It was hard for Kara to watch the sweet older woman hunch over her stove and start the fire while she sputtered and coughed. Kara only hoped that the villagers would be able to cultivate the bamboo they’d planted. The women of the village could improve their health by burning a cleaner fuel source. She hoped change was in the near future.
Kara thanked Maria when her hostess handed her breakfast and a mug of coffee. She made sure to drink quickly, as she’d noticed the two mugs that had been provided to Miles and herself were the only ones their hostess had.
With the sleeping bags tucked under his arms, Miles left, muttering something about packing up the car. This gave Kara enough time to get changed before carrying her backpack outside. Giggles and shouts drew her attention. Pedro and his sister, Lily, were at the well, standing in their underwear and washing up with a bar of soap.
“Señora Kara?”
She turned around to face Andrés. Deep creases lined his friendly, dark eyes, making her wonder how much he’d slept. He held out his hand to her, and Kara thought she was accepting a handshake, but was surprised when a small cylindrical item was deposited onto her palm.
A detailed pattern was carved into its side and top. Rounded edges had been sanded smooth, and the bamboo’s pores had been darkened by some kind of oil that revealed the beautiful wood grain. Andrés’s hand lifted the lid off, and she realized he’d created a small jewelry box.
“It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed.
He pointed at his creation and began to speak quickly. She caught words here and there and was relieved when Miles returned to translate. “He says the nodes of the bamboo made a perfect lid and base. All he had to do was listen to the wood speak. It’s a gift for you to remember them by.”
“I could never forget them. But it is amazing—I don’t have words.”
Kara held it against her chest as if it could contain the emotion swelling within. She noticed Miles looking curiously at her gift, so she held it out for him to see.
“That really is something. Do you mind if I take a picture of you with it?”
He fumbled in his pocket to pull out a black cellphone. Miles held it up with a sheepish expression. “Don’t use it for anything other than a camera around here, since there’s no reception.”
“Go ahead,” she answered, feeling her cheeks flush a little. Kara raised the round jewelry box and smiled for him. They took another with the lid off, then Miles tucked his phone away.
“Well, unless you’re planning on staying, I think it’s time to get going,” he said while combing his fingers through his hair.
The beautiful round jewelry box was slipped into her backpack, padded with clothing to protect it. She shook Andrés’s hand and thanked him again for his thoughtful gift. Maria and a few other villagers came over to say goodbye before they slipped away.
Kara was anxious to get going. Saying goodbye made her sad and uncomfortable. She didn’t like parting ways with the people who’d been so welcoming to her. Not after seeing their living conditions. She wanted to do more for them. It was obvious to her why Miles was so passionate about his life’s work. It was the people.
They climbed the hillside and approached the car. She moved quickly ahead of him to put her pack in the backseat and to climb into the passenger side. When Miles joined her in the vehicle, he slipped on his glasses and started the engine.
The drive to the airport was just as quiet as it had been on the way to Quebrada de Aqua her first day there. Only this time she wasn’t sitting in the back looking at him in the rearview mirror. Instead, she stared out her window at the countryside as it flashed by.
Miles drove up to the airport in silence. When the car creaked to a stop, Kara wasn’t ready to leave. She wanted to press the pause button so she could linger awhile. While she grappled with what came next, the silence was broken by Miles, who opened his car door. She remained for a minute longer until she heard him open the back hatch for her luggage.
Kara sighed before slipping outside. She breathed in the humid air of San Pedro Sula and felt the warm kiss of the sun on her skin. A mosquito buzzed around her head, so she waved it away. A line of taxis was parked nearby, and their chattering calls to passing travelers reminded her of the first moments arriving here.
Miles’s voice startled her from her thoughts. “Here’s your suitcase.”
She turned to face him. He gave her the handle of her bag, then opened the back door to grab her pack. “Did you have anything else in here? You have your gardening gloves?”
“I left them at Quebrada de Aqua.”
Her backpack was placed at her feet. Miles shut the car door and asked, “Want me to ship them home to you?”
“I left them on purpose—for the villagers to use.”
Without anything left to do, he leaned against the vehicle. His reflective glasses turned toward her. “It’s been some week. Couldn’t have imagined the outcome.”
Kara lifted her backpack and pulled it over her shoulders, adjusting to the weight. She brushed a few stray hairs from her eyes. “All of this was new—and kind of scary. Thanks for giving me the crash course on service work in a developing country. I care even more now about making a difference, and that’s all because of you.”
Miles slipped off his glasses, revealing his hazel eyes. She felt them on her, tracing over her face and neck. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of his serious expression. He stepped away from the car and leaned toward her. In a whisper he said, “You don’t have to be so nice about it. I was an ass. I’ve been a jerk from the start.”
She swallowed the lump that clung to the center of her throat. A question formed and she dared to ask it. “Back in the village—what was your wish? What did you write?”
His hazel eyes stared deeply into hers. “Just two words.”
“What?”
“Love first,” he whispered. “For the last two days I’ve been telling myself that you deserved someone who would put you first. But the funny thing is, I just realized that my wish can’t come true. Because when I wrote it, it already had.”
Every breath she took, every second that ticked by, slowed so they became an eternity. Disbelief clouded her thoughts. The things she’d told herself to explain why he’d stepped away from their kiss—that he didn’t feel the same way about her like she did for him—all melted away. “What are you saying?”
The distance between them evaporated and Miles stood inches from her. His voice met her ears in a whisper. “I’ve never been able to make long-distance relationships work, so there’s one way around that. Thinking about you leaving makes me panicky—I don’t want to be away from you. Look, I don’t want to jerk you around—you deserve better than that. So tell me now if you don’t feel the same way, that you want me to disappear—I can make it happen.”
Kara thought about her future plans to visit other towns and villages with her program. Then she locked eyes with Miles and remembered what it was like when he held her close, the warmth in her heart. “I don’t want you to disappear.”
“You took me by surprise. Wasn’t expecting you to be”—a trace of a smile touched his lips—“so amazing. I can’t stop thinking about that kiss and how it made me feel. My instinct was to protect you from harm—I didn’t want to hurt you. I’ve never felt that before.”
His warm hands touched her forearms and questioning eyes looked down at her. Inch by inch, he leaned in. She breathed the aroma of cinnamon and sweat and exhaled. The feel of his breath against her neck and his hands on her skin was like finding a budding crocus in the melting snow of winter.
“Is there any chance you feel the same way?” His words filtered into her ears, his breath tickling the hairs of her neck.
Kara closed her eyes, took the leap and nodded. It might have been her father’s last wish that had gotten her out of the house and onto a plane to Honduras, but she had to take risks to carry out her dreams. She was tired of being alone. She was ready for love in her life. “Yes.”
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His hands pressed against the arch of her back, pulling her against him. Before she could open her eyes, his lips brushed against hers. She lifted her hands and let them settle around his neck. She couldn’t have said anything more, so all of her emotion poured into her kiss.
Breathless, they parted. An armed police officer strolled up to them and pointed at the car. Miles raised his hand. “Sí, sí. Un momento.”
Miles whispered to Kara with his forehead to hers, “I guess I just needed to find someone more important than anything else. I’ve got an idea—you’ll hear from me soon. But you’d better get going. Can you be patient?”
She’d always considered herself patient. Kara frowned. “Yeah. Why?”
Miles laughed. “I can’t—you may have noticed. I’m going to do whatever I can to bring us together again soon.”
There was no doubt in her mind. He’d practically crawled out of his skin when they’d had to wait for the villagers of El Punto to discuss her program’s bamboo solution. She had no idea what sort of plan he had and she wished she had more time with him, but he was right. She had to leave.
“I don’t want to go,” she muttered.
“You’ll be back, Hot Lips,” he answered. “Trust me.”
“I do.”
Chapter 10.
Miles knew it was close. The internet café was on this street, he was sure of it.
The windows gleamed in the afternoon light. Pale brick buildings lined the road, and people strolled the sidewalks. Handmade signs hung over doorways. The familiar blue painting of a computer with a smiling face filled the wide-paned glass of a window tucked along the paved road.
“Finally,” he muttered to himself and pulled onto a side street, looking for a parking spot.
Within ten minutes he was safe inside the café with an iced coffee, sitting at an outdated desktop computer. This was the most reliable way to go. His cell phone was unpredictable here at best. Plus, he wanted to talk face-to-face with Dave.
He plugged in his phone to start charging it. There weren’t many opportunities to do that around here when he was so busy in such rural towns. He pulled up his email and sent off the images of Kara holding the carved box. Next, he opened the video chat program and entered Dave’s number. It was still early enough—there was a chance he’d catch him.
After a few rings, the black screen brightened, and he saw windows filled with light. A voice called out, one he recognized immediately. “Miles? Is that you?”
“Hey man, it’s me.”
A face moved into view, his boss’s. A few large pixels jumbled the picture momentarily, then resolved. “How’d the visit go with our friends at United Rainforest Fund? Anything wrong? Tell me straight.”
He knew he’d had his share of issues, but this time he wasn’t calling with a fire that needed to be put out. “Don’t worry. The woman who came here, Kara, is amazing. I’m sure she’ll solve El Punto’s problems.”
“That’s great news. That mean they signed on?”
“Yes—but it almost didn’t happen. The more I learned about the uses of bamboo, the more I’m thinking it could help out in Quebrada de Aqua. I just sent you a pic of something I want you to check out.”
Dave frowned and moved out of view. “Checking my phone…there you are.”
Miles waited as his boss hummed quietly to himself. Then Dave spoke up. “What am I looking at here? Oh wait, is this more of Andrés’s work?”
“Yes, it is. Kara and I found a bamboo grove near El Punto and we brought some back to plant in Quebrada de Aqua. It’s supposed to help clarify the stagnant water that collects there. It’s also a quick-growing, renewable fuel source for fires and a great hardwood. This was just part of a sample she gave Andrés. He made it in one night—it’s a jewelry box. When I saw it, it gave me an idea.”
“What’s that?”
Miles swallowed. This wasn’t his area. He was good at putting in wells and clean water solutions, but he wasn’t an idea man—that was Dave all the way. He hoped his boss wouldn’t think he was overstepping his bounds.
“This village doesn’t have much of a livelihood. I thought with such a quick-growing resource, they could learn from Andrés, like Pedro has, to carve bamboo. A little bit of money could go a long way there.”
Dave nodded into the video camera, then rubbed his jaw. “I like the way you think, Miles. That box is the perfect size for single items of jewelry. I might just have some connections who’d be interested—jewelers. Eco-friendly designs that sponsor a Hydration Foundation community. I’ll talk with Rachel, but I think that could fit our vision.”
“That’s great,” Miles said. “Let me know as soon as you hear. They’ll need a little capital to bring some more bamboo in, but I think Kara could help us out with that if you can get the money.”
An amused grin slid across Dave’s face. Miles stared at the screen and asked his boss, “What?”
“I wonder if that’s what I looked like when I called up my brother after I’d met Rachel.” Dave paused. “Nothing wrong with finding inspiration through love.”
Miles cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“Well, I gotta get going, but you’ll hear from me soon. I won’t make you wait long. I know how much you hate that.” Dave laughed.
“Thanks, bossman.”
Miles hung up the call and stared at the black screen. Making the call had been the first step. Now the hard work would begin.
Bamboo stalks reached high all around him. They’d grown above his head, green leaves spilling out of their tops. It hadn’t taken long before they’d adopted the hillside like they’d always lived there. Like they belonged.
Miles peered out between the culms and up the valley. Holes marked the ground, prepared and ready for the roots that would soon occupy them.
He walked toward the sound of the drill that echoed through the hillside. Miles glanced at the new building, which was larger than any of the other buildings in the village. Inside, one man stood at the top of a ladder and another held it steady for him as he installed the large hanging light at the center pinnacle of the space. Tables encircled the room with woodworking tools scattered across them.
“Miles, when will the load of bamboo be here?”
He turned around, brushing his hair from his eyes. Andrés had caught him by surprise. The woodworker was watching too, clearly just as excited about the new electric fixtures as the rest of the village was.
“You’ll be able to get started on the bamboo stalks that were dropped off yesterday. They should be enough for the time being until you can produce your own wood. It’s been arranged. The bamboo rhizomes will come after she gets here—tomorrow I think. Then we can plant them.”
They glanced at the five-foot-tall stack of pale stalks that leaned against the side of the new building. Andrés slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”
“Believe it.” Miles couldn’t suppress his grin. He felt like a shaken soda pop—too full of energy to contain himself.
He clapped Andrés on the shoulder before walking up the trail to the road. Happy giggles rang out nearby. Pedro was blowing bubbles through his fingers for Lily, who raced along the hill trying to pop them between her hands. Miles waved at the children, who barely noticed him pass by.
The car ride seemed to take forever. Once off the bumpy, pockmarked dirt road, he pressed his foot down on the pedal, urging the vehicle to go faster. Horns blared as he sped past other traffic. He wasn’t sure why he thought getting there quicker would make the plane arrive faster. But there he was, speeding.
His watch told him he was on time when he got to the airport. The taxis that cluttered the drive alongside the large gray building jockeyed for position. He saw one pull away and took its place. His shiny aviator glasses reflected back at him in the rearview as he watched other cars drive past.
The sheet of paper beside him on the passenger seat was nearly forgotten when he jumped o
ut of the car. A warm breeze temporarily dried the sweat on his skin and rustled his hair as he walked around to the passenger side. He leaned his body against the warm metal, held up his sign and waited.
“Hey conductor, necesito un paseo.”
Overshadowed by a large suitcase, a woman wearing a backpack called out to him. Her accent gave her away as an American. Long brown hair hung past her shoulders, down to the edge of the sleeves of her white cotton tee.
“It’s a dangerous city. I don’t give rides to strangers—or people who travel with too much luggage.”
She stepped closer. “It isn’t just filled with makeup—I need clothes if I’m staying.”
“You’ll have to load it yourself,” he said and slid his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose.
“I can handle my own bags,” she answered. “But I might need your help with something else.”
He raised his eyebrow in response and pushed away from the car. Miles stepped closer to her and growled, “I’m just a driver.”
She plucked the sign out of his hands and read it aloud. “‘Hot Lips.’ She’ll have to wait because I need a ride to help a friend plant some bamboo. Then I have a job to do in El Punto, managing my first hands-on project for my nonprofit program. It’ll take months to implement and monitor progress.”
“Months?”
“Sí.”
He hooked his fingers through the loopholes of her shorts and pulled her close. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she leaned her face closer. Her familiar floral scent crept into his nostrils and he breathed it in. It had been too long.
Before tasting her lips again, he growled, “Come here, Hot Lips.”
The End
Love Takes Root: A contemporary romance novella Page 13