But Oke did see the pink flush in her cheeks, the surprise and, he thought, the happiness when she saw Blair was there. He’d known enough girls who got crushes on him in his own sphere to know what they looked like.

And now he was on the other end. The utter, soul-destroying disappointment.

Of course he’d seen them having coffee, but he hadn’t . . . I mean, she’d come to Camera Obscura. It hadn’t been a date. Not then. But he remembered her face in the church, listening to the music.

Before Carmen had even had a chance to tear her gaze away from Blair and guide Mr. McCredie to the front of the shop where he could give a speech, Oke had turned around and quietly exited the shop, already writing in his head the email where he turned down another term’s teaching. No. Enough. He was far from home and had his head turned, that was all. It was snowing again. This country was freezing. He should go home to São Paolo; his family missed him. See his sisters. Take the presents, even. See his nieces and nephews grow. Catalog his new samples. Work.

There was lots to do. He turned just at the foot of the steps. The bookshop was glowing golden and silver, full of happy people chatting and celebrating the time of year. The lights overhead on the Christmas stars that were hung all the way up the street, as if it wasn’t already pretty enough, twinkled and glowed. It was like being inside a Christmas card.

But he did not celebrate Christmas. Quietly and, for Oke, slowly, he loped up the steps, home toward the halls of residence towering high above.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Babe! Tell me you’ve been misbehaving!”

Blair grabbed Carmen just after Mr. McCredie gave a lovely speech where he thanked everyone for their neighborly support up and down the street, and the biggest round of applause was kept for the new window displays—“all done, of course, by Carmen Hogan”—which made her very happy and blush all at once. She wished suddenly that Sofia could have come, even if her bump would barely fit in the door, then felt angry again when Mr. McCredie thanked Sofia too, and she remembered that this entire thing had been Sofia’s idea, that she had been right all along. And where was Oke? She couldn’t see him anywhere.

Blair had sidled toward her. “Babe! I am bored out of my mind. Can we shake this hellhole?”

Carmen looked at him. Even though it had only been a week, he seemed smaller somehow, a little pouting around the mouth.

“Come on—let’s just go.”

“It’s my party!” said Carmen stiffly. “I can’t go.”

“Sure you can! Let’s ditch this joint and go and hang out, just the two of us.”

She frowned at him. “What about Skylar?”