Page 7 of The Last Bench

‘They all have their own special features. The Kanzan’s bark has a coppery sheen, and the leaves are oval-shaped,’ Anne said. She took a seat on the bench.

‘You take the other seat,’ John said to Vega, quickly waving aside her protests.

‘This looks antique,’ Vega said, running her hand over the cream paintwork of the bench.

‘It is!’ John replied. ‘It was my grandparents before it became ours, and it was also the first place I ever kissed Anne.’

Six

Vega

Vega had been observing the couple closely over the past thirty minutes. It was clear they shared a deep affection. From John’s kind gesture of offering his arm to help Anne on the uneven path, to the way Anne looked at him with evident pride as he guided them through his creation.

However, even though she liked them a great deal, she noticed a few things that made her pause.

That they knew the exact day they began making this maze was interesting. She couldn’t give a precise timeline for when she bought her cottage, which was the biggest thing she’d ever owned. She thought of Luka. Yes, Vega could say they had been together for eighteen months. But she couldn’t specify the exact length, whether months, weeks or days, as the Davises could with this maze. Curious. Also, the way John responded to her suggestion of selling. His reply had been firm and swift. Yes, understandable that he wouldn’t want to sell a family home. But the way he’d answered her so gruffly was puzzling.

Vega’s mind raced through half a dozen questions she for which she was eager to get answers. But she recalled Anne’s terms for their interview, insisting that she must let them tell their story, their way, so, instead, she prompted them to continue: ‘What age were you both for this first kiss?’

Anne’s eyes sparkled as she spoke. ‘I was six years old, and John would have been eight!’ Anne said, giggling. ‘When we say that we were childhood sweethearts, we mean it!’

‘My grandfather bought this bench for my grandmother. She was a keen reader and always engrossed in a good mystery, sitting on this, with a rug over her knees. That’s how I remember her,’ John said. ‘Clever woman too – she had a great mind and wit. Anyhow, this was under a willow tree in front of their farmhouse. The branches hung so low that we loved playing underneath them. It felt like a little hidden den.’

Anne interrupted to continue with the story. ‘I’d been to the farm for the first time for a playdate with John’s sister. I had never been on a farm before. It was like stepping on to a movie set. Anyway, we were playing a game of hide-and-seek, all of us kids together . . .’

‘My cousins,’ John explained. ‘My aunts and uncle also built their homes on my grandparents’ land, which meant there was always someone to play with on the farm. We had a lot of fun back then; every day felt like a new adventure.’

‘Until I nearly died!’ Anne exclaimed, cutting in dramatically.

‘Whoa! This is taking a turn,’ Vega said, enjoying their tale, which they’d clearly shared many times over the years.

‘I was searching for a place to hide. I took what I believed was a shortcut to a field. I climbed over a gate and started to run across the concrete . . .’ Anne said.

‘. . . but it wasn’t concrete. It was a slurry tank,’ John cut in. ‘The top had hardened in the sun. I suppose to a city kid . . . Well, how would they know?’

‘I screamed as I started to sink, thinking I was in quicksand! The smell . . .’ Anne wrinkled her nose at the memory.

‘I nearly had a heart attack when I saw her head, barely visible above the slurry. I jumped on the gate, used my legs to swing it over the slurry pit, grabbed Anne by the scruff of her neck and yanked her up!’

‘My hero!’ Anne said, looking up to him. ‘Then and now.’

Vega’s heart swelled as she listened to Anne and John talk. Their love was adorable to witness. She couldn’t wait to tell Luka about them later. He was such an old romantic.

‘You were lucky you survived that!’ Vega said, her mind turning to recent news where toxic gases from a slurry tank had killed farmers.

‘I was grand,’ Anne said, shrugging. ‘John hosed me down, and I smelled pretty bad for a few days, no matter how many baths I took. But not a bother on me.’

‘She’s tough. Always has been,’ John agreed with the same pride.

‘Well, as he saved my life, I kissed him and told him I’d marry him some day. And you know what, that kiss sealed our future. It was the first step in what we’ve always believed was fate.’ Anne paused, colouring slightly. ‘You probably don’t believe in fate . . .’

Vega raised her hand and swiftly interrupted. ‘I spent most of my life being a cynic, but last year fate literally put me in front of someone I’d been searching for throughout my entire adult life. I refuse to believe that something higher than me didn’t play a part in reconnecting us. You could call that fate too, but I’ve always thought of it as the stars aligning.’

John smiled at Vega, which felt like a breakthrough. ‘That’s a nice thought. Well, I’ll be forever grateful that stars put Anne in my path.’

‘I can’t wait to hear the rest of your story,’ Vega said truthfully. ‘How long have you been together?’

‘That first kiss was almost seventy years ago. But it took us a decade to make it official, which means we’ve been a couple for sixty years now.’ Anne said.