Timeless(14)

River showed no signs of exertion whatsoever. "No problems. Look, seeing as we're here," he indicated the doorway to the pancake parlor with his chin, "why don't you let me buy you a coffee and some of Rosie's blueberry pancakes? You won't be sorry."

Alexandria peered into the parlor through the window, her breath fogging up the window. There were several couples already seated inside, including a table of five friends and a family of six that looked like they were celebrating someone's birthday. The smell of vanilla, maple syrup and burnt butter, and the fact that the only thing she had eaten all day was one of Violet's scones, had her stomach grumbling noisily.

She nodded, hoping River hadn't heard her stomach. "Okay," she said. "That sounds great, thank you."

"After you." He held the door ajar for her.

Ducking under his arm, she went inside, walking toward a booth tucked away at the back of the room and smiling at a young waitress with long red hair, who said she would be with them shortly.

River hung his wet jacket on a coat stand near the door, then followed her, happy she had chosen a booth at the back of the room, offering some privacy from the rest of the diners. He slid into the booth opposite her.

Alexandria picked up a pink napkin from the table and patted her damp face. "That rain certainly came out of nowhere."

"That kind of thing happens a lot around here. You get used to it after a while." He ran a hand over his own face, wiping away rainwater.

"I don't mind. I love the rain. It always makes everything look so refreshed and clean. The air even smells clean. Don't you agree?"

"I agree," he said, handing her a menu. He loved nothing more than racing through the forest in his wolf form after a good storm, the moist earth beneath his paws, the wet branches slapping against his broad shoulders.

"Sticky," she murmured, taking the offered menu and giving it a quick wipe over with her napkin before opening it.

He examined his own menu. "Yeah, I see what you mean. This one isn't any better."

Alexandria examined the list of options in silence, while River gazed at her secretly over the top of the page and thought how lovely she looked, even with her hair limp and dishevelled by the rain. From across the table, he could smell the sweet scent of the jasmine flowers in her hair. As she lifted her head, his eyes dropped quickly to study his own menu.

"Are you ready to order?" the redheaded waitress asked politely, her pen poised over a round notepad resembling a stack of pancakes. Before either had time to answer, the family seated in the middle of the room broke into singing 'Happy Birthday' as another waitress approached their table with a purple birthday cake smothered with hundreds of tiny flowers made out of icing, and blazing with twelve yellow candles.

Alexandria craned her neck to watch the birthday candles being blown out, wishes being made, reminding her of her own birthdays with the Barnabys, and she smiled. Within seconds, the candles burst back into flame, a trick she had learned as a child from her mother's spell book.

The waitress tapped her notebook with her pen and cleared her throat.

"Oh, sorry. I'll have the two buttermilk blueberry pancakes served with cream and maple syrup, and a mug of cappuccino. I have it on good authority that the blueberry pancakes here are very good." She glanced over at River, who smiled.

"Very good," the waitress said, jotting down Alexandria's order.

"I'll have the same," River said, peeling his fingers off the sticky page and placing the menu in the centre of the table.

As soon as the waitress walked away, Alexandria said in a pensive voice, "We've done that before, haven't we?"

"Eaten pancakes? Many times, I—"

"Running in the rain, I mean. Together, when we were children." She looked squarely at him, waiting for his answer.

He nodded. "Yes."

"How come you never told me we knew each other as children?"

"I haven't had much of an opportunity to talk to you since you've been back. Plus it was a long time ago, and when you never said anything, either, I just figured you didn't remember, or didn't care."

"I still don't remember. Not really. It's just when we ran from the park just then, it triggered a vague memory."

"We all used to play together. You, me, Kat."

Alexandria shook her head. "I can't remember any of that. It's like parts of my past didn't exist, until I came back here. Now, though, when I see something, hear something, smell something, a door opens up. Not open wide, mind you, just a crack, just wide enough to get tiny glimpses. I can't believe how much I've forgotten about my life here."

"You were only five, and it must have been so traumatic for you, losing your parents, the home you grew up in, your friends."