The weight of his words struck her. Hadn’t she experienced that first-hand? Not just with Jacob, but also with Tracey, and Betty and Suki … all the wonderful, kind souls she’d met on her travels so far. Fleeting flashes of joy, of comfort and of friendship.
‘And anyway, there’s worse things in life than being addicted to chocolate.’
Olivia went to comment but thought better of it.
Unfortunately, it hadn’t gone unnoticed.
‘Go on.’ Jacob cocked his head. ‘What were you about to say?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Come on, say it!’
‘It was honestly nothing.’
‘Olivia.’ He wiped his hand on the front of his shorts and shifted himself to face her. The way he said her name made the hairs on her neck stand to attention. ‘You are many things, but a good liar is not one of them. Tell me!’
‘Fine. I was only going to ask if you are always so optimistic? But then, I think I know the answer without having to ask.’
‘Well, nobody isalwaysoptimistic.’ He grinned, clearly a little flattered by her comment. ‘But I’d say, 99 per cent of the time I am. Life’s too short to be any other way. Youeither dwell on your problems or you do something about them. Joy can be found even in the darkest of places. That’s my opinion anyway.’
‘Hmm.’
Olivia bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, the flippancy of his answer igniting a burst of anger. Clearly his problems had never run so deep that they nearly broke you in two. Clearly his life had been untouched by the darkness of loss and grief and excruciating, earth-shattering heartbreak. Clearly, he’d never lived in the real world.
‘You don’t agree?’
‘Not entirely.’ The tension in her jaw was building as she tried to hold back the words that were piling up, rushing to be spoken out loud. But it wasn’t his fault. How was he to know what she’d gone through? What she’d lost?Whoshe’d lost?
‘Care to expand?’
‘Not really.’ She managed to push the rage back down and out of sight. ‘And anyway, like you said before, even the best of friends can disagree.’
‘Touché, Miss Jackson.’ He began to chuckle. ‘Now, any more food? Because it looks like our boat is coming in.’
Olivia lifted her head, scanning the shimmering expanse of water that rippled like silk before her. People were crowded at the edges of the lake, adults admiring the view whilst children desperately tried to dip their toes in. The grand hotel floated majestically in the centre, as though it had simply been plucked from the sky and placed there as a gift to the city. It was a hive of activity and yet still managed to remain incredibly peaceful, a feat quite rare in the midst of an Indian city.
‘Where? I can’t see it.’ She squinted, unable to make out any sign of a touring boat on the water.
‘You won’t by looking out there. It’s already in the dock!’
She followed the direction of his pointed finger, where, just as he’d said, their touring boat was sitting, its deck filling up with a line of eager visitors.
‘We’re going to miss it!’
‘No, we won’t.’
‘Yes, we will.’ She jumped up, kicking over the bag of peanuts and sending them flying. ‘We haven’t even got tickets.’
The panic of unpreparedness whipped her like a lasso around the chest, squeezing the air from her lungs and flushing blood to her face.
‘We’ll make it if we run. It’s only down there.’ Jacob nodded calmly to the little jetty about a kilometre down the road.
Olivia began to flap, looking from her watch to the jetty and back down again. They needed to clean up first. They couldn’t leave the food here. Then what about the tickets; could they even get them so late? And even if they did make it, would there be room for them? They should have been first in the queue. They should have been there waiting, not lounging around stuffing fake food in their mouths.
‘I don’t know what to do!’ She was paralysed by her own thoughts.
‘Come on.’ Jacob grabbed her hand and pulled hard. ‘Let’s go.’
