Page 109 of A Soldier's Return

He was fascinated to watch Sage inhale and exhale a long breath and then pick up the item in Chloe’s hand. “Cool!” she exclaimed, with no trace of hurt or anger in her voice. “That’s a little piece of petrified wood. You and your dad are great at beachcombing. He found a baby-pink agate. Maybe he’ll let you make a wish on it.”

“Oh, may I, Daddy?”

Grateful he hadn’t tossed it back in the sand, he dug it from the pocket of his Windbreaker and handed it to her. She screwed her eyes shut for a moment, her mouth moving with words he couldn’t understand, then she opened her mouth and handed it back to him.

“What did you wish?”

“Not telling. Then it won’t come true.”

“Fair enough. We should probably be heading back.”

Chloe shook her head. “I want to keep looking for cool stuff on the beach.”

“It’s getting late,” he insisted after a quick look at his watch. “Nearly a quarter to seven.”

“No!” she said hotly. “I’m going to find more shells!”

He should have picked up on the signs. Chloe had been up for several hours already and was overstimulated by the excitement of the bike ride and playing hard with Conan. But she’d been on such good behavior in Sage’s presence that her recalcitrance took him completely by surprise.

“Maybe we can make time later to look for shells, but we already have to hurry so you and Sage aren’t late at the center.”

“Not later! Now!”

“Chloe, get back here, young lady!”

Instead of obeying, she ran farther down the shore, coming dangerously close to the cold Pacific waters.

He headed after her, but the closer he got to her, the faster she ran, sending backward glances over her shoulder.

He saw truculence and defiance in her gaze, all the things he had become accustomed to seeing there the last two years. Though he tried to hang on to his temper, it was fraying already from his argument with Sage and he could feel it slipping through his fingers.

“Chloe Elizabeth Spencer, get your behind back here right now,” he ordered. “You’re in serious trouble.”

“I don’t care! I want to find more petrified wood.”

And Sage thought he should subject the good citizens of Tokyo to Chloe?

He wouldn’t put it past her to cause some kind of international incident and get them both thrown out of Japan.

He was within a few yards of grabbing her and tossing her, shrieking like a banshee, over his shoulder when Sage suddenly rode up on the tandem bike. He had no idea how she’d retrieved it from the parking lot so quickly or how she maneuvered it with such ease across the soft sand. He only knew he’d never been so grateful to see anyone in his life as he was to see Sage placidly pedaling toward them.

“Come on, Chloe. I need help getting back across the sand,” she said calmly.

His daughter paused, still poised for flight but with a confused look on her features, as if she didn’t quite how to react. “I want to find more petrified wood.”

“I’m sure you do. But I’m afraid if we don’t leave now, you and I will both be late for nature camp. Today I promised we were going to Ecola and Indian Beach, remember? I’m sure you’ll find all kinds of shells there. You wouldn’t want to miss it, would you?”

After a moment’s reflection, Chloe shook her head and climbed onto the bicycle seat behind Sage.

“We’ll have to use all our muscles to get across the sand. It’s hard work. Are you ready?”

“Ready!” Chloe exclaimed, all signs of defiance miraculously gone.

Frustration simmered through him as Eben watched them work to pedal back toward the trail to the parking lot.

Even strangers were better at dealing with his daughter than he was. He was far too reactionary, far too quick to let her push his buttons. She knew just how to make him lose his temper and she didn’t hesitate to push her advantage.

Perhaps sending her to boarding school to learn control would give him at least a semblance of the upper hand in their relationship.

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