THE TROUBLE WITH PAPER PLANES(71)

“Ha! Well, your clues were complete and utter lies – what did you expect?”

I grinned over at her, reaching for her hand. The falls had been one of mine and Em’s favourite places. I was kind of hoping for a miracle. If she really was Em, I couldn’t really imagine her not remembering this place. But if she wasn’t, I still wanted to share its beauty with her. There was something incredibly appropriate about taking a beautiful woman to a beautiful location.

I pulled off the side of the road and parked the truck under the trees. We were surrounded by native bush, green and dense, a basic five-strand wire fence separating the road from the undergrowth. Trees towered above us, sheltering us from the heat of the early-evening sun.

I grabbed the cooler bag from the back seat and waited for Maia to come up alongside me.

“Over there,” I said, pointing to the wooden sty built for crossing the fence-line.

She gave me a puzzled look, but followed as I led the way, climbing over the sty and down onto the other side of the fence. I reached up to take her hand and help her over.

“This looks kind of creepy. Are you sure?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I know. Trust me, it’s worth seeing.”

“Why are we stopping here, and not going further up the road to the proper car park?”

I held her hand as we made our way along the dirt track cut into the undergrowth, single-file. “Because that’s where all the tourists go. This is somewhere special.”

We made our way through the bush for ten minutes or so, until we could hear the waterfall clearly in the distance. Another five minutes of fighting our way through the bushes, and the clearing came into sight.

“Close your eyes,” I said, stopping.

She smiled, and I could tell the anticipation was getting to her. She closed her eyes, and I slowly led her forward, through the clearing, where the sun fought its way through the canopy and showered us with light, to the other side.

“I can hear water.”

“Careful,” I warned, leading her onto the track again. “Just take it slow.”

I pushed overhanging branches aside for her, and the bush gave way to the slow-moving river. We were downstream from the waterfall, able to hear it but protected from the eddies and the spray. The river curved gently away from the falls, and this protected, sheltered spot was like a slice of heaven on earth, especially at this time of day.

Native birds called to each other in the distance, invisible to us but lending a peaceful ambience that always seemed to soothe my ragged soul. The contour of the earth dipped down into the river, and once you were in the water, it felt like you were a million miles away from civilisation.

“Open your eyes,” I said gently, squeezing her hand.

I watched her as she did so, eager to see the look on her face when she saw where she was.

Her mouth fell open, just slightly, and her eyes widened as she took in the view. With the sun reflecting off the surface, the water looked impossibly blue and clear, like something you might see in the Bahamas. Even the sand on the riverbed was almost white.

“It’s so beautiful,” she murmured, turning to me.

I smiled, my heart skipping a beat. She may not remember it, or know that it was significant or special, but she recognised the beauty in it and that was enough. I let go of the cooler bag and leaned in to capture her lips with mine, curling my arms around her waist and drawing her in closer.

It’s incredible, how things can be so strained, so wrong, so out of control one minute. And then the next, it’s as if everything is so right, you can barely remember what it used to feel like. That’s what she had done for me. She had put a wall between the me of a week ago, and the me of right now. I could barely remember what the old me would be doing now, if she wasn’t here. It was difficult to know what day it was. I found myself wanting to spend every single moment with her, and when she wasn’t with me, I was counting down the hours until she was. The feeling was so all-encompassing that I often found my mind wandering. It was as if my brain was struggling to remain on an even keel, constantly pulled off kilter, leaning towards her and away from the rest of the world. Being around her was the most intense natural high I had ever experienced, and like any addict, I wanted more.

I pulled away from her, slowly, reluctantly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“You’re so beautiful,” I murmured, taking in every detail of her face.

Every time I looked at her, I saw something new. It was like discovering her for the first time, every time.