Page 24 of Italy and Forever

‘Will you put your camera down and come along?’

‘Hmm?’ Rhys dragged his attention back to Laurie and the conversation he was actually part of. ‘Oh, sure. Or I can bring the camera and capture your last moments of freedom.’

‘We’ll see if we can get Kira away from the wedding nonsense to come along too,’ Laurie said.

‘Maybe Ginny would like to try a climb on a real rock, after her lessons at the gym,’ Rhys suggested before he’d thought through how strange that sounded, coming from him. No one else knew he’d quietly noticed her progress over the past six months – and no one else needed to know.

The way Andreas turned to him with his brow lifted confirmed his fears. ‘I think Ginny will be busy with the wedding nonsense.’

Rhys glanced over to find her shoulders around her earlobes now. It seemed odd to him that Laurie and Andreas didn’t notice she was listening.

‘I wasn’t thinking about an easy top-rope route,’ Laurie commented drily. ‘I don’t think she’s ready for lead climbing.’

She probably wasn’t, but Rhys still wanted to see what she’d make of a real wall of rock. Another photo he’d love to take. Maybe if he sat her down and took photos from all angles, he’d be able to work out why he felt the constant need to study her.

‘It will depend on the weather, anyway,’ Andreas continued. ‘Could go either way.’

The rest of the group had stopped at a viewing platform to admire the first waterfall, gushing out of a narrow ravine. The air was damp with spray, creating shimmering rainbows, and Rhys raised his camera, adjusting the settings to capture the refracting light.

Thinking of Ginny again, he snapped a few shots of the guests, including the small girl he understood was Sophie’s niece. She turned to the camera and scrunched up her face as she held her hands in the tiny droplets of water. Rhys smiled as he shot that one, looking up when he felt eyes on him. He wasn’t surprised it was Ginny.

Apparently this awareness of each other went both ways now. He cursed himself for whatever he’d done to cause that and she looked away when he met her gaze.

The path followed the edge of the ravine to the second waterfall, where the stream tumbled over a cliff, falling farther than the first, the water churning white over the rocks. With the natural framing of trees in shades of green and yellow and glimpses of the silver sky, taking a compelling photo took no effort at all and he composed shots from several angles, with wedding guests and without.

As they set off for the third waterfall, he fell into step beside Kira. He couldn’t hold out long before asking, ‘Is Ginny upset about something?’ He snapped his mouth closed, suddenly worried Ginny had told Kira what had happened by the lake yesterday evening.

Kira didn’t seem to read anything into his question. ‘I don’t really know. She’s putting a lot of pressure on herself. It might as well be her own wedding,’ she said with a wry chuckle.

Rhys forced a matching laugh, but his stomach dipped, remembering the way Ginny had spoken about her stagnant love life at the pub before she’d discovered who she was talking to.

‘She’s just taking everything a little too personally. Maybe it’s because she hasn’t been out with anyone in two months. I never should have suggested she take a break from dating,’ Kira groaned.

Footsteps sounded behind him and Ginny brushed past, pausing to lean close to Kira. ‘I heard that.’

Kira shrugged. ‘I’d say it to your face too. Maybe you need to get laid!’ she called after her friend.

Ginny turned back. ‘Might I remind you of our younger guests?’

‘I can see our younger guests are holding you back from saying what you want to say to me,’ Kira teased her.

‘And a particular hand gesture I’d give you,’ Ginny quipped. Kira laughed and Ginny peered up at Rhys. ‘Why didn’t you ask me what’s wrong?’

He took a breath and opened his mouth, but none of the many reasons for that could be said in front of Kira. Because you saw me naked. Because talking to you is like scrambling my synapses. Because you think I don’t like you and it’s better that way.

The longer he held his silence, the more she deflated. ‘I thought you might have worked it out,’ she muttered.

‘Hmm?’

Her scowl sharpened the lines of her lips. ‘The wedding is a waste of time, is it? “Nonsense” was the word I believe you used. You’d all rather be climbing and celebrating Andreas’s last moments of freedom. I’m not chaining anyone to the pews!’

‘Don’t listen to Laurie,’ he mumbled.

‘You agree with him though, don’t you? Apparently I’m the only one who cares about celebrating the miracle of love and family and… lasting happiness.’

‘Ginny,’ he said, when nothing else seemed the right thing to say. He rarely used people’s names – a habit he’d formed during the times when he couldn’t trust himself to recognise his conversation partner – but when she was next to him, her name seemed to fall from his lips without him quite intending it.

‘Was there more to that sentence?’