She walked along ahead of me. Her shoes dangled from her finger tips as she flowed across the grass. Her chin was slightly raised as her gaze was thrown outward across the bay. The river was wide here, larger than most lakes I had known growing up. A tip of land flared out, forming a half moon shape. It looked inviting, but held a current that could either be flowing out to the ocean or pushing with the tide upstream. On a windy day, it was not unusual to see sails of both small vessels and kite surfers out in the water for hours at a time.

She dropped her shoes and sat down next to them, her eyes not straying from the horizon. I stopped moving towards her. She leaned back and breathed in the slightly salty air. I looked around; the small park was largely devoid of other people. We were alone, together.

She waved me onward. I moved up and sat down beside her, my arm propped up behind her back; nearly touching but not. I closed my eyes briefly and heard a call. I looked up and saw a seagull coasting above us. I looked skyward, hoping to see a red tailed hawk on the prowl. I saw nothing but a few wary clouds and a distant sun. The gull flew on.

She mindlessly picked up blades of grass and played with them in her fingers. Her hair would occasionally fall across her face and she would push it back over her ears a few moments later. I wore a hat. My hair wasn't going anywhere.

She wondered out loud whether we would have met under different circumstances. I didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say.

She leaned back into my arm, her head slowly rocking back to meet my shoulder. I slid my hand to her waist and held her to me. The wind picked up a little and shook the grass and leaves around us. I wondered to myself what those different circumstances might have been.