Chapter 62

“I’m doing this because I’ve been waiting to have you to myself for thirty-two years. You can come home with me, and we can finally be together. We won’t have to worry about raising a child, or saving the world, or building a business. I thought this trip would the last big hurrah,” he explained, hoping she would understand.

“How can it be when I have the ability and the means to do everything you’re asking me to give up?”

The hut felt like an oven as the sun crawled in the sky. Sweat beaded on his face and neck, rolling down his skin. He itched everywhere, his skin crawling. He wanted nothing more than to stand beneath an ice-cold shower. His limbs felt heavy, his back sore. Exhaustion made him collapse at the table, Carol’s untouched breakfast at his hand.

“What about doing community work?” he asked. “What about the foundation you wanted to join?”

“I can’t do that until I have my law degree.”