Sometimes I remind myself it wasn’t all luck. It was constantly applying to vacancies at the University of Sydney until one stuck. It was spending days in Boston with Hugh laughing, remembering Derek’s antics and Andrew’s inability to control his own flotation. I finally got to tell Hugh how scared I was that Natalie would tell everyone I was Andi, which made him laugh so hard he had to wipe tears from his cheeks. ‘That’s what you thought she was doing?’ he asked. ‘She was trying to convince me to try sunscreen made with seaweed.’ He breathed out, before collapsing into laughter again.

When I whisper-called Millie from the bathroom the morning after our first night together, Hugh still sleeping under our mussed hotel duvet, she shouted, ‘FOUR TIMES?’ so loudly through the phone that I dropped it in the sink.

‘You told me it was good but not that good!’

‘Well, it’s much better now that we’re not in the sand!’ I countered, laughing.

I told my family after I returned from Boston that I met a guy. That we were ‘seeing where it goes, but he lives pretty far away’.

My mom wrinkled her nose at that. ‘Does he live in Boston?’ she asked, with as much disdain as a proud Midwesterner can muster when confronted with the Northeast.

‘A little further than that,’ I replied.

Millie snickered from her place next to me.

Eventually, I got an entry-level position, something I was technically overqualified for, but something that gave me an employment visa. I jumped at the chance.

And as much as I hate to admit when Hugh’s right (which is all the time), he was right when he said I should move to Australia – it looks good on me. I feel stronger from my walks up and down the cliffs, I’m eating healthier food, and I have a sun-kissed glow, the freckles on my nose are out in full force. Plus, the coffee here is incredible.

The oven beeps, startling me from my thoughts. We’re headed to Hugh’s mom’s house for dinner, like we do every other weekend. Hugh’s mom, Gracie, lives in a little white clapboard house smack in the middle of the city. A jade tree sits on her front stoop, beautiful and gnarled. Gracie looks just like Hugh and always greets me the same way. ‘Andi!’ she says warmly, pulling me into a hug like I’m a long-lost friend.

Shaggy, Hugh’s little brother, is already here and Hugh runs to greet him, picking up a rugby ball on his way and immediately initiating a game of toss. Hugh is in his element at home, his body relaxed, his limbs fluid, his eyes a bright, turquoise shade of blue.