Chapter 19 #3
And so Gaby ate her sandwiches and focused on the easy conversation with Peter. She enjoyed the soft gurgling of the river as it rushed past the café. Enjoyed the warm autumn sunshine and the cool breeze sweetened with the scent of fallen leaves.
They chatted about this and they chatted about that, lingering over coffee. The pleasant buzz of the café and the bright autumn day and the beautiful surroundings were too lovely to miss, too lovely not to fully appreciate because her mind was wandering.
When they’d finished lunch and left the café to resume their riverside walk, Peter took her hand in his and ran his thumb across her skin, making her tingle.
Enjoy it, Gaby told herself. Just enjoy it while it lasts.
Because it will all be over before you know it.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, they reached a quiet curve in the river where the grassy embankment opened up into a water meadow that stretched along the northern edge of Hamblehurst. The river was narrow here, the pathway more rugged.
A copse of trees stood to the east on a small rise in the land, their branches bare.
“I remember this place,” Gaby said. “We used to come here and lie beneath the oak trees on sunny afternoons when we didn’t feel like hiking up Blackberry Hill.”
“I hoped you’d remember it when we got here,” Peter said with a smile. He pointed towards the trees. “That was our favourite spot for the picnic blanket, right beneath that old oak. The grass was soft and there weren’t too many gnarly roots to contend with.”
“You always brought your little iPod along and we’d listen to music all afternoon.”
“I still have that thing somewhere. The sound quality on the speakers wasn’t up to much but it did the job and let me dazzle you with my sophisticated taste in music.”
Gaby laughed at the amused twinkle in his eye. “Sophisticated? I seem to recall you played a lot of dad rock music that summer.”
“Exactly. It doesn’t get much more sophisticated than that.”
She laughed again and glanced towards the copse of trees. “I wonder how many hours we lay there together during that summer, basking in the sunshine.”
“Those were happy days. That summer felt endless.”
“And when we came out here, it was only ever the two of us. We had this spot all to ourselves.”
“It was perfect.” He squeezed her hand and smiled. “I’d suggest we walk over there into the trees, but the ground is wet from the rain we’ve had and I reckon we’d get mucky.”
“I think you’re right. I see puddles from here.”
“Pity. We shared some epic kisses beneath those trees.”
Gaby felt her cheeks warm. “We did.”
“Maybe we can remember them from this spot right here.”
He stepped closer and tilted her chin gently towards him before pressing his lips to hers. With a soft sigh, Gaby sank into the kiss as the memories of those long summer afternoons spent in this place swirled inside her head.
When the kiss was over, Peter pulled her close and she laid her head against his chest as his arms looped around her. The autumn sun shining down and the cool breeze in the air and the soft rush of the river mingled with the warmth of Peter’s embrace and made her feel like she was floating.
The past and present mingled too, and it felt wonderful to be in Peter’s arms again in this place, her lips tingling from their kiss.
See, you can simply enjoy this instead of overthinking it! Well done!
“What’s so funny?” Peter asked when she let out a soft chuckle.
“Nothing,” she said. “Just thinking back to that summer. We’re remembering all the sunny days we spent here, but I seem to remember getting caught in the rain once or twice, too, and having to run for cover.”
“You’re right. We came sloping back into Hamblehurst soaked to the skin a few times.
” His eyes glinted softly as he said this, before he pressed his mouth to her ear.
“I remember one afternoon when we got wet and ran back to my parents’ house to dry off.
The place was empty when we got there. Do you remember? ”
Gaby managed to nod as memories flooded back. They’d taken advantage of the need to strip off, warming each other in the teenage sanctuary of Peter’s single bed. She blushed at the memory of how they’d spent the rest of that rainy afternoon.
“You were my first time,” Gaby whispered, even though he already knew that.
“And I wished you were mine.”
“One of us needed to know what they were doing.”
Peter laughed. “We figured it out.”
“We did.”
She smiled and closed her eyes as she savoured his breath against her face as images of that long ago afternoon flickered in her mind like an old movie. When Peter stepped back, she missed the press of his body against hers instantly.
“I see rainclouds in the distance,” Peter said. “If we don’t want a repeat of that afternoon we’ve just been talking about, we ought to start walking back.”
Gaby’s mind couldn’t help jumping to just such a scenario. It took some effort to shut off these new—and decidedly more scandalous—images before they turned her legs to jelly.
Grateful for the walk back into town to distract her, Gaby followed Peter along the riverside pathway and on to whatever he had in mind for them next in this trip down memory lane.