Chapter Six
Author's Note:
I hope you are enjoying the story so far. A few things before this chapter.
I will be posting one chapter once every week or two from here out. My goal is weekly but life has a funny way of getting in the way sometimes.
A warning if you want to learn to ride a horse please seek a professional horse rider for lessons.
A warning if you intend to handle a firearm or are interested in firearm safety please see local ordinances and professional training before doing so.
Thank you and enjoy.
April 2013
Emilia flew into her clinic several minutes late after making a quick stop at the local gas station to grab two bottles of water and top off her truck's fuel.
In the supply room a leather satchel hung on a coat rung which she promptly grabbed and threw onto the counter. She should've changed at home but she wasn't thinking straight after her conversation with Draco. Good god couldn't she figure out how to speak to the man without embarrassing herself? Ugh, she was going home to sleep as soon as this was done. Her sleep deprivation had addled her brain.
A bundle of clothes appeared from inside the bag which she promptly tossed aside. Mindful of the time she began to fill the satchel with syringes, towels, and other items she thought she may need. After it was all organized into a plastic tray settled at the bottom of the bag she began to strip quickly.
A light bell tingling on the other side of the wall let her know her companion had arrived.
"Be out in a moment Draco!"
She tugged her scrub top and quarter sleeve undershirt off. She had just finished adjusting her bra, because in your thirties gravity starts to matter, and had leaned down to pull off her scrub pants when she happened to glance sideways.
One of the bigger investments in her clinic had been the refrigeration system she had installed in the wall shared by the front lobby and the supply room. What she forgot was it opened from both sides...making her current state of undress easily seen by one astonished Draco Malfoy.
"Shit! Don't look!" She screeched.
The pulling was like a taunt thread hummed to life, begging her to not shy away but just step a little closer to the glass...thankfully she had thrown herself to the side right away but with much reluctance. It continued its relentless humming as she tried to focus.
Mortification and a sense of wanting to melt into the ground burned her entire body like a live wire. The damned tugging was like a purring cat from its rumbling within her chest. It made her feel as if she had the overwhelming urge to want to press herself against the glass.
'Fuck off' she thought savagely and, to her surprise, it sizzled to nothing. Her chest heaved as she attempted to calm herself. It was unbearable. She felt like she was going crazy. Whatever this parasitic sensation was when it made itself known she felt absolutely out of control of her own body. Her body...
Oh god he saw her.
Practically naked.
Thankfully she was wearing a matching white cotton set. Wait, why did that matter? Did it? Yes? No!
Ok, enough. She needed to calm down. It didn't have to be a big deal if she didn't make it one.
She was a thirty three year old woman and more than mature enough to realize things happen accidentally. It's not like she was the first mostly naked woman he has seen...probably.
Unable to wait any longer, because Ross was waiting for them, Emilia finished undressing. She quickly threw on her jeans, pink and brown plaid button down, and a local co-op ball cap. Her worn steel toe square work boots appeared from a cupboard that she quickly slipped on. She slung the satchel across her chest as she moved reluctantly down the hall.
Draco's back was graciously turned toward the glass, his arms like steel bands locked tight against his chest. He was probably angry and had every right to be. She approached his side, her eyes focused just over his shoulder, unable to look him in the face from embarrassment.
"Draco, I am so sorry about that. I...I forgot about the glass." She excused weakly.
She braced herself for a tongue lashing about professionalism that she absolutely deserved. Instead, he nodded his head and pushed off the counter.
"Shall we?"
Astonished, she watched him briskly leave. Oh...kay...it seemed he wanted to pretend nothing had happened.
A buzz from her pocket jolted her out of her confused stupor. She took out her phone to read the text message she received. Ross was on his way to the pasture.
After she confirmed they were heading there as well she left the clinic, locking it behind her.
She found Draco next to her mulled red wine colored half ton pickup. Well, more like several feet away with a look of offense on his face.
"When was the last time you washed this vehicle? It's disgusting and covered in mud."
She raised an eyebrow at him. A judgemental gaze of her own drifted over his neat grey hoodie, simple navy blue shirt, and most likely designer jeans. All very clean and something most people would consider their nicer set of clothes. Well, hopefully they hadn't been too expensive and he wasn't too attached to them.
"It's spring. If I had to keep my truck in pristine condition I would be washing it daily. Before you complain, the inside isn't much better."
Maybe he was a germaphobe.
She moved to the back of her truck and yanked down the tailgate. Draco, obviously disinterested in investigating the inside, stepped beside her.
"Hold this, please." She stated, not asked, before unceremoniously dumping the bag into his arms.
He may have muttered about 'asking politely' but she wasn't sure. With a great heave she climbed into the truck bed. She tread carefully over the various items she liked to keep such as varying length of ropes, extra calf bottles, and a few hard plastic carriers until she reached the work bench beneath the back window. Once there and unlocked she rummaged around until she pulled out a long gun case. With a key she unlocked it and pulled out the 12 gauge rifle, examining it to ensure it was clean.
"Is that...a gun?" He asked, his voice blanketed with incredulousness.
The snort at his question was unintentional.
"Yes, what of it?"
Satisfied, she double checked for the locked box of ammo in the work bench before packing it all up again.
"What on earth do you need that for when you're working?" He asked, his tone slightly condescending.
"Bag please." She requested, poignantly ignoring him.
He tossed her the bag which she caught easily, adding it to her stores and firmly closing the container.
"Emilia, why do you need a gun?" His voice was harsh, demanding for the first time since they met. It sent a shiver down her back much to her displeasure.
"For protection." She made her way back to him and jumped off the truck before slamming the tailgate shut.
"Ready?"
She didn't wait for his reply. Instead, she moved to the driver's side door where she hopped in and turned the truck over. As it roared to life she saw Draco slide into the passenger seat and banged his door shut. His focus was completely on her, obviously unwilling to let his question go. She sighed in defeat.
"It's a precaution really. I like having it with me in case I run across something like a rattlesnake."
"There are rattlesnakes where you work?" Was his voice one of surprise or anger? She couldn't tell.
"Of course, Draco. This is the open prairie. Rattlesnakes, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions...they all roam freely here. They're dangerous. I'd rather be prepared if I have the misfortune of stumbling upon one than not. Besides," she threw him a haughty look, "it is very difficult to bash a snake's head in with a walking stick atop a horse."
He blanched but said nothing, evidently disinterested in provoking her ire further. They didn't speak for several uncomfortable minutes as she drove them further from town where the roads switched from pavement to gravel.
At last he spoke.
"Emilia, I know I'm coming off as rude but I find this completely baffling. I don't understand why you chose to have your practice here. There must be plenty of opportunities in other places where you wouldn't be put in dangerous situations."
She worried her lip, debating if she should offer an olive branch by explaining why she moved here or ignore him. Kindness always won with her.
"I ended up here quite by chance as a matter of fact. I went to college in New York City. I intended to enter a government job after my masters in political science. I changed my major after my first semester at Cornell. It just wasn't what I thought it would be. Then I went into the veterinary program which meant I had to find roommates and an apartment closer to where I would take class on campus. Well, needless to say there wasn't much for options and I had a few...cramped places I ended up living in. I liked New York City but the crowd was too much. I started to develop anxiety responses whenever I felt there were too many people around me. I thought it was my dislike for college life and close living quarters. So I dealt with it until graduation. My plan was to live outside the city in a big apartment all by myself and open a clinic. I even had an investor.
" Then a good friend of mine told me she was returning to her home town in South Dakota after she graduated to open a practice. She invited me to come visit. I did some extensive research and found out there are less than a million people that live across the entire state. The idea of living somewhere so remote intrigued me. Plus, I felt...I can't really explain it. Something inside of me was telling me I needed to go. That something was waiting for me there. As soon as I stepped off the plane I knew I wasn't going back. Her father was friends with the doctor whose practice I bought. He was so wonderful and helpful. It was even easier to decide to stay after a few of my now clients begged me to.
"Mona's father always said it was the spirits that called me and I answered. That I was meant to be here and I could only fulfill my calling by coming here. In some ways I think he was right. I think the work I do here is more time consuming but also more rewarding than it would be anywhere else."
They crest a tall hill at that moment and Emilia gestered before her.
"I mean how many places can you see this?"
Before them an endless sea of rolling hills shimmered green as far as the eye could see. Tall reeds of prairie grass waved in the spring breeze which gave the illusion of it rippling like water and the grass crashing like waves. Aside from the single lane gravel they drove on, the land seemed undisturbed by any man made structures, natural placements, or even a tree.
She sighed contently at the sight of pure openness. She never got tired of seeing it. Her attention shifted back to her companion. Draco was openly staring at her, watching her reactions. She wondered if he thought she was crazy to prefer rural life to busy city life.
"Then, you have no intention to return to England?" He asked after a length of time.
She shrugged.
"I have dual citizenship so I could but my place, for now, is still here. I know it is. I can feel it. Perhaps it will be forever, perhaps not. I really have no reason to move home for the time being. To me this is home for the foreseeable future."
After a few minutes of reflection Draco spoke again.
"It's interesting how in some ways you're exactly how I remember you but in many ways you're different."
She grinned at this.
"I should hope so after all this time. How dull would it be to go decades learning nothing, never changing, not trying to improve personality traits you dislike, or find something new about yourself. Everyone has to change. Change is the only constant in life."
After her small tirade she glanced over at him.
"Is different a bad thing, Draco?"
He smiled. It was so genuine and reassuring it made her stomach flutter.
"I'm not quite sure but I don't think so."
Just then she turned off the gravel road through an open gate and parked at the base of a hill.
Ross smiled down at them and waved them up. If she could draw a portrait of Ross she would simply create a mirror image of John Wayne in his late eighties but a foot shorter, eyes so dark brown you could hardly detect the black pupils, and greying shoulder length hair. Emilia waved back after parking, marching up the small hill with her satchel and gun in tow.
"Morning Ross. Thanks for letting me borrow Serendipity and Roxanne."
She reached out to pet Serendipity's blonde neck. Roxanne, a beautiful chestnut brown, stood idly beside Ross. She gestured over to Draco as he reached them.
"This is my friend Draco Malfoy. He's going to help me track the cows."
Ross shook Draco's hand firmly.
"My pleasure Ems. Draco, nice to meet you. Thank you both for helping. After I see you off I am heading back to load the atv with a hitch and head out your way in about an hour."
They talked for a few moments about roughly where he thought the expectant mothers should be in the creek bed a few miles west. She thanked him again and sent him off. Draco stood a healthy distance from the grazing mares.
"Why do you use a horse?" He sounded genuinely curious.
"Because a horse can get to places an atv can't. Have you ever ridden a horse?"
Draco looked suspiciously up at the Serendipity's face as she lazily chewed the grass.
"Not a horse, but I have ridden other tempermental forms of transportation. I'm more than capable of learning as we go."
"That's an odd way to say no." She teased, as she moved to stand beside him.
"Here." She reached into her satchel, retrieved a red apple, and dropped it in his hand while mentally snarling at the tug sensation to not make her touch him. The horse gave a sniff and her ears flicked forward.
"Step up nice and slow next to her then hold your palm up flat so she doesn't accidentally bite you." She directed.
She knew horses could be intimidating. Perhaps by feeding her he'd relax a little.
Draco approached the mare cautiously and stopped a foot away. The mare, lured by the treat, wandered toward him. He held the apple out a rather ridiculous length from his body. Transfixed, he stared as the mare sniffed against his hand before locating the apple and took a bite, half of it gone in her mouth. After a few moments of chewing the second half disappeared after the first. Sensing she was distracted Draco's hand gently ran up and down the bridge of the mare's nose. His tense shoulders relaxed.
"See? She's a gentle giant." Emilia called out from Roxanne's side where she was scratching her chin after feeding her an apple too. Roxanne rubbed her head affectionately into Emilia's side.
"I wouldn't call them giants but they do seem rather tame." Draco conceded.
He continued to stroke her soft coat, moving down her neck as he examined the contraptions on her.
Ross had been gracious enough to saddle both horses for them. Emilia took a few minutes to place the bridles on them as well. These, she explained to Draco, allowed them to steer the horses with the leather straps called reins.
Emilia pointed out where to grab the saddle by the horn and explained how to pull himself up after placing his foot in the stirrup. It took a few tries and a lot of stifled laughter on her part but eventually Draco settled into the saddle.
Even though he sat stiffly and his demeanor let her know he would rather face a pack of coyotes than ride the docile mare, he seemed...dashing? On the horse that is. She took a moment to explain how to tug the reins to guide the horse, the number of light taps to the flank needed to tell the horse to speed up, pulling back on the reins to slow to a halt, and how to safely tuck and roll off it need be.
"If you want I can throw a lead between us." Emilia offered, sensing she may be overwhelming him with her instruction overload.
"I assure you Granger I'm more than capable of handling a horse."
Emilia gave him a strange look.
"I think you misspoke again. It's Grainer not Granger, Draco."
His eyes widened with fright for a second before he made his face neutral.
"My apologies. Your surname is similar to someone I was close to."
Emilia stared at him, eyebrows raised in disbelief, then she decided to not say anything further. She returned to Roxanne's side and swung her body smoothly onto her own saddle. She gathered the reins, double checked that she had everything secured that she brought with, and clicked Roxanne into a slow trot.
Draco mimicked her movements and clicks, urging his own mare into a steady trot next to her as they set off down the first hill.
What he said was bothering her and she almost didn't say anything. Let sleeping dogs lie Mona said at times. Unfortunately Emilia wasn't one to let a dog lie out in the open unattended.
"So tell me about this Granger. Is this the same person you mistakenly called me when we first met? Hermy right?"
She tried to make her voice sound casual even if she was a bit put out. He kept referring to this other person around her. Draco trained his face into one of disinterest that wasn't very convincing. He shrugged nonchalantly.
"There isn't much to say really. She has been gone for a long time now."
Emilia studied his face.
"Were you close to her?"
Draco smiled, glancing at her.
"She's my best friend."
"But she left you?" She asked.
He didn't have time to stop the look of pain that crossed his face but it quickly returned to neutral. His eyes however, betrayed him since they were still a dark grey.
"Yes, she had to leave. Again, that was a long time ago."
"Why did she leave?" Emilia questioned.
Draco shook his head.
"I cannot say."
Hmm. Interesting.
"I remind you of her?"
His gaze slid over to her briefly over at her and shrugged once more.
"Yes, I can see some similarities between the two of you."
"Were she and I acquaintances?" Emilia pressed.
Draco sighed.
"Emilia, as much as I want to tell you everything I know about your past, I don't feel it's the right time...not yet anyway. If I promise to answer all your questions and tell you everything I know when I think the time is right will you accept my promise and wait until then?"
She sat up straight in her saddle.
"Words are binding Draco."
Her tone was very serious and her eyes pierced straight into his.
"Don't swear on your word to me unless you mean it. I intend to collect on that promise before you leave for the rest of your holiday. Do we have an understanding?"
Draco opened his mouth as if to say something then thought better of it. He returned her bold stare with one of his own, trying to communicate something silently she thought. After several seconds of this strange silent communication he nodded.
"I do swear. When I'm ready Emilia I will tell you everything I know."
Emilia gaze held his, a warning, before she nodded in begrudging acceptance. With that she clicked her horse into a faster gait. The black liquid ink that swirled around her mind made her feel distracted. Beneath it she could sense a heavy desire to renege on that promise and that she really should keep asking more questions.
After spending several minutes going back and forth over what to do and an increasing amount of ebony treadils swimming thickly through her thoughts her brain throbbed the telltale sign of a migraine. She winced, rubbing her forehead.
"Are you alright?"
She glanced over to see him guiding the horse with ease as if he had ridden his entire life. Of course he was a natural.
"Migraine. They come and go."
He frowned.
"Since when have you had migraines?"
Her lips pulled into a thin line. Too far.
"I don't think I am comfortable talking about that yet. How about I also make a promise that when I'm ready I'll explain what the migraines are about?"
Draco didn't say anything for a minute, searching her face, then simply nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"How did you learn to ride a horse?" He questioned, changing the topic to safer grounds.
Emilia smiled at the memory.
"Mona. She has a few. When we were discussing creating our book club I told her I needed riding lessons. She offered to teach me. What she failed to mention was lessons entailed being thrown on a horse, handing over the reins, and having the horses' flank slapped into a gallop. It wasn't hard to figure out though really. The horse is trained to respond to you."
Her eyes flickered over to him.
"Do you think you can trust me for a minute?"
It was difficult to make her voice sound completely serious. Without hesitating he agreed.
Emilia's eyes lit up and a wide jesting grin caught him off guard.
"Hold on."
With a light slap of on the flank, her horse picked up speed into a steady canter up the hill. Draco swore several times as his own horse began to follow at an increased cant, not as fast as hers, on its own accord.
Emilia laughed, enjoying the moment, knowing it was worth it as her horse increased in speed before she reached the top of another hill. Draco's mare followed soon after. With another hard tap Emilia had Roxanne racing full speed down the hill. She turned to see his face. He looked exactly how she felt the first time she had rode down the same hill at the neck breaking speed.
Exhilarated.
Terrified.
Alive.
She faced forward, tucked her reins under her thigh, and threw her arms wide. The sensation of flying over an ocean of waving grass thrilled her as a burst of energy pumped through her adrenaline filled veins.
Emilia gave a whoop of excitement when they reached the bottom of the hill and she slowed the horse back into a calmer gait. The burst of energy flowed slowly and eventually faded away into a gentle lull. Breathless she beamed like a fool, steering her horse around to watch his wane from a full gallop.
"Well?"
Draco was breathless, slowing his horse beside her who danced excitedly beneath him from the sudden rush of running. He handled her easily, gently tugging her reins until she stood still. Smugness lit his face, his hand carded hair away from his eyes.
"Like I said, I've ridden on temperamental transportation before."
Emilia's smile faltered. It seemed he didn't enjoy it as much as she had thought he would. It was quite disappointing.
"We best keep going, then."
She guided her horse toward their destination and clicked her tongue to get her into a trot. She swore she heard him say 'refuses to ride a broom but this is acceptable' but that made no sense.