Regina and Mr. Gold play dirty politics and take opposite sides when Emma runs for sheriff against Sidney Glass.
***
Harry adjusted the bouquet of lilies on Graham's gravestone, then he stood and backed up to stand with Emma. "I miss him," he said quietly.
"I know, kid," Emma squeezed his shoulder and kissed the top of his head. "I miss him, too."
"Did you love him?"
Emma's mouth opened as she thought about how to answer the question, then she carefully considered her words. "I think . . . that eventually I could have," she finally decided. "I certainly developed feelings for him, Harry, I won't lie about that."
Harry nodded thoughtfully as he snuggled into her side. "I want you to be happy, Mum," he told her. "Like the Malfoys and the Grangers are. You deserve someone."
"Well, since my parents are proof true love exists," Emma smiled, "maybe mine is out there somewhere."
"You'll find whoever it is," Harry said decisively. "You deserve one."
Emma buried her nose in Harry's hair to avoid him seeing her tears. "Thank God for you, kid," she whispered.
Grass crunching behind them made them turn, and David smiled sadly as he approached them. "Sorry if I'm intruding."
"You're not," Emma shook her head, holding out her free hand to him. David took it and squeezed lightly. "What's going on?"
"Sheriff's station got a call," he explained. "Mr. Gold asked for you to come by his shop."
Emma sighed heavily and nodded. "I'll head over. Can you . . . ?"
"I'll take Harry back to Granny's," David finished for her with a smile. "Or maybe we'll try and find Henry."
Harry flinched at the mention of his brother, and Emma ran her fingers through his hair comfortingly. "You can tell him what you'd like to do, OK?" she told him. "I'll see you when I'm done with my shift."
"OK," Harry nodded.
He moved to join David, and the prince's arm settled around his shoulders. "Be careful around Gold, alright?" he warned.
Emma paused as she turned away from Graham's grave. "I realized I haven't asked much about the other townspeople," she said. "Who is he?"
David grimaced. "Rumplestiltskin."
Harry wrinkled his nose. "Isn't he the imp who made all those deals?"
David snorted. "Deals are his business. Come to think of it, I don't know many people who haven't made a deal with him . . . even though everyone is warned not to."
"Well, maybe he's calling mine in," Emma brushed off her hands. "I'll see you later."
***
"Gold?" Emma called as she stepped into the pawnshop, looking around the empty front. "In here?" She thought she heard a mutter from the back, so she crossed the room and ducked through the curtains that separated the back from the front. Mr. Gold was brushing something onto a piece of fabric, and Emma recoiled when she caught a whiff of it. "Ugh!" she held a hand over her nose. "Oh, God, that's the worst smelling lanolin ever."
Mr. Gold looked at her in surprise. "You're familiar with it?"
"Learned about it from Newt," Emma coughed, her eyes watering at the smell. "Used for waterproofing. I prefer the smell of a batch of Queenie's pastries burning to the smell of sheep's pelt."
YOU ARE READING
Operation Cobra (Book Two of The Savior Fables)
Fanfiction"It was the kind of small-town with nothing to look at - unless you knew where to look. After all, it's a town no-one knows exists." In which it's time for the small, sleepy town in Nowhere, Maine to wake from its twenty-eight-year nap. When Emma Sw...
