“Five? That would mean I was sleeping for almost four hours.”

“Not just sleeping. You were snoring for four hours. I don’t know how Mom puts up with you.”

“I’ve wondered the same thing myself. By the way, I’m thinking that she and I are going to have a pretty low-key day tomorrow…hang around, eat, maybe have a massage and do a little shopping.”

“Sounds incredibly exciting,” I said sarcastically.

“A little peace and quiet suits me fine,” he said, stretching his arms over his head.

“So what am I supposed to do?” I asked. “The only thing in the world that I’d like to do less than shop is have a massage.”

“I understand. What would you like to do tomorrow instead?”

“I haven’t really thought about it. I guess I could just hang around too.”

“You could, but you don’t have to.” He paused. “There’s no need for both of us to watch your mother.”

“But there is a need for you to, right?”

“The trip is long and hard on her. She just needs a slow day to regain her strength and she’ll be fine. She always rebounds, you know that.”

I knew it. And as long as each relapse was followed by a remission, it didn’t matter. But that didn’t stop me from worrying every time there was a relapse.

“So, tell me, instead of hanging around, what would you like to do?” he asked again.

“I don’t know…I guess I was hoping to do something with you and Mom. Isn’t there something we could do together that wouldn’t be too tiring? Maybe we could go for a boat ride, or…” Then it came to me. “What about if we went on an elephant ride? We’ve never done that before.”

“You’ve ridden an elephant before.”

“I don’t mean a little ride on the beach. I mean a full tour up into the hills.”

“That sounds like a good idea. We take it easy in the morning and we go on a tour in the afternoon?”

“Works for me!”

He reached over and we shook hands. “Deal.”

CHAPTER THREE

I looked at my wrist where my watch was supposed to be. There was nothing but a couple of freckles and the remnants of my summer tan line showing the spot it usually occupied. Even the tan line would be gone after a few days in the sun. No one in our family ever wore a watch while we were in Thailand. We were officially on “Thai Time.” It was tradition, and it certainly was symbolic, but it could be a pain. Sometimes you just had to know the real time. Like, for example, when you were supposed to be meeting your family for an elephant ride.

I looked around at the other tourists lounging around the pool. There were a lot of them, but nobody seemed to be wearing a watch. Nobody was wearing anything more than a bathing suit. Actually, I would have been happier if some of them had been wearing towels. Why was it that all European men thought they should wear a little skimpy Speedo? No matter how fat they were, they paraded around in nothing but tiny bathing suits and flip-flops. Some of the men had bellies that were so big and hung down so low you couldn’t even see the thin scrap of fabric, which made them look like they were naked. I shuddered at the thought.