CHAPTER 1: Day 1 - Part 1
“Won’t start?” Magnus asked, dismounting from his horse.
“Looks like it. Definitely not my lucky day.”
“Want me to give it a try?”
“Sure, go ahead,” I replied, opening the driver’s side door and sliding over to the passenger seat.
Magnus climbed into the car, but he barely fit. He was even taller and broader than he’d seemed from a few yards away. He really looked like one of those massive marble statues. I might’ve found him intimidating if his knees weren’t pressed against the steering wheel and his head wasn’t brushing the roof of the car.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s a small car,” he remarked with a restrained smile.
“It sure is!” I said, trying not to laugh again.
He tested the ignition and the clutch, but nothing happened.
“I think the battery’s dead,” he said after a couple of attempts.
“Really? Can you tell that just from in here? I mean, don’t we need to pop the hood or something to check?”
“Honestly, I’ve got no clue. I don’t know much about cars,” he admitted, trying to turn on the heater. “But nothing’s working. I’d say it’s the battery. You should call a tow truck.”
“You’re right. The rental company gave me a number for one.”
I grabbed my phone and looked for the contact I’d saved that morning. I called… and nothing.
“No answer?”
“I don’t think I’ve got any signal.”
“Maybe the storm knocked out the cell tower,” Magnus said, glancing outside.
At that moment—as if the weather had heard him—a loud bolt of lightning struck nearby, lighting up the entire sky and making the whole car shake.
Outside, Freya started barking, and if she weren’t so well-trained, she probably would’ve bolted. The horse, on the other hand, spooked by the lightning and Freya’s barking, would’ve left Magnus stranded if he hadn’t tied it to a tree before getting in the car. That was good for Magnus, but not so much for the horse, since the tree would make a perfect lightning rod.
“Definitely not my day,” I said, taking in the chaos outside in every sense of the word.
“We should get going. No one’s gonna drive down this road in a storm like this. The tow truck can deal with the car tomorrow.”
“But I can’t walk to the nearest town. I can sleep in the car tonight and call for a tow tomorrow.”
“The temperature drops a lot at night this time of year. The car will freeze,” he said, looking at me seriously. “I can take you if you want. You’re American, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Then you must know how to ride a horse.”
That made me laugh even harder than the car situation.
“Not a chance!” I said, on the verge of cracking up. “Not every American is a cowboy.”
“I know, just kidding,” he said with that restrained smile again. “But it’s easy. The only issue is I don’t think the horse can make it to town before dark. I know a place halfway where we can take shelter until morning, though.”
His offer seemed well-intentioned. I knew that going off with a stranger to spend the night who-knows-where wasn’t exactly safe, but my options were that or freezing in the car. I’d definitely take my chances with the muscular stranger, praying he wasn’t a serial killer or something. It was crazy, but I could already see the windows fogging up from the cold outside.
“Alright, I’ll go,” I said, mustering up some courage. “I just hope your horse doesn’t throw me off.”
* * *
Once I’d grabbed all my stuff from the car, including the expensive camera the magazine had given me, I was ready to go. Luckily, everything was in my bag, which seemed pretty water-resistant, because by the time I got to the horse, I was already drenched. Now it wasn’t just Magnus leaving little to the imagination—neither was I. Why I’d thought to wear a light cream-colored blouse with a black bra underneath, I had no idea. And it wasn’t even my best bra. My jeans, on the other hand, didn’t have any transparency issues, but they did cling to my legs and felt heavy.
I couldn’t wait to peel off all my clothes and take a hot shower in a cozy hotel room. Though I’d settle for the place we were staying having a bathroom, a decent shower, and a comfortable bed. Okay, two comfortable beds.
Magnus took a moment to calm the horse—which was still pretty rattled after that lightning strike—untied it from the tree, and mounted it with a skill I’d only seen in movies. Then he pulled his foot out of the metal stirrup hanging from the saddle and turned to me.
“Put your left foot here and give me your hand,” he said, extending his.
The mere thought of my body pressed completely against his as soon as I got on that horse made me forget about the rain, the storm, the photography gig, and everything else in my life. My heart was pounding so hard I worried he’d feel it through the palm of my hand. I swallowed hard again, took his hand, and he gripped mine firmly—probably just to keep it from slipping due to the water, no illusions there.
Then I placed my foot in the steel stirrup and pushed off with force. Though Magnus did most of the work pulling me up, I was finally on. I didn’t know if all horses—and men—were taller in Scotland, but it was really tough getting up on one—a horse, that is.
“Hold on tight so you don’t fall. We need to move fast if we want to get there before dark,” Magnus said, putting his foot back in the stirrup after I’d pulled mine out.
Without a word, because of course I couldn’t refuse, I wrapped my arms around his waist, trying to leave a little space between his back and my chest. If there was one thing I didn’t need, it was for him to feel my racing heart through his shirt.