scared nine-year-old they’d adopted, after he’d been pulled from the dangerous, drug-infested neighborhood where his parents had overdosed, had been worth all their troubles. All the teen agony they’d put up with.
Jack didn’t want Pippa growing up feeling confused or insecure. He didn’t want her to suffer the hunger and cold he’d felt because his drug addict parents had twisted priorities, and their neighbors had turned their faces. Not their problem. Well, his daughter was his responsibility. She was going to have him around. He was going to give her the kind of life his real parents, his adoptive parents, had given him.
* * *
J ACK ’ S LIDS STARTED to droop down just as a hint of dawn turned the blackness outside his tent into shades of pink and gray. He glanced at his watch out of habit and knocked his head back in defeat, wincing when it hit the beam. Of all the things he’d done to prepare for this trip, he hadn’t thought of putting a new battery in his watch. That Murphy guy knew what he was talking about.
Kamau stirred and Jack stacked the files neatly, not wanting him to wake up to all his pen marks. Then Jack rose to use the bathroom, eternally grateful they had running water and soap, along with water purification tablets and filters. That was a must. Not exactly a four-star hotel, but in any case, he planned on beating the line and squeezing in a shave.
* * *
J ACK TURNED OFF the satellite phone when nothing but static came through, then tried redialing.
“Take five steps to your right.” Anna’s voice had him turning like a schoolboy caught putting a frog in the teacher’s desk. She had Pippa by the hand and Niara followed with Haki.
“Five steps?”
“To your left, now that you’re facing me. You’ll get better reception. Trust me,” she said, continuing on her way. Niara looked from Anna to Jack, then smiled. A tiny one, but he caught it. Halfway around the world and he couldn’t escape female gossip. Despite himself, he wondered what Anna had told Niara about him. About them.
Trust her? Jack grunted, but then took the recommended five steps. Bingo. He dialed again.
“Dr. Alwanga. Hey. You know the samples I said I’d bring right back?” Jack turned slightly to his right to clear the reception. “No, no. Collecting them isn’t the problem. I won’t be coming back yet, so I’ll need to have someone fly them over. But I have a favor to ask. A couple, actually.”
* * *
A NNA WASHED HER HANDS after finishing her rounds with the orphans. All things considered, it was a great morning. She’d noticed light coming through the guys’ tent on her way out to her acacia tree right before dawn. She figured it was Jack, and took extra care not to let him hear her walk by. The last thing she needed was Jack following her and invading her private time. More than any other morning, she needed it.
Time alone. To think.
None of this was supposed to have happened this way. She’d pictured it every dawn for five years now. He would contact her and declare his love without ever knowing about the pregnancy. Then she’d tell him about Pippa, but only after she knew his feelings were pure. Honest. And he’d be thrilled, not angry. They’d defy her parents’ pathetic example of a marriage—of love—and he’d love Pippa the way Anna had missed out on with her dad. With free will.
But it was too late for that. The last email he’d sent, a month after she’d first arrived in Kenya, was signed with plain old “Jack.” Not “Love, Jack.” Not even “Miss you, Jack.” At this point, she’d never, ever be able to trust that anything between them was real, that it wasn’t obligatory or misguided. All she needed to focus on now was Pippa, the only person she knew loved her unconditionally.
Anna left the clinic and headed for the Jeep. She needed to check the recording boxes. Hopefully, the herd would be within sight and she’d be able to take notes on how things were going
Jack didn’t want Pippa growing up feeling confused or insecure. He didn’t want her to suffer the hunger and cold he’d felt because his drug addict parents had twisted priorities, and their neighbors had turned their faces. Not their problem. Well, his daughter was his responsibility. She was going to have him around. He was going to give her the kind of life his real parents, his adoptive parents, had given him.
* * *
J ACK ’ S LIDS STARTED to droop down just as a hint of dawn turned the blackness outside his tent into shades of pink and gray. He glanced at his watch out of habit and knocked his head back in defeat, wincing when it hit the beam. Of all the things he’d done to prepare for this trip, he hadn’t thought of putting a new battery in his watch. That Murphy guy knew what he was talking about.
Kamau stirred and Jack stacked the files neatly, not wanting him to wake up to all his pen marks. Then Jack rose to use the bathroom, eternally grateful they had running water and soap, along with water purification tablets and filters. That was a must. Not exactly a four-star hotel, but in any case, he planned on beating the line and squeezing in a shave.
* * *
J ACK TURNED OFF the satellite phone when nothing but static came through, then tried redialing.
“Take five steps to your right.” Anna’s voice had him turning like a schoolboy caught putting a frog in the teacher’s desk. She had Pippa by the hand and Niara followed with Haki.
“Five steps?”
“To your left, now that you’re facing me. You’ll get better reception. Trust me,” she said, continuing on her way. Niara looked from Anna to Jack, then smiled. A tiny one, but he caught it. Halfway around the world and he couldn’t escape female gossip. Despite himself, he wondered what Anna had told Niara about him. About them.
Trust her? Jack grunted, but then took the recommended five steps. Bingo. He dialed again.
“Dr. Alwanga. Hey. You know the samples I said I’d bring right back?” Jack turned slightly to his right to clear the reception. “No, no. Collecting them isn’t the problem. I won’t be coming back yet, so I’ll need to have someone fly them over. But I have a favor to ask. A couple, actually.”
* * *
A NNA WASHED HER HANDS after finishing her rounds with the orphans. All things considered, it was a great morning. She’d noticed light coming through the guys’ tent on her way out to her acacia tree right before dawn. She figured it was Jack, and took extra care not to let him hear her walk by. The last thing she needed was Jack following her and invading her private time. More than any other morning, she needed it.
Time alone. To think.
None of this was supposed to have happened this way. She’d pictured it every dawn for five years now. He would contact her and declare his love without ever knowing about the pregnancy. Then she’d tell him about Pippa, but only after she knew his feelings were pure. Honest. And he’d be thrilled, not angry. They’d defy her parents’ pathetic example of a marriage—of love—and he’d love Pippa the way Anna had missed out on with her dad. With free will.
But it was too late for that. The last email he’d sent, a month after she’d first arrived in Kenya, was signed with plain old “Jack.” Not “Love, Jack.” Not even “Miss you, Jack.” At this point, she’d never, ever be able to trust that anything between them was real, that it wasn’t obligatory or misguided. All she needed to focus on now was Pippa, the only person she knew loved her unconditionally.
Anna left the clinic and headed for the Jeep. She needed to check the recording boxes. Hopefully, the herd would be within sight and she’d be able to take notes on how things were going
Similar Books
