Page 13 of Dream Weaver (Spellbound in Sedona #3)

ABBY

A fretful week passed, and the metal shop was my sole refuge. If only the rest of the world were a place where problems could be solved with a few slams of the hammer.

The shop was my happy place. There, I could control things, from the temperature of my forge to the number and force of hammer blows that went into shaping the axes.

At work, I could pretend the outside world didn’t exist.

I also had the world’s best assistant there. Cooper, who’d been teaching me what good company a bear shifter could be. With him, it was easy to lose myself in a steady rhythm.

Bang!

Wham!

Bang!

Wham!

“Up,” I murmured.

He struck one more time, then waited while I reheated the metal.

We’d fallen into a perfect rhythm over the past few days. So perfect, we barely spoke — in a good way. Instead, we communicated with our eyes. With hammer taps. With silent, barely perceptible gestures. We were that in tune.

On the flip side, our bodies were a little too good at silent communication. Every time we bumped, my body heated. Every time I paused to wipe away sweat, images of a different hot and sweaty activity poured into my imagination. Every time Cooper came close, my toes curled. One time, I backed right into his groin, and a wild, untamed part of me yowled before I stepped clear.

“Oh, I should warn you,” Cooper said at one point. “My mother is passing through town today, and she might drop in to say hi.” He made a face, like he was really, really embarrassed.

“Your mother, huh?”

He blushed. “Yes, because I give her great joy .” He made air quotes. “I’ll keep it as short as possible.”

Ha. I knew a good son when I saw one.

“Oh, and do me a favor,” Cooper went on.

I tilted my head.

“Promise me you’ll banish any nicknames you might hear from your memory.”

I broke out laughing. I might even look forward to it.

“No promises.”

He grinned, and we went back to work.

So, when the bell over the shop door chimed about an hour later, I turned, expecting to see Cooper’s mother — a stout woman with warm brown eyes, no doubt, and an easy smile, just like her son.

Instead, I spotted a tall, wiry man with long silver hair pulled into a loose ponytail.

His eyes landed on me with a thump, and I wobbled backward. Then he strode over with that commanding presence of his. Matt, Pablo, and Bob all shrank back, staring. A good thing too — that kept them from noticing that little bits of metal in the shop slid forward to pay homage to their master.

Or, more accurately, my father.

If Ingo had been there, he might have whispered, Warlock. Hephaestid.

Walt opened his glass office door but didn’t venture out. Neither did Louie, for all he loved to growl and bark. The only two souls who didn’t instinctively cower were Cooper and me.

I kept my hammer clutched at my side. Cooper bristled, and a wave of moss-scented air wafted through the shop. He was that close to shifting.

“Abby.” My father grinned, stepping toward me.

The grin wasn’t for me, but my name — the only part of me my father took pride in. Abby, as in Edward Abbey, one of the few humans my father admired. He also loved that our last name happened to be the same as Rachel Carson’s, the pioneering environmentalist.

Yeah, my father was a real hoot that way.

He powered up to me — right up to me. He would have crowded me the way he always did if Cooper hadn’t stepped in the way. Towering at about the same height, they glared at each other like a couple of Rottweilers in the split second before all hell broke loose.

The air grew thick with magic, and the hair on the back of Cooper’s neck thickened.

I reached out to touch Cooper’s back, whispering, “All good.”

A lie, because my father was never good news. I even peeked behind him in case the law was hot on his heels.

But, no. Not this time, at least.

Thanks to Cooper, my heart rate didn’t skyrocket, but it did thump hard enough to rattle every corner of my body. All the more so when I noticed the quiver in Cooper’s arm.

He’d rested his sledgehammer on his shoulder when my father approached. Now, an electric crackle filled the air, and Cooper’s muscles bulged.

Dammit. My father was wielding magic, trying to force Cooper to put down the weapon — er, tool.

My father’s eyes blazed into Cooper’s, demanding submission. But the stubborn bear wouldn’t budge. That sledgehammer sure wanted to, though. I could feel it heat under the force of my father’s magic.

Bits of steel started sliding across the floor, and screws started rattling in drawers against the wall. Tools hanging against the wall leaned toward him at a gravity-defying angle.

“Cut it out, Ed,” I ordered in a low, even voice.

The man had always insisted I call him by his first name. So, no, we didn’t exactly share a warm father-daughter relationship.

The air grew heavy with magic. My father’s nostrils flared. Sweat broke out on Cooper’s brow. Their eyes glowed and lasered into each other’s.

“Stop that right now, Dad,” I growled before this turned into a full-fledged standoff.

My father’s eyes flicked to me, and I socked him with my hardest look.

Finally, the air stopped crackling, and Cooper lurched forward when the invisible pressure halted.

His wide-eyed glance asked, That’s your father?

I sighed. Unfortunately, yes. Not that I said that aloud.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

“Can’t a guy check in on his daughter once in a while?”

I crossed my arms. “Is that what you’re doing?”

Because Claire, I’d noticed, hadn’t made his list.

The thought made my heart ache, but it was better that way. She already had one self-centered, unhinged supernatural trying to intrude on her life — Jay. She didn’t need a second one.

Ed shrugged. “Yes, to check in. And also to…” He trailed off with a look that said, Walls have ears, you know.

Ha. Especially the bear-sized wall standing a few inches away, ready to claw my father to shreds.

I’d never been more inclined to hug Cooper. But I couldn’t. Not with my father there.

“Out here.” I waved to the back door.

Cooper took a step to follow, but I put a hand on his chest.

“I’ll make this quick,” I whispered, hoping it was true.

That night at the pizza place, Cooper’s eyes had glowed softly. The light that shone in them now was about a thousand watts higher and hotter. More dangerous. He crossed his arms, still glaring at my father.

I patted his chest softly. “Thanks. I mean it. But I have to do this. It won’t take long.”

This was hearing out my father’s latest rant, then sending him on his way before I got dragged into one of his crazy schemes.

Cooper leaned forward, pushing against my hand. Did he even feel it there?

“Are you sure?” His eyes searched mine.

Sure about getting rid of my father? Absolutely. Yes.

Sure about that hug I owed him later? That too.

I nodded, then followed my father outside. Cooper remained in the doorway, every stiff hair on his body communicating, Try something, and you’re dead.

“Stupid bear,” my father muttered when I covered the twenty steps to his side.

My blood pressure doubled. “Do you ever have anything nice to say about anyone?”

And, ouch. I winced at my own pot-calling-the-kettle-black moment.

Maybe I took more after my father than I’d thought. Or maybe I was just jaded. Either way, I made a mental note. Say nice things to other people. Especially Cooper.

My father shrugged. “I tell it like it is.”

I crossed my arms. “No, you judge based on one look.”

Ouch again. I made a second mental note.

Then I made an exasperated sound. “Good to see you and all…” (another lie) “…but as you can see, I’m at work. You know, work? The way I earn a living?”

Ed snorted. “You’re just caught in the rat race like the rest of them.”

Them was the general population, for whom my father had nothing but contempt.

But there was no arguing with him, so I bit back my cutting reply.

“The point is, I can’t just walk out whenever I want, so please get to the point.”

My father frowned. “Since when are you so begrudging?”

I snorted. “Since the time you dropped me off at Aunt Carrie’s when I was seven. Or maybe the second or third time, when I begged you not to. Even when I told you about Uncle Carl…”

My voice wavered there, and even my father made a face. Carl had been a bad man. I’d avoided the worst by pushing the dresser up against my door every night. Carl’s own daughters hadn’t been as “lucky.”

“I made sure he got what he deserved,” Ed grunted.

“Yeah — five months later, when you came to pick me up. Great parenting.”

“What kind of parent would I be if I let all the fools out there make a mess of the world?”

There were earth-huggers, and there were eco-warriors. My father had long since crossed both those lines. The ends justified the means, even when the collateral damage included human lives. So, eco-terrorist was more like it, with arson and sabotage as his favorite tools. A blaze at a GMO lab, cut gondola lines at a ski resort expansion…not to mention his special passion for halting mining operations…

I sighed. Pippa’s father was a firefighter. Erin’s designed custom motorcycles.

Mine was on the government’s watch list.

I threw up my hands before my mind went any further down the long, ugly list of Ed’s crimes.

“Why are you here?”

“Because something is wrong.” My father took me by both shoulders. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Cooper lunging forward, barely restraining himself.

The man deserved a medal, but all I’d ever hung around his neck was scorn.

I made yet another mental note.

“Something is definitely wrong. I can sense it,” my father emphasized.

My heart swelled. Had my father finally paused his quixotic quests long enough to put me first, like Erin’s and Pippa’s fathers always did? Had he sensed me fretting about Jay? Was he finally coming through for me?

I blinked, holding back happy tears.

“It’s that damned Edelweiss Corporation again,” Ed continued.

My bubble burst, crashed, and burned.

“Edelweiss?” I fumed.

“Yep. More development. Right here in your hometown.” He swept a hand over the surrounding buttes and mesas.

I loved Sedona. I really did. I hated development. But at that moment, all I saw was red.

“You’re here for that ?” I hissed.

Cooper took a step closer, ready to charge.

My father blinked in a way that asked, What else would I be here for?

Not me, that was for sure. Not for his granddaughter either. I cursed my stupid, wounded heart.

Twin flames lit in my father’s eyes, and he shuffled closer. “You mean, there’s another big corporation trying to muscle in here?”

The air started pulsing with energy again, and he rubbed his hands eagerly, itching for a fight.

“No!” I barked, though Probably was more like it. Sedona was always under siege from developers, including a warlock who’d targeted my own ranch. But that wasn’t the point right now.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. “You know what, Ed? I’ve had it.”

He nodded briskly. “I know how you feel. They stole this land from the Native Americans. They stole it from the small-time farmers. Now they want to steal some more, so they can build their goddamn strip malls—”

I gripped my hair to keep from shoving him away.

“No, I’ve had it with you ,” I cut in. “I know I’m not as important as all this.” I waved at the stunning scenery just outside our back lot. “But a daughter should be that important to her own father, at least once in a while.”

He frowned. “How is this about you?”

I bared my teeth in a snarl. “Because for once — just once — I deserve to have you care about me. But you’ve never managed that. You’ve never even tried.”

He held up his arms. “I do care. That’s why I—”

“Land yourself in jail? Abandon me with friends and relatives because you have better things to do?”

“It’s not like your mother did any better,” he grumbled.

Which was why I resolved to give her the same speech the next time she came sauntering through town. But he didn’t need to know that.

“I’m talking about you, Ed, and the things in your control.”

“Yeah, well, these developers fall right into that category.” He dropped his voice. “They’ve been bought out by a couple of magic-wielders. A whole fucking family of them.”

I could have screamed. At least that was one family that was whole.

“Then bring it to the goddamn ADMSA,” I snipped. That was the Agency for the Detection and Monitoring of Supernatural Activity, as my father well knew. He was on their watch list, too. “I even know one of their agents. Want me to put you in touch?”

It was more threat than offer, and he knew it.

But he didn’t know that agent was Ingo, who lived on my ranch with my sister Pippa. Oh, and that Erin’s man was a former agent too.

I’d never been so tempted to invite my father over for a family meal. Then again, I’d never been tempted to invite my father over for a family meal, ever.

“Another fucking government agency?” he spat. “You can’t trust any of them. Did I teach you nothing?”

He had the nerve to sound disappointed, and that was the final straw.

“Oh, you managed to teach me plenty. How much it hurts to be alone. How bad hunger burns. How far the future is when just getting through a day is a marathon.” Cooper inched forward as my voice rose. “But there was so much more you didn’t teach me about. Like what love feels like. How trust works. What it means to rely on someone.”

Cooper moved again, and just like that, a definition for each of those formed, crystal clear, in my mind. Love. Trust. Reliability.

The thought took the wind out of my sails, and I gasped for air. I was truly finished with Ed — and desperate for him to leave, but too wired to make that happen without creating an even bigger scene.

Enter Cooper, my own private Ivanhoe.

“I—” my father started.

“You’re ready to leave?” Cooper cut in. “Good. I’ll show you out.”

Technically, we were out — in the back lot — but I’d never loved a man as much as I did in that moment.

Okay, okay. I’d never loved a man, period. Jay was infatuation. But here and now, looking into Cooper’s deep, safe brown eyes…

My pulse skipped, and my racing heart slowed a tick.

“Can a man not talk to his daughter—” my father started.

“Not when he talks like that. No, sir.” Cooper pointed to the door.

My heart fluttered. Tough but polite. I would have to travel to Wyoming someday to see if every man was raised that way there or just the Lundsven boys.

My father raised his hand and curled his fingers, stirring up another spell.

I made a chopping motion, one for every word. “Don’t you dare, Ed. Don’t. You. Dare.”

My father’s eyes — moss-green like mine, but not at all like mine — flashed, then dimmed.

“It saddens me to see you like this, Abby,” he finally said, turning for the door.

I snorted. “It should sadden you that you only see it now, Ed. It’s been years.”

With that, I turned to the grandiose scenery, the endless blue sky.

Behind me, two sets of heavy footsteps sounded — my father’s and Cooper’s. The back door of the metal shop creaked open, then slammed shut.

I counted the seconds, one for every step it took my father to stalk through the shop and exit out the front. A car engine roared to life, then peeled out onto the main road. Angry beeps followed, and I closed my eyes.

Minutes passed before the back door opened, more quietly this time. Without a word, Cooper came up beside me and slowly, carefully, slid an arm over my shoulders. The weight of it ought to have pressed me into a slouch, but instead, his warmth slipped over to me, giving me the energy to stand tall.

We stood there for a long time, neither of us uttering a word.