No one wakes up and plans to smash the windows of their cheating boyfriend's car before threatening to set his house on fire in front of a neighborhood of witnesses--it just sort of happens.

Rowena Flores swung the baseball bat her boyfriend of six months always kept in the trunk of his car. She thought his neighbors would have called the cops by now but instead of picking up their phones and reporting the crazy woman with the baseball bat, they all seemed to be standing outside, watching. An older couple even brought out some lawn chairs and a pitcher of lemonade.

Reed Condren, otherwise known as the cheating boyfriend, stood a few feet away from Rowena, hands up in front of him as if she were some sort of feral animal he wanted to get close to without risking bodily harm to himself. He was naked except for a pair of blue boxer shorts splattered with a pattern of four-leaf clovers. Reed was the most superstitious person she knew. Rowena had gifted him those boxers as a joke with an exaggerated wink, saying, "You'll get lucky anytime you wear them, Reed." Too bad she didn't realize he'd be getting lucky with another woman. What a jerk! She swung the bat again.

"Slash his tires!" Someone shouted. Rowena jumped and stole a look at the neighbors who were all pretending to be busy outside. One person washing their car outside seemed normal, but three? And all at once? Highly unlikely.

Reed took a cautious step forward. "Rowena, put the bat down. Let's talk this out. I swear she means nothing to me."

She, being the Amazonian blonde standing behind him, who was currently wearing one of his shirts. She reminded Rowena of a Barbie doll minus the big plastic boobs. She was tall with pale skin and unusually muscular thighs. Rowena wondered if she was a runner to have such muscular legs before looking down at her own thighs which sometimes rubbed together when she walked. Rowena frowned. She had wide hips, big boobs, was five-four in heels, had dark hair and olive skin. Other than their poor taste in Reed, the two women were complete opposites.

"Reed!" The blonde shoved his shoulder. "How can you say I mean nothing to you? What do you even see in her?"

"I know what he sees in her," one of the men washing their cars said, gazing appreciatively at Rowena. He took a deep breath and grinned. "Red velvet cupcakes, sun dried linens, and burnt vanilla. Yes, I can definitely tell what he sees in her."

Rowena turned and smiled, tilting her head to him. "Why, thank you. That was totally weird but I'll take a compliment however it's given."

"Wyatt, are you seriously flirting with my girlfriend right now?" Reed hissed.

Rowena raised the bat. "I'm not your girlfriend anymore!"

She tried remembering what her therapist told her to do when she was upset. Count to ten?
"Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten! It's not working!" She swung the bat again and Reed flinched as it made contact with his car's headlight.

The blonde shook her head. "Do you not see how deranged she is? You're seriously trying to keep her?"

Reed made a growling noise before turning to her. "Casey, you know what we had was casual and necessary because of-"

"Careful what you say, Reed!" One of his neighbors, a red-headed woman in her forties who was pretending to water her flowers, shouted. She was holding a plastic gray watering can shaped like an elephant, complete with a trunk as the watering spout. Rowena assumed she was pretending to water her flowers because each time she tipped the watering can toward her carnations, no water came out. Reed had some seriously odd neighbors.

"Maybelle, I know what I'm doing," Reed fumed. "And can you all please go back inside your homes?" He glared at the woman named Maybelle. "You didn't even bother to put water in that watering can, did you?"

Maybelle snickered. "It would've taken too much time and I didn't want to miss the show."

"The show?" Rowena repeated. Did they think her heartbreak was entertaining? A snake of anger slithered up her spine. What else did her therapist recommend? To think of her happy place. Too bad Reed had been her happy place.

Maybelle continued talking. "Six months ago, you brought a stranger to Howler and we finally get to see how it all plays out. Cross warned you she's not our kind and not to bring her around."

Rowena frowned. She knew Howler was a small town-the kind where everyone knew everyone. What did she mean by "not our kind?"

A new wave of anger rolled through her as she sneered at Maybelle. "Are you saying I'm not welcome because my skin isn't white? I'll have you know that sort of thing isn't tolerated in Arizona. It's also in the constitution! I'm not really sure but it's got to be somewhere!" She had no idea what she was saying but surely something had to be in writing about it being bad to be a racist. Things weren't ever official unless they were in writing. Rowena lived in Clarkton, which was one town over and much more diverse than Howler.

Another neighbor, a tall male who was pretending to rake a pile of non-existent leaves, guffawed. "She thinks you mean the color of her skin, Maybelle."

Maybelle shook her head, a wide smile on her face. "I can see that, Clint. Isn't it cute?"

"Racism is not cute!" Rowena shouted. "We're all supposed to be inclusive." She wasn't sure what inclusive meant but she heard a celebrity use the word before in a magazine interview. Her hands tightened on the baseball bat she was holding.

"You'll find we come in many shades of color here too, honey," Wyatt called out, a smirk on his face.

"Reed, just tell her to leave. Your obsession with her has gone on long enough. It's not like anything could ever come from your relationship with her. Cross wouldn't allow it," the blonde whined.

"Who is Cross?" Rowena asked, after hearing his name more than once.

"Be quiet, Casey!" Reed shouted at his blonde sidepiece who was apparently named Casey.

Rowena catalogued her name for later when she decided to meet her cousin Lorena, who was a curandera, otherwise known as a healer. In addition to crafting herbal remedies, Lorena was also known to put together special oils for love, combating the evil eye, and had once made a special spray that caused Lorena's ex-husband to get attacked by dogs in heat wherever he went. Maybe Lorena could place a curse on Reed and his skanky blonde Barbie? Rowena had a family tree full of women, like Lorena, who claimed to have special gifts or sixth senses.

Unless attracting cheaters and liars was a gift, Rowena was not fortunate enough to have inherited any special powers. While most of her family members worked as a psychic or a curandera...Rowena worked as a home store cashier during her weekdays and as a fortune teller at a local carnival that was open every weekend. She couldn't really tell fortunes, but she had a crystal ball and a flair for the dramatic. It was an easy way to earn extra money and was how Reed met Rowena.

Reed took a cautious step closer to Rowena. "Let's just talk about it, Rowena. Put the bat down and we can work this out. I swear it's not what you think. She's just a...a cousin."

"A cousin?" Casey shrieked. "Really, Reed?"

Rowena's head tilted to one side and made a tutting sound. "So, you're saying you hang out naked with your cousins? That's gross."

She could hear some of his neighbors laughing. Did they have superhuman hearing? She still couldn't believe the cops hadn't shown up yet. If she were wise, she'd put the baseball bat down and make a hasty exit. She already had two anger management certificates under her belt. She didn't need a third. Besides, the judge warned her the last time she was in court that he wouldn't be so lenient the next time she lost her temper. In her defense, Rowena lost her temper for very good reasons.

The first time was after her cousin-in-law stole her life's savings to use on a failing alpaca farm investment. The second time was when her old boss fired her after she rebuffed his attempts to sexually harass her. She was working at a grocery store at the time, and he'd promised her expired desserts from the bakery in exchange for sexual favors. No amount of day-old Danishes would be worth having his clammy hands on her. To make a long story short, neither of their cars survived unscathed.

Casey snorted. "Is she really that dumb?"

Someone yelled, "Hit her with the bat, human!"

Rowena's eyes widened. Did they want to see her go to jail?

"Shut it, Wyatt!" Reed shouted at the male who had complimented her earlier. He turned back to Rowena and pleaded, "Babe, I swear it isn't what it seems. Yes, Casey and I have something casual but--"

"Enough!" Rowena shouted. "Stop lying to me, Reed!" She pointed the edge of the bat to his chest. "I cannot believe we've been together for six months and you did this to me."

"You don't understand. We can get past this once you let me explain."

"Not if you want Cross to let you live," Casey muttered. "Just forget about her, Reed. She can't help you combat the moon."

"Combat the moon?" Rowena repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Cross is going to find out about this," another neighbor said loudly, apprehension in his voice.

Rowena again wondered who Cross was.

"I love you," Reed admitted. His confession caused a collective gasp to escape his neighbors and Casey. "If you just calm down and listen, we can work it out."

"Why would you want to work it out with her when you know a relationship with her will never work?" Casey asked, stomping her foot. "She's crazy, Reed! Look at what she did to your car!"

"How dare you judge me!" Rowena said. "I may have anger issues but I'm seeing a therapist."

"It's clearly not working," Casey spat. She turned to Reed. "It will never work with her."

Reed's eyes narrowed. "You know that's not true. It'll take some sacrificing, but it can work out and I don't care about my car. I deserve it for not being up front with Rowena."

Rowena sighed, remembering why she fell for Reed in the first place. He was sweet when he wasn't cheating on her. He was also handsome with his auburn hair, muscular build, and bright green eyes. Sure, he had a hairy chest but no one was perfect.

"Have you ever considered manscaping?" The question popped out before she could stop it. She slashed her hand in the air in front of her as if it were a sword with the ability to slash away her last sentence. "No, forget I asked. It's not my business. For all I know, muscle legs over there probably likes all your hair." She was pointing at Casey.

"Muscle legs?" Casey screeched. "You're so weird! Did you escape from some sort of asylum?"

Weird? Asylum? Rowena took a deep breath and tossed the bat to the ground. Reed immediately stepped forward and she held up a hand. "I'm sorry about your windows. I'll pay for them but cheating on me is a deal breaker. I deserve better. You and I are done."

"Rowena, please," Reed whispered. "We had a lot of good times together."

"That's it?" Wyatt cried, dissatisfied. "I thought she was going to at least try to hit Reed and Casey in the knees with the bat."

Maybelle nodded. "I know I would if my boyfriend was cheating on me for six months."

The words flew at her like poisonous darts causing Rowena's knees to buckle a bit. She looked back at Maybelle. "Did you say six months?"

The woman raised her brows and nodded. "You may be different from me but underneath the skin and bones we're nothing but our feelings, honey. Reed may have meant well but he's been stringing you along since day one."

"Maybelle!" Reed shouted, shock in his voice.

"You had to know she wouldn't understand if she found out, Reed. You still brought her here. It wasn't fair to her or us, and this will be your lesson."

A murmur of agreement filled the air. Rowena wondered if this was some sort of weird homeowner's association thing within their neighborhood for them to be so interested in Reed's relationships.

Rowena turned to Reed. "Six months? You've been cheating on me the entire time we've been together?"

"You really didn't think he was that into you, did you?" Casey scoffed. She had already picked up the discarded baseball bat. "You may be fun to play with, but you'd never be good enough for him. I mean...look at you."

And there was the rub. All her life, in one way or another, Rowena had been made to feel as if she weren't good enough. She knew Reed was out of her league. He was a handsome lawyer with his own house while she worked at a grocery store and lived in rental house with no central air conditioning. Her relationship with him had been the best thing she had going on in her life up until thirty minutes ago when she caught him cheating. She was tired of being told she wasn't attractive enough or smart enough, or just plain good enough.

Rowena pointed an angry finger at Reed. Remembering how superstitious he was, she did what any spurned woman would do in her situation-she cursed him.

"I curse you, Reed Condren! I hope your hair falls out, your plants die, and your house catches on fire!"

She ignored the laughter and the anguished cry from Reed at being cursed as she jumped into her car and sped off. Hurt and humiliated, she tried to take comfort in the knowledge that Reed's superstitious nature would probably cause him to panic at being cursed. She huffed, wishing she had been fortunate enough to inherit a special gift like the other women in her family. Maybe the stress would cause his hair to really fall out. As she pressed the gas pedal in her car to hurry herself home, Rowena frowned in resignation. Much like herself, the words she used to curse Reed were powerless and would soon be forgotten.

At least...that's what she assumed.

Two days later, stealthy hands wrapped around Rowena as she slept under the warmth of her thick down comforter. In a few hours, she would soon learn just how powerful her curse had been.