‘Omar!’
He finds her face. The blurred edges of his memory coalesce into a finished picture. The red hair longer around her white face. The eyes still as blue as the sky. The nose, long and straight and noble. ‘The nose of a queen,’ as his mother says. Adi, with her fiery hair and her bright green jacket, is a jolt of colour in the sea of greyness. He fingers his bright blue cotton tagelmust, wrapped around his neck like a scarf. He’s brought the colour of Morocco with him.
He walks alongside the railing. Adi follows him, on her side of the barrier, weaving around waiting relatives and drivers holding misspelt signs. Then she is standing in front of him. He smells her scent – light, fresh, like the cedars in Ifrane. He leans over to kiss her cheek. Then her arms are around his neck and she is kissing him. His arms fold around her body. They are an island of colour in a grey sea.
‘Adi, I came for you.’
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Richard Skinner and the Faber Academy class of 2011 for their encouragement and feedback on the first rough draft, to Judith Chinn and Carolyn Chinn for helping me keep the faith, to Melvyn Fickling for his astute comments on the many drafts, Jane Johnson for her encouragement, Vicky Seton for being a beta reading star, Carolyn Gillis for pointing me to Avon Books, my wonderful editor Molly Walker-Sharp who opened the door, my agent Jo Swainson for taking a chance on me, and my friends in Morocco who’ve welcomed me into this beautiful country. Shukran from the bottom of my heart.
About the Author
Adrienne Chinn was born in an old paper-making town in Newfoundland, and grew up in rural Quebec and Montreal. She retraced her English father’s footsteps back to England, where she now lives and works as an interior designer.
When not writing or designing, she can normally be found in the queue at Gatwick heading off somewhere new: she travels all over the world, but most often to her beloved Morocco, which she has been visiting regularly for over ten years.
About the Publisher
Australia
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United Kingdom
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