THE TROUBLE WITH PAPER PLANES(70)

I suppose I could ask the same questions of myself.

When we left a couple of hours later, it was with a bag of fresh fruit and a promise to come back and visit soon. Just as I was backing out of his driveway, Henry waved me back.

“Hang on, I’ll just be a minute – he probably forgot to give us a tonne of mandarins or something,” I smiled, getting out of the car and jogging barefoot up the driveway towards him.

“What’s up?” I asked, slowing down as I closed in on him.

He took my arm and turned me around so we had our backs to the truck. Then he turned deadly serious. I knew that look. My heartbeat doubled back on itself as I waited for the bombshell.

“She’s special, boy,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “I have a feeling you know that, too – I can see it when you look at her. Just be sure you hang onto her. Girls like that don’t come along every day. Don’t do anything to mess this up, or so help me, you’ll have me to answer to.”

I nodded, speechless. He glanced back over my shoulder again.

“She reminds me of my Glenda,” he said absentmindedly, as if talking to himself.

My heart, racing just moments ago, shuddered to a halt. He used to say the same thing about Emily. I wondered if somewhere deep down, he knew more than he thought he did.

I’d been unable to get the idea out of my head. If Emily and Maia were the same person, would it change my life – again? I was in love with both of them, but I could only have one of them. Did I have to choose? Selfishly, I didn’t want to. To my mind, the only advantage to finding out if Maia and Emily were the same person, was for everyone else, not for me. Bridget would have her daughter back. Henry would have his grand-daughter. Alex would have his sister. I wanted the closure more for them than for myself. I didn’t feel like I needed it as much as I’d thought I did. Whether it transpired that Maia and Emily were the same person or not, I was happy for the first time in years.

But I also knew that Maia had a gaping hole in her life, and if we could somehow find out about her past, she might finally be able to fill it.

That was my driving force. Her need, not mine.

But we had time. Time to google, time to find out about DNA tests and scour missing persons websites. Time for doctors and police files and investigators.

Right now, it was our time and I was determined to make the most of it.





DINNER WAS HOMEMADE pizza, rustled up by my good self. I loved cooking for Maia. Sharing her with Henry had been hard. As great as it was to see them getting on well together, I wanted her to myself again. There were things I wanted to do to her that I didn’t think Henry should witness, nor would we want him to.


I was desperate to build on the relaxing vibe that being with Henry had created, so I was taking her to another one of my favourite quiet, out-of-the-way spots. While she was in the bathroom, I got out my trusty cooler bag and threw in a blanket, a couple of towels and a bottle of wine with two plastic glasses.

Maia walked out of the bathroom, her hair drawn up into a high ponytail, her hands on her hips.

“So, if I need my swimsuit, that means we’re off to the beach. Right?”

I grinned, looking forward to the evening ahead. The sun was still up and it was early. And she didn’t really need her swimsuit. As much as I loved it, I was actually hoping she might forgo it.

“Nope, not the beach.”

She frowned, pouting at me adorably, eyes narrowed. “Another surprise destination?”

“You’ll love it, don’t worry.” I grabbed the cooler bag and my truck keys, still grinning. “Come on, let’s go.”

“You can be very mysterious, Mr Danes.”

“International Man of Mystery, that’s me,” I winked, taking her hand and pulling her towards the door.

We jumped into the truck and headed out of town. She tried to quiz me for clues, but this time I didn’t give in. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted to see her face when we finally got there. Maybe it was just that I enjoyed listening to her wild and random guesses. Either way, I felt like I was walking on air.

A full twenty minutes passed before we turned off the main road and she saw the sign, proudly displayed with a bold arrow on the side of the road.

“A waterfall?”

“A waterfall.”

“I really didn’t see that coming. I was way off wasn’t I?”

I chuckled. “It was highly entertaining, though.”