The River Between Us by Liz Fenwick

Author:Liz Fenwick [Fenwick, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

1914

Alice stood by the window. The fire was low. The sun would rise soon. It was time for her to head back across the river. With her whole heart she wanted to stay here always. At the sound of Zach’s quiet footsteps, Alice’s body tensed in anticipation of his touch. He stood behind her, not quite touching her. Without turning she leaned against his bare chest. The linen of the shirt she wore offered a new texture to the feel of his skin. Her breath quickened. The glass pane in front of her fogged.

‘I want to stay,’ she said.

‘That is my wish too.’ He lifted her hair and kissed her neck. She pressed her hands against the window. His kisses trailed from her neck to her shoulder. The linen fell away and his hand slipped round her ribs and found her breast.

‘Zach,’ she managed to say, her fingers leaving a mark on the condensation.

‘Hmmm.’ He pulled the shirt free from the britches, sliding his hand across her bottom.

‘This is not helping me think.’

‘I wasn’t trying to help you think but to feel.’ He laughed. ‘Sometimes you think too much.’

‘I do, and…’ She couldn’t think or speak when his hand had made its way between her legs. Her fingers splayed to support herself and she pressed her hips back. He dropped to his knees, pulling the trousers down and brought his mouth to where his fingers had been.

She bit her lip in order not to cry out before she fell onto him, bringing him to the joy he had just given her. They lay entwined on the floor, not saying a word as their heartbeats returned to a more normal pace. Outside, the birds began to stir, and Alice rose. Zach collected her clothing from the floor and helped her to dress.

‘I hate leaving you.’ She kissed his shoulder then looked out the window. It was still dark. In the fogged windowpane she wrote A and Z. She turned to Zach. ‘I can be here always this way.’

He frowned.

‘Do you have a sharp knife?’ she asked.

‘Why?’

‘We are going to carve our initials into the glass.’

He smiled. ‘You’re crazy.’

‘Quite possibly but this way we will always be here together.’

He left her for a moment and returned with a fishing knife. She took it from him and tested it on the bottom pane to discover how much force she needed. Zach stood close as she drew her A. He took the knife and interwove his Z.

‘A and Z, the beginning and the end.’

‘I don’t want it to end,’ he said, kissing her, ‘but you do need to go now.’

In haste she pulled on the jacket and thrust the hat on her head. They raced to the river’s edge and she rowed across in the growing dawn light.

The day’s fishing had gone well; the lovemaking even better. Alice was halfway up the hill to the house when she spotted Edmund on the lawn. Her smile disappeared. She cast a quick glance at Zach. His full mouth pressed into a flat line.

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