Page 47 of Love In Translation

“I’d have to go to the areas where the species live, help the scientists find them, talk about how important they are and what their loss of habitat means for them.”

“It would be quite different from what you do now.”

“Very,” Fletch agreed. “Shorter, for one. Each trip would be about three months instead of a year. I’d be able to use my degree in biology. But it would be a big departure for me, and I’d be going off-brand.”

“But you’d have a far bigger audience,” Rheo pointed out. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “It sounds like it’s something you’d like to do.”

Excitement flared in his green eyes, which then turned dense and unreadable. “Yes, no... I don’t know. I’ve worked damn hard to get to where I am. I would be going off course if I did this.”

“Or simply finding a new way through the jungle,” Rheo suggested.

“And you?” Fletch asked. “What’s your plan for the future?”

Ugh, just when she’d started enjoying herself in nature, just a little. But Fletch was done talking about himself, and it was her turn. Shrugging, she wrapped her arms around her bent knees. “Dunno.”

“You need to come clean to your family.”

That wasn’t news.

“It shouldn’t be this hard, right?” she asked him, leaning sideways and resting her head on his big shoulder.

“You made a mistake, Rhee.” He crossed his legs at the ankles and pushed his sunglasses into his messy hair. “You are allowed to make mistakes. It’s what humans do, it’s how we grow.”

“Have you? Made mistakes?” she asked him.

“Fuck, more times than you would believe. When I was younger, my ego and my determination to get everything done better and quicker caused me to make dumbass decisions. I was damn lucky none of them ended in someone getting hurt. So, what’s stopping you from telling them?”

Could she tell him? Could she be that honest with him? Would he think less of her?

“Probably my ego,” she said, keeping her voice low.

He placed his hand on the back of her neck and his gentle squeeze gave her the strength to continue.

“I think I’m better than them, that I’m more sensible, the adult in the room. I really don’t want to admit I messed up.”

She’d followed Paddy’s example and picked up on her grandmother’s prejudices. She and Paddy planned everything, came home to the same bed in the same place every night and made “sensible” decisions. Her parents and Carrie were irresponsible and flighty and their choices questionable. But unlike Rheo, the flighty threesome were flexible. They could maneuver when life threw them off course.

They had more freedom, while she and Paddy played within the boxes they’d created for themselves.

Fletch kissed her temple and held his head to hers, seeming to understand how little she liked herself right now. Coming face-to-face with yourself, seeing the aspects of your personality you didn’t like, was agony. Doing it in front of a man you were crazy about was torturous.

Fletch moved away, bent his legs, and rested his forearms on his knees. “Can I make a suggestion?”

Rheo nodded and made a rolling gesture with her hand.

“Why don’t you explain your situation to Carrie first?”

She pulled a face and Fletch sighed.

“I don’t understand why you and your cousin aren’t better friends. If you met each other as adults, you’d enjoy each other. She’s a little wild, sure, adventurous, but she has a heart as big as the sun. And while you think you don’t have an adventurous bone in your body, you are far more open to new things than you profess to be.”

Rheo gasped. “How dare you!” she stated, dramatically slapping her hand on her heart. “I’m not in the least bit adventurous!”

He ignored her amateur acting. “I think you are. There is more than one type of courage, and you don’t have to run around the world to have an adventurous spirit,” he told her. “And Carrie is nicer than you think, and she’s a damn loyal friend.”

“She can’t keep a secret to save her life,” Rheo muttered. Carrie spoke first and thought later.

“She can,” Fletch insisted. “She’s kept a couple of mine.”

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