He nods, looking directly ahead. “To that, your destination.”

I turn my head to where he is looking just as the truck crests a last little hill. My hands fly to my mouth as I give a sharp intake of breath. “Oh!”

Just below us, carved into the land by time and nature, is a basin, with a sharp cliff rising steeply behind it. In the bottom of the basin is a round little lake. It is a rich and lustrous green like the forest and immediately I want to dive into its depths and feel the water on my skin. The lake, the fern-covered cliffs, the little pebbly beach where the ripples sweep up on; it is all majestic and captivating, and yet it pales in comparison to the star of the show that is demanding my attention.

“Pretty neat, huh?” Heath says beside me. “A hidden gem.”

Cascading off the cliffs is a waterfall. White, turbulent waters tumbling from a stream on the top, thirty meters down to the small lake below. It throws up spray where it hits the lake, and fleeting rainbows burn bright before fading away.

I am so caught up in the wonder of it I don’t see James approach my door, so when it opens I scream and jump, clutching my chest.

“Sorry, it’s just me,” he says soothingly. “I didn’t mean to give you a fright.”

“James, what are you…how did you find this…where are we…?”

“You like it?”

“What do you think?”

“I knew you’d appreciate it.”

“It’s…stunning,” I say, floundering for words. “How did you know it was here?”

He holds out his hand to help me down from the truck. When I step onto the ground and straighten up, he looks me up and down and his grip on my hand tightens.

“When I was first here,” he explains, “Heath showed me this place and I’ve never been able to forget it. The staff come here in the summer to relax and cool off.”

“They’re lucky. It’s just beautiful.”

“It is,” he agrees. “But you’re more beautiful. In fact, you look even more beautiful than I remember.”

“You only saw me last night,” I joke, flushing underneath his intense look. He doesn’t laugh back, just stares at me intently. Finally, he breaks away to turn and sweep a hand around the view. “Ever since I left this place I’ve wanted to come back with my camera and try and capture it. And I thought, why not photograph you here too?”

My heart drops, as does my face.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. “You don’t like the idea?”

I shake my head and look down, shrugging disappointedly. “No, I do. I just…I didn’t realize all of this, the weekend, was all for the magazine.”

He steps forward and puts one hand on my shoulder, the other cupping my chin and gently nudging it upward so I am looking into his face. “No,” he says firmly. “You’ve got it wrong. This is not for an article for the magazine. This is for you. It’s all for you. Everything. Ever since that day in the field, when we swam in the stream together, I’ve wanted to share this place with you. I can’t explain why; it’s just an urge I’ve felt.”