Convertible top down in her brand-new red mini-cooper, Ann maneuvered through the rutted dirt road leading to the rustic cottage she’d rented for the summer. Oak trees hanging with moss and a pond home to mallard ducks made for the perfect setting to write her best-selling novel—a romance with knights, maidens, and castles, but definitely no creepy dragons.

She pulled in close to the front door, parked, and breathed deep the fresh country air. Cell service didn’t reach this far, and her land line phone wouldn’t be in until next week. Blissful isolation.

After dinner, she settled in the rocker on the front porch with her laptop and typed away on her latest ideas.

Her knight would bear a striking resemblance to Matthew McConaughey. And of course, her fair maiden, Ann of Brown Gables, would look like herself. Sir Hancelot, a.k.a. Lots of Handsome, would rescue the beauty in distress from the tower where she’d been locked away by the evil stepmother. They would then live happily ever after in their castle by the sea.

An attractive older woman with flaming red hair stepped out from behind a light pole.

“Whoa!” How did she do that?

Steve Languth had paused at the curb, waiting for the light to change. Had she materialized? Or was he hallucinating? Maybe he’d been reading too many science fiction novels when he should have been writing his term paper.

Sure, she was thin. But a light pole couldn’t be more than six inches wide. As she moved toward him, he concluded that she probably had about a twenty-four inch waist.

And why did she remind him of his wife? She could be Angie’s aunt or mother.

“We need to talk,” the woman said.

“Sorry, lady. I have to get to the bank as soon as it opens.”

“I know.”

“How could you know?” He shook his head. “Are you related to my wife?”

She didn’t reply.

“Well, whoever you are, it was nice meeting you. But I have to go. The bank is about to open, and it is right across the street there.” He started to walk off.