“Rakahuri. It’s also called the Ashley River. The river out here is really special to me. It has special memories.”
Surrounded by open fields, gorse-bush, and dozens of tiny yellow flowers, the month’s stresses slipped from his shoulders. Everything felt simpler out here. He followed Jess in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the evening sun on his back and the peaceful landscape.
He heard the water before he saw it.
“Gorgeous, right?” She picked up her pace, almost skipping to the rocky edge of the river, and placed her fingertips into the fast-flowing rapids. “It’s shallow here, but there are swimming holes up further.”
He stopped a few paces back, wanting to take it all in. Running her hands through the water, child-like delight transformed her face. In the evening light, framed by rolling farmland and the sparkling river, she was completely at home and completely stunning.
The more he got to know Jess, the fewer similarities he saw to his ex. This woman was unique, and he found himself wanting to discover everything about her.
“Is it cold?” he asked, moving closer.Needingto be closer.
“Freezing!” she laughed, flicking a handful of water at him.
He gasped as the fresh water hit his face, and then gave her a serious look. “You sure you want to start what you can’t win?”
“Who says I won’t win?” she challenged him, flicking a larger scoop of icy water in his direction, soaking his hair.
“You asked for this.” Nate bent down and, with both hands, slapped the water in her direction.
Before long, they were both drenched and laughing hysterically.
He put his hands up in surrender. “You win. You win,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “How am I more soaked than you?”
“You’ve got to get the technique right.” Pulling her wet hair into a ponytail, she wrung it out. “Years of practice.”
“You’ve spent a lot of time here?” he asked as they wandered next to the river, both still shaking out their wet hair and clothes.
“Mm-Hmm. Every school holidays with my granddad. He lived near here with my nana and we spent a lot of time at the river. It’s where he taught me to paint. He was an incredible artist.”
“They’re not here now?”
She reached down to pick up a grey stone from the riverbed, flicking it between her fingers. “No. Nan passed away first, a while ago now. Grandad when I was at uni.”
“I’m sorry.”
They walked side-by-side, allowing the birdsong around them to fill in the silence for a moment. It was too easy to picture himself living like this. Walking next to her in the countryside, talking; just being together in this effortless, relaxed way. Far too easy.
“I loved staying with my grandad, and my nan when she was alive,” Jess continued. “They were married for forty-two years and she was the love of his life.”
“Impressive.”
“Yeah. He was the calm anchor in our lives, you know? The safe place. My mum and him never got along well. They used to argue about the awful men she chose, and all the moving around we did. He didn’t think it was good for me to see those kinds of relationships.”
“Was he right?”
“Definitely. It was chaos,” she laughed, but Nate could hear the badly disguised pain behind it. It made him want to gather her in and hold her, but that wouldn’t be a wise idea.
“Mum seemed to attract chaotic men,” she said, finding another flat rock and running her fingers along the smooth edges. “Grandad was loyal to Nan his whole life. Not everyone thinks that’s important.”
“No, they don’t.” Nate knew that all too well.
“That’s why I love it here so much. The river reminds me of him. Always here. Whenever you need it. Just peacefully doing its thing.”
“Would you move out here some day, do you think?”
Jess skipped the stone across the river. “That’s the plan,” she said quietly.
