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I look over my shoulder. “You’re good. Step where I step.”

“We’re going to get lost.”

“We’re not lost.”

Her head swivels from side to side as her teeth worry at her bottom lip. “I have no idea where we are.”

“Well, I do.”

A part of me wants to give in to her, but she needs to see that she can do hard things. I continue on, and she follows. I do my best to keep her relaxed, stopping to point out different plants.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“My dad. He loved the great outdoors.”

She pauses and points to a flower. “What’s this one?”

When I tell her, she smiles. “You could be making all this up. How would I know?” she teases.

It makes me happy that she’s joking with me. “Take a picture, and you can look it up later.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” she says, pulling her phone from her pocket. That one small act changes everything. Her worries begin to morph into curiosity.

Her snapping pictures slows us down, but I don’t mind. We have all day. When she lies on her belly to take a picture of a mushroom, I know she’s hooked.

“It’s so cute,” she sighs dreamily.

“We should find a good place to stop and have lunch,” I tell her, helping her to her feet.

A few minutes later, she pauses behind me. “What’s that noise?”

I hear it too. “I don’t know. Isn’t it exciting?”

“Exciting? I was thinking more scary.”

Her seriousness makes me laugh. “It’s just water.”

Lexie tips her head to the side, closing her eyes. Fuck, she’s beautiful. A slight sheen of sweat rests in the cupid bow of her lips. Her eyes fly open, but she doesn’t notice that I’m completely mesmerized by her.

“It’s a waterfall!”

“You think?”

She grabs my hand and hurries us toward the sound.

“Slow down, Lex.” I tug on her arm, pulling her close to my side. “It’s not going anywhere.”

When it comes into view, it takes both of our breaths away.

“Worth getting off the beaten path?” I ask.

Tears pool in the corner of her eyes and she nods, unable to speak.

“I knew we’d find the perfect spot for lunch.”

She walks along the water’s edge as I set up a spot for us to picnic. I watch her out the corner of my eye, making sure she doesn’t wander too far away from me.

I sit down as she takes pictures from every angle. She squints her eyes and bites her bottom lip before snapping each shot. It’s endearing. Seeing her out here, enjoying nature, is more than I imagined. She’s more relaxed than I’ve ever seen her.