Page 25 of Italy and Forever

‘No.’

‘No?’

His heart pounded as his gaze landed on her mouth and he frantically racked his brain for something to say that wasn’t to do with how much he liked looking at her – and listening to her.

‘You know, it’s immensely frustrating,’ she began, crossing her arms and staring out at the billowing droplets from the nearby waterfall. ‘You say so little, as though you’re inviting me to misunderstand you, then I fill in the silence compulsively, so you know a lot more about me than is fair. I know I sometimes talk too much, but you… talk too little!’

He couldn’t disagree with her, but it would surprise her to know how much he considered saying to her before wisely deciding against it. ‘I don’t think I have anything to say that would interest you.’

She straightened, even more indignant. He knew who would win if they went head-to-head in an honest conversation. ‘You might be surprised by what interests me.’

The hair on his nape stood on end as he grabbed a firm hold of himself, insisting she didn’t mean that he interested her.

He pointed over her shoulder and then raised his camera. ‘The waterfall is beautiful.’

They’d fallen behind the rest of the group and he stepped onto the wooden bridge alone, not waiting to see if she’d follow, because he knew she would.

‘Do you always reach for your camera when you’re avoiding real-life conversations?’

‘Well, I definitely reach for my camera when I see something beautiful.’

He couldn’t help it. He glanced at Ginny, where she was stepping onto the bridge, her head tipped in curiosity as she peered into the ravine. He saw the moment that her breath caught.

Walking to the railing, she leaned out, lifting her face into the minute droplets of spray flung out of the raging waterfall until her cheeks glistened and her hair glowed silver with moisture. With her face turned mostly away, the line of her jaw was almost familiar, the curve of her ear, with the glinting earrings.

He raised his camera.

11

Ginny heard the snick of the shutter behind her and turned to Rhys. Her heartbeat was an irrational flutter. Nothing in their poor excuse for a conversation should have elicited such a reaction in her.

But blaming her dating ban for her sudden fascination with him was beginning to feel like an excuse.

He hurriedly looked away. ‘We should catch up to the others.’

Ginny lingered a moment, surprised when he waited with her. She wanted to look at the waterfall. She’d been so distracted, she hadn’t appreciated the colours and sound, the movement of the cool air over her face. The moss on the right bank of the ravine glowed neon green.

She fished her phone out of her pocket to snap a photo, disappointed to see the ruggedness and the depth, the expanse of space above and below her reduced to something that was little more than a flat jumble of pixels on her screen. She wondered what Rhys had captured.

Glancing at him, she saw he held his camera loosely in his hands, but he wasn’t looking through the viewfinder. He was so still, interacting with the world using only his eyes, though she was convinced there was a lot more churning underneath.

But he’d been clear: he didn’t think he had anything to say that would interest her. That must be code for he didn’t like her or, at the very least, he didn’t want to talk to her. That hurt too, more than it should.

He set a fast pace to catch up to the others, which confirmed Ginny’s suspicion that he didn’t want to spend any more time with her than was necessary and she tried to let it go, but his look was back, that wary, uncomfortable one, and she couldn’t help wondering what she’d done to deserve it.

Her sigh of relief when they caught up with Toni and Gabri at the back of the group was more of a huff of hurt pride, although her friends’ joined hands reminded Ginny that she was a constant third wheel at this wedding.

‘Are you looking forward to the fly-line?’ she asked them brightly, relieved to have a competent conversational partner at last.

‘I’m a little out of practice with this kind of thing,’ Toni admitted, ‘but yes. It’s a lovely activity for a Great Heart wedding.’ She squeezed Ginny’s arm. ‘You’ve done an amazing job.’

‘It’s a compromise,’ Ginny replied drily. ‘The guides want to go do something genuinely dangerous. Hopefully this will soothe their adrenaline withdrawal enough to get them through to the wedding.’

Another few minutes of walking beneath the looming pines and they arrived at the little wooden hut where the fly-line began. Cillian came bouncing through the crowd of wedding guests, impatient for his turn flying through the forest. He dragged Toni away to look at the carved wooden bear on the platform.

Tash and her son Jonny were the first to slip into the full-body harness and head to the departure point as little Eliza watched and waited her turn with her father. After a giddy smile and a thumbs-up from Jonny as the attendant attached them to the bracket with carabiners, they slid off down the first incline and disappeared through the trees.

Rhys had taken up a position in the front corner, recording all of the nerves and wobbly knees as one by one, the wedding guests went flying. When it was Tita’s turn, Ginny rushed over to Rhys.