Excerpt
Emily squirmed in the recliner. “Don’t understand why you men like these things so much. They’re damned uncomfortable, not to mention cumbersome and ugly.”
David ignored her rant. “So, how’d it go?”
“My big night out?”
He nodded and chomped on his pipe. Honestly, there were times when she wanted to yank it out of his hand and throw it out the window. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. Emily glanced around, ran her tongue over her lips, and looked back to David who nodded again.
Oh, all right, if I have to. “Weird, if you must know. This guy came in. Good looking, sexy, seductive voice….” Was that a satisfied smile tugging at the corners of David’s mouth? Of course. He wanted her to be out and about, meeting people, meeting men. Hadn’t said so in so many words, but she could read between the lines.
“But?”
Her heart fluttered just thinking about him. “Too damn pretty. Prissy. Almost minced when he walked. Like a dancer. You know the kind I mean. The guys who are totally beautiful and know it. He’s one of those. Such a turn off.”
“What is it about him that’s really bothering you?”
She threw up her hands. “Everything! Can’t sleep for thinking about him.” David leaned forward, almost eagerly it seemed. Damn, she’d said too much. Emily cleared her throat. “Don’t get excited, Doc. He’s not my type.”
“What is your type?”
“Definitely not him. He called me Em. I hate that and told him so before I bolted.” David’s eyebrows rose. “Don’t look at me like that.” Angry, but she had to grin. “Yeah. I bolted. Pretty pathetic, eh?”
David chuckled. “Not really. You’ve been under a lot of stress. A bit of panic isn’t surprising.”
Emily shook her head. “That’s not all. It didn’t hit me until later. Marnie hadn’t said my name. So, how did he know? That freaked me out, I tell you.” She felt close to tears and then a wave of anger swept through her. She clutched at the arms of the chair. “I don’t let people call me Em,” she said between clenched teeth. “I hate it and my friends know that. But, Doc, when he said it….”
“Yes?”
“It sounded … so … I don’t know, just so special somehow.” She looked at David and wondered if he sensed how helpless and stupid she felt.
“Why do you think that?”
Emily shrugged. “I don’t know. His tone of voice maybe. It made me feel like he loved me.” Emily looked everywhere else but at David. “Pretty silly, huh?”
“Not silly at all. Feelings, whatever they may be, are never silly.” He paused as if to give her time to absorb what he’d said. She released her grip on the arms of the chair and took a deep breath. His words had the desired effect. Thanks, Doc. You’re worth your weight in gold.
“What happened after?” David asked.
“That’s weird too.” For the past three days—ever since meeting Yves—farm scenes played in her head. Only she’d never lived on a farm, hadn’t even visited one—at least not in this lifetime. And in those wide flat prairie expanses of the fantasy farm, limitless staircases hovered in the background. Exactly like the dreams she’d endured as a child. Emily bit her lip. How much should she reveal? “I’ve been having some sort of … hallucinations, I guess you’d call them. Ever since that night.”
“Tell me about them.”
“I’m a little girl on a farm.”
Dust and straw motes danced in the dim fairytale world of the hayloft. Emily could see for miles out the opening at the far end—fields of wheat, sloughs along the side of the narrow gravel roads, clumps of brush, houses and barns scattered about. Suddenly dizzy, she stood back from the edge, afraid of falling. She dropped to her stomach, inched toward the opening and dared to look down. That made her dizzy too. Her muscles tensed in response to her fear.
“Why am I always looking for high places, Doc? What am I hoping to find?”