Eternal (Eternal series) (12 page)

It was elegant inside with just the right amount of rustic charm.  Large elk antler chandeliers hung from the vaulted tongue and groove ceiling.  The massive log staircase at the opposite end of the room had a pine garland and tiny white lights wound through its delicate wrought iron railing. 

Against one wall there was a large stone fireplace with a fire blazing in it. The burning logs made the whole room smell wonderful.  The small, round tables that were scattered around the perimeter of the polished wooden dance floor were draped with white satin tablecloths.  Rose petals and floating candles adorned their centers.  It made Emma almost forget that she lived in the red-necked town of Eden.  This felt like a whole other place.  It was like a dream.

Destry led her to an empty table near the fireplace. He could probably feel how cold her hands were.  He pulled out a chair for her and motioned for her to sit.

"Would you like me to get you some punch?"  Destry was smiling.

“
Not right now, thanks,” she said, crinkling up her nose. “Knowing me, I’d spill it all over the front of me before the first dance,” she admitted with a chuckle.

“
That sounds like something I would do,” Destry chuckled back. “I guess we have another thing in common.”

“
Another thing?” Emma said, with a questioning look. “What was the first thing?”

“
Well,” he paused momentarily, “it’s obvious isn’t it, we both look stunning this evening! Don’t you think?”  His smile touched his eyes making them light up.

“
Well, you’re a little stuck up aren’t you?”  Emma teased, thankful he'd loosened up a bit.

“
No.  I’m not stuck up, I’m just confident, that’s all.  I know I have good taste.  Are you disagreeing with me?” He raised one eyebrow, teasing her.  “Am I to take it that you don’t think I’m stunning?”

Emma couldn't believe how much at ease he seemed with her after only thirty seconds of conversation.  “No, I told you, I think you look great.  Me, on the other hand, that’s another question.  Would you go for the excuse, that my mom dresses me funny?”  Emma's eyebrows furrowed together.

He laughed, and his eyes seemed to sparkle, probably a reflection from all of the twinkle lights.  “You are the strangest girl I’ve ever met,” he said with a smile.  “Don’t you look in the mirror like the rest of the female population?  You look beautiful.  Plus, we match.  Haven’t you noticed that we are kind of going with the same theme here?  I’m thinking Civil War era, how ‘bout you?"

“
That’s exactly what I was going for,” Emma grinned, rolling her eyes, relieved at how easy he was to get along with.  She felt a little flushed over the fact that Destry McQuade had just called her beautiful.  “Have you been spying on me or something?”

“
Nope.  Great minds think alike.”  He leaned close to her and gently tapped his finger on her forehead, then pulled his hand away quickly.

From this close proximity, Emma could see clearly into his friendly blue eyes.  She had to admit they were breathtaking.  He seemed like a genuinely happy and good person, not at all what she had taken him for these past few months. 

His smile was slightly crooked as it stretched across his face.  After closer examination, Emma could see what made it look crooked.  One half of his bottom lip was slightly thinner than the other half.  Emma was pleased to know that he wasn’t as perfect as he seemed.  It made her feel a little less odd next to him. 

She actually seemed to fit in for once in her life.  Destry had said she was strange, but he had also said she was beautiful.  Emma was definitely starting to like this boy.  She could see them becoming friends.  He was easy to be with.  All of this was easier than she had imagined it would be.

The music began to play and the other couples rose, in unison it seemed, and made their way onto the dance floor.  Destry looked toward them and then turned back to Emma.

“
Do you dance?” He asked coyly, raising an eyebrow.

“
Only when forced,” she scowled playfully.

“
Personally, I’m against forcible dancing,” he grinned, “so what do I have to do to
persuade
you to dance with me?”  He looked her straight in the eye, her knees started to shake. 

Emma blushed and looked at the floor.  He had a strange effect on her when he looked into her eyes that way.  It felt like he could see all of her secrets. 

“Come on now,” he nudged Emma gently, “there must be something that will convince you to dance with me.  I’m not as scary as I look, I promise.”  He reached his hand over and locked his fingers with hers again.

Emma felt a little queasy.  This wasn’t like her.  She was usually quick to get down to business when there was something ahead of her that had to be done.  That was quite enough of her strange behavior for the evening.  If she had to be here then she was going to have fun! 

“Let’s dance,” she said.

The evening that Emma had been dreading for over a week seemed to fly by.  To her utter amazement she found she was even enjoying herself. 

Who would have thought that Emma Baker could pull off a date?  She didn’t even have to try.  It came easily with this kind, handsome, cheerful boy at her side. 

They were getting along better than she could have ever imagined.  She was having fun too.  It no longer felt like she was there under obligation.  Everything was going perfectly. 

Destry and Emma danced and twirled and—believe it or not—laughed the night away.  Emma even braved the refreshment table after dancing so long she would have taken any excuse to sit down and catch her breath. 

As they neared the table though, Emma caught sight of Chuck standing near the punch bowl. 
Great
, she thought sarcastically,
we're up for some stimulating conversation now
.

Chuck was dressed in a pin striped suit with long tails, and wore white shoes with black toes.  He looked corny, Emma thought, but she'd never had a high opinion of his taste so she didn't expect anything less from him.

Destry slapped Chuck on the shoulder, "Hey man, how's it goin'?"

Chuck smiled at Destry, then noticed Emma standing beside him and let out a snicker.

Emma raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's goin'.  How 'bout with you?" Chuck said as he continued to look Emma up and down.

"Where's your date?" Destry asked as he stepped in front of Emma, pulling her behind him and holding her hand tightly.  He'd obviously noticed the way Chuck was appraising her and didn't like it.

"She's around here somewhere," Chuck said, glancing around the room with a bored look.

"Maybe you'd better go look for her," Destry said with an air of authority, "she'd probably like to dance, since this is prom and all."

"Yeah," Chuck said, eyeing Destry defensively, "I guess I will."  He shot Emma an evil glare, winked at her, and then strode off through the crowd.

"What was that all about?" Emma mumbled.

"I think he's been drinking," Destry said with disgust. "He smelled like it."

"Oh," was all Emma could say.  She hadn't been around drinking, or drunk people much.  Alcohol had never appealed to her.  She couldn't even take cough medicine when she was sick without it giving her weird hallucinations.

"How about we skip the punch and go for the bottled water instead?" Destry suggested. "You never know, someone could have spiked it."  He glanced in Chuck's direction as he said it.

"Sounds good to me," Emma agreed quickly. 

She was impressed.  Destry obviously wasn't into drinking, and he had protected her from Chucks repulsive ogling. He really was a good guy.

After they had a bowl of fruit and a piece of cake, Destry got up from the table and offered Emma his hand.  She took it and he steered her over toward the fireplace.  They stood in front of it, letting the warmth wash over them. 

Emma finally had to ask.  "So why do you hang out with Chuck anyway?  I mean, he doesn't seem to be anything like you and he's kind of thick in the head."

"He's my friend," Destry countered, shrugging.

"I guess," Emma sighed "but he's still thick in the head," she looked at Destry and smirked.

Before Destry could form a comeback, a voice came over the loud speaker announcing that it was time to name the prom King and Queen.  Marci Johnston's name was called as prom Queen and Emma smiled and applauded with the rest of the student body.

Marci smiled and waved to Destry on her way up to the stage, while merely raising a speculative eyebrow at Emma.  Destry didn't return Marci's wave and rolled his eyes at her brazenness which pleased Emma.

It was a surprise when they announced the last dance.  Wow!  That wasn’t hard at all, Emma thought to herself.  She’d done it.  She’d made it through the whole night without doing anything embarrassing, and she hadn’t even thought about Micah once. 

Surely he’d be happy she'd fulfilled his requirement so completely.  As she thought his name she missed him.  She was anxious to get back to him and tell him about her date.  He was sure to be pleased.

Destry and Emma had danced most of the dances, so she was perfectly at ease as he led her onto the floor for this last dance of the night.  He pulled her in close, and wrapped his arms around her waist. 

Emma's ease quickly shifted to butterflies as Destry stared deeply into her eyes—he seemed closer this time than he'd been before.  It was hard to hold his gaze, she was suddenly aware of all of her little imperfections, hoping he couldn’t see any of them.  Each time she felt brave enough to look up at him she found his eyes boring into hers.

He seemed fearless—or confident, as he had called it before.  Emma wasn't quite as confident.  She didn't like being the object of such close scrutiny.  She looked around the room trying to find an object to focus on to escape his intense eyes. 

She quickly caught sight of Chuck in his outrageous Zoot-suit and kept her eyes on him for a distraction. 

She didn’t look back at Destry for the rest of the dance.  She couldn’t.  She could still feel his penetrating gaze. 

When the music finally stopped, Emma was relieved.  Her face felt hot and she was sure it was deep red from the blush that had filled her cheeks.

“Well, that was fun!” Emma spoke quickly as she pushed back a little to distance herself from this sudden and unexpected intensity coming off Destry. 

He loosened his hold, but didn’t let go of her completely.  She looked up at his face, agitated.  “The song is over, you can let go of me now,” she tried to sound playful, but she felt uncomfortable with this sudden change in his behavior.

“I don’t think I want to let you go,” Destry smiled wickedly.

“
You’ve taken one too many spins around the floor,” Emma chided. “You’re acting a little dizzy in the head.”

“
I’m sorry you’re not used to this much attention, but you should probably get used to it," he said it in a matter-of-fact tone that Emma didn't like.  "I plan on giving you plenty of it.”

“
You've lost your mind!” Emma hissed quietly, she felt like she was about to erupt.  “We just met, I don’t even know you, and you sure as heck don’t know me well enough to be so—so—PUSHY!” Her face was hot again but not from blushing this time.

“
Okay!” Destry looked truly shocked. “You don’t have to go into a tizzy in public,” he said stubbornly. “I was just trying’ to say, that I like you Emma.  I’d like to go out with you again. I want to get to know you. I’m sorry if the idea of that is so offensive to you.”

He was offended?  The look on his face diffused Emma instantly.  She suddenly felt horrible for being so dramatic.  He was just trying to tell her he was interested in her and she had attacked him for it. 

Apparently she hadn’t made it through the whole night without embarrassing herself.  Luckily most of the other couples were so self-involved, that they didn’t notice Destry and Emma's little spat.  Only a few people looked their way and snickered quietly.

“
I’m sorry,” Emma lowered her eyes to the floor, “I guess I reacted a little harshly.”

“
A
little
harshly?” Destry raised his eyebrows at her, but she could hear the playfulness in his voice.  He was quick to be forgiving.

Emma smiled up at his deep blue eyes, and he smiled back. 

“Shall we go then?”  He asked and she nodded.

He held her hand tightly and led her out the door into the cold night air.

Chapter 10:  REALMS

Destry helped Emma up into his truck and then dashed around to the driver’s side.  He got in and shut the door, quickly turning the key in the ignition.  The engine roared to life.

“
I’m sorry, I should have come out earlier and warmed the truck up for you,” he said guiltily.  “It’s freezing tonight.” 

Destry looked concerned as Emma rubbed her hands up and down her arms trying to keep the goose bumps from taking over.

“I should have brought a jacket,” Emma admitted, “but nothing matched.”  She smiled at him, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.  He quickly bent forward and removed his tux jacket and draped it over her like a blanket, in the same movement pulling her body up next to his on the seat.