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  “We will?” Sadie didn’t like the sound of that.

  “Yes, silly, behind us. After the service. And you’ll have to dance with him at the reception.”

  “I do not have to dance with anyone,” said Sadie. “But all right, I suppose I should at least meet him.”

  “Come on,” said Linda, pulling her towards the braai area. “He’s outside with the guys. And he’s a doctor.”

  Sadie groaned. Why did everyone think that just because she was a nurse she should get together with a doctor?

  André seemed nice enough. He was a couple of years older than Sadie, and not much taller. He had a bit of Derek’s nerd thing going on, but it didn’t suit him as well as it suited Derek. He worked at a state hospital in Pretoria and was beginning to specialise in Dermatology. After introducing them, Linda conveniently disappeared and left them alone. Sadie’s heart sank – she wasn’t in the mood for this. After two minutes she knew she did not find André in the least bit attractive, but unfortunately André didn’t seem to feel the same. He kept talking and talking – asking her about herself and telling her about his own career plans and property investments. She tried not to be too encouraging, but it was difficult when she was stuck in this conversation with him without an easy way out. She was relieved when it was time to eat and she could excuse herself as the guests flocked outside to the tables laden with food.

  As usual, most of the food was meat – piles of chops and boerewors and sticky barbecue chicken. Sadie dished up some of the salad she had brought, and found some potato and butternut bake and a garlic roll. She found a seat next to Linda in the garden.

  “So?” said Linda. “What do you think?”

  “Of what?”

  “Of André! Isn’t he nice?”

  “He’s nice, I suppose. But he lives in Pretoria and he’s fascinated by skin diseases. He spent ten minutes telling me about a house he wants to buy in a complex in Centurion. Please don’t start dreaming about a bridesmaid-best man romance, Linda. It’s not going to happen.”

  “All right,” said Linda, reluctantly. “You are very hard to please, Sadie.”

  “Ah, Linda, don’t give me a hard time,” said Sadie. “Just try and remember what it was like before Derek came along. Then he did, and you knew he was the one. Sometimes you just know when someone is not.”

  André chose that moment to pull up a chair and join them. He eyed Sadie’s plate.

  “No braai for you, Sadie?”

  “Nope,” said Sadie. “Not for me.”

  “Excuse me,” said Linda. “I’m going to go and sit there with Derek.”

  Sadie fought the urge to grab her hand and pull her down again.

  “So,” said André, getting stuck in to a lamb chop. “Are you hoping to work more day shifts in the future? Night shifts must be hard on you.”

  “It’s not great,” said Sadie. “But I don’t mind it too much. And I don’t plan to work there much longer. I’m saving to go back on the Africa Mercy.”

  “The what?”

  “It’s a ship,” said Sadie. If she had to talk to André, she might as well talk to him about one of her favourite subjects. And he was a doctor, after all. “It’s a bit like a floating hospital. It docks for nine months a year in a developing country and offers free surgery to the people there. Mostly removing disfiguring tumours, orthopaedic stuff on kids, burn reconstruction and things like that. It’s the most incredible thing you’ve ever seen. It’s in Cameroon at the moment.”

  “You want to work on this ship?”

  “I have already – for three months last year in Benin after I finished my community service. I worked with obstetric fistula repair patients. I want to go back later this year.”

  “Wow,” said André. “I suppose you don’t earn much doing something like that, though.”

  “You don’t earn anything at all,” said Sadie. “You have to pay your way, in fact. That’s why I’m working in a private hospital and living with my parents here now. When I’ve saved up enough for a three or even a six-month stint, I want to go back.”

  “That’s amazing,” said André. “I assume it’s a Christian organisation that runs it?”

  “It is. Most of the people who live on the ship are supported by their churches or individuals in from their home countries. Maybe you should look into it. You would probably see things there you would never see here.”

  André looked a little uncomfortable. “I don’t know how you’d do that, you know, not earning a salary for months at a time. When you have commitments …”

  “I know,” said Sadie. “It’s a leap of faith. It’s why I still live with my parents and I don’t have any debt or anything. So it’s doable for me.”

  “I think it’s a wonderful thing to do,” said André. “I hope you get to go again.”

  “Thanks,” said Sadie. “So do I. I pray every day that God will make a way for it to happen.”

  “So, I’m in Cape Town for another week,” said André. He blushed a little, and shifted awkwardly in his chair, and Sadie guessed what was coming. “Can I buy you dinner sometime?”

  Sadie wondered what it was about that question that grated her. Can I buy you dinner? What was with the emphasis on buying it? Why didn’t he just ask if she wanted to have dinner with him? She didn’t, but still.

  “I have quite a few night shifts this week,” she said, hoping he would get the hint. “I’m not usually up for going out in the evenings.”

  “Lunch then?” he said, not picking up on her reluctance.

  “I don’t think so, André,” she said. “I’m glad I got to meet you, but this week isn’t going to work for me.”

  “All right,” he said. He looked disappointed.

  “Excuse me, André,” said Sadie, deciding that enough was enough and it was time to find the friends she really wanted to catch up with. She left him alone, finishing his lamb chop. He wasn’t a bad guy, but to go out for dinner with him just for the sake of it was not appealing at all. She was not going to do it, not even for Linda’s sake.

  Chapter 35

  Sadie was glad that she was at home when she got the message, and not at work, where it would have rendered her useless for the rest of her shift. It was four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and she was on the couch eating a sandwich, having just woken up after a post-night shift nap. She picked up her phone and saw it immediately. It was from Alvin. Nursie! I’m back in our beautiful homeland for Christmas plus a few weeks. How about a Camp Bellevue Reunion? Joe’s here too.

  Sadie’s mouth fell open and she stared at her phone screen in amazement. It took a few seconds before it sunk in enough for her to start thinking about it. What on earth did it mean? Joe was there too? Where? With Alvin? Joe was in South Africa? He was in Cape Town? She texted back. Whaaat? Joe is here?

  The message had been sent a few hours earlier while she had been sleeping, so she knew she might have to wait a while for a reply. She put her sandwich down on the plate, her appetite suddenly gone. Joe was here, in Cape Town. Alvin, she had seen the previous year when he had come home to his family for Christmas – that made sense; they lived practically around the corner from her. But Joe – she remembered him saying he would like to visit South Africa. Maybe he and Alvin had kept in touch and he had come out for a visit. It didn’t sound very likely, but it was possible. What could he be doing here? Surely he wasn’t just on holiday? And he could have contacted her. He had her number from camp days, if he hadn’t lost it. He was here, and he hadn’t got in touch.

  Maybe he had a girlfriend. Maybe he was married! He would be 27 now, at least. Maybe he was here on honeymoon! The possibilities flew through her mind. She was disturbed. Very disturbed. She did not want Joe appearing in her life and disturbing things. It had taken a long time to get to the point where she did not think about Joe every day and wish that somehow things could have been different. Eventually she had managed it, through sheer force of will and a lot of prayer. She had asked God to help he
r stop thinking about him so she could move on with her life, and largely, she had. The memory of him had moved to the back of her mind, and stayed there – except of course, when she brought it out to compare with just about every guy she met. So far, no one had measured up.

  She got up from the couch. She wanted to have a shower – but what if Alvin replied and she was in the shower? Maybe she should phone him back. Luckily her phone buzzed before she had to decide.

  Yes, Joe is here. He says Hi. Are you free now? We are at the Waterfront. I’m introducing him to the delights of the Castle Light draught.

  Joe says Hi. He was sitting at a table a little more than ten kilometres away, drinking a beer. Could it be that simple? She texted back, so grateful that she had once again turned down dinner with Scott Atkinson that evening. I could be there in an hour.

  Sadie wasn’t about to rush off as she was. If she was going to see Joe, she needed to shower, and get her heartrate back to something approaching normal. Great! How about we meet for an early dinner at Quay Four? It’s on me and my Pounds.

  An hour later, Sadie had done it – she was standing outside the restaurant, wiping her glasses on her shirt and letting herself catch her breath after walking quickly from her car which she had had to park far away. She had managed to freshen up, but she hadn’t managed to do much about the flutters in her chest. Relax, Sadie, she told herself. It will be okay. In her hurry she had dried her hair and left it down, and it suited her, falling in a smooth light brown wave over her shoulder. Lots of swimming in the sea that summer had highlighted it with gold. She hadn’t had time to stress much about what she was going to wear, so she had just pulled on her current favourites – a barely pink T-shirt, a light, short skirt and strappy sandals. Her cheeks were rosy with nerves and the warmth of the afternoon, and as she put on her glasses again and walked into the restaurant, she really had no idea how young and glowing and pretty she looked. She saw them almost immediately and they stood to greet her – Alvin, a little larger around the middle than the last time she had seen him, and Joe – in the flesh, Joe, in a shirt that was blue like his eyes, looking older and if it was possible, more wonderful than the last time she had seen him in France.

  “Alvin!” she said, giving the big man a hug and not knowing what to do with her eyes.

  “Nursie!” said Alvin, holding her arms to look at her. “You are beautiful! Where’s the blue hair?”

  “Ag, Alvin,” she said, touching her hair self-consciously. “It wasn’t blue the last time you saw me. I stopped that years ago.”

  “No, I remember now, you are right. Doesn’t she look lovely, Joe?” Alvin gestured towards her as if she was a BMW he was admiring.

  Joe nodded. “Sadie,” he said. He stepped forward to give her a hug. “It’s lovely to see you.”

  She sat down, suddenly unable to speak. “it’s good to see you too, Joe,” she said, after swallowing and taking a deep breath.

  “Shame Sadie, I hope you didn’t rush,” said Alvin. “You’re a bit out of breath.”

  She nodded, glad for the excuse. “I was on night shift last night,” she said. “So I’ve been asleep most of the day.”

  “You’re nursing then,” said Joe.

  “Yes. Delivering babies actually. Three last night.”

  “Amazing,” said Alvin. “Now what can we get you to drink? How about a cocktail to celebrate?”

  An hour later Sadie was feeling much more relaxed. It was a beautifully warm evening, windless for a change, and the restaurant was buzzing with locals and tourists. She had drunk an ostentatious cocktail and eaten some salad and chips, and she was slowly getting used to the incredible fact that Joe was right in front of her, really, truly sitting right in front of her. He wasn’t on honeymoon, he wasn’t married, he did not have a girlfriend and he wasn’t on holiday. He had been here for a week already, and on Monday he was starting a job, a six-month research contract with an NGO.

  When they had finished eating dinner, Alvin saw an old friend across the restaurant and excused himself to say hello, and Sadie found herself facing Joe across the table, just the two of them.

  “I’m glad you could come this evening,” said Joe. “I’ve wanted to get hold of you, but I’ve been putting it off.”

  “Why?”

  “I felt a bit nervous, to be honest,” he said. “I didn’t want you to feel obligated to see me.”

  “I am thrilled to see you, Joe,” said Sadie. “Obligation has nothing to do with it.”

  Joe paused, looking at her with a half-smile on his face. “I’ll take you at your word then.”

  “Good,” she said. “I hope you always do.”

  Oh goodness, she thought. She had just said ‘always’ to Joe, one hour into reconnecting. She blushed. But he didn’t seem to notice.

  “I want to find a church,” he said. “Can I visit yours?”

  “Are you so sure that I have one?” she said. “Maybe I never picked it up again.”

  “I’m sure you have a church, Sadie,” he said. “I remember. I don’t doubt that your faith was real.”

  “I hid it pretty well at first.”

  “I remember that too. But every now and then you would say something or do something and I would think – I wonder if this girl is a Christian?”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I remember when you saw the Bible on my desk. You were so flustered.”

  “You thought I would think you were a hypocrite.”

  Joe shook his head. “That camp was so hard. It tested me to the limit, Sadie. Keeping my patience, my temper – it was so hard.”

  “I remember, Joe. I thought you were so grumpy. But then I realised how much pressure you were under and that you were just trying to do your job and keep the kids safe.”

  Joe nodded slowly. “That’s how it was. It helped having Jonesy. And you.” Their eyes met for a moment and Sadie’s heart skipped a beat. She still felt as if she was in a dream.

  “And Alvin,” said Sadie, as Alvin returned to the table. “Alvin helped.”

  “I helped? With what?”

  “The camp,” said Joe. “We were just talking about the camp and how it nearly broke me.”

  “Ah,” said Alvin. “What would we have done without our Nursie?”

  “I just did my job,” said Sadie. “It was a wonderful experience. I’ve never forgotten those kids.”

  “They were a handful,” said Joe. “Do you keep in touch with anyone else?”

  “Just Sam,” said Sadie. “She’s back in Australia though, and I haven’t seen her since I left London. And I keep in touch with Caitlin sometimes.”

  “I still see Richard every now and then,” said Joe. “I hear they are getting married.”

  “Yes, in June,” said Sadie.

  “Those two kids?” said Alvin. “They must be what – twenty-two? Twenty-three? Very young to be getting married.”

  “I think it’s lovely,” said Sadie. “They aren’t doing what everyone else does and just moving in together. They’re doing it right.”

  “Oh yes – church people,” said Alvin. “No shacking up. I hope it works out for them. Look Joe – my friend wants to head to Long Street to a whiskey and cigar bar. You up for that, or should I take you home first?”

  “Whiskey and cigars?” asked Joe. Sadie could see he didn’t look very enthusiastic.

  “I’ll give you a lift home if you’d rather not,” she said. She didn’t want the evening to end yet.

  “Thanks,” said Joe. “I’ll take you up on that. I’ll pass on the whiskey bar, Alvin.”

  “Suit yourself,” said Alvin, shrugging.

  Soon Alvin had left with his friend, and Joe and Sadie were standing outside the restaurant. “Do you want to go straight home?” asked Sadie, really hoping he didn’t.

  “Not especially,” he said. “Do you?”

  “No. How about a walk around? Have you been here before?”

  Joe hadn’t, and for the next hour or two they walk
ed around, looking at the shops and the harbour. She told him about her work and about the Mercy Ship; he had heard about it and was very interested that she had actually been on it. She couldn’t help comparing his reaction to André’s – it couldn’t have been more different. Joe listened as if he really wanted to hear – he asked lots of questions, especially about Benin and what it had been like there. Sadie had spent most of her time on the ship so she couldn’t tell him much more than he already knew, but it was so good to talk to someone who understood her desire to be part of what the ship did, and who she knew was as genuinely affected as she was by the needless suffering of the people there and as excited about the fact that something could be done about it. He talked about what he had been doing for the past few years – he had finished his Masters’ degree and then managed to get an internship with the UN in the Netherlands.

  “Your dream job, Joe,” said Sadie.

  “I realised that the UN wasn’t for me after all, though,” he said, as they leaned on the railings, looking out over the harbour and the sea. “All the politics, the diplomacy – it wasn’t a good fit. I struggled with the teamwork. I realised that I work better on my own, which was a little disappointing for me. So I guess I’m still trying to figure out how I can make a difference in the things I really care about, in a way that doesn’t feel as if I’m a square peg in a round hole.”

  “And this job now – do you think it will be a better fit?”

  “I hope so,” he said. “I will be working with a team, but it will be different, I hope. I’ll be part of a think tank, they call it, to come up with recommendations to government on how to move forward to combat poverty in this country. My thesis supervisor has connections with this organisation, and so they were interested in my work on poverty and inequality – very applicable here.”

  “Wow,” said Sadie. “I’m amazed. You said you were interested in South Africa, but I didn’t really take you very seriously – lots of people say that. Now you probably know more about my country’s problems than I do.”