‘Olivia?’ Jacob moved closer to her.
‘My sister …’ She faltered, her voice so small it was barely audible over the crashing waves. ‘My sister’s … well, she’s …’ Olivia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. ‘She’s dead.’
The words landed like bullets on the ground between them.
‘Shit, Olivia. I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s OK.’ She smiled through the stream of tears that were flowing freely down her face. Olivia lifted her chin to the sky and felt the sea air chill the salty tracks on her skin. ‘She passed away a few months ago but she’d been sick for years. She got diagnosed with cancer when she was four.’
‘She was a fighter, then?’
‘Just a bit! If there was one thing Leah loved, it was living.’
‘That’s why she bought you this trip?’
He remembered.
‘Yeah, she bought me a ticket as a farewell gift, wrote me this beautiful letter about how she wanted me to go and explore, and live my life …’
Olivia lowered her face and looked at Jacob. The cheeky bravado that seemed to permanently cloak him had softened to a gentle sweetness.
‘Wow. That’s special.’
‘I mean, let’s be honest, it had to take something special to get me to come and travel round India.’ She dug her toe deep into the baking sand. ‘I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s not exactly my natural habitat.’
Jacob lifted up her gigantic bag. ‘I have no idea what you mean!’
The pair burst out laughing.
‘I could never say no to Leah. Nobody could.’
‘It sounds like she was an amazing person.’
‘She was.’ Olivia raised her eyes to the ocean. ‘God, she would have loved this.’
‘What do you think she would be doing right now if she was here with us?’
Olivia didn’t have to think twice. The moment she’d seen the water she’d thought of Leah, running straight towards it and diving in.
‘She would have been in there, headfirst.’
‘The ocean?’
‘Uh-huh. I swear that girl was part fish.’
Jacob took her hand.
‘You want to do it?’
‘What? Go in there?’ She nodded at the swirling mass of blue.
He squeezed her tighter and grinned. ‘Exactly!’
Olivia closed her eyes and brought her sister’s face to mind. A face that hadn’t been ravaged by the drugs and the slow eating away of her body. A face that had years to live, a face that had a future, a world to inhabit and dreams to fulfil.
‘Fuck it.’ She snapped open her eyes and stood suddenly. ‘Let’s do it!’
‘Hell yes.’ Jacob jumped up and pulled Olivia towards the ocean. The pair ran so fast, mouths wide open, screaming at the top of their lungs as the cold water lapped at their feet.
