As soon as I heard Elias’s name, my face felt hot. I cleared my throat, took a drink from my water bottle, and nodded without making eye contact. “Sounds good. Elias was great helping with the translation, and Abraham and Yohannes were awesome with the families. I’m excited for the next round!”

Down, boy.

Sam scoffed while putting away his stuff, but didn’t say a word. I almost wished he would so I could tell Bonnie all the different ways we’d kept him from fucking up the project in the last couple of weeks. Thankfully, for once, he kept his mouth shut.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, which read “what’s with him,” but I just shrugged, too annoyed to even get into it.

He smirked and looked at me with an expression that wasn’t exactly friendly, but I could tell that he knew not to try me. “Desta and Elias work well together.” He stretched out that last word like an ass, but when I narrowed my eyes he backed off quick. “Anyways, I’m headed home. Teams sound good.”

That was as much of an olive branch as I was going to get from Sam, so I lifted my hand as he headed out and turned my focus back to Bonnie. “I’ll see you a week from tomorrow, then? I’ll connect with Elias tonight to make sure we’re on the same page for our departure time.”

She gave me a thumbs-up and seemed totally fine with me basically ignoring Sam. “Yes, I’ll be there for the second week. We’ll come up with a plan for the wrap-up then, before we cut you loose to go back to the U.S. of A.”

It was like someone had punched me in the stomach. The thought of leaving and not seeing Elias again made me feel hollow inside. I gave Bonnie a forced smile as I tried once again to get myself together. “Oh, I’m in no rush to get back to DC.”

That truth hit me hard. I didn’t feel ready to face any of the things that were awaiting me when I got home. At the top of the list was the apartment with all of Miguel’s stuff that he didn’t bother taking with him. So much baggage. And here I was piling even more up with whatever I was doing with Elias. I felt weighed down with all of it.

“Are you okay, Desta?” Bonnie’s worried voice broke me out of the chaos in my head and I did my best to come up with a smile.

“I’m good.” She didn’t seem to buy it, but I didn’t think I could sound more convincing if I tried. “Must be hungry. I’m going to head out. Hopefully I’ll find something open close to the guesthouse.” I slid on my backpack and waved to Bonnie.