My heart, racing just moments ago, shuddered to a halt. He used to say the same thing about Emily. I wondered if somewhere deep down, he knew more than he thought he did.
I’d been unable to get the idea out of my head. If Emily and Maia were the same person, would it change my life – again? I was in love with both of them, but I could only have one of them. Did I have to choose? Selfishly, I didn’t want to. To my mind, the only advantage to finding out if Maia and Emily were the same person, was for everyone else, not for me. Bridget would have her daughter back. Henry would have his grand-daughter. Alex would have his sister. I wanted the closure more for them than for myself. I didn’t feel like I needed it as much as I’d thought I did. Whether it transpired that Maia and Emily were the same person or not, I was happy for the first time in years.
But I also knew that Maia had a gaping hole in her life, and if we could somehow find out about her past, she might finally be able to fill it.
That was my driving force. Her need, not mine.
But we had time. Time to google, time to find out about DNA tests and scour missing persons websites. Time for doctors and police files and investigators.
Right now, it was our time and I was determined to make the most of it.
DINNER WAS HOMEMADE pizza, rustled up by my good self. I loved cooking for Maia. Sharing her with Henry had been hard. As great as it was to see them getting on well together, I wanted her to myself again. There were things I wanted to do to her that I didn’t think Henry should witness, nor would we want him to.
I was desperate to build on the relaxing vibe that being with Henry had created, so I was taking her to another one of my favourite quiet, out-of-the-way spots. While she was in the bathroom, I got out my trusty cooler bag and threw in a blanket, a couple of towels and a bottle of wine with two plastic glasses.
Maia walked out of the bathroom, her hair drawn up into a high ponytail, her hands on her hips.
“So, if I need my swimsuit, that means we’re off to the beach. Right?”
I grinned, looking forward to the evening ahead. The sun was still up and it was early. And she didn’t really need her swimsuit. As much as I loved it, I was actually hoping she might forgo it.
“Nope, not the beach.”
She frowned, pouting at me adorably, eyes narrowed. “Another surprise destination?”
“You’ll love it, don’t worry.” I grabbed the cooler bag and my truck keys, still grinning. “Come on, let’s go.”
“You can be very mysterious, Mr Danes.”
“International Man of Mystery, that’s me,” I winked, taking her hand and pulling her towards the door.
We jumped into the truck and headed out of town. She tried to quiz me for clues, but this time I didn’t give in. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted to see her face when we finally got there. Maybe it was just that I enjoyed listening to her wild and random guesses. Either way, I felt like I was walking on air.
A full twenty minutes passed before we turned off the main road and she saw the sign, proudly displayed with a bold arrow on the side of the road.
“A waterfall?”
“A waterfall.”
“I really didn’t see that coming. I was way off wasn’t I?”
I chuckled. “It was highly entertaining, though.”
“Ha! Well, your clues were complete and utter lies – what did you expect?”
I grinned over at her, reaching for her hand. The falls had been one of mine and Em’s favourite places. I was kind of hoping for a miracle. If she really was Em, I couldn’t really imagine her not remembering this place. But if she wasn’t, I still wanted to share its beauty with her. There was something incredibly appropriate about taking a beautiful woman to a beautiful location.
I pulled off the side of the road and parked the truck under the trees. We were surrounded by native bush, green and dense, a basic five-strand wire fence separating the road from the undergrowth. Trees towered above us, sheltering us from the heat of the early-evening sun.
I grabbed the cooler bag from the back seat and waited for Maia to come up alongside me.
“Over there,” I said, pointing to the wooden sty built for crossing the fence-line.
She gave me a puzzled look, but followed as I led the way, climbing over the sty and down onto the other side of the fence. I reached up to take her hand and help her over.
“This looks kind of creepy. Are you sure?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know. Trust me, it’s worth seeing.”
“Why are we stopping here, and not going further up the road to the proper car park?”
I held her hand as we made our way along the dirt track cut into the undergrowth, single-file. “Because that’s where all the tourists go. This is somewhere special.”
We made our way through the bush for ten minutes or so, until we could hear the waterfall clearly in the distance. Another five minutes of fighting our way through the bushes, and the clearing came into sight.