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“I’m sorry, Kenny. So, so sorry.” Tears flooded Sarah’s eyes, though she smiled. “It’s really good to see you.” She picked at the bark. “I love you,” she whispered.
Kendra’s heart melted.
Sarah wiped away the tears. “Mark and I are getting a divorce.”
Kendra processed the enormity of the statement. It was a brave decision, given the potential impact on Sarah’s political career and family life. “What about your children?”
“We’ll explain everything to them. They’ll be upset, naturally, but they’re growing up quickly, and they need to understand how relationships work. I’m sure they’ll come around. Abs has missed you,” she said.
Kendra had enjoyed spending time with Abi, but that was hardly going to make Kendra’s relationship with Sarah acceptable in her children’s eyes. If anything, it complicated matters. Having a laugh with Abi while employed as Sarah’s admin was a very different proposition from Kendra being her mum’s partner or stepmother. Kendra had thought these things through since arriving in Khao Sok. It had helped her realise the whole affair had been heading down a dark hole from the start. “There’s more to it than that,” she said.
Sarah moved her hand across the trunk and touched Kendra’s fingertips. “Not if we want the same thing,” she said.
Kendra stared at their hands, at Sarah’s fingers, and a tingling sensation worked its way through to her core. Sarah could fuck her here and now had things not turned out the way they had. She tried to breathe, but her chest tightened, and the trembling inside her grew in courage. If she let her desire rule her actions, it would send the wrong message, because Kendra would be reeling from another broken heart when Sarah left at the end of the week. She eased her hand from the tree. She curled her fingers to form a fist and cradled the memory of Sarah’s touch in her palm.
“What are you going to show me while I’m here?” Sarah asked.
She shoved her hands in her shorts pockets and smiled with the same look in her eyes Kendra had seen when Kendra had first had an angry pop at her.
“We’re tubing later if you want to join us. And there’s a night trek tomorrow. There’s a bar and some restaurants in Khao Sok if you want to venture that far.”
“I want to be close to you, Kenny. That’s all.”
Kendra felt the tug at her lips that stemmed from her wildest dreams of what they could do and be together. “Tubing it is then, but I have the group to look after.”
Sarah nodded.
“Later in the week, we can try out the canoe I dug out and go to a cave inside one of the karsts. You have to see it. It’s spectacular.”
Sarah smiled. “You dug out a canoe?”
Kendra noticed the light flicker across Sarah’s eyes. The hint of a sparkle in them softened the last of Kendra’s frustration. “Yeah, I started when I got here. Nearly wasted myself in anger.” She held Sarah’s gaze and smiled. “It’s okay. I’m not cross with you anymore. Confused, yes. I was as pissed off with myself for believing we were special. I should have known what the outcome would have been.”
Sarah shook her head. “No, Kenny. We are special. I want to be with you.”
“And what about the job?”
Sarah smiled. “I want the job too. Why can’t we have both?”
“I don’t want to be with the PM,” Kendra said, shaking her head, her gut twisting at the thought of having aspects of her life and her freedom shattered by the press. She would always be the second person in their relationship, and their relationship would be second to the job. She couldn’t see how that would work.
Sarah nodded. “I came here to get away from it all. Can we just be together now, without thinking too far into the future? I’m not going to make idle promises. If I say something, I mean it. You have to trust me on that.”
Kendra nodded.
Sarah took a deep breath and stared at Kendra. “I want to touch you,” she whispered.
The words threaded beads of fire through to Kendra’s core. Her heart raced. “I—"
“Kenny. Kenny.”
Kendra broke eye contact at Malee’s raised voice, and she scratched her head. “I’ve got work to do.”
Sarah smiled. “If you need a hand with anything, just shout.”
Kendra started down the track. “You’re a guest, here to rest and enjoy the ambience, and look out for the mosquitos. They’re vampires.”
Sarah laughed. “I’ll cream up and watch you working then.”
