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Chapter 1
Emma
Spying a large barn standing all by itself, I promised myself I was just going to stop there for a minute to warm up from the cold, but stepping inside transported me to a different time, an earlier time in my life. Childhood. The horse stalls housed two gorgeous Arabian horses, but it looked like there may have been a third somewhere. Edging closer, I could almost touch the white and gray spotted beauty. The horse shook its head once, then advanced until my hand brushed soft fur.
“Aren’t you the sweetest thing? I’m sorry for interrupting your peaceful day, but I was so cold.”
Shivering slightly, I tried not to think what it would be like this evening when the sun dropped. I had stayed at a shelter for a few nights, but I had to keep moving so Shawn, my abusive ex-boyfriend, wouldn’t track me down. Making it across several states due to a combination of kind truckers, a sprinkling of taxi rides, and my own feet had increased the distance while decreasing the likelihood of his ability to keep any sort of tabs on me. The horse seemed to understand I’d been having a rough time.
“You remind me of my favorite horse when I was little. Thank you for making me happy for the first time in a long time.” Happiness had been outside of my reality for far longer than it should have been.
It had been three months, two weeks, four days, and seven hours since I escaped the home that had basically become a prison in the middle of nowhere Illinois. My feelings were a strange balance of freedom and paralyzing paranoia that Shawn would find me out here and drag me back to my old life.
No.
Those thoughts were not conducive to growth. I’d never go back. No more entertaining such disturbing thoughts.
As I waved goodbye to the gorgeous horse, something shiny caught my eye. Black figure skates. I touched the boots. They were in perfect condition, as if brand new out of the box. They were bigger than my tiny feet, and I didn’t need to risk injuring myself out in the middle of nowhere. Something else caught my eye. A light pink pair! There was a frozen pond visible from the barn. One twirl on the ice wouldn’t hurt anyone. Years had gone by since I’d been on the ice. My aunt–the one who took me in after my parents abandoned me–was a professional figure skater. I had medals to my name before I’d gotten hurt. My dreams of professionally skating went out the window, but I hadn’t forgotten my training.
Dancing on the ice was by far one of my favorite hobbies aside from horseback riding and competing in trick events. I’d made nationals in both events, but that had been so long ago.
With a happy plan in my heart, I tried one skate on. A perfect fit! Giddy. Absolutely giddy at the prospect of getting on the ice after all this time, even for just a moment, made me act irrationally instead of thinking it all the way through. Pausing in the doorway to the barn, I wondered if I should hunt down the owner of the property and ask for permission to skate. Nah. Asking for forgiveness instead of permission propelled me out of the barn. He was probably some old fuddy-duddy who didn’t even know how to skate. Maybe they belonged to someone else, a kid or a grandkid.
Making my way out to the pond with the skates slung over my shoulder, I felt a renewed vigor I hadn’t realized I’d been missing. The act fondly pulled on my heartstrings. My aunt had been so proud when she would come and watch me perform. Reaching the pond, I laced up the boots and took off onto the ice. I can do this. A few twirls to warm me up, and then I’d return the skates along with a thank-you card to the owner.
Lucas
Staring across the field, I rubbed a hand over my chin and shook my head in amazement.
Some little girl is skating on my pond!
What the hell does she think she’s doing? It didn’t look like anyone I knew, but she was at a distance. All I could make out was a rough shape and long, flowing hair.
Shit.
When I rode out there yesterday, the ice showed signs of melting and refreezing, making it unstable for ice skating. Regardless of who she was, she could get hurt. Urging Drake forward, we raced to the barn. Leaping from the saddle, I ran inside, grabbed a few supplies in case something went sideways, and remounted Drake. I had planned on riding the large chestnut-brown horse for a little while longer before bringing him back to the barn, but now we had a different purpose. I didn’t want to play hero today, but it was better to send the girl home to her parents rather than risk something happening to her. Heading out toward the pond, the worst possible scenario unfolded as I watched. The girl skated around in the circle, jumped into the air, executing a breathtaking double something or other, and then she was gone.
“Fuck!” Galloping Drake to the edge of the pond, I grabbed the rope and hook, jumping down to the ground. Fear propelled me to land hard on my ass, something Elias would give me hell about later, but I pushed the thought away. Securing the rope to Drake’s pommel, I tested the ice. Solid but not guaranteed to stay solid. “Fuck,” I muttered again.
Her head bobbed to the surface, and a pained scream reached my ears. I never wanted to hear the sound again for as long as I lived. She surfaced for a moment, but when I thought she caught her bearings, she slipped under. I only had a few shots at this. Time was of the essence, but we might not come out unscathed.
“Hang on, darling. I’m going to get you out,” I assured her, though I wasn’t entirely sure of it myself. Twirling the hook above my head, I let it fly, holding my breath as it arced through the air. It came down a few feet from the hole. Quickly reeling it in, I threw it harder. It landed within a foot of the hole, but with such force I winced. Two futile attempts down, and not about to chance cracking the ice further, I crawled out on my belly to the hole, raising up on my knees. She surfaced and I yanked her out of the water, holding her against my body. Balancing our combined weight, praying the ice held long enough to get us to shore, I gave a shrill whistle. Drake answered with a whinny and began to step back, pulling us across the ice along my original path.
Once on shore, I said another prayer, catching my breath. We sprawled out, her on top of me, probably way too long for two perfect strangers, but neither of us were moving. Dampness seeped around my legs and boots, but I needed my breath to even out before I did anything else. Looking down my body to where the kid’s head lay on my chest, I realized she was a grown woman. Her thick black hair stuck to her face, and mine. Her clothes were soaked, and the realization fueled me to get up. We needed warm dry clothes, stat.
Moving her gently off me, I stood and quietly praised Drake as my near-frozen fingers worked at untying the rope. Abandoning it, I helped the girl to her feet. Her knees buckled, but I caught her, lifting her into my arms. I removed the pretty pink skates left by one of my students who had been skating with Elias back when the pond was solid and reminded myself to grab them later.
“Are you okay, darling?”
“I-I’m so cold.” She coughed a few times.
“Let’s get inside. I’ll get you warm clothes.” I got her situated on Drake and climbed on behind her.
“I’m-I’m so sorry.”
“You can properly apologize later,” I grumbled as I held on to her.
Thankfully, riding Drake cut the time to get to the house in half. I tied him outside and lifted her down.
