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Compared to Oliver’s dreams, mine might pale in comparison and I was glad that Grandma Margaret validated them. When our classmates at school heard that Oliver was leaving for London to study medicine, they couldn’t believe that I was going to just stay and become a teacher. We were both just eighteen years old and he already had such big dreams, whereas mine were rather simple.
“A teacher?” they would say. “Somehow, that doesn’t seem to match up to becoming a doctor. Why don’t you become a lawyer, Amanda? You certainly have the brains for it.”
Just because one has the brains for it doesn’t really mean that they want to go for it, I thought to myself.Fortunately, my family is very supportive of me. Even Oliver thinks I should go for it…
“Everybody! Time to dig in!” Mrs. Compton called out cheerfully.
Her announcement broke up the bickering between Julian and the girls. Grandpa Frederick slowly got up, politely refusing my offer to help him, before holding his hand out to Grandma Margaret. She giggled like a schoolgirl and together, they ambled up to the table that was now laden with food.
I felt someone hug me from the back and I melted into the familiar embrace. In less than twenty-four hours, he would be leaving and there would be no one to hug me like this.
Not for a long time.
“Just imagine,” Oliver murmured close to my ear. “When we’re old and gray, we could look just like them.”
“You mean, you will take a sudden liking to bright and cheerful bowties?” I teased him. “And that I would have to match you every single time?”
He laughed at that. “I could just imagine us.”
“But you have to finish your studies first,” I reminded him softly. For a moment, there was a quiet pause between us both. “London is so very far away.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And this is for the best.”
“It is, I suppose.”
I turned around in his embrace and smiled softly up at him, pressing my hands gently on his chest. He was much taller than me and that never intimidated me. Instead, I felt safe in his strong arms.
I would never tire of leaning my head on his broad shoulders, too. Shoulders that looked like they could carry the world on them.
Oliver had always been rather handsome, with a charming smile that had the ability to light up the world—or my world, at the very least. His deep brown eyes were gazing down at me tenderly, capturing my heart all over again.
God, how I loved his eyes and his smile.
I blinked back my tears and tilted my head “You’re going to make an awesome doctor. I’m sure of it.”
“And you will make a terrific teacher,” he said. “Little boys will be falling over themselves to impress you.”
I wrinkled my nose at that. “Did you do that when you were younger?”
“Good God, no!” he burst out laughing. “Not with Ms. Fisher!”
I laughed a little at that. Ms. Fisher was our kindergarten teacher and it would seem that she was the wrong person for the job. For one, she seemed to be in a constantly sour mood, which was only compounded by the riot of kids running around her. Another thing was that she was always dressed in the most outrageous outfits—like she was trying so hard to be cheerful for the kids but always ended up failing spectacularly.
Last week, I saw her in a brilliantly purple hat with drooping feathers, a lemon-yellow dress with large, purple hibiscuses splashed all over it. With her dour face, she looked like an absolute riot.
“You’re going to do great things,” I told him quietly. “I’m sure of it.”
“I’m going to make you proud of me someday, Amanda,” he promised me. “And then we will find each other again and I will take you all around the world.”
I laughed quietly in spite of the feeling of a huge lump stuck in my throat. “That sounds really nice.”
“Hey, lovebirds!” Elle called out, waving from the table. “Time to eat!”
Oliver rolled his eyes and slipped his hand into mine. “Let’s go before they clean everything out and we’ll be left with scraps.”
I nodded and we joined in on the fun. A minor food fight ensued between Oliver and his younger sister, who tried to swipe a chicken leg off his plate. He then retaliated by smearing some barbecue sauce on her nose. The indignant Elle then chucked a couple of bones at him before their mother called an end to their bickering.
