Page 56 of Dream Weaver

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, thoughProbablywas 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 withyou,” 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 youdidn’tteach 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 toleave, 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 wereout— 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…

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