Page 16 of Secret Paths

“You had one.”

“It involved the branch staying open.”

“And they changed it.” Her hat lifts in the wind, and she presses it down with one hand. “That is not you failing to have a plan.”

I look at the wet grass ahead of us.

Mandy touches my sleeve near my wrist.

“You have savings?”

“Yes.”

“You have your house?”

“Yes.”

“Then you have time to think.”

“I do not have forever.”

“No one does.” Her hand drops. “But you do not have to decide what the rest of your life looks like before we reach the top of a hill.”

A laugh slips out of me.

“That is a very specific deadline.”

“It is a manageable one.”

“You are always this practical?”

“No.” Her mouth curves. “Sometimes I eat biscuits at my desk and ignore emails for twenty minutes.”

“That is the most rebellious thing I have ever heard.”

“It is in my world.”

I look at her.

She is trying to make me smile without pretending any of this is small. It should not mean as much as it does.

“I do have transferable skills,” I say.

Mandy gives me a wary look. “Do you?”

“I am very good in kitchens.”

Her cheeks colour.

“Peter.”

“What?”

“We are in public.”

“Most people are over there.”

“Mrs Higgins is behind us.”