A light wind whispered across the grass and a cloud drifted over, blocking the sun from her face. She opened her eyes and blinked at the form above her.
"Alex?"
She snatched the piece of grass from her mouth and scrambled to her feet, feeling the blood burning her neck and cheeks. He looked delicious in that dark suit.
Alex laughed. "Oh, if I only had a camera."
She unrolled her pants legs and slipped into her shoes, giving him a chagrined smile.
"I didn't think you were coming in until this afternoon."
He brushed some grass from her back.
"I didn't have any classes today and I decided to take off work. I was lucky enough to get an early flight." He reached down and grabbed her cane pole from the ground. "What's this?"
At that moment, the bobber plunged under the surface of the water. Alex jerked the pole, setting the hook, and then glanced at her as the fish fought for freedom.
"Now what? There's no reel."
"Pull back on the line, like this."
She grabbed the line and pulled it toward them. She stepped back and watched as he excitedly hauled the little mud cat to the shore and released it.
He stooped to rinse his hands in the pond and smiled up at her.
"You really know how to live, you know that, Heidi?"
He stood and shook the water from his hands. "This brings back childhood memories." He glanced around. "Only the country wasn't near as pretty." His gaze fell on her and his smile broadened, including the dimple. "Beauty everywhere I look - and to think I only have three days to enjoy it." He reached for her and she dodged playfully.
"Come on. I'll show you the swimming hole." She darted around the apple tree and half skipped, half ran down the hill toward the creek. At the path she slowed, and he caught up with her, following her to the edge of the creek.
A huge white sycamore skeleton sprawled on the gravel beach, its bark long gone. She kicked a pile of leaves from the branches where the floodwaters had deposited it a few weeks ago. Climbing up the trunk, she found a smooth spot and sat down.
Alex leaned against the trunk and grinned up at her.
"Like a little lynx. Do you do this often?"
She wrinkled her nose. "You mean climb trees?"
"And run through the fields like a little filly."