Saba walked out to the car with me. I put my bag in the trunk and greeted Tefare with a few shoulder bumps.

“Are you ready to go home?” He smiled at me like he knew it was not an easy question to answer.

“I think so.”

He shrugged, looking between me and Saba. “We will be waiting for you. You have this land in your heart and in your name.”

“I do,” I said, feeling the truth in his words.

I was about to get in the car when Saba touched my shoulder and pulled something out of her pocket. It was an envelope. On the back I saw the familiar handwriting, and just one word.

Konjo.

I took it from her slowly. “He was here?”

“He dropped it off the night before you got back.” She gave me that same grin she’d been sending my way whenever Elias came up and raised her shoulder feigning innocence. “We’ve been getting to know each other.”

I just stood there, dumbstruck while she wagged a finger at me. “Don’t open it until you’re on the plane.”

I scoffed, glaring at her. “Are you kidding me?”

“He asked me to make you promise.”

“Saba!” I could not believe this shit.

She waved me off smiling. “Get in the car. You’ll miss your plane. I promise you don’t want to read it now.”

I blinked at her, still processing the last minute.

I opened my mouth to ask what her tone meant. She sounded amused, but there was certainly nothing to laugh about as far as I could tell. “So you’re not going to tell me.”

“I am not. And really, Desta, you need to get in the car,” she said with urgency, ushering me toward Tefare.

“I thought you said I was fine with time,” I huffed as I got in, but at the last second I blew her a kiss as we drove away, the envelope from Elias burning a hole in my jacket pocket.

After a few minutes we were on the road to the airport, and Tefare looked in the rearview mirror with a knowing expression on his face. “So? Did you find what you came looking for, Desta?”

I smiled and closed my eyes before I answered. “That and more, my friend.”

I got to my gate with some time before boarding and found an empty chair to wait. Since I’d arrived at the airport, I’d been playing a game with myself to see how long I could go without tearing into Elias’s note. I’d run a hand over it. Take it out of my pocket to make sure it was there. I moved it to my backpack and finally put it back where it was closest to me.