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‘Oh, wow. That’s … that’s the trip to Greece?living a bigger life.’
‘Yeah. I re-read the letter right before I booked that trip.’
‘You never told me that,’ I say.
He shrugs. ‘It never came up. So what did your letter say? “Go to Africa”?’
I chuckle. ‘Not exactly. But it was a reminder about someone who meant the world to me at the time. Aunty Tessa.’ He tilts his head, inviting me to tell him more. ‘One of Dad’s best friends?just this incredible woman and she was brave and adventurous … I wanted to be like her.’
‘You are,’ he says softly.
‘Getting there.’
‘Hey, you’re Adventure Chick, remember.’ He captures my hand in his, squeezing it, and I give a weak smile in return. ‘And you said “was”,’ he adds quietly.
‘Breast cancer. Aged forty-three.’
‘Ahhh,’ he says as though thoughts are sliding into place.
‘Yeah, exactly. So, the Africa connection … Tessa built a school there. Well, she was partway through building a school there when she …’
‘And you want to go there to teach.’
‘I do. Thank you for getting that straight off the bat?especially as it took me ages to figure it out.’
‘Like four months?’ he asks with a slight smile.
‘Like four months, yeah. It was only when I was talking to Dad yesterday and he mentioned it … I think I’d buried that promise to her?to me?because it was too painful. Also, I think maybe Tessa’s age when she died …’
‘Only three years older than you.’ The kindness in his eyes, the understanding?this is why he’s my person.
‘Exactly. I think that was a big part of it?of all this.’ He nods. ‘You would have loved her.’
‘I don’t doubt it.’ He smiles at me warmly. ‘So,’ he says, ‘when are you thinking? And for how long?’
‘Well, I don’t know exactly … soon? I mean, I have to ask the school, of course, but if they say yes, I can take long service leave. I’ve got, like, months owed to me. Oh! I could teach for a whole term! Oh, my god, that’s perfect. I could finish out this school year, then go in January. I mean, that’s the hottest month of the year, but still, it would be good to start the school year with the students. Oh, this is gonna be amazing!’ I start bouncing up and down, clapping my hands just under my chin. I may be forty, but I can still get as excited as a child about to go to Disneyland.
‘I have so many more questions,’ he says, laughing. ‘But I’m really excited for you, Sarah. It sounds awesome.’ He wraps me up in his arms and we hug tightly.
I pull back. ‘Hey, have you ever been to Africa?’ I ask. ‘Would you want to come with me?’
‘I would love to go to Africa with you?even if it’s just for part of the time. And are we talking a specific country or the entire continent?’ he teases.
‘South Africa?Cape Town.’
‘Okay. Well, that’s a start.’
‘Oh, and we can go to a game park! One of those parks with rescue animals?’ Just then, my phone bleeps with a message and I look at it, seeing Cat’s name on the screen.
‘Did you want to read that?’ he asks.
‘I’d better. I sent her a message earlier saying it was urgent.’
‘I’ll give you some privacy, then,’ he says standing.
‘You don’t need?’
‘It’s okay. Oh, hey,’ he says, ‘instead of going out, how about a picnic here in the vineyard?make a dent in some of those leftovers?’
