Sage nodded, feeling overwhelmed again. Reed grabbed her arm, grinning. “Come outside. You’ve got to seemypower.”
“Pet,” a deep male voice called, stopping Reed.
Troy Burbank had come in the back door and crossed the room toward them, his eyes on Reed. He kissed her first, thenfist-bumped with Canyon, then turned to Sage. He towered over her, standing as tall as Canyon, wearing a simple blue on blue KSRT uniform with black boots… and he’d grown back his Tom Selleck mustache. She smiled, not quite having the guts to call him ‘Tom’, like she’d done when they’d first met. This was his turf, and she did not belong.
Troy pulled his wallet out of his pocket and reached into an inner pocket to pull out a folded hundred-dollar bill. He held it out to Sage, leaving her confused.
“I shaved my mustache because of you,” he said, his speech slow and careful. He pulled Reed into a one-armed hug, saying, “I promised myself if it got Reed to notice me, I’d give you the tip of your life.”
Sage laughed. “I’ll take it then. I earned it,” she said, pocketing the money. The four of them shared a comfortable laugh. Sage’s muscles unknotted and her nerves calmed.
Everything was going to be okay.
81—Still a Zoo
Sage squeezed Canyon’s hand and looked up at him. He smiled.
“Are you guys going to live out here?” Reed asked.
“No, no,” Sage said, shocked at the thought. “I can’t live here.”
“Then where? Canyon and Timber’s?”
Sage’s stomach swooped and she shook her head. She couldn’t live with thevod, what about Paisley?
Troy looked suspicious. “You haven't claimed her,” he said.
Canyon’s eyes narrowed and his voice challenged Troy. “Shit's complicated. Where's Trevor?”
“He's out—be back in a half hour.”
Canyon nodded. “You’ll hear about it then.”
Troy and Canyon appraised each other.
“You have to see our cabin,” Reed said. She took Sage’s hand and pulled her through the living room to the back door and slid it open, revealing a wide wooden porch and steps to the ground. Rogue was near the bottom of the steps, fussing over a rucksack.
“Everyone here is so great,” Reed said, crossing the porch. “So friendly and open.” She looked at Rogue as they passed and her voice darkened. “Well. Almost everyone.”
Reed pulled Sage around to the side of the house. Canyon and Troy followed. Reed stared across the yard and pointed.
A giant evergreen tree split its branches in the middle and waved at them from 40 feet in the air. Sage stopped in her tracks, dumbfounded. All the trees waved, sounding like wind,smelling like spruce, their crowns moving eerily like a crowd at a football game.
Sage took a step backwards, falling against Canyon. She looked up at him and he was smiling broadly, his eyes on the tree, whispering, “Tree soldiers.”
Sage clapped her hands. “Amazing! I can’t believe it.”
“Coolest power ever,” Troy said, beaming with pride, then he leaned down and kissed Reed’s belly. She smiled, held her belly and said, “We’re pregnant.”
Sage hugged Reed, and then she hugged Troy, saying, “Congratulations, how exciting.”
Troy put his hand on Reed’s belly, saying, “There’s at least two in there, and we’re talking names. If one of them is a boy he’s going to be Truck Brontosaurus Burbank.”
Sage laughed, surprised into it. Canyon laughed too, then rubbed the back of his neck and said, “That’s… interesting.”
“See,” Reed told Troy, pointing at Sage and Canyon. “Truck's not a name. We should think of something else.”
Rogue walked by, the rucksack slunk over her shoulder, and said, “I've got an uncle named Truck.”
