Page 45 of Fire Dancer
And, shoot. Now Ingo was really staring at me.
“Keep going, keep going!” Claire begged.
I kept my fingers tightly folded.
My father cleared his throat. “Actually, that’s the end of the story. Thanks to the pegasus, Claire was able to save the beautiful horse and take it home with her. And when the pegasus flew to the stars afterward, he wasn’t flying away. He was flying across time, all the way to Arizona, where he joined Claire on the ranch and they all lived happily ever after.”
I swear Claire would have taken off to check the stables if Mike hadn’t been hugging her.
Abby and Erin clapped, helping wrap up the story. I joined in a split second later, though my heart was still hammering.
“Lucky girl,” Erin told Claire. “You get the best stories.”
Abby stood and tousled Claire’s golden hair. “I know Grandpa could hug you forever, but now, it really is bedtime.”
“No!” Claire retreated into Mike’s powerful arms.
“I’m afraid so, sweetheart.” Graceful as a cat, he got to his feet, still holding Claire. Then he set her down and sent her off with a pat on the back. “But I’ll tell you what. If you get yourself ready and tucked in quickly, I’ll come up and read you one last bedtime story.”
“You’re not leaving tonight, are you?” Claire latched on to his leg and looked up with big, irresistible eyes.
And just like that, the big, tough, leather-clad motorcycle rider melted.
“I can stay tonight and tomorrow — if you’re good, and if your mom and aunts say so.”
Erin gave a thumbs-up, and Abby grinned. Nash stuck on a stiff smile.
“Of course you can stay,” Abby said.
“Yay! Can I ride Grandpa’s motorcycle tomorrow?”
Ha. That Claire. The world’s cutest, sweetest opportunist.
“We’ll discuss that tomorrow,” Abby announced firmly. “Now, off to bed. Then Grandpa can read you that new book Auntie Pippa got you.”
“Let me guess. The one about a pegasus.” Ingo pinned me with a hard look.
As a matter of fact, it was. But I kept my lips sealed.
Chapter Eleven
INGO
I’d borne witness to lots of Greg’s bonfires, but that was truly a doozy. Especially since I had the feeling Greg wasn’t the only one orchestrating the show.
Pippa had refused to meet my eyes afterward, and she’d hung back when the time came for me to go.
“You come back soon, son.” Greg had left me with a fond smack on the back.
Pippa, meanwhile, was still staring into the last embers of the fire.
I’d driven home, then gone for a good, long run through the desert in wolf form. Which led me — again — to the viewpoint over the ranch.
I gazed at Pippa’s barn for a while, then circled around three times and settled down right there on the mesa, my nose nestled between my paws and aimed at the ranch. As if Pippa might come out and call to me, as I always dreamed she would.
She didn’t.
My night watch only lasted an hour or so, because nights at this altitude were cold, even with thick wolf fur protecting me. Eventually, I shot a last, longing gaze at Pippa’s house, then headed back to my cabin.