Story Title: The Business of Magic

Chapter 12: Just Working Nude, As One Does The next day we spent at the house, working on the marketing collateral indoors on Carlo’s laptop, its screen unable to compete with the desert sun. By ten, it was warm enough inside that I found the bathrobe I’d put on against the morning chill unnecessary; by…

Chapter 5: Organic Farming Once Ann settled, she opened a new topic. “I oughta be paying you, f’whatcha done: Ramón told me you did the spring fertilization for me this year.” I leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek by way of acknowledgement but demurred, “I doubt we can do it every…

Chapter 4: Dry Your Eyes, Ann When Kaitlyn and I got back to the house, the family was stirring from their postprandial naps, so I decided it was massage time. We started with the two most likely to leave early: my wife took Joss, so I took Ann. Joss scarcely took his eyes off my…

PART 1: Family Chapter 1: Farmers at Play As we drove up to the Gutierrez family farmhouse, I half-shouted over the lowering roar of mi burro, “I don’t remember their front yard looking that good last fall before we left. Is it always this nice in the spring?” “No,” Kaitlyn replied, matching my volume. As…