"Then let's do this right," he said, taking Cadie's hand.
While walking around, Barrett showed her the pier where fishermen gathered in the mornings.Then he stood at the railing with her, watching a sailboat tack across the harbor.Cadie pointed out the way the sun turned the water golden near the shoreline.Barrett discovered the pleasure of seeing the city through her eyes, as though the place where he'd grown up had been waiting for her to reveal its beauty.
Barrett sat beside her on a bench near a grove of palmettos and talked about random things.He described a disastrous camping trip he'd taken as a teenager, where he had managed to lose the tent poles and spent the night sleeping under a tarp held up by sticks.Cadie laughed, which pleased him.
Then, as they started to walk again, Cadie looked out at the water with a wistful expression."If it were warmer, we could go to the beach," she said.Then she turned to him with a sparkle in her eyes."But I'd love a rowboat ride at Cypress Gardens.Just like they do in a romantic movie."
Barrett linked his arm with hers."Then that's what we'll do."
*****
Cypress Gardens was a thirty-minute drive north of the city.The road took them through stretches of landscape where the trees grew thick.Sunlight filtered through the Spanish moss in long golden threads.Barrett drove with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on Cadie's knee.She rolled down her window partway, and the wind stirred her hair.
The gardens were quieter than Barrett expected.The parking area held only a handful of cars, and the entrance was shaded by a canopy of ancient cypress trees whose trunks rose from the dark water like columns in a cathedral.The air was cooler and carried the rich, earthy scent of the swamp.
They rented a rowboat at the small dock near the boathouse.The attendant, a young man with an easy smile, handed Barrett the oars and pointed them toward the main waterway that wound through the heart of the gardens.
Barrett helped Cadie into the boat and steadied it as she settled onto the wooden bench seat.Then he climbed in across from her and fitted the oars into the locks.The boat rocked gently as he pushed away from the dock, and the dark water spread out before them like glass.
The cypress trees rose on either side, their trunks massive and gnarled, their branches draped with moss that hung in long curtains and swayed in the slight breeze.The water reflected the trees and the sky so perfectly that the world appeared to double, one version above and one below, and the boat moved between them.
Barrett rowed with long, easy strokes.The rhythm felt natural, and the quiet of the gardens surrounded the boat.The only sounds were the dip and pull of the oars, the soft ripple of water against the hull, and the occasional call of a bird hidden in the canopy.
Cadie trailed her fingers in the water and watched the ripples spread outward toward the trees.She looked peaceful."This is beautiful."
"You're beautiful," Barrett said, looking at her when he said it.
Cadie's eyes met his, then she looked away, watching a heron lift from the shallows and glide low across the water before disappearing behind a stand of cypress.
Barrett guided the boat deeper into the gardens, following the waterway as it curved through groves of tupelo and bald cypress.The light diffused as the canopy thickened overhead.Shadows played across the water, and the moss swayed gently as the boat passed beneath it.
He watched Cadie take it all in.He had spent years convincing himself that keeping people at a distance was the price of survival.But rowing through a swamp with Cadie as the water turned bronze in the afternoon light, he had no intention of keeping her at a distance.
Cadie leaned back and closed her eyes, tilting her face toward a shaft of sunlight that had broken through the canopy.Barrett rested the oars and let the boat drift, content to watch her and to hold the moment without trying to make it into anything more than what it was.
After returning to the dock, the attendant caught the bow of the boat and helped Cadie onto the platform.Barrett climbed out after her and reached for her hand.She took it, lacing her fingers through his.
"That was better than any date I imagined in high school," she said.
Barrett smiled."We're just getting started."
*****
In the late afternoon, Barrett took Cadie to The Rooftop at the Vendue.The bar occupied the top floor of the hotel, and the elevator opened onto a terrace with views that stretched across the rooftops to the harbor and the distant line of the Atlantic.The sky was beginning to deepen toward evening, and the first warm tones of sunset were spreading across the horizon.
He chose a table near the railing where they could see the full sweep of the city below.The steeples of St.Michael's and St.Philip's rose above the roofline, and the Cooper River Bridge was visible in the distance, its cables catching the fading light.
Barrett ordered bourbon and Cadie chose a glass of white wine.They added a plate of shrimp crostini and a charcuterie board.When the food arrived, Barrett enjoyed eating slowly, and watching the sky change colors.
"This has been a special afternoon," Cadie said.She put down her wine glass and looked at him across the table."It's like we're making up for all we missed together."
"I know we can't really do that," Barrett said, "but I want to try."
Cadie held his gaze, and he realized that she believed him.That was the thing about Cadie—she didn't need grand gestures or practiced speeches.She needed honesty, and she recognized it when it was offered.
After their lingering over drinks, Barrett watched Cadie as the sunset deepened and city lights began to emerge below.The rooftop filled with other guests, but Barrett didn't care.His attention was on Cadie and her loveliness in the fading light.He liked the way she leaned toward him when she talked, as though the distance across the small table was still too far.
When the plates were cleared and the drink glasses were empty, Barrett leaned back in his chair."I have one more stop in mind," he said.
