After a while Sarah took a deep breath and said, "Thanks, girls. I wasn't expecting that."
"Our pleasure," said Amy.
"Everyone ready for home now?" I asked.
"We'd better dress first," grinned Amy. "Think we'd attract too much attention, even in the car, if we stayed like this."
We pulled on our clothes, and got back in the car. When we arrived home, Sarah said, "Tim, I could do with a chat."
"We'll go for a swim," said Amy, taking the hint. The girls disappeared, and I sat down with Sarah at the kitchen table.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I'm just thinking," said Sarah. "We're having the most amazing time -- I never expected the girls to be as, mm, creative as they were today."
She paused, her eyes a little dreamy as she recalled just how creative they'd been. "But things are different in India. I know we could probably get our own place and have as much privacy as we want, but if we get close to the people out there, we might have to settle for being a bit more, well, conventional."
"It had occurred to me," I admitted. "I suppose I'd always had the thought in the back of my mind that eventually the girls will each want to find someone of their own."
Sarah grinned. "They might find that works a little differently in India too."
My face must have betrayed my shock. "You mean, arranged marriages?"
"It's not exactly like that any more," Sarah laughed. "But yes, over there who you marry is much more a family decision, even a community one. They don't have our obsession with individuality, personal choice, certainly not romantic love, unless you count what Bollywood tries to tell them. They didn't even have the Middle Ages, remember."
I thought about her words. "I see what you mean. But ultimately it'd be up to Amy and Laura, and you and I would have to be very sure about anyone too."
Sarah nodded. "There'll be other things we need to talk about -- culture shock is more significant than you might think, if we decide to really make our lives with the people over there."
"I promise I'll listen very carefully," I said. "Now, how about we join the girls in the pool?"
"Sounds great. I'll go and get our stuff."
I watched Sarah as she walked up the stairs. I reflected that there was more to this beautiful, well-travelled woman than I'd imagined.
She returned with her bikini and my trunks, and we walked over to the pool. The girls were splashing around playfully as usual, and Sarah and I quickly changed and slipped into the water at the shallow end.
Amy swam over to us. "Everything OK?" she asked.
"Fine," I said. "Sarah was just helping me to understand some of the differences in culture we might encounter in India."
"I took a module in outsourcing this year," said Amy. "They covered some of the different attitudes and business practices we might encounter."
"Seems perhaps Laura and I are at a disadvantage," I grinned.
Any shrugged. "I bet when we get out there you'll pick it up, you'll forget it ever seemed strange."
Laura joined us. "Don't know about anyone else, but I'm starting to feel hungry again -- the picnic was lovely, but it'd be nice to have something a bit more filling this evening."
"OK," I said. "Sarah and I will swim for a while longer, then we can meet up in the kitchen and decide what we want."
The girls went off to get dressed, and Sarah and I did a few lengths, then got out. I watched her as she towelled herself dry and got dressed, then pulled on my own clothes.
We walked back over to the house and went into the kitchen. The girls had got down some of the cookery books and were flicking through, trying to decide what they could make for dinner.
"This looks nice," said Laura, pointing at a page in the cookbook.
"Toad in the hole," I read. "Hmm, I think we got some sausages last time we shopped -- why don't you give it a try? Once it's in the oven, come through to the living room and we'll have a drink."
The girls started to prepare the meal, and Sarah and I went into the living room. I poured us each a glass of wine, and we settled down in one of the sofas, facing the garden. Sarah swung her legs up onto my lap, and we watched the sun setting behind the trees.
"Do you think we'll miss this when we're out in India?" I asked.
"Maybe," Sarah mused. "We can always come back for holidays when we feel like it -- we can choose what season, so we can avoid all the dull grey days and the rain."
I stroked her hair thoughtfully. "It really is a big change, isn't it."
She sipped her wine. "I think we can have the best of both worlds."
Amy and Laura came through. "Dinner should be about half an hour," Laura said. "The batter needs to be nice and brown on top."
"Hope there's gravy, too," I said.
"Definitely," smiled Amy.
They sat down on the other sofa, Laura leaning against Amy.
"So, Sarah," I said. "Tell us more about the place in India where you're based."
"It's in the north-east," she began, "not far from the border with Bhutan. The company has an arrangement with the Indian Air Force to use hangar facilities and the airstrip at one of their fighter bases. It does no harm at all that I used to be a military pilot, and I do the occasional bit of training for their pilots -- even though their planes are less sophisticated than ours, I can still show them a trick or two."
I recalled the uniform Sarah had worn to Pam's funeral, and the strip of medal ribbons across her lapel. "You really are a hot-shot, aren't you."
She grinned. "Anyway, when I'm not flying, or at Satpura, I have a flat in the officers' compound. Quite nice, actually. But I don't spend much time there -- I like to get out and about. There's a village not far from the base, and the local town isn't much further."
"What sort of things are there to do?" Amy asked.
"Well, I cook for myself sometimes, so I go to the local markets to buy food. I like to look round the clothes shops, and there are lots of places that sell jewellery and bits and pieces."
"What about the people?" said Laura.
"I've come to know the locals quite well, actually," said Sarah. "Some of the families are very hospitable, and occasionally I'll take them a chicken or something when I visit."
"Are they mostly Hindus?" I asked.
"Surprisingly, no." Sarah replied. "Most of them are animists -- they worship the spirits in the trees and stones -- and there are a lot of Christians too."
"That'll be interesting, then," I said. "You seem to have picked up the language pretty well."
Sarah nodded. "They're so pleased when you make the effort -- and it's not as difficult as it sounds."
"So when we go over," I said, "what's the best way to go about finding somewhere to live? I'm guessing there aren't just places to rent, like there would be over here."
Sarah grinned. "We can stay in my flat to start with -- it's pretty big, although the facilities are quite basic. Then I can talk to some of my friends in the village -- land ownership is quite complicated over there, but we'll be able to come to some kind of arrangement. Getting somewhere built is the easy bit -- building materials are cheap, and there are always people looking for some extra work."
I looked thoughtful. "So we could design something to suit ourselves?"
