‘I’ve thought so much about the time stolen from us,’ he whispers, and I nearly sigh. His voice is so close. ‘If things weren’t like they are, we’d be long married. I would take you all over Syria on a road trip. We’d visit every city and village. See the history that lives in our country. I’d kiss you on the beaches of Latakia, pick flowers for you in Deir ez-Zor, take you to my family home in Hama, have a picnic under the ruins of Palmyra. People would look at us and they’d think how they’ve never seen two people more in love.’
