Photo by Ash Edmonds from Unsplash

***

Roosters cried out as a ray of sunshine heated Maria's forehead. An even warmer body pressed against her back while an arm draped over her waist. Yesterday's rice wine left her head hazy, but she remembered Tom, the way his red curls caught between her fingers, his soft lips. She smiled, not sure if her feelings or the wine's lingering effects brought on the giddiness.

A swishing noise grew louder, but Maria kept her eyes closed, determined to enjoy a bit more snuggle sleep until she lost all feeling in her numb shoulder and hip.

"Aork pai jaak tee-nee!" Wan's voice came from Maria's right. The older woman muttered in Thai, and Tom's chest rumbled with laughter against Maria's back. He stirred and sat up, exposing her bare shoulders to the cool morning mountain air.

"I think it's time for us to pack up." Tom rubbed a soft hand over her shoulder.

Maria yawned then jolted, seeing how close they'd slept to the edge of the terraced yard leading to the gardens. A few more feet and she'd splash into a natural mud bath. She rolled around, her arm and leg tingling in pain as blood returned to her fingers and toes.

Tom extended a hand from his standing position.

"I tell you we can open bed-and-breakfast." Tong's jovial voice echoed in the valley. "See, you give farang a nice bed, they sleep on rocks instead. Mountain-view! Fifteen beds here, thirty in front. And you were so worried about their opinions."

Maria, who'd risen to her feet, turned around to check the audience they'd drawn. Prae sat in a wooden chair, hands cupping a steaming wooden bowl. When Maria met her gaze, Prae smiled weakly.

"How was your night?" Prae croaked.

Maria glanced up, catching Tom's hazel eyes. His smile made his cheeks dimple in an adorable way.

"We had a great time," Maria said. "How was yours?"

Prae bit her lip. "Good." She sipped a hot drink, her vacant gaze on the mountains. Tom inclined his head toward an empty chair beside Prae and looked at Maria. She approached it.

"Tong, Emma's wondering if we cut up few bamboo stalks for cups like she saw in the house to take back for souvenirs," Tom said.

"Souvenirs? See, Prae! This is a tourist house!" Tong exclaimed.

Prae shook her head and sighed.

"They'd be extra special if she knew you made them," Tom said to Tong.

Maria suppressed her laugh as she slid into the seat next to Prae. Tom's classroom experience must have made dealing with young adults acting like teens quite natural.

Tong nodded. "You are right."

"Maybe I can come," Tom said. "Carve one myself if there's anything left."

"Good idea, Tom Cruise, you are a smart man. Maria is a lucky girl."

Tom's gaze lingered on her long enough for her cheeks to grow hot. "I think I'm the luckier one."

Once the guys took off, Prae chewed her lip, still staring off at the mountain range.

"How are you doing?" Maria asked. "Like really doing, not this 'everything's fine' dance we always start with."

Prae blew across her tea, sending steam up toward the blue sky. "Last night was very... what's the English expression... to make me understand clearly."

"Eye-opening?" Maria suggested.

Prae nodded and took a slow sip of her tea. "Sakda does not want a relationship until I leave my job in Bangkok and move here. Even if I moved after the school year, he is unsure and probably would not wait."

Maria squeezed Prae's free hand. "It's his loss. You're amazing, Prae."

Prae's shaky hand returned to her cup. "I feel so silly. I knew he was not interested in me when we met in Bangkok, but we have been talking more since then, and I thought perhaps he might..."

Maria's heart ached because she was well-acquainted with that pain. "I thought Mitch might be interested in a real relationship even after he told me he wasn't. But it made me appreciate my time with Tom even more. There's someone who will want you for who you are, and we'll find him. Don't let disinterested jerks get you down."

Prae raised an eyebrow. "We'll?"

"Yeah, it'll increase your odds if we're both looking for you. I'm sure Emma will help too."

Despite her glassy eyes, a smile grew on Prae's lips, more genuine than the last. "What will I do when you return to Canada?"

"Snuggle up to your dream man. I told you we're going to find him."

Prae laughed, brushed away a couple of tears, and took another sip of the earthy-smelling tea.

Her mother leaned out the second-floor window and shouted something in Thai that still sounded peaceful despite her tone. After a quick reply, Prae set down her beverage and wandered down the garden path. She grabbed two bowls and a shopping bag full of gray-brown pods from under a sprawling tree with branches almost hanging to the ground.

"Have you ever peeled tamarind?"

After Maria shook her head, Prae showed her how to crack away the brittle shell that shattered beneath their strong fingers.

"My mother always said it is good for the heart, these simple repetitive tasks. Even if your mind has come no further, at least you have partly finished tamarind paste."

Maria chuckled, pressing her thumb through the tough yet thin shell. It sounded like something her mom would say. She brushed away all the pieces of shell stuck to the gummy fruit. "So tell me about your dream man. If I remember right, nice is high on the list."

"A good person with a kind heart."

"Kru Kasem?" Maria asked, thinking of the smiley Thai teacher who greeted her almost every morning in the halls.

Prae wrinkled up her nose. "He is Thai Mitch."

Maria's eyebrows raised. "Really? I knew my Thai was bad, but I thought I could pick up on body language." Although, Maria recalled seeing single teachers like Becca leaving school chatting with him, as well as some Thai ones. "Is your dream guy Thai, foreign, or either?"

"I don't know anymore."

"Shawn's a nice guy."

"Mr. Shawn is very kind and generous."

Prae's straight face conveyed her hesitation. Perhaps it was his close friendship with Mitch or Emma. "We can keep looking either way. Someone interesting will turn up."

"You are very lucky to find a man like Tom. So quickly. Before I worried when you cherished Mitch, but this is much better for you."

Nodding, Maria tried not to think of the times Mitch had lifted her out of a terrible mood, how he could make her worries disappear with his embrace and bright blue eyes. She finished peeling her tamarind and returned to pick up the blanket she and Tom had left on the terrace. Mitch might have acted that way then, but Tom would support her now and in the future. Wrapping the blanket around her bare shoulders, she tried to regain some of her warmth.

"You must have slept poorly in the yard."

Maria tried to smile a bit. "I wanted to see the stars, and the rice wine made it seem like a good idea. What did you do last night other than deal with Sadka's crap?"

"Just spent time with my family. I would have visited you more, but you and Tom looked quite... comfortable."

"I wish I'd known Sadka upset you like that. I feel like a bad friend."

"You are not. I was overreacting to an outcome I should have expected."

"He's oblivious. You're a catch."

Prae laughed lightly and placed another shelled tamarind in the bowl. "You Canadians are so full of optimism. Land of dreamers."

"And this is the land of smiles. We'll have to get one back on your face."

"Knowing you've all enjoyed yourselves is enough for me."

Prae's mother, Kannika, arrived from the porch doors, holding two plates of chopped fruit. She offered each of them one and sat on a wooden chair, placing a handful of tamarind pods on her lap. Maria had a few bites of banana and fresh papaya.

"Are you happy to return to city today?" Kannika asked.

"I'll miss your wonderful home and family," Maria said. "My family has big gatherings around the holidays, and you made me feel very welcome and loved. Thank you."

Kannika regarded her with a nod, then turned to her daughter, whispering in Thai. Prae nodded, closed her eyes for a second, then replied.

"I tell Prae many excellent English schools in Chiang Mai. Close to family."

"I like Bangkok. My life is there," Prae said.

"What life?" Kannika asked.

Prae hung her head, and a tear slipped down her pale cheek.

"You a beautiful, hard-working woman. If you live here, maybe Sakda..." Prae's mother finished her thought in Thai, but Maria suspected she was implying the relationship would work out.

"It didn't sound like that was the problem with him," Maria said. "He wanted someone to give up their life for his dreams. That's not fair."

Kannika smiled at Maria, the action not quite reaching her eyes. "Here is fair." She turned toward her daughter. "But after years away, you forget. But more you try, more you see. I only help."

Maria couldn't imagine having that much family pressure to abandon her life for an unpleasant marriage. They'd always wanted her to work hard and stay out of compromising situations so she could achieve her dreams. Her mom sent her the odd message teasing her about Mitch after he was in her cooking videos, but Maria had nothing she'd desired to share. Perhaps if she hadn't just ended her relationship with Adrian a few months ago and had been single longer, she'd be under more pressure.

After fifteen minutes of near-silent shelling, Kannika collected the bowls of fruit and returned inside. Prae stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "We should get Tom and my brother."

"Did they go far?"

"No."

Prae looked down the path through the gardens. They ambled toward the thick, bushy forest that ran alongside the stone steps. A stream babbled nearby and leaves rustled overhead. Tall, vibrant green stalks surrounded them as the greenery swallowed up the mountain view.

Sudden sharp thwacks broke through the morning's tranquillity. Red hair stood out in the gaps in the foliage. Tom had changed out of his sleep-crinkled button-up shirt and into a fitted t-shirt that hugged his biceps. He slammed a machete into a long bamboo stalk.

"Did my brother leave you to do all the work?"

Tom grinned up at Prae, and her posture straightened like a marionette pulled to life. "Emma found us, and you can guess how much he's accomplished."

Prae laughed and shook her head. "Tong is a very predictable man."

Tom chipped away at the edges of the cup. "He showed me how to do this before they left. I didn't quite grasp the idea." Tom gestured to the five cracked or busted segments of bamboo. "It seemed like a simple concept since the plant is already hollow."

Prae sat next to him to show them the steps and how to handle the weapon. Would Sakda have reacted differently if he'd seen this side of her: badass cup maker, great with a machete? By the time Emma and Tong returned, flushed and out of breath, Maria and Tom had made themselves cups.

"And you say you don't want to be a tour guide," Tong teased.

"I have no problem showing my friends, but I have no interest in entertaining strangers."

"Too bad. Business is excellent. Emma, maybe you stay. Your suay face will get us all the tourists."

Emma laughed. "I don't think the Thai government will be too happy about me taking that job out your countrymen's hands. They're pretty strict with those work visas outside of teaching English."

"Our secret."

"Maybe." Emma winked.

Tom and Prae shook their heads while Maria tried to hold in her laugh. She couldn't imagine Emma tied down.

***

Maria loaded her bags into the SUV with a heavy heart. Saying goodbye to Prae's loving family was hard to do. Her grandmother, Wan, sent Maria and Emma with grab-bags of leftover food for the road, including some tasty rice desserts wrapped in banana leaf that they'd tried at supper last night. Wan caught Maria's hands between her wrinkled ones and grinned. Maria understood a few of her slowed Thai words for happy, love, fun, family.

Prae's mother was more encouraging than earlier, and she and Prae left with long embraces and smiles. A few tears slipped down Peach's cheeks as she embraced her sister, then the visitors. Maria wished Peach good luck with her dreams of pursuing nursing in the future.

"There's always a place for you in Canada, if you want to visit," Maria said, looking between Prae's family members. Prae translated the phrase and Wan let out a retort that made the family laugh.

"She said she is too old to be launched into the sky," Prae said. "You must visit her here."

"Chai kha!" Maria agreed.

Wan grinned and gave Maria's shoulder a strong squeeze.

Prae's father shut the trunk of the vehicle and leaned against the side in his green, leaf-patterned button-up shirt. "Your chariot awaits, but the bus you must catch will not."

Maria frowned and thanked everyone again. A few more heads appeared behind the crowd as Prae's extended family and family friends woke up from last night's stupor. Maria waved at a few familiar faces while Emma and Tom said their goodbyes. Tong lingered by their blonde friend's side until all the bags were loaded. He proposed something to his father, but Nok shook his head. Tong crossed his arms and pouted.

"I tell Tong, I like a quiet ride back to the village. He will find better listeners here."

Maria laughed, figuring Nok was right about his son's chatty nature after seeing his gaze lingering on Emma most of the night and morning.

They hopped in the SUV, waving to a chorus of Thai goodbyes and well wishes as the vehicle departed from the large family home. Nok rolled up the windows to counteract some of the dust as they sped through the sleepy village. A few cars joined them on the road.

Tom squeezed Maria's hand and smiled down at her. They hadn't talked about yesterday, but Maria assumed he would not react like Mitch and walk away from the potential for anything meaningful. Placing her head on Tom's shoulder, she watched the valley below grow nearer with every twist and curve. Tom wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"I meant what I said yesterday," he whispered.

Maria nodded. "So did I."

A smile blossomed on his lips. "I better plan something impressive then."

"I don't need impressive."

"But you deserve it." He ran a hand through her tangled hair until his fingers caught, and she winced. "Sorry." He kissed the top of her head. She tried to eradicate the memory of Mitch doing the same recently. Almost as if Tom sensed her distance, he pulled her closer and pressed his soft lips to hers, deepening the kiss as she reciprocated.

This is how a man who cares about you acts, a voice like Sunshine's spoke in her mind.

A cleared throat reminded Maria they weren't alone in the vehicle and they both pulled away. She snuggled back into his shoulder as one of his fingers traced patterns on her leggings.

"Best holiday yet," Tom whispered.

Maria nodded and smiled. The new country, Prae's charming family, and Tom's affection appealed to her in ways her trips with her ex never could. Mitch wouldn't have appreciated this as much either, not with how emotionally closed-off he was. Tom was the right guy for this moment, and hopefully more to come.

***

Translation: Aork pai jaak tee-nee! : "Get out of here!"