Page 7 of The Homecoming

On the banks of the Tennessee River, they sat side by side, eating the sandwiches that Dan packed for lunch. The current flowed swiftly, and the water was high on the banks. Dan told a story about trapping some poor guy in a port-o-potty and picking it up with a forklift, driving it around for a while before releasing their prank victim. Harmless fun he said they had between bomb threats. She leaned back against the rock behind her and looked up. The sky was bright blue and not a cloud was in the air. She wished she could nap there. They were at the point where the path would join back up with the main trail, and they’d take it until it was time to go down to the bottom of the falls.

“So, why’d you want to be a therapist,” he asked.

“I wanted to help people to live their best life…. I hate to see people struggling with things like depression and anxiety and hoped to make a difference.” But after Mark, she knew she couldn’t handle someone who was mentally unstable, especially if they fixated on her.

“Something change your mind?”There was no way he could hear her thoughts, was there?

“No, just burned out.”

“You could take a break and still pursue it in a couple of years.”

She nodded. “What about you? You ever consider changing to a less dangerous line of work?”

“One day, yeah…maybe.”

The trek to the bottom of the falls involved more stairs than Autumn had anticipated. The realization that they’d have to climb back up every single one of them to get out of there made her dread the prospect. There’d been a lot of rain in recent weeks, and the falls were flowing in abundance down the hillside. They collected into a large, circular pool surrounded by rocky cliffs, and from there, the water slipped down another smaller fall into the river before drifting away. There was something magical about the energy radiating from the falls. The rock that jettisoned out forming the pool wall was flat on top and warm from the sun. Autumn and Daniel pulled off their shoes and sat on the edge with their feet in the water. The cold relief was welcome on her sore toes. Dan removed his shirt and Autumn noted the results of Special Forces training... It was spectacular. Not an ounce of fat anywhere, Daniel was full of solid muscle and sex appeal. Those defined abs brought awareness to the slight softness around her torso. His lean frame was made in the field, not a gym. It was physical training, being loaded down with gear, then put through hell. She’d read up on the training that Green Berets go through, and it was no joke. She marveled that anyone could withstand it. She looked away, not wanting to ogle her brother’s best friend, no matter how hot he was. It only reinforced the fact that she hadn’t had a date in six months and never with a man that looked likethat.

Dan slipped into the water, swimming out toward the middle and then back again. When he came up in front of her, she noticed a scar on his shoulder. “What’s that?” she asked.

“Some Taliban asshole shot me.”

“Oh my god,” she replied.

He smiled. “Don’t worry. He got it worse three seconds later.” He grabbed her ankle. “Come on in, the water’s fine.”

“I don’t know. It seems a bit cold.”

He pulled gently on her ankle. “Either take your clothes off or come in wearing everything.”

“You’d have to catch me first.”

“You really wanna test me on that?” His sly smile suggested that if she moved a millimeter, he’d have her pulled in so fast her head would spin.

The water made her shiver when she finally eased herself in and swam around, watching the falls empty into the pool of water they occupied. She was glad she went with the one-piece suit for today, not that it would keep her warm. She floated up onto her back and stared at the sky.

From that vantage point, the world was peaceful…. The only thing she could hear was the roar of the falls. The water may have been cold, but she was glad she’d gone in. Autumn swam toward the falls to see how close she could get, but felt Dan grab her and pull her back, his arm around her chest.

It happened faster than she could react. “You were too close,” he said once they were back in the middle of the pond. “The falls are too heavy and it’s dangerous.” He’d pulled her back against his chest and held her tight. “You couldn’t even hear me yelling.”

“Sorry.” She pulled away and turned to him, his face still contorted in worry. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug and laid her head on his shoulder. His arms enveloped her body and squeezed her to him, where he held her for a moment. She became aware that she was firmly pressed against him and her body had some opinions that surprised her. He ran his hands up and down her back.

“Hey,” he whispered.

She didn’t want to look at him, afraid they were about to do something they couldn’t come back from. She was curious as to what kissing him would be like but, scared of how badly she wanted him, she tried to swim away.

He didn’t let go.

“Thanks for that,” she said. “I really didn’t mean to—”

He interrupted her with a kiss. It took her a second to respond, but when he pulled her against his warm body, she wrapped herself around him and her hand slid around the nape of his neck. Dan’s tongue glided into her mouth, and she didn’t mind. His kiss was better than any she’d ever had. One of his hands was in her hair as the other gripped her bottom and pulled her firmly against him. Neither of them could get enough. She wanted every bit of him, but this was her childhood friend. She stopped kissing him, fighting to catch her breath and calm down. Wrapped around him wearing a swimsuit, nothing was a mystery. She had to take her mind off of him pressed against her as goose bumps had risen on her arms and shoulders.

“You’re cold,” he said. Dan kissed the goose bumps on her shoulder, sending more of them shuddering down her body. “Come on, let’s go.”

Back on the rock wrapped in towels warmed from being inside a sunbathed backpack, the pair watched the falls in silence.Did he regret what happened out there? Was it a mistake?

With the sun at their backs, Autumn relaxed in the warmth as she sighed and closed her eyes. Daniel shifted next to her and planted a kiss on her shoulder before leaving another on her neck. The kisses sent more shivers through her body, and she let out a giggle. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and smiled.

“We should get going, so we make it back before nightfall,” he said.

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