Page 48 of Dream Weaver

Silence weighed over us, heavy as lead.

Finally, Ingo eased back and flashed a tight smile.

“One of many things I’ve learned from Pippa is when to call it a night.” He grabbed the bill, paid the whole amount despite our protests, then leaned in, serious again. “Thanks for the info. I’ll take it from here.” He gave me a pointed look. “Call it my case now, okay?”

I hated men telling me how to run my life. But Ingo had saved my sister from vampires. He’d helped save our ranch. He would risk his life for my daughter, I knew.

Also, I was a blacksmith. He was an agent in supernatural law enforcement. It was pretty clear whose jurisdiction this fell under.

So, no protest. Just a slightly forced nod.

Ingo stood to go, and we followed. Outside, he thumped Cooper’s shoulder fondly. The force would have sent me reeling, though Cooper barely moved.

“Let’s make next time sooner,” Cooper agreed. “You know, to use the chance while we can.”

Ingo’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re not planning on staying past this fire season?”

My heart jumped into my throat.

Cooper glanced at me, and a tsunami of emotions swirled between us. Then he tore his gaze away, and I looked at my boots.

“I guess we’ll see,” was all he said.

“For the record, my vote is for you to stay.” Ingo chuckled.

My vote too, though, unlike Ingo, I didn’t voice it.

Ingo drove off with a wave, leaving me alone in the dark lot. Well, with Cooper, but dark thoughts dragged me into a lonely cave of doubt.

Why someone had been messing with the vortexes, I didn’t know. But they had used the ax I’d forged, so it was partly my fault. I’d forged magic into that ax. Magic with a dark side, I feared, despite the luck it had brought. Dark magic someone now sought to exploit. But who? How? Why?

The questions assailed me, a hail of piercing arrows from every side…except one. The side where Cooper stood.

When he touched my arm, I blinked. And for a moment, I felt warm. Comforted. In the storm of my inner turmoil, someone had my back.

A very big, very badass someone. Someone who cared.

I gulped at the unfamiliar feeling, then looked up.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” he murmured.

Huh. Since when were bears so good at reading minds?

I managed a thin smile. “Hard habit to break.”

The moment I said it, I cringed. God, that made me sound so damn…weak.

A few quiet seconds ticked by, followed by something completely unexpected.

A hug.

A great big, cautious one, because Cooper knew me by now. Moving slowly, gently, he reeled me into the world’s warmest, safest, most impenetrable hug. I slid into it the way I would slide into the creek on a warm summer night.

For the first second, I was tense as a bow. Then I exhaled.

And exhaled and exhaled, letting everything go. Everything but the feel of his soft flannel shirt…his clean, woodsy scent…his steady, beating heart.

My pulse slowed to match his. I nestled closer…and closer. The way I felt when I mentally crawled into fire to hide from reality, I felt now. The difference was that fire crackled dangerously, cutting me off from the world. But this hug — this bear hug, ha-ha — tugged me into a peaceful, friendly place where I wasn’t alone.

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