Squealing, I threw my arms around his neck. He caught me with a small oomph of surprise but after a second, he pulled me to him in a bear hug. It had only been on impulse, but he embraced me as tightly as if he’d been waiting just for this, as if it meant something when it couldn’t.
I backed up, blushing. He cleared his throat and ducked his head, so that despite his foot and a half on me, I was looking at his profile from the top of his head. His
hair was curly, I realized in the yellow-bright sun. It was cut short, but light reflected blond strands pulled through the darker brown.
He seemed more human in the light—less sinister. I imagined him in some innocuous setting. We could have met on a trail like this, just two people enjoying the beautiful setting, the smell of pine and gentle sound of water in the distance.
“It’s not too far,” he said gruffly.
We continued along the path. It wasn’t too uneven which was a good thing, considering my shoes were basically ballet flats. I felt the shape of each pebble and twig beneath my feet almost as if I were barefoot, although less sharply. The path turned rockier as we approached, the sound rising to a roar in my ears before it even came into view.
Eager, I quickened my pace. The trail continued at its full width forward, but I heard the waterfall to my right. I began to round a small bend obscured by the trees when Hunter yanked me back.
“Careful,” he warned.
Curious, I cocked my head then turned back to the path. We crept forward together, and I understood his warning. The trail ended on a bluff overlooking the waterfall. We weren’t at the bottom of the waterfall but at the top.
My heart squeezed at the sight. Water streamed down in rushes too fast for the eye to process. Mist rose up like tendrils of steam, the wetness kissing my face as I stood there.
A tall wooden fence, rotting, was all that separated us from a downward hill that met up with the shore far below.
“Can we get to the bottom?”
“Eventually.”
He continued along the main path, and I followed him. We came out upon a wide river—the source of the falls, I realized. Though the water ran swiftly, it was clear and peaceful, nothing like the thunderous violence of the falls.
Looking at the lands untouched by man, I imagined a time when people might have traveled this river without a map. What a shock it must have been to anyone traveling this river without knowing about the falls up ahead.
To my surprise, Hunter took off his shoes and waded into the river.
He turned back, a grin on his face. “Come in.”
“What? No.”
“It’s a little chilly but you’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t do rivers. Or…nature.” That was mostly because I’d never been around rivers…or nature, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. No doubt he’d mock me.
“You don’t do rivers, but you want to see Niagara Falls.”
“I wasn’t planning on swimming in it.”
He made a skeptical sound. “Yeah, because they wouldn’t let you anyway. This is better.”
I shook my head. “Freezing to death. Falling to my death. No, thank you.”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“Oh good, because I trust you completely.”
At that, he laughed. “Just try it out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
I scowled. “What are you, a motivational speaker?”
“In another life, yes. Come on. If you don’t like it, you can get back out.”
Oh fine. I toed off my shoes beside his on the dry, sandy bank. The first touch of water sent a shock up my spine, and I gasped. But I forced myself all the way inside, both fearful and excited of the strange feeling of cool water threading between my toes. The current was much stronger than it looked from the surface. It felt like it was pulling me along with it, and I had to fight just to stand still. The rocks beneath my feet were smooth and slippery.