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All he wanted was to take her straight back into the house to bed. But he had heard what the doctor told her. She needed to hydrate today and take it easy. Besides that, it was important for him to be patient and gentle with her.
The vision of her weeping tugged at his heart again and he settled into his seat, eager for a distraction.
He took the reins, not sure what to expect.
The horses began prancing off on their own, which clued him in to the fact that the horses, the sleigh, or both, were an elaborate simulation.
Would Oberon have let me lead if I’d indicated that I knew how?
Reluctantly, he did have to admit the computer had some good tricks up its sleeve.
Relaxing, he leaned back, holding the reins in one hand and draping the other arm over the back of Olivia’s seat. She smiled and snuggled into his side. The scent of her hair teased at his senses. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what Terran flowers and fruits had inspired it.
“Sleepy?” she asked him.
“No,” he admitted. “I was just enjoying the moment.”
“Me too,” she told him. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
She was looking out over snowy fields dotted with farmhouses and picturesque red barns he swore hadn’t been there on the way to the house.
“Beautiful,” he agreed, his eyes back on the girl. She was the most beautiful thing here, not the least because she was real.
He liked that she laughed when she was happy and that she let the tears flow when she was sad. His military years left him struggling to let go of the stoicism Maltaffian Guard training had encouraged.
And after the things he’d seen, he sometimes thought that he had no right to laugh or cry again.
The thought of it sent familiar ice through his veins.In his time as a soldier, he’d seen horrors that no one should ever have to face. And he’d stood by and watched as lives were wasted because the people in charge refused to make the right calls. He’d always followed orders, but sometimes he still found himself wondering if that had been enough, or if he might have been able to do more.
“Stark?” Olivia murmured. “Are you okay?”
Blinking himself out of it, he realized he must have physically stiffened in response to his thoughts. She couldn’t have actually read his mind. Terrans didn’t have that capability.
“Fine, fine,” he said dismissively. “I wonder if we’re close.”
Mercifully, there were signs of a small town in the valley, just ahead.
“Hey, you’re right,” she said. “Look, there’s an actual town square.”
In her delight she seemed to forget all about his momentary lapse. He willed himself not to think of it again, and just focus on this day with Olivia.
You don’t have many more days with her,a little voice in the back of his head pointed out. He felt a pang of pain that was beyond worrying about getting her pregnant.
I’ll miss her…
It was a surprising realization, and the last thing he would have expected to feel only a few days ago. He let himself sit with that self-indulgent thought for a few seconds before forcing himself to take in the little town they were swiftly approaching.
He had to hand it to Oberon for the second time this morning. Somehow, the AI managed to show themthe satisfying faraway vista of the little town, and then get them to it much faster than would be possible by horse-drawn sleigh. It was a fantastic little trick of design.
“Welcome to Hearthtown,” a smiling lady with white hair wearing a blue coat said as they approached. “My name is Myrna, and I’m here to let any visitors know that they’re about to enter a battle zone.”
The way her eyes twinkled told Stark not to worry, it wasn’t a real battle zone.
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked.
“Today is Hearthtown’s annual Winter Fair and Snowball Fight,” the lady replied. “If you can make it through the snowball fight, you can wander the town square to play games, win prizes, and eat yummy festival food.”
“That sounds amazing,” Olivia said. “But I’m not sure the horses would like the snowball fight.”
