The caution.
The too much too soon.
He glances at me.
I don’t say anything.
Partly because Mum has already bulldozed the invitation into existence.
Partly because I suddenly realise, with a small drop in my stomach, that I want him to say yes.
More than I should.
Philip clears his throat.
“That’s genuinely lovely of you,” he says, “but I need to see my sister tomorrow.”
Mum pauses.
“Oh?”
Philip nods.
“She lives not far from here, and this may be my only chance before I leave for Toronto on Wednesday.”
Wednesday.
The word lands with an odd, unpleasant heaviness.
Philip leaves on Wednesday.
That has been built into every hour of this from the beginning.
Temporary.
Contained.
Safe in the way deadlines are supposed to make things safe.
And yet hearing him say it now, with his leg pressed against mine and my mother already trying to claim him for Sunday lunch, makes the date feel suddenly less theoretical.
Less like information.
More like a wall.
Beside me Philip is still smiling, apologetic and warm.
“I promised my sister I’d come by,” he says. “And I don’t know when I’ll see her again once I’m gone.”
“Oh, of course,” Mum says at once, all sympathy now. “Family first.”
Dad nods from behind his paper as though he personally approves this message.
Mum sighs.
“Well, that is disappointing, but understandable.”
Philip smiles.
