Page 60 of Lana

The puppy ran back toward them and Mitch sat on his heels, rubbing the dog’s head and clipping the lead to his collar. “The waterfalls are ahead and I don’t trust him not to go over the edge if he gets too excited. My trust only goes so far,” he joked.

Zoe grinned, looking past them. She couldn’t hear the falls from here, but she didn’t know how close they were or how big the falls were. Mitch had said “small” falls, but she had no perspective when it came to waterfalls.

“This path leads straight to them... I think,” Mitch said, taking a step forward. Zoe fell into step beside him.

“And if it doesn’t?” she asked.

He looked at her, amused. “Then I’m as lost as you are,” he said with a laugh.

She noticed he, too, seemed much more light-hearted today. She’d seen him very few times outside of work hours, but even then there was always a controlled calmness about him. Today, though, it didn’t seem like he had a care in the world. She knew that wasn’t true, but it did appear that way.

“You seem different today,” she remarked, and he tilted his head, looking at her.

He shrugged. “The woods are my happy place. I have good company and the sun is shining. I look for the simple pleasures in life now—they bring me the most happiness. Chiara taught me that,” he said with a smile that was both happy and sad at the same time.

“Was she from Redwater too?” Zoe asked.

“She was. Neither of us had ever moved away. Some city people think it’s tragic to stay in a small, usually sleepy, town all your life. But I don’t know... I look at city residents and they seem stressed out and rushing all the time. I can’t say the same for Redwater residents,” he said with an amused grin. “That’s not to say no one here has ambition, but we focus on doing a job and doing it well. The job and who we are... they’re separate. I think it’s easier to lose touch of what’s important in a big city—too many distractions, too much comparison and focus on what everyone else is doing. That’s a generalization, of course, but I think it’s more true than not. In Redwater, people don’t care what car you drive or who you saw on the weekend. You’re free to just be whoever you want to be.”

“So, I take it you won’t be moving to the city any time soon,” she said, and he barked out a laugh.

“I will die in Redwater,” he said. Then, as if realizing what he’d said, he added, “Hopefully not any time soon.” He paused. “Can you hear them?”

Zoe strained to hear, but all she heard was Gus’s panting breath.

She shook her head. “Do you have superhuman hearing?”

He laughed again as he started walking. After a few minutes, she could hear the waterfalls and she quickened her pace. After a few more minutes, the woods opened up to reveal four small waterfalls which cascaded into what looked like a big swimming hole.

“Wow,” she said, amazed this was so close to her house, but she’d had no idea it existed. “This is beautiful.”

“Welcome to Redwater’s hidden gem,” he said proudly as he sat on a big rock and rubbed Gus’s head.

She sat beside him and they watched the cascading falls tumble into the swimming hole below. There was something incredibly soothing about water. Perhaps it was the way water has been used for purification by many religions, or that it was one of the ancient elements. Visually, the falls were a representation of sheer force—power.

As Zoe sat, she knew she would be coming back here often.

Neither of them said a word. Even Gus had lain down to just watch the falls.

It was the most peace Zoe could remember feeling in a long time.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” she eventually said, looking up at him.

He inhaled deeply, his eyes locked on hers.

For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but he cleared his throat and looked away.

Her disappointment was surprising.

She looked back to the waterfalls, pushing aside the feeling. She refused to let this experience be ruined.

She lost track of time as they sat quietly, watching nature do what it did best.

She thought of Lana’s verse again—she didn’t know why, but it kept coming back to her. Zoe felt it was important but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why.

It was Gus who got restless first and Mitch ruffled his head. “Okay, buddy.” He stood and looked to Zoe with a smile.

Despite what had happened—that he hadn’t kissed her—it wasn’t awkward between them. Maybe he still wasn’t ready, she thought, but wasn’t convinced that was the explanation. Whatever it was, she was not going to ruminate on it.

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