Hannah Bernard - The Marriage Adventure

Maria tossed the oars on the ground and busied herself with her shoelaces. She was starting to tremble. Stop it, she told herself fiercely. You’ll be fine. This is fun!

A muffled curse and a yell had them pausing. Maria turned around to find Eddie leaning against a rock, cursing and pounding his fist against the cliff while cradling his foot with the other.

“You okay?” Mom asked.

“I think I twisted my damn ankle,” Eddie bit out, grimacing. “Damn. I think it’s swelling up already.”

“How in the world could you twist your ankle here?” Maria’s dad asked. “You climb mountains without trouble, but twist your ankle on a simple gravel path?”

Eddie grimaced in pain, but managed a crooked smile. “Yeah, well, Harlan, I try my best.”

“Let me take a look,” her mother said, but he waved her off.

“No need, Kara. Really, I’m fine. It’s not like this has never happened before. I know the drill. I’ll go back to the cottage and wrap it in ice. Go on without me.”

“Can you drive?”

“Sure. Only need one foot for that.” Eddie’s gaze shifted to Maria. “I might need some help…”

Relief flooded Maria when she spotted the way out. “I’ll stay behind with you, Eddie. No problem.”

“I don’t know,” Mom said doubtfully. “It’s not fair that you miss out on the ride, Maria. I’ll stay with Eddie.”

“No!” Maria said. “You need to make the trip. It’s on our list of adventures for next year. Go on. I’ll take care of Eddie.”

She saw the adults exchange a smile at the thought of the fourteen-year-old taking care of nineteen-year-old Eddie, but they eventually agreed. The extra kayaks were carried back to the truck, and then their parents waved goodbye.

Eddie and Maria started toward the truck, Eddie leaning slightly on Maria for assistance as he hobbled along.

A few minutes later they were out of sight, and Eddie took his hand off Maria’s shoulder. He started striding toward the truck and she stared after him, not understanding. “Eddie, your ankle!”

He glanced back with a smirk. “Don’t tell me you bought it, too?”

Maria still didn’t get it. “Bought what?”

“My act?”

Her brain seemed to be functioning in slow motion. “There’s nothing wrong with your foot?”

Eddie rolled his eyes as he yanked the door of the truck open. “No. It’s fine.”

“But you…you love rafting. You love crazy rivers. You’re not scared of them.”

“Right.”

“Did you pretend you hurt your ankle so I wouldn’t have to go?” It seemed unbelievable. Why would he do something like that for her?

“Get in, Maria. Let’s go to the cottage and you can play with your crayons.”

“I brought charcoal,” she corrected dignified as she got into the truck. “Crayons are for children.”

Eddie winked at her through the open window. “And you’re not one?”

Maria grunted, and stared out the side window when he got in on the driver’s side. Eddie had grown up quickly. They’d played together once, even though she’d always been much younger, of course. Last year he’d gone off to college, and when she saw him again, he’d crossed completely over into the world of adults.

She missed the old Eddie.

They pulled up to the cottage and went inside, sitting for a while in complete silence, Eddie on the couch staring up at the ceiling, Maria at the table with her art supplies.

“Hey, no need to thank me,” Eddie muttered at last.

“Thank you,” she said grudgingly.

“You’re going to have to tell them, kiddo. They think you like this stuff. Heck, I always thought you did. You’re good at pretending. They’ll keep dragging you along unless you put your foot down.”

“My foot is fine where it is, thank you.”

“Why are you pretending?”

“Because I will be an adventurer like…” You, she’d almost said. “Like Mom and Dad. I’ll get there. I’ll get over this. I just need to discover my adventurer’s spirit.”

He grinned, making her feel silly and childish. “Discover your adventurer’s spirit, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Did you read that in a book?”

“No. I made it up myself.”

He chuckled and sat up, reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. “Okay, kid. Now, run off and play, will you? Go discover your adventurer’s spirit. I need to phone my girlfriend.” He winked at her. “We’d like privacy.”

Maria stomped off, angry and disgruntled at the world in general and Eddie in particular.

She just bet his girlfriend had plenty of adventurer’s spirit.

THERE he was—her mother’s dream son-in-law.

He hadn’t noticed her yet, and Maria paused in the hallway, looking him over as he sat there on the living room sofa.

It had been a while.

He’d been wandering the world, while she’d been living a quiet life just a few blocks away from her childhood home. He’d been rafting down glacial rivers and hang gliding from mountain tops while she’d gradually removed herself from her parents’ adventures and settled down to a calm, quiet life, taking art classes and spending her evenings with a good book or a movie, a cat or two by her side. There was much to be said for living vicariously.

But now Eddie was back.

He was sitting alone in the living room, which probably meant her mother had excused herself to help her father resolve a crisis in the kitchen. His profile was to her as he stared into the fire.

He was looking good. He hadn’t changed much. He was a few years older, but his hair was still thick and dark, long enough to brush his shoulders. That was how it usually had been. Once in a while Eddie would get his hair cut really short—and then he didn’t bother with it for months and months. She didn’t like long hair on men. She always thought it made them look feminine, sissy and pretentious.

Except Eddie. Anything looked good on Eddie.

Not that she should notice. She should be looking at him as a brother figure. Nothing more—but it hadn’t been that simple for a long time. Not since her hormones came out of hiding and started playing tricks on her.

In the determined spirit of playing a mischievous little sister, she sneaked into the room and came up behind him, intending to cover his eyes with her hands in an old childish game. But before she got that far, Eddie had twisted around and grabbed her wrists—and somehow she was flying through the air.

She landed on her back across the sofa, her head resting on his arm. She blinked up at him and worked on catching her breath. “Hello, Eddie. Long time no see. Welcome home.”

“Hello, Maria. Did you really think you could sneak up on me?”

His voice was like she remembered. Rough velvet, if there was such a thing. Sandpaper wrapped in silk.

Sexy.

Oh, damn it. So much for the brother figure.

She struggled to sit up, but his arm was across her middle, holding her in place. She grinned up at him. “Hey, I had to try. The way you always bragged about your honed reflexes…”

“Ah. So you wanted to see if I was getting old and decrepit yet?”

His eyes were dark. From a distance they seemed brown, but up close their color was revealed as a deep blue. It was an illusion she never got used to. “Age never crossed my mind. You may be over the hill, but it’s quite a long way down. Don’t worry.”

A smile hovered on his lips. “You’re rolling with me, remember?”

“Happy birthday, Eddie.”

“Happy birthday, Maria.”

They shared a birthday—five years apart. For a while, their parents had celebrated their birthdays together. Until, of course, Eddie became too old to share his birthday with a little girl.