Pam’s voice hardened as she said, ‘He’s tried. It’s not like he hasn’t tried.’

‘I didn’t mean—’

‘He’s going to write travel articles. I’m going to help him. I’ve always wanted to travel; we’ve talked about that.’

They had, yes. Except Sachs had always imagined that she and Pam would explore Europe or Asia. Big sister and kid sister. She had a fantasy of touring the parts of Germany her ancestors had come from.

‘But school … The statistics show it’s so hard to come back after dropping out.’

‘Why? What statistics? That doesn’t make sense.’

Okay, Sachs didn’t have any numbers. She was making that up. ‘Hon – Pam, I’m happy for you, both of you. Just, well, you have to understand. This’s a pretty big surprise. Fast, like I was saying. You haven’t known him that long.’

‘A year.’

True. In a way. They’d met last December and dated briefly. Then Seth had gone to England for training with an ad agency planning to open a New York office, and he and Pam had joined the ranks of those keeping a relationship afloat via text, Twitter and email. The company had decided not to venture into the US market, though, and Seth had come back a month ago and resumed free-lance copywriting. Normal dating had resumed.

‘And so what if it’s fast?’ An edge to Pam’s voice again. She’d always had a temper – you couldn’t have her upbringing and not find anger near the surface. But she pulled back. ‘Look, Amelia. Now’s the time to do this. When we’re this age. Later? If we get married and if we have kids?’

Please. Don’t go there.

‘You can’t backpack around Europe then.’

‘What about money? You can’t work over there.’

‘That’s not a problem. He’ll sell his articles. And Seth’s been saving for a while and his parents’re totally rich. They can help us out.’

His mother was a lawyer and father an investment banker, Sachs recalled.

‘And we have the blog. I’ll keep doing that from the road.’

Seth had created a website a few years ago where people could post their support for various social and political issues, mostly left-leaning. Women’s right to choose, support for the arts, gun control. Pam was now more involved than he was in running the site. Yes, it seemed popular, though Sachs estimated that the donations they received totaled about a thousand dollars a year.

‘But … where? What countries? Is it safe?’

‘We don’t know yet. That’s part of the adventure.’

Desperate to buy time, Sachs asked, ‘What do the Olivettis say?’