Galveston

I was ravenously hungry, but I could not go back into the restaurant. I drove the length of Galveston Island until I found a café that suited my mood and ate scrambled eggs with a few early risers at a place on Surfside Beach. I needed a distraction. On my route back, I saw a big chemist. American drugstores are supermarkets in all but name. Inside it there was a machine that could print photos directly from your phone. I printed a few and wrote on the back of each one. `Here is my house. These are our cutest alpaca, called Caroline and Suzanna. Here is another picture of them, so the girls don't have to fight. Here are the teenage girls who help on Saturday. They would love Jake's accent. Here is your missing earing. I'll look after it until I see you again.' My last picture was one I'd got someone to take of us eating ice cream on the pier. `Here is how joyful our life can be.' I put them all into an envelope with a plain greeting card on which I wrote `Cassie Miller, enjoy your life, Yours Ted.' I added my email address.

I was back at the hotel. Actually, at the school across the road from where Cassie had driven. Pupils were arriving, so I assumed the admin office would be open. I found it staffed by two plump middle-aged ladies.

"Good morning, ladies. I wonder if you would be kind enough to do me a favour. I'd be awfully grateful." My foreign accent made them think twice about being awkward. I studied the name tag on the one closest to me. "You see Janice, can I call you that? A couple of days ago I met one of your teachers and her charming family across the road in the restaurant. We got talking and I interested her in my herd of alpacas. I have a farm."

Her colleague piped up. "I know alpacas. Janice, so cute, they are to die for." That seemed to satisfy Janice's wariness.

"I said I would let Mrs Miller have a few snaps, so here they are." I pushed the envelope across the counter.

"Cassie Miller don't work here on a Friday," said her unnamed colleague.

"I know, but could you keep it until she arrives next week? It would be a delightful surprise for her."

Janice read the envelope. "From Captain Theodore Westbury. Are you in the English navy, sir?"

I winked at her. "Better than that. I was in the army." That seemed to sway the difference, and they took charge of the envelope, even giving me a receipt. I did not think they would open it, but there was nothing incriminating inside. I was sure they would not wait a week before letting Cassie know I had been in. "Have a splendid day, ladies, goodbye." I hoped I'd seemed eccentric enough so their speculations would not immediately jump to the carnal.

Back in the Mustang, I studied the map. I don't really trust Sat nav's; I like to see the big picture. Tina re-joined me in the passenger seat. I was glad. The prospect of losing them both on the same day was upsetting. There seemed to be a blurry glow around Tina's outline now. I opened the glove box and put on my duty-free purchase, a pair of Ray Band aviator sunglasses. She rolled her eyes. "What? They go with the car." I protested. A pair of sunglasses appeared on Tina's face, even bigger than the ones Cassie had worn. "Okay, I deserved that. You know, I would have been just as passionate if you had been with me last night, love?" Tina looked at me over the top of the frames.

I apologised to my wife's ghost. "I thought it was a sign from you about moving on. What do I know about dating again after thirty years? I was OTT, and I scared the poor woman off."

Tina smiled sympathetically.

I thought it best to change the subject. "I'm taking this route." My finger traced a path. "Up here to Wichita, round to Tulsa, swing left for Amarillo, I don't know if that was a hit here, their loss if it wasn't. Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, and then a few days in Austin before we head back to Houston. I won't come back here again." Tina seemed happy with my itinerary.

I started the Mustang and looked at the clock on the dash. It was 9.21 when we left Galveston.

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