’s hand flew to her mouth as she shook her head back and forth. Too late. She tried to hang onto her power, but enough slipped past her to make Josh’s back arch and his hair stand on end.
    Zeal said, “That’s not nice, Channie. I’m gonna tell Grandaddy you used magic to curse your friend.”
    Josh rubbed his chest and stared at her, wrinkling his brow.
    Channie rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, “Now, do you believe me?”
    ~***~
    The picnic table in the dining room was covered with the linen cloth Momma only used on holidays and set with mostly matching dishes. Daddy had pulled the wingback chair into the dining room and was already sitting at the head of the table.
    Josh offered to help carry the rest of the food in from the kitchen, but Momma shooed him away with her apron. “Get on in there and sit yourself down next to Channie’s daddy. Zeal,   you sit on the other side of Grandaddy. Savvy, you sit right there where I can keep an eye on you. CoCo, you sit over there by Channie’s boyfriend—”
    “Momma!” Channie wanted to crawl under the table. Her ears felt like they were on fire. Josh was blushing too, but he was also grinning.  
    About half-way through the meal, Daddy twisted sideways in his chair and leaned towards Josh. “What exactly are your intentions towards my daughter?”
    Josh’s grin faded to a tight-lipped smile.  
    Channie spoke through gritted teeth. “Daddy …”
    Daddy said, “The boy’s got nothing to fear, so long as his intentions are honorable.”
    Yeah, right.  
    Josh stuttered a bit then said, “I would like to be her friend.”
    “Is that all?”
    “We only met a few days ago.”
    “Alright, son, but before this night is over, you and me are gonna have a nice long talk.”
    This had gone far enough. “Daddy, leave him alone.”
    Momma patted her mouth with her napkin and shot Daddy a warning glance. “Joshua, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.”
    Josh set his fork down and put his hands in his lap, but he maintained eye contact with Momma. “My mom and dad got divorced two years ago. I live with my mom and little brother, Elijah. We go to Dad’s every other weekend when I’m not racing—”
    “Racing? What kind of racing? Horses? Automobiles? Dogs?” Daddy loved racing of any kind. Especially if he thought he had insider information that might increase his odds of betting on a long shot.
    “BMX.”  
    “BMX? What’s that?”
    “Bicycles on a motor cross track.”
    “Bicycles? Folks around here race bicycles?”
    “Yes, sir. I’m racing next weekend in Dacono. Admission is free, if you and your family want to come watch.”  
    Daddy pushed his plate to the