Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 334

Chapter 334: Deflecting from everything
Mia eyed Ford carefully. Was he implying what she thought?

They hadn’t spoken much for what felt like a long time… until today. Ford crooked his elbow slightly, and she moved her fingers to clasp there. It was indeed more stable than holding his hand as they continued to wade across the water.

Taking his arm had moved Mia closer to him, and she grimaced when someone coughed behind them. Papa was probably unhappy with this, but it did, in fact, help to keep her from falling.

“Is this all right?” Ford asked suddenly. “I mean… does it still help not drain your magic, or is skin contact required?”

He blinked as if the question had come out far differently than he intended, and looked away. Mia’s face heated. It was a valid question, but that didn’t make it easier to talk about.

“This is fine,” She glossed past the part where his question could have been interpreted poorly. “Thank you.”

“And you still don’t know why?” The question caught Mia off guard, and she slipped again, nearly falling as one foot slid out from under her. Ford planted his feet and held still while she used his arm to catch herself.

“Um.” She didn’t like lying. She’d told him before that she didn’t fully understand it, which was true, but seemed misleading when he phrased the question like this… especially when he was being so accommodating.

“Are you all right now?” Ford continued walking forward only once she had her footing back, and she could feel her face burning.

“Yes,” She said a little breathlessly.

“You don’t seem to want to answer my other question,” He observed in a tone low enough that she almost didn’t catch it.

“I would like to answer you, but… well that’s not true, actually,” Mia shook her head. “I don’t understand everything about it, and what I do understand, I’m not really sure I’m ready to talk about.”

She snuck a glance up at his face. His brow was furrowed, and he stared at her for a moment.

“Fair enough, I guess.” He finally remarked. “Anything I can do to help with that?”

Mia’s eyes widened and her face heated. She hadn’t expected that question at all. Late at night, she’d run over potential ways out of the pull that tugged at her nearly every moment.

One potential way she’d briefly considered–and then firmly rejected as ridiculous–was that, if she was truly looking for a husband, the pull should, in theory, go away once she had one?

So, since he was asking if there were anything he could do to help… but no, there was nothing out here. Even if by some bizarre twist of fate he did want to marry her, there was no way for that to happen in the unpopulated wilds. No officiant, no means of having a ceremony, no gown for her to wear…

She snapped herself out of the unhelpful musings. Ford was watching her face in confusion, and her cheeks burned.

“I’ll let you know if I think of anything,” She finally offered diplomatically. He nodded slowly, accepting the deflection. “You’ve changed.”

Mia hoped the observation wasn’t entirely unwelcome. After all, he did seem a rather different person now than when they’d first met.

“I think you said so before,” He looked away.

“I might have. I talk a lot,” Mia pursed her lips. Maybe she should work on changing herself, to be more demure. Less chatty.

“I have noticed,” He glanced at her, “but I don’t mind.”

“It used to annoy you.” She blinked at him.

“Like you said, I’ve changed, I guess.”

They reached the edge of the pool and stepped back onto dry land. Ford looked away as Mia took a moment to untuck the skirt she’d hitched up to keep it from getting damp.

The show of allowing her modesty was most likely for her father, which she appreciated, but also liked that he didn’t gawk at her. She wondered if the manners were something that he was imparted with at the mines or one of the ‘lessons on being a man’ that Grandpa had been teaching Ford and Daniel.

As the rest of the party emerged from the water and donned their footwear, Mia cleared her throat. “I think we could ride for a bit, maybe make some better time until nightfall. The horses didn’t seem to find the bottom as slippery as I did.”

Ford’s lips twitched, and she resisted the urge to send him a playful glare. Her balance really was lacking, likely due to exhaustion. Still, she felt better now than she had when she woke up that morning, which was likely why she had the energy to feel a little sassy.

“We’ll be coming to the bottom of the cliffs soon,” Seth pointed ahead. “Have you seen the way up?”

“When I had the vision, I was so startled by the white snow-covered land that I wasn’t able to pay perfect attention,” Mia admitted. “I’m sorry. There must be a path, though. I’m sure of that much.”

Her father nodded in acknowledgment, and she was grateful that despite their differences, he didn’t doubt her abilities or confidence right now. She had enough emotional entanglement around Ford to deal with, though she admitted to herself that healing her relationship with her father was a higher priority than figuring out what to do about her steadily growing feelings for Ford.

It wasn’t her fault! For goodness sakes, her magic pulled her toward the man nearly every waking and sleeping hour! Holding his hand would doubtless be pleasant regardless, but the fact that his touch relieved the tug, the longing within her soul made it all the sweeter and more irresistible.

Staying away from him would be doable if she weren’t using her magic every waking moment to search for Trace. She might have to learn to live with it after this quest was over… but would her heart still be her own that long?