Page 117 of Thursdays at Orange Blossom House
Patricia’s breath catches in her chest and she wants to stop the car because her eyes have filled with tears. But she blinks and keeps going.
All her life she has waited to hear her mother say she loves her, and has known for a while now that those words will never come. What she hasn’t known – until now – is that she has unconsciously sought out another mother. It wasn’t, after all, only her teacher she had to find and love. And whom she is now going to leave.
‘I love you too, Grace Maud,’ she says as she pulls up outside the little house.
‘And I’ll still love you when you’re back from your trip,’ Grace Maud says. ‘So we’ll have no tears.’
Patricia nods quickly. ‘I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eleven.’
They’re going to Dorothy’s so Patricia can say goodbye.
‘I look forward to it.’
Grace Maud shuts the car door, and Patricia waits, as she always does, for her friend to walk into her house. This time, Grace Maud gives her a wave goodbye.
When she arrives home she pours her father a cup of tea but she’s too nervous to drink one herself. She has a call to make, and it feels momentous yet practical at the same time.
To manage her nerves she’s tried telling herself that Dennis can be her insurance policy in India – it would be silly to not stay in touch with someone from home if they’re in the same country. But she knows why she’s really calling him: she wants him to say the offer is still open. That they can travel together.
‘Hi, Patricia,’ he says when he answers, sounding surprised.
‘Um … hi. Hi. How are you?’
She thinks she hears him laugh. ‘Fine. How are you?’
‘I like the idea of your trip to India so much I’ve decided to take my own,’ she blurts, then hears him inhale sharply. ‘Just for a few weeks. Not for the whole year.’
‘That’s amazing!’ he says. ‘When did you decide this?’
‘The other day,’ she says, not wanting to say she’s been almost obsessing over the idea. ‘Whereabouts are you going?’
‘Kerala. You?’
‘Mysore.’
‘I’ll change my flights,’ he says without hesitation.
She is so taken aback that exactly what she wants to happen is happening that she takes a few seconds to respond.
‘You can’t do that!’
‘Why not?’ Dennis says. ‘If you’re going to be in India, there’s no way I’m going to a different part of it.’
‘Dennis, honestly – I just thought it would be good if we knew the other was there. In case.’
Now it’s his turn to be silent.
‘And how are we meant to find each other if we’re not together?’ he says at last, and she can hear the amusement in his voice.
‘Um …’ She knows it’s a reasonable question. ‘Carrier pigeon?’
He laughs. ‘My dream girl is going on my dream trip and you’re telling me I can’t go with her? I’m changing my flights.’
‘I’m hardly a girl,’ she says, because she can’t help herself. She has to push him on this point: their unsuitability for each other. Or, rather, her belief in it.
‘No, you’re not,’ he says, and her heart sinks a little. ‘You’re a woman. Which is great, because I’m only interested in women.’
‘Oh,’ is the only thing she can manage to say.
