Coral Canyon River is cold. It comes down from the mountains, clear and free of civilizations pollutants. For centuries the river has been carving a path through Coral Canyon smoothing sharp boulders down into helpless pebbles.

We come here in the summer. It's where we met. A few families come here, but this is a wilderness for hikers. You have to have strong legs, good lungs, common sense, and a love for the outdoors and the primitive world it offers. After the birth of our first child, James, it never occurred to us that we should stop coming here. Our little boy would soon be accompanied by two sisters, Annie and Molly. The three of them kept us busy with wandering, a thousand questions and their own love for these surroundings.

One summer we didn't make it to the river. Property sales had begun to take a tumble and it was the first time we found that living on commission was a risky prospect. The children were growing like weeds, too, and that brought an increase of visits to the doctor and the dentist. It also meant extracurricular activities that often had us arguing in hushed whispers at the dinner table over a pile of bills. Before we realized it, six summers had gone by.

A second job was on the horizon and thoughts of the river were becoming a vague memory captured in photos and film. The job wasn't near to home which meant I was left to corral three teenagers who all had a desire to go their own way. The past was slipping through my fingers like sand; and the bills continued to cover the surface of the dinner table.

Right after we'd been married, we thought we were being very smart. We wanted to prepare for our future, for those "unplanned" events when life would throw you a curve. No matter what payments were late, there were some payments that neither of us ever allowed to lapse.

Last year it looked like we made a significant dent in the bills. The kids were away at college. With the two of the house seemed cavernous and we realized we really hadn't talked to each other in a very long time. A trip to the river is what we needed and so we went.

The river hadn't changed. It was beautiful and still rushing down from the mountain as clean as anything on this Earth could be. At first I didn't hear what Andrew was telling me and when he repeated himself, I didn't reply this time and just. . . listened. It was something about an investment. A business that he had risked our future on without my knowledge. We were going to lose everything. Slipping his hand into mine, he kissed my cheek. He apologized for all those times he hadn't been there. He told me how much he loved me and that he still remembered how beautiful I looked the day he saw me wading into the river. Then he whispered into my ear.

"We planned for the future, Evey."

The river... is very cold.