Page 127 of Dream Weaver

Her sisters pressed in, cooing in comforting tones, and I backed away. Blood seeped through my shirt sleeve, but the achein my heart was worse. I was back in the same inevitable place. Abby had everything she needed — her daughter, her family, and the ranch.

I shuffled back toward my car, not part of that equation. I was done here. Done in Sedona, too.

I looked at the moon, high and bright in the rapidly clearing sky. I ran my eyes over the dramatic rock formations, silent sentinels in the night. Then I steeled myself and looked at Abby, memorizing every detail, from her auburn hair to her green eyes to her lithe figure.

With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, silently wishing her well. Then I turned to my truck.

A steely hand clamped over mine, and a man growled right in my ear.

“Not so fast, kid.”

I sighed. This again?

“I said, I’m sorry,” I told Mike. “I couldn’t think of a better way to stop Claire without—”

He cut me off. “You did good.” His throat bobbed. “You did good.”

A rare compliment, but I was too dazed to care.

“If you’ll excuse me…” I pushed toward my car.

His thick arm chopped into the space before me, blocking the way.

“I said, not so fast.”

I kicked the ground. Now what?

“You wait right here, kid.” He pointed at me, giving me the evil eye. “Don’t move a hair, you got that?”

What he was up to, I had no idea. But whatever. When he was finished haranguing me — as I was sure he planned to — I would leave. I would head straight to Wyoming and never look back.

My bear mourned.

“I said, you got that?” Mike growled.

Never in my life had I been more tempted to disrespect one of my elders. But bears had those rules ingrained in them young, and I just didn’t have it in me.

I sighed and looked at my shoes. “Yes, sir.”

Mike stomped over to the others, still huddled by the corral.

One last tumbleweed rolled by. In the darkness, a bird chirped cautiously from a thicket, the first to peek out after the storm. The scent of pine and juniper filled my nose, and I savored that special Sedona scent. Pine, juniper, and something else. Huckleberry. Dandelions…

Two sets of steps sounded behind me, one heavy, one light.

“All right, now. You two talk,” Mike ordered gruffly.

I looked up, finding Abby there. Behind her, Erin and Pippa walked Claire to the main house.

“Go on, now.” Mike nudged Abby gently. “Talk.” Then he pinned me with a dark look. “And you listen.”

“Yes, sir,” I mumbled.

Mike nudged Abby, then walked away.

Abby looked at her feet for a while, then whispered, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Nothing to thank me for. I’m just glad Claire is okay.”

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