Field Notes on Love(76)

Hugo bites his lip. “I’m sorry too.”

“About what?”

“There’s something I didn’t tell you….”

His dad smiles. “About the girl?”

“You know?” Hugo asks, astonished.

“Alfie again,” Dad says. “He’s always had a bit of a big mouth, hasn’t he?”

    Hugo laughs. “You’re not cross with me?”

“Consider us even,” Mum says ruefully. “Where is she now?”

“I’m on my way to see her.”

“I thought you were with her.”

“I was, but…it’s a long story.” He pauses. “I’ll tell you when I get home.”

Their faces brighten straightaway.

“It’ll be nice to have you back,” his mum says. “Even if just for a bit.”

Dad smiles, too, a smile that’s just for Hugo. “Yes,” he says. “We’ll be sure to have a plate waiting for you.”

The train rounds a bend, and the craggy coast comes into view again. The waves are tipped in white as they rush to meet the sand, and closer to the tracks, the scrubby grass ripples in the wind. It all looks so surreal, so wild and beautiful, that Hugo forgets about his parents for a second. When he hears them say his name, he turns his mobile around.

“Look,” he says, moving it so they can see the view.

His mum inhales sharply. “Wow.”

“I know.”

“It’s just so blue,” she says as Hugo presses the phone to the window. And for a long time, they stay there like that, the three of them watching together.





The moment she steps out of the airport shuttle, Mae instantly feels happier. There’s something about the air here, which smells faintly of flowers. The sky is a blinding, cloudless blue, and the palm trees rustle as the breezes sweep through them.

She’s standing across the street from the admissions office because her flight was late and her meeting starts soon and there’s no time to stop at the dorm first. Her boxes arrived there days ago, and she’s already heard from Piper—future roommate and imaginary travel buddy—that the room is tiny but nice. She can’t wait to see it.

Her backpack—which has been such good company this week—is slumped on the sidewalk next to her, and, looking down, she feels a surge of fondness for it.

It makes her think of home.

It makes her think of her travels.

It makes her think of the future.

But mostly it makes her think of Hugo, which is ridiculous because it was only a week, and now that week is over. She’s the one dragging it with her into this new chapter like it meant more than it did.

She gives the backpack a little kick, and it topples over. Then, with a sigh, she stoops to grab it. But before she can, someone bends to help her.

    To her astonishment, she looks up to see Hugo.

Her first instinct is to laugh because it’s so impossible. But then she sees the way he’s grinning at her, and she wonders if maybe it’s not.

Maybe it was always going to happen this way.

“I was literally just thinking about how annoying you are,” she says, and he looks amused.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. I don’t hear anything at all, and then you just show up out of nowhere right as I arrive—wait, how did you even know I’d be here?”

“You told me,” he says. “Besides, who else would have a meeting with the dean on the very first day of classes?”

She’s still staring like she’s not totally certain it’s him. “I can’t believe you’re here. I thought you’d be halfway around the world by now.”

“Well, I’ve got to go back in a few weeks to do some interviews….”

“And then?”

“Exactly,” he says, beaming at her. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“No, that letter was all you. And it was amazing. But, hey,” she says, smacking him on the arm so that he laughs and ducks away, “why didn’t you write back about the film?”

“Because,” he says, “I thought it would be better to tell you in person.”

She frowns. “Tell me what?”

“How much I loved it.”

“You did?” she asks, brightening. They’re both smiling so hard that they’re on the verge of laughter. “Really?”

    “Yes. But it doesn’t matter what I think.” His eyes are shining, and it makes Mae feel dizzy to look at him, makes her wonder if this is actually real. “It only matters that you loved it. And I can tell you did.”

“How?”

“I can just tell when you love something,” he says, and then she takes a step closer, and his arms are around her and their lips meet, and right then it doesn’t matter if this is a hello or a goodbye, if they’re making a memory or a promise, because they’re here together, and that’s enough for now.

“What?” he says when she pauses to look up at him.

She smiles. “I can tell with you too.”





Any field notes on gratitude have to start with my agent, Jennifer Joel, who has been such an amazing advocate and incredible friend over the years. I’m also enormously grateful to my editor, Kate Sullivan, for being so enthusiastic about this book from the start, and for making it better every step of the way.