Page 39 of Fire Dancer
Roscoe wagged his tail weakly. Unlike Claire, he knew two powerful supernaturals when he sniffed them.
Erin was the next to hug her father warmly. Nash followed with a stiff handshake.
“Hello, Mike,” Nash said evenly.
“Nash,” Mike grumbled.
Poor Nash. It was hard when your true love’s father was a tough-talking, spell-weaving, overprotective warlock and leader of a motorcycle gang — er, club.
And poor Mike. He loved Erin, so he tried to tolerate Nash. But I had the feeling Mike wouldn’t have minded if his “little girl” had remained single — and a virgin — forever.
My dad, on the other hand…
He stuck out a hand and caught Ingo in one of those three-part manshakes followed by a hug.
“Greg!” Ingo might as well have been embracing his own father.
“Ingo!” My dad greeted him just as warmly.
Yeah, my dad had a lot fewer hang-ups than Mike. Also, he’d spent the last twenty-five years working on a wildland fire crew with Ingo’s father, his close buddy. Ingo had joined the samecrew before a couple of arson cases had set him off on a new career path in law enforcement.
Secondalso, my dad thought Ingo and I were perfect for each other. He hadn’t even blinked the time he’d discovered seventeen-year-old Ingo and me in bed together.
Yeah, I figured,was all he’d said.Just don’t get pregnant,okay?
Thank goodness for laid-back fathers.
Except, of course, when they couldn’t get their idea of your perfect partner out of their heads.
“Some coincidence that you got a job in Sedona, hey?” my father chuckled at Ingo.
Ingo glanced at me, and his throat bobbed. “Yeah. Funny coincidence.”
My dad half coughed, half muttered, “Can’t fight destiny.”
Yeah, well. I fully intended to.
“Abby!” my father called, hugging her next.
Mike greeted her just as warmly.
Abby closed her eyes with each hug, and my heart swelled when I saw her arms firmly around their shoulders. Erin liked to say we had the world’s most functional dysfunctional family. Me, I was grateful for having two out of three blue-ribbon fathers.
And two hot ones, too. I could see why Mom had been attracted to them. Hell, if they were total strangers and twenty years younger, I would have a hard time choosing between them.
But then my eye caught on Ingo, and a voice deep inside me whispered,Easy choice. Ingo, Ingo, Ingo.
I’d known him my entire life, and even as a child, I’d known he was the only one for me.
I scuffed the ground. Too bad things hadn’t worked out that way.
“How are things, honey?” Mike asked.
“All good, all good,” Erin assured him.
“No more trouble around here?”
“No, Dad. All fine. Thanks.”