Page 55 of Dream Weaver

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

Themwas 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 ata 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 forthat?” 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.

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