Page 13 of Dream Weaver
At 3:25, she was back — with a kid. A really bubbly, outgoing one holding a fluffy pink toy bunny. All the guys in the shop cheered.
“Claire!”
The girl waved happily, showered Louie in hugs, then came over to me, all sunny, friendly, and trusting.
“Hi! I’m Claire. This is Hopper.”
“Hi, Claire. Hi, Hopper. I’m Cooper.”
The most social interaction I’d gotten all day, and half of it was with a stuffed animal.
“Do you work here too?” Claire asked.
I held back a snort. “Just…uh, volunteering…”
Abby edged closer, all mamma bear protective of her cub.
Hazy memories stirred in my mind, and I remembered my mother doing the same to protect me in the woods, once upon a time. Except in that case, the mamma bear really was a bear, and I was the cub.
I smiled faintly. Next time I called home, I would have to tell my mother about that memory. She wouldlovethat.
Abby steered Claire over to a nearby workbench. “How about you draw a picture?”
Ah. Now, the crayons and colored paper made sense.
“Okay. Oh! I’ll draw one of you and Cooper!”
Abby gnashed her teeth. “Anything you like, sweetie.”
“Oh! Juice!” Claire squeaked, spotting my carton. “Can I have some?”
Abby shook her head. “It’s Cooper’s, and he’s been drinking from the carton.”
She made it sound like I had the cooties.
“Sorry, kiddo.” I moved the carton away so Claire wouldn’t have to look at what she couldn’t have, then fetched her a glass of water.
“Thank you, Mr. Cooper.”
I grinned. Polite kid. “Just Cooper is fine, thank you.”
“What are you making?” Claire asked.
“A Pulaski,” Abby replied.
If I’d had my eyes shut, I would have sworn a totally different person had switched places with her. Her tone was sweet, loving,and optimistic, like the world was a great place with wonderful things and nice people.
Huh. So maybe the ice queen actually had a warm heart.
Claire nodded readily. Apparently, she was familiar enough with firefighting equipment to know about Pulaskis — an ax/adze used to dig trenches and chop undergrowth. Interesting.
“Only a mock-up, though,” Abby continued. “Before I start on the real ones.”
Ah. Now, it all made sense.
“Like practicing?” Claire asked.
Abby nodded. “They have to be really good. Really, really good, so they do their job well and no one gets hurt.”
