Free Grizzly Flying Free (Air Bear Shifters Book 2) by Sloane Meyers Page A

it.
    Anderson frowned and took another sip of his beer. He knew that there was something special about Lexi. He felt the tugging at his heart whenever she was close by, and it scared him. She wasn’t his type. And how could he fall in love with another dancer, anyway? It seemed incredibly disloyal to his first wife—like he was literally just trying to replace her. Anderson knew his first wife would have told him to stop being ridiculous if she could see into his thoughts right now, but he couldn’t help being scared at the very idea of dating again. Dating a dancer would just be too much.
    The soft pitter-patter of little feet drew Anderson’s attention to the hallway, where moments later Silver appeared. She looked so small and adorable in her cotton pajamas with little white kittens printed all over them. Her face looked uncertain and scared, as her hair hung in a messy tangle of waves around her face.
    “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked. Something told him that she wasn’t just trying to get out of going to sleep. She was really concerned about something, and he wanted her to know that he was here to help her.
    “I…I wanted to say sorry,” she said, her lower lip quivering just a bit.
    “Sorry? For what, sweetie?” Anderson asked, patting the couch next to him. Silver walked over and sat beside him, curling her small body up against him.
    “I’m sorry I’ve been so bad and whined so much. I just wanted to dance so badly. And I really thought you did like Miss Lexi. I didn’t mean to make you mad or sad. I just want you to be happy.”
    Anderson kissed the top of her head, and sighed. “Sweetie, I’m very happy. Sometimes I have bad days. We all do. But it doesn’t mean I’m an unhappy person overall. I have you, and I have an amazing clan. Life is good. And I owe you an apology, too. I’ve been keeping you from dancing because of my own selfish worries. That’s not a nice thing to do. I worry about you because I love you, but when you love someone you should help them follow their dreams, even if that feels scary. It feels scary to let you go to Kodiak for tutoring, but I know you are a big girl and can handle it.”
    Silver sniffed a bit, obviously fighting back tears. Anderson felt his own heart breaking at the sound, and he made a split-second decision to allow her to go to Kodiak to study dance with Lexi. He knew it would be hard for him to have his daughter far away, and he knew it would be difficult to have Lexi constantly on his mind. But Silver didn’t deserve to suffer because of his own internal hang-ups. She was a talented dancer, and she deserved the chance to shine.
    “I tell you what, sweetie. If you want to go to Kodiak to study dance with Miss Lexi, then I will send you there. You’ve worked really hard to improve your dancing, and you deserve the chance to study with someone as talented as her.”
    Silver sat up straight and looked at Anderson, her eyes growing wider than he had ever seen them. The hopeful expression in her eyes melted his heart. “Really? You’re going to let me go spend more time in Kodiak.”
    Anderson smiled. “Yes, really. I’m going to miss you like crazy, but I know you’ll be in good hands. And you were right a few days ago when you pointed out that I’m always working. It’s not fair for me to always be at work but still not let you go dance. We have to make sure you can transfer to the schools in Kodiak for the semester though. Just because you’ll be dancing doesn’t mean you can skip out on school.”
    Silver nodded solemnly, and then her face broke out into a huge grin. She threw her arms around Anderson’s neck, and hugged him with a strength that was surprising for a six-year-old.
    “Thank you, Daddy! I promise I’ll be good. This is the best day of my life.”
    Anderson chuckled. “Well, that’s good. I’m happy to hear. Do you know what the best day of my life was?”
    Silver leaned back and gave him a quizzical look. “No,” she