Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 342

Chapter 342: Flee the feelings
Mia gasped as Ford tore away from her and fled. Her instinct was to chase after him, but he disappeared from her view, the secondary pull along with him.

“Mama?” Daniel asked. “What’s happened? Ford is part of our family now?”

The boy glanced at Mia with curiosity, but she looked away from him.

“My father–your grandfather on my side–was not a good man. He was a very bad man who did terrible things and hurt many people.” Anaisa’s voice was strained. “And we just learned that Ford is another one of the people he hurt.”

“Or maybe it was Barnabas,” Seth seemed deep in contemplation.

“Even if it was, my father was the one who taught him that vile strategy for preying on women,” Anaisa responded, raising one hand to wipe away tears. “One way or another, responsibility for that young man falls to my family.”

Somberly, she turned away, and Mia shivered. She’d woken up part way into a conversation that had very deep revelations for all of them.

“If Ford is related to us, does that mean he can’t marry Mia?” Daniel whispered loudly to Grandpa. “Do I call him Uncle Ford now?”

“Let’s go on a short walk while I explain how family trees work,” The old man stretched. “And also how men use discretion before saying every thought out loud.”

“Oh,” Daniel grimaced at the implicit rebuke and cast an apologetic look at Mia.

She smiled slightly to show him she didn’t hold it against him, but the rising sun probably illuminated her blush more than she wanted.

Anaisa clearly wanted to be alone for a few moments, leaving Mia standing awkwardly with her father. She looked at him with a question in her eyes, and he held his hands up.

“I was trying to get to know him, like I promised,” He told her. “I didn’t think I would find out quite that much.”

Mia didn’t know what to say to that, so she nodded in acceptance.

“I suppose we should ready the horses while everyone else… absorbs all this.” She suggested.

“Do you need a few moments?” Seth eyed his daughter as she sighed.

“Would you mind if I go after him?” Mia asked her father frankly. His eyes tightened at the corners, but after a moment, he consented.

“I’m sure he needs a friend right now.”

The word ‘friend’ was subtly emphasized, but not so much that it seemed intentional. Mia smiled and gave her father a brief hug.

“Thank you, for being a good dad,” She whispered.

He’d made mistakes certainly, but in the face of the far worse possibilities out there as fathers, Mia felt a deep need to acknowledge her own father’s genuine efforts to be the best man he could.

Even his mistakes had been misguided or overzealous attempts to protect her. She should be showing more grace and less attitude towards the man.

“I love you,” Seth hugged her back. “Never forget that.”

“I won’t,” She promised as she released him. “I’ll be back.

Focusing her magic on locating Ford, she let the tug pull her forward carefully. Knowing that at any moment she could bump into an invisible man, she kept her hands out in front of her and stepped cautiously.

Would he move away from her when he saw her coming? Maybe he didn’t want to be found.

The shelf they had camped on was wide, but not endless by any stretch. If he was still on it, she would run into him fairly soon.

Coming nearer to the edge, she grew nervous. He could not have become so upset that he jumped?

She reached her arms out further, moving them slowly around.

“I’m sure I look terribly silly looking for you like this, Ford,” She said softly. Promptly, her arms disappeared.

In fact, all of her disappeared. She gasped, but it made no sound to her own ears.

“Very funny. I complain about looking silly and you make me disappear,” She complained, though the words were inaudible.

She took one more careful step forward, knowing Ford must be quite close. As she had come to expect, her fingertips brushed something. Tempted to flinch away, she pressed forward and brought her other hand to grasp what she realized was Ford’s arm.

Moving slowly, she found his hand and took it, then with one hand traced up his sleeve to his shoulder. He seemed to be holding very still, perhaps wondering about her intentions.

Once she’d oriented herself, she wrapped both her arms around Ford’s middle and gave him what she thought might be a much-needed hug.

A silent second of hesitation preceded his arms coming around her as well. He pulled her against himself, his body shaking slightly with heavy emotion. Her cheek laid against his shoulder as she tightened her arms around his ribs.

She closed her eyes, since it was disconcerting to see nothing even as she was held by someone so solid, so tangible. The morning was still chilly, and she shivered.

Ford’s emotion seemed to still, and then to change. One arm stayed wrapped around her while his other hand splayed and moved up her back, exploring until his fingers brushed the back of Mia’s neck.

Her breath caught, and she held it, holding perfectly still as Ford’s fingers moved to the back of her head, tucking her face against his neck and laying his cheek on the top of her head.

To have most of her senses absent from this experience was disorienting. She could feel, but not hear, his heartbeat. She couldn’t see him, nor smell anything, but could only feel his warmth.

The question about whether she would taste his lips if he kissed her flickered through her mind, and she was glad he couldn’t see her expression.

With a heavy rise and fall of his chest which must have been a great sigh, he loosened his hold.

He was right to do so. Mia’s father had given her permission to go after Ford, but he likely hadn’t anticipated his daughter being out of his sight for long. She should return to not break the trust he had implicitly placed in her.

Mia drew away. Ford released her easily, and then both of them became visible, standing an arm’s length away from one another.

The emotion in his gaze made her heart trip over itself.