At home, whenever he was unsure whether to take a scarf or hat out with him, his father would always say, Better safe than sorry. But that saying wasn’t always true, he realized now.

Or maybe it only applied to hats and scarves. Not to the item lying at the bottom of his duffel bag.

29

29

Dessert consisted of small morsels that looked like pieces of summer fruit. Helen bit into a blueberry and lifted her eyebrows in surprise. No powder. No chocolate or ginger. It was a berry. A real one. She nearly burst out laughing.

Squinting at the menu on the table between them, she mentally ticked off the dishes that had already been served. This was the final course. Just a little longer in this noisy kitchen and then the whole exercise would be over.

“Shame—a bit basic, this one.” Werner laid his spoon on his empty plate.

“I like it. The Bavarian cream is good.”

“True, but I’d been hoping for ice cream.”

Helen wanted to remark that the events of the past week had left her with an immense aversion to frozen food, but she held her tongue.

“Are you looking forward to tomorrow?” he asked.

“I think so.”

He looked straight at her for a moment, then lowered his eyes to the tabletop. Wiped a crumb from the surface. “We’re going to do something exciting. Something you’ve never done before. Me neither, for that matter.” He smiled. “I don’t even think it’s allowed. But we’re going to do it anyway.”

“You’re making me very curious now.”

His face tightened. He gave no other response, so she summarized: “It’s about an hour away. A tough hike, you said. And it might not be allowed. Something I’ve never done before, and you haven’t either.” It couldn’t be a ride in a hot-air balloon, as that wouldn’t involve a long walk. And it was legal, of course—even in England. At least, she assumed so.

“Do you think the kids are in bed already?” she wondered out loud.

“Are you really thinking about the kids right now?”

She opened her bag out of habit and went to take out her phone. Then remembered she’d lost it. Was everything OK at home? It was nearly midnight, and all three of the children had school tomorrow, so it was too late to call. A sad feeling welled up inside her. Homesickness, she realized. “I wanted to wish them good night.”

“Then send them a message. They’ll see it first thing in the morning.”

He picked up his phone but didn’t pass it to her. Instead, he held it out in front of him with both hands. “Say ‘cheese.’”

Automatically, she raised her wineglass and smiled.

Werner looked at the photo and then handed her his phone. “Now, write something to go with it.”