Page 46 of Emi's Hero

He drove to the gate leading out into a pasture that would take them to one of the creeks running across the property. He’d found the spot while horseback riding with Hawk and Kalea when he’d first arrived in Hawaii. It was a perfect place to take Emi to relax after her session with the hypnotherapist.

With the sun still high in the sky, George drove slowly and carefully across the pasture, not wanting to frighten his passenger.

Emi leaned close to his ear and called out over the roar of the engine, “Does this thing go faster?”

He glanced back at her. “Yes, why?”

She grinned. “Go faster!”

His heart leaped at the excitement shining from her eyes. He twisted the throttle, sending the ATV shooting forward.

Emi’s arms tightened around his waist, and she laughed out loud as they flew across the pasture, hitting bumps, dodging holes and finally arriving at the creek much sooner than George would have liked. He could drive the four-wheeler all day just to have her arms around him.

George slowed the vehicle, bringing it to a stop short of the running water.

Emi leaned close, her breath warm on his cheek. “Why are we stopping?”

“We’re here,” he said.

“Where?” she asked.

“I thought you might like this place,” he said.

Emi unwrapped her arms from around his waist and slid off the back of the vehicle.

George dismounted and stood beside her as she stretched her arms in the air. She leaned back to stare up at the sky first, then back at the rambling stream in front of her.

A smile spread across her face. “This place reminds me of the Guadalupe River near my home back in Texas. For most of the year, it’s nothing more than a trickling creek, barely deep enough to get our ankles wet. The water is clear, cypress trees grow along the banks and it’s a great place to get your feet wet on a hot summer day.”

“I sense abut.”

She nodded. “But, when it rains, the water rises, creating a river sometimes thirty feet deep, sweeping away everything in its path. I’ve seen that little creek swell to a raging torrent, carrying giant trees in its current. One flood deposited a cypress tree on top of a bridge that had been thirty feet above that little creek a few hours earlier.”

“Is there a moral to this story?” he asked.

“No,” she said, then tilted her head. “Well, maybe.” She sat on the bank of the creek and slipped the sandals from her feet. “What appears to be a placid creek lures you into its docile enchantment one minute and sweeps you away the next. Is the lesson that you shouldn’t trust your judgment? Or is it that you should go with the flow?”

“Perhaps the creek is a place where you start out by carefully dipping your toes in the water.” George started his theory without thinking through it carefully and struggled to finish. “When the water rises, you might find that being swept away might not be all that bad. You could land in a better place than where you began.”

Emi chuckled. “We should stick to riding ATVs. Our life lesson theories need work.”

“Agreed.” He toed off his shoes and held out his hand. “Care to dip your toes in the water?”

Her eyebrows rose, and her lips twitched. “Is that your way of telling me you’re going to sweep me off my feet?”

“Absolutely,” he said.

She placed her hand in his. “Sweep away.”

They waded into the stream up to their ankles.

The water was cool against his feet

Emi kicked her foot, splashing George with water.

“Not fair,” he said. “A gentleman wouldn’t splash a lady.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re not a gentleman,” she said and splashed him again.

---