It’s a good thing I’m wearing baggy trousers tonight because my standard response to thoughts of Sadie isn’t at all tempered by my tiredness or the amount of alcohol I’ve consumed.
“It was brilliant. I felt like I was seeing it all again for the first time.” Simon shakes his head, inadvertently echoing my sentiments of last night, and I can see the hearts in his eyes.
“I’m surprised you’re still up then.”
“We’ve only been back for half an hour. Sadie insisted we find somewhere to eat, so we took her to that little place near the market and she people watched for hours. Bart lost rock paper scissors, so he brought Riley and Garret back and they ate in the hotel. I think Garret’s scared to eat out in case he gets Egyptian belly. Little does he know, there’s no escaping it if it wants to get you.” Jeremy, who gets Egyptian belly every trip, chuckles darkly.
“I’ll take over tomorrow, guys. You can have the day off if you want.”
“Day off? Hell no. I wouldn’t miss watching Sadie see the Pyramids for the first time for all the camels at the camel markets.” Simon leaps off his stool, polishing off the last of his beer. Bart and Jeremy reluctantly follow suit, Bart gazing longingly at the beers in the fridge behind the bar. Can't say I blame him if he spent the evening entertaining Riley.
I gulp the rest of my whisky and stand.
“We’d better get some sleep, then. Sounds like it’s going to be a busy day.”
The next six weeks are going to be even more hellish than I imagined. Because I suspect the sweat and the dust, and the sand and the exhaustion are only going to make Sadie more attractive. Not less, like I’d almost convinced myself.
And now I have a not-so-small something to take care of before I can even think about sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sadie
Nothing can prepare you.
There I am, gazing out the window of our little bus, when out from behind a cluster of buildings pop the Pyramids of Giza.
And I can’t help it. I cry. Not an all-out wail, obviously. But a tear. Maybe two.
The Pyramids disappear again behind the next building, and my eyes are drawn to Ethan. He’s watching me. Our gazes lock, and I feel it all the way to my toes. I can see he knows exactly how I’m feeling. I can tell he felt it too, the first time he saw those incredible structures. I’m trying so hard to keep it professional with him. But being here has scraped a layer of protection off, and I feel emotional and exposed. Seeing this country affect Ethan the same way makes it all the harder.
We arrive at the site, and despite the early hour, the carpark is bursting. The security checks seem to take forever, but eventually we’re fighting our way through the crowds to find aquiet spot. We’re right up close to a towering structure that’s stood for over four thousand years.
Magical doesn’t even begin to describe it.
“Can you feel that?” I ask as we all stand gazing up the slope of the ancient stones.
“Feel what? The wind?” Riley says, swatting at the hair I warned her to tie up that’s now sticking to her lip gloss.
“The centuries. The millennia. The thousands of years. Of souls. Of rituals. Of reverence. Of life,” I whisper, not wanting to disturb the sensation filling my lungs and lifting the hair on the back of my neck.
Ethan gives me a look that almost melts my bones. A look that says I’m not alone in this feeling. He feels it too. Of course he does. Because as much as I’m trying to deny it, as much as I don’t want it to be so, the visceral way Ethan and I respond to Egypt connects us on a level I’ve never experienced before.
I could spend all day—multiple days—roaming the enormous plateau of Giza, walking up the causeway, wandering through what remains of the funerary temples, standing toe to toe with the Sphinx.
As the sun starts to get low in the sky, Ethan leads us on a walk further up the plateau, which is narrated by Riley.
“This soft sand is so hard to walk on,” she whines.
“You’re Australian. Aren’t you used to sand?” Jeremy asks.
“I don’t go to the beach. It’s much more relaxing to spend the summer on Dad’s boat.”
Bart snorts and Simon rolls his eyes.
“And it’s sohot.Ethan, will it be this hot in Amarna?” She scampers a little to catch up with Ethan’s long strides.
“Hotter,” he responds without even glancing at her. “You’d best get used to it now, Riley.” How she can’t hear the irritated edge in his tone is beyond me.
