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“Do you have a mommy,” she repeated slowly, as if I was too dumb to understand her.
“I do have a mommy! She lives in North Carolina with my daddy. And I have two younger sisters.”
“I’m glad I’m an only child,” she said, flipping the page in the book. “I have my daddies all to myself. I’m glad I have three daddies, too. That’s better than just a mommy and a daddy.”
My heart melted. “You’re a lucky girl, you know that? Your daddies love youso much.”
“Do you love my daddies?”
“Oh. I… Ilikeyour daddies. Like friends.”
She nodded. “Good. What country is this?”
I breathed a sigh of relief that the questioning was over. “That’s Italy. That’s where pasta and pizza come from. I bet you like pizza.”
“Ilovepizza!”
My phone buzzed after we had finished the book. It was about the time Archer and I always began texting each day. Kaylee and I were playing Minecraft, so I paused to check my phone.
Archer: Touched down safely.
Me: Good! Thanks for checking in.
“Trish…” Kaylee whined. “You’re not helping gather wood! We need wood to turn into sticks, so we can make more torches and explore deeper into the caves.”
“Sorry! Collect it without me. I need to take a quick break.”
Archer: What are you lovely ladies up to on this fine day?
Me: Playing Minecraft.
Archer: Hold on. Let me make sure I have this correct. We rented an entire estate with three acres of gardens, and you two are sitting inside playing video games?
Archer: And yes, I am quite aware that I sound like a disgruntled old man rather than the lively 32 year old that I am.
Me: We went for a walk earlier! I’ve been making Kaylee go with me for at least half an hour every day.
Archer: You don’t want to go into the city?
Me: We went two days ago. I’ve already bought all the souvenirs for my family. I’ll go back to the market in two days to get more fresh bread.
Me: Also, I got a weird vibe the last time we were there. I felt like I was being watched again.
Archer: That’s unfortunate. Women get stared at quite a lot in this part of the world. I don’t want to push you into something you’re not comfortable doing.
I started to reply that no, it wasn’t that kind of staring. When I was in the market, I felt like I was being watched by someone specific. Someone who was there to spy on me. It had happened twice already, and even though I had no proof of it, I couldn’t shake the feeling.
But I didn’t want to worry Archer, so I changed subjects.
Me: Speaking of pushing me into new situations, I had a LOT of fun last night.
Archer: Wow, a LOT of fun? With capital letters?
Me: Yes. That’s how you know I mean it.
Archer: It was exhilarating for me, as well. Jordy and I discussed it when we landed. We would love to do it again. If you are interested, of course. We would absolutely understand if you enjoyed it as a one-time thing and never wanted to do it again. That’s how I feel about curry. Everyone back home loves curry. I tried it once, and enjoyed it, but I’m not in a hurry to eat Indian again.
His text was a relief to read. It also made me laugh, because I could sense the uncertainty in his text, going to great lengths to reassure me that it was okay if I didn’t want to do it again.
