I stayed four nights in Porto Vela.
Mara and I had dinner once, then coffee the next morning. We walked along the sea wall on my final afternoon, without a map and without a plan. She didn't charge me. I didn't offer to pay. We talked about the places she wanted to visit someday and the work she wanted to do less of.
"I want to train two other guides," she said. "Not because I want a company. Because I want to take a week off without my phone turning into a crime scene."
"That sounds reasonable."
"It sounds expensive."
"Training people?"
"Taking a week off."
"Also reasonable."
She glanced at me. "You've become very supportive of rest."
"I'm working on it."
We stopped at the harbor wall. The sun had begun to lower, laying gold across the water. I could see the boat where we'd gone
