Summer Enchantment (Shifting Seasons Book 1) Read online

  Summer Enchantment

  Shifting Seasons - Book 1

  Sammie Joyce

  Copyright © 2019 by Sammie Joyce

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Did you know there’s a prequel?

  Sammie Joyce

  Summer Enchantment

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Sammie Joyce

  Preview - Fearing the Fall

  Chapter 1

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  * * *

  Abiding love honors the past and provides a legacy that will live on forever.

  Aspen, a bear shifter, is happy running through the woods with her best friend, Locklear. The wolf shifter loves her with all he has and ever will be. One day as they run through the forest together, they meet a stranger. Soon this stranger becomes important to them both.

  * * *

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  Summer Enchantment

  Shifting Seasons - Book 1

  Sammie Joyce

  1

  Kealani

  I had always been a morning person.

  Even in high school, when most teenagers put up blackout curtains and tried to sleep past noon, I rose with the sun every day. I was in a rush to the beach, to be the first one at the library or just to watch the day turn every crook and corner of the Big Island golden with morning light.

  My mother had been the same, always luring my father out of bed earlier than he wanted to be awake with promises of coffee on the front porch.

  I remembered them fondly with every sip of early morning coffee, missing them always. Ever since I started my internship at the fishery, I found myself thinking about them more frequently, as if they were somehow watching me more closely, nodding their approval of my choices.

  Yet even for a morning person, a little boost of caffeine was most helpful, especially when I had to enter line after line of data into a spreadsheet about Atlantic salmon. Between internship hours, shifts waitressing and staying awake through even the most boring of Animal Anatomy and Physiology lectures, I had developed a bit of a coffee habit.

  Another sip from my favorite sun-beaten travel tumbler, another glance into the tank of lazily swimming salmon, another line of data entered—it was all part of the daily routine.

  I noted the various sizes and coloration, attempting to make a rough estimate of their numbers. It was hard to keep track of that many slick, moving bodies in the water, but I’d gotten good at it. My mentor at the fishery, Professor Norris, has been pleased with my work. Though I was only part of the way through my Bachelor’s, I was already daydreaming of the day I would become Doctor Kealani Mahelona.

  I could just imagine how proud my parents would have been, how much my little brother would tease me about my “wild” career and how many amazing places I would travel when I had the degree.

  Someday, I promised myself almost wistful.

  But until then, I’d have to count fish.

  Now, about those salmon numbers…

  I spared a glance away from my computer screen, leaving an empty cell waiting for my input. Fingers poised on the keyboard, I looked out over Tank A and took a quick tally of the large, silvery animals. Even before I could properly count them, I noticed something was wrong. There was too much open water in the tank—or rather, there were not enough fish to fill it.

  I did a double-take, certain I must have missed something. It was an enormous tank and there were certainly a ton of fish in it. Yet a closer look confirmed my suspicion—I only counted twenty salmon.

  Half of them were missing.

  They must have been moved to another area the previous day but I was sure the tank had been fuller when I first arrived and booted up the computer.

  Leaving my data to sit unentered, I moved from one tank to the next, searching for signs of the missing salmon. No one mentioned relocating them during my last internship hours, and there weren’t any notes from Dr. Norris waiting for me when I opened our shared spreadsheet. I could only assume one of the other techs dropped the ball. That, or half of the salmon in Tank A spontaneously disappeared.

  It should have been silly, a joke of an idea, but as I paced around the whole of the fishery, peering into one tank after another, I couldn’t locate the missing salmon anywhere and I felt beads of perspiration form on my brow.

  How on earth does someone misplace nearly two dozen salmon?

  My mind raced with increasingly ridiculous theories.

  Could they have been stolen? Was this a prank? How would someone even move that many fifty-plus pound fish?

  I hurried back to the computer and checked the notes from the last intern in the area. Their information seemed in place, everything reported as normal and all forty-four salmon accounted.

  As I looked back over the half-empty tank, my heart sunk.

  Am I going to be blamed for this?

  If someone had stolen the fish in the middle of the night, the robbery might have been caught on the security cameras outside, but if the culprit somehow followed me in through the back entrance, avoiding the cameras, then what? I was almost positive I had seen more than twenty salmon in the tank when I got in. If that were true, two dozen very valuable fish had disappeared from my watch.

  Professor Norris had been great to work with, but I didn’t think he’d appreciate me losing half our sample overnight. There wasn’t anything I could do about it now though, and no good way to explain what had happened. I didn’t even know what happened, to be honest. The best I could do was enter the data I had and leave a vague note about the number of salmon seeming low.

  Low? Understatement of the century, right there.

  I rushed to finish up my observations. It was my secret hope that I could manage to sneak away before Professor Norris arrived. That way, I wouldn’t have to explain the bizarre situation in person. I shut down the computer and gathered up my half-finished coffee, regretting the caffeine now that my heart and mind were both racing from adrenaline and stimulant. I was an easy-going person ordinarily, but twenty-something huge fish disappearing out of the blue would shake anyone up.

  Hurrying out of the building, my thoughts elsewhere as I scoped the area for my mentor, I rushed headfirst into someone else.

  A man not the professor.

  For a moment, as I regained my balance and struggled to hold fast to my coffee, I was suddenly struck by the concerning thought that this could be the salmon thief.

  I stepped back quickly, sizing him up and probably looking slightly unbalanced as I looked him ove
r for signs of criminal activity. Frankly, he looked just as startled as I felt, and not at all like someone who might have just loaded hundreds of pounds of stolen salmon into a getaway car.

  He looked like a tourist.

  A handsome tourist.

  I straightened up and cleared my throat, trying my best to look and sound professional despite my harried confrontation. I wanted to present myself more like the zoologist I wanted to be than the student I was. I smoothed back my hair and stared up into his dark eyes.

  “Pardon me, sir,” I said primly, not at all like myself. “The fishery is not open to visitors for another hour.”

  The man stared at me for a long moment, as though he struggled to find words.

  “I am so sorry,” he finally said. He sounded so sincere, it made my heart ache a little. “I must have misread the sign. I was just sight-seeing—”

  He hesitated, brow furrowing. The words seemed to surprise him even though he was the one who spoke them.

  “That probably sounds weird, visiting a fishery on a Hawaiian vacation, but—"

  “It doesn’t sound weird at all,” I assured him, my tone softening. He didn’t look like some nefarious fish thief, just another tourist visiting the Big Island. I was a little surprised he visit the fishery when there were so many other things to do, but maybe he wasn’t a typical tourist.

  He was still staring, his eyes intense but somehow warm, deep. He offered his hand and I took it without a second thought, accepting the polite handshake with more of a smile than I meant to show.

  “Dr. Emmett Sable,” he introduced himself. “I apologize for the awkward greeting. And for unintentionally invading your workplace. I’ll be sure to stick to business hours next time.”

  “Kealani Mahelona,” I offered, shaking Emmett's hand for a second longer than necessary. He had nice, strong hands, even if just a little bit calloused. It disappointed me to let go of him. I wanted to ask him what his doctorate was in, if he usually spent his vacations looking at salmon and a dozen other questions, but I knew I should hurry along. After all, I was bound to run into Professor Norris if I didn’t get a move on.

  As I studied his pale face, finding no sign of guile or deceit, I searched for reasons to stay, unsure what exactly I wanted from him. I was merely leaning into that gut instinct that told me he had something to offer me or I would have been long gone already.

  A car pulled into the nearby parking lot then, just familiar enough restart the nervousness in my heart. It was Professor Norris’ hatchback, the bumper sporting a collection of stickers calling for conservation of local marine life.

  I needed to leave…but I wanted to keep talking to Emmett. I let my instincts take over, splitting the difference as I flashed my most winning smile at the tourist.

  “How do you feel about brunch?” I asked bluntly.

  Emmett appeared startled by the question.

  “I-it’s… a meal? I suppose I don’t feel any different about it than any other time to eat.”

  The way he winced after speaking made it clear he thought he was blowing whatever it was we were doing, but I found his fumbling endearing. I’d always thought shy guys were cute and Emmett Sable was no exception.

  “I guess what I really mean is how about brunch with me?” I suggested, risking scaring him off with my impulsive offer. “I know a great place not too far from here.”

  I could hear the engine of the professor’s car turn off somewhere behind us, and every inch of me was itching to just grab Emmett's hand and sprint before I could get trapped into a conversation with Norris.

  “That might be nice,” Emmett said slowly, not entirely convinced. The lead was enough for me. I linked arms with him and led him away from the fishery, beaming brightly.

  “Oh, you will love it,” I assured him with a wink. “It’s where the locals eat. I should know.”

  Emmett, to his credit, kept pace with me, and in the mid-morning light, I couldn’t tell if he was just a little sunburned or if there was a flush in his pale cheeks.

  If I had to wager a guess, I would bet the latter.

  2

  Emmett

  Getting roped into brunch with a beautiful woman was not on the agenda for that day, but my attempt at a relaxing vacation had already gone further off schedule than I had anticipated.

  What was meant to be a month away to a beautiful place, had turned into a restless and nerve-wracking experience. It wasn’t that the Big Island wasn’t incredible, or that there weren’t enough things to do, but rather that I had a hard time relaxing.

  Until recently, the constant work of earning my Ph.D. had kept me busy and distracted. I hadn’t given myself much time to think and consider the idea of kicking back and putting my feet up. But now that I’d finished my studies and opted to take a break, I regretted giving myself so much time off.

  Time off meant time to think, to dwell on things, and I certainly didn’t need more of that.

  But this? Sharing a meal with someone I’d just met—someone bright, beautiful and engaging—this might have even been an even worse idea. It would just serve to get my hopes up and there was no point in that at all.

  “So, what’s your doctorate in?” Kealani asked.

  I pushed a slice of omelette around my plate, wishing I had the appetite to enjoy more of it but my stomach was flipping slightly.

  “Archaeology.”

  “Oh,” she purred, her eyes wide with interest. She twirled a piece of French toast on her fork, catching a long drip of syrup. “That’s so cool! I’ve always loved the social sciences, even if I am more of a biologist at heart.”

  She took a bite of her food, chewed and swallowed, before continuing. She seemed perfectly comfortable carrying the weight of the conversation.

  “I’m still working on my degree in zoology, but I’m hoping to get out and explore a little in the next few years. There are plenty more animals in the world to see than just salmon, you know?”

  I pulled my gaze away from her to stare intently at my eggs, the mention of fish reminding me how full I was already. I forced myself to take a bite anyway. I didn’t want to invite questions as to why I had agreed to eat when I wasn’t the least bit hungry.

  “Well, I’m not much of a globetrotter, but I can highly recommend Alaska this time of year,” I offered. Kealani made another keen sound of interest, a charming little squeak.

  “I’ve only seen it on travel shows, but it looks gorgeous. You’ve visited?”

  I shook my head.

  “I live there.”

  Kealani nodded understandingly, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

  “Well, well, well,” she teased. “Look at us. A couple of non-continental Americans.”

  I couldn’t help but smile too. Hers was contagious and I was already infected by whatever spell she had upon me.

  “Full disclosure,” I volunteered, “I’m originally from Colorado. Alaska is kind of a recent thing.”

  “I guess you must like snow,” she joked, and I could feel my face warm slightly.

  You have no idea.

  “You could say that,” I mumbled and turned back to pushing food around on my plate. I felt like she might be able to read the truth on my face if she stared hard enough.

  “Is your omelette okay?” Kealani asked. “We could exchange it for something else if you want. The owners are super nice, they won’t mind.”

  “No, no,” I replied, embarrassed that she noticed my pickiness. I should have just ordered a drink. “It really is great, I just don’t have much of an appetite. I uh, I had breakfast really early.”

  It wasn’t really a lie.

  “Well, now I feel silly,” Kealani chuckled, but she didn’t seem too bothered. “You should have said something. I would have waited for lunch!”

  The implication that she wanted to ask me out for a meal regardless of the time didn’t go completely over my head, but it did strike a strange chord inside me. It was hard for me to imagine someone s
o vibrant being interested in spending time with me.

  Yet there we were.

  “I’m not very good at saying things,” I confessed sheepishly.

  Kealani took another bite of French toast and considered my words.

  “I’ll just have to listen more carefully then.” She grinned. “And ask more questions. Speaking of, tell me more about Alaska. Have you ever seen a reindeer?”

  I told her about the first time I’d seen a reindeer which led to more tales about my home. I explained the best place to watch for whales and how one can never be prepared for the actual size of a moose.

  She asked question after question about the wildlife and I answered every one, sometimes with detail that surprised and delighted her.

  Ordinarily, I was a quiet person, keeping to myself and avoiding unnecessary conversation, but to see her smile each time I responded made me want to do anything just to keep her talking. I could have conversed for hours if she wanted me to, just to watch her eyes light up.

  She rested her chin in her hands, elbows on the table long after she put aside her plate, coaxing more stories out of me and regaling me with a few of her own.

  “Consider Alaska number one on my list of places to visit,” she announced finally. “You have officially convinced me, Doctor.”

  “Oh, just Emmett, please,” I countered, feeling slightly embarrassed, even though I had fully earned my doctorate. It seemed pretentious being called “doctor” by someone like this exotic, charming woman before me.