Page 26 of Italy and Forever

‘Sophie asked me to make sure we have a video of Tita doing this!’ she said, leaning up so he could hear her as she spoke quietly. Her hand landed on his upper arm for balance. He smelled nice; fresh and earthy. For a moment, before he stiffened, her mind flashed with the impression of what it would be like to snuggle close.

Oh dear, she was misfiring all over the place. He wouldn’t even look at her, and she was imagining cuddling him, this monosyllabic man who had given her no encouragement – only clear discouragement. Sometimes her persistent heart was just a nuisance.

She snatched her hand back and put a whole lot of daylight between them to clear her head.

After Tita had yelped and laughed as she disappeared through the trees, Cillian and Toni set off together, Toni clutching her son’s harness while he lifted his hands in the air and whooped. After everyone else had taken their turn, Andreas was one of the last remaining. He glanced up and gave Ginny a tight smile.

‘Sophie would have loved this if…’ He scratched the back of his head.

‘One day you’ll be able to take your son or daughter on here,’ Ginny said indulgently.

When his gaze lifted to hers with a gulp of alarm, Ginny wanted to pull her tongue out. She heard a click behind her and Andreas looked over her shoulder.

‘What was that photo of?’ he asked Rhys gruffly. ‘I’m not sure I’m going to like what your camera exposes at this wedding,’ he muttered as he stalked away to make his flying descent. Holding casually onto the little handlebars, he allowed the assistant to push him off and then Ginny was alone with Rhys – again. He noticed as well, suddenly refusing to return her look.

‘That wasn’t a good time to take a photo, was it? Not for your perfect wedding album.’

Her hackles rose at his wording, but his tone was uncertain. ‘We can just take it out later,’ she replied.

‘I’m not used to thinking about how to make the subjects look… good.’

She nodded, wishing her urge to reassure him weren’t so strong. Surely he didn’t need it. ‘It’s okay. Although now I’m worried about that photo you took of me.’

‘You looked fine,’ he said, although his brow furrowed. ‘I think so, anyway.’

Then Ginny realised with a start that they’d wandered to the start of the fly-line and she was next. She gulped.

‘Shit.’

‘What?’ Rhys asked.

‘I kind of forgot I had to do this too,’ she admitted.

‘Compared to climbing, this is nothing.’

Accepting the harness from the attendant, she stepped into the leg holes and slipped her arms through gingerly. ‘Don’t use rationality with me,’ she grumbled. ‘If I’m scared, I’m scared. Just let me scream with dignity and never remind me of this again.’

‘You always seem to want to forget things that happen when you’re with me.’

Before she could call him out for commenting on that, the attendant asked, ‘Do you want to go down together? If you’re scared, it might be a good idea.’

Rhys would surely refuse. Ginny gave him a moment to do so, but that was unfortunately her own time to refuse and when all he said was, ‘Okay,’ she realised she’d missed her opportunity. He was suited up and attached to the fly-line behind her.

So much for maintaining her dignity while she screamed. She clutched the tiny handlebar that felt entirely ineffectual – even though its only job was to give her something to hold onto as she panicked.

She couldn’t get enough oxygen as she swung towards the departure point, her chest heaving but her lungs still too tight. The drop-off at the beginning was steep to gather momentum, and trees loomed on either side. Surely people crashed into those trees all the time. How secure were these cables? Had the attendant even checked?

Her heart rose into her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut as she swung off the platform and gravity took hold of her. Her stomach was left behind as she plummeted down – so far down.

The rush of cool air swallowed her up. For a moment, she was weightless, then her insides were rearranged again as her body was flung around the first corner and her eyes shot open to see the forest floor below.

On the left, the ground dropped away with the rushing water at the bottom. Groping for the handlebars, she gave herself a cramp without any extra feeling of security.

‘Shi-i-i-i-it,’ she blurted out, relieved the children were all far ahead of her. ‘Aaaaaaah.’ The trees swished past too quickly to convince her that she wouldn’t crash into one. She flew down and around, hearing the water crash and catching glimpses of a blue-green rock pool.

There was a nudge to her back. ‘Are you okay? We’re not going fast.’

‘I told you, reason doesn’t work on my fear,’ she called back through gritted teeth, but she had to admit he was right. Currently, they were sailing placidly through the forest, past fairy hollows and sculpted wooden forest creatures. ‘But at least I don’t think I’m going to vomit.’