Zambezi Seduction
Page 16
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t do this,” the Dane said. “But I’m eating for two, so –”
“Two? You’re pregnant?”
The Scandinavian blonde laughed softly. “Confirmed last month. I wasn’t going to mention it. Still early days.”
“Oh, Camilla, how wonderful!” Kerry knew it would be the couple’s first child. “Per is excited, I’m sure.”
“Delighted. He wants more. This is such a fine country in which to raise kids – they are outdoors in the sun so much; they grow up healthy and strong.”
Kerry watched the Dane polish off the last of the crab salad and wash it down with a final mouthful of wine.
“It was conceived at Victoria Falls,” Camilla stated in her typically forthright manner. Looking Kerry straight in the eye, she added, “That place is conducive to lovemaking. Is there a more beautiful river anywhere?” She laughed again. “The night of our casino visit we engaged in a frenzied session and our legs became entangled in the mosquito net. Per made me laugh – he said that if they ever made sex an Olympic sport, we would be sure to win Gold.”
Kerry waited. After the talk of Vic Falls, now surely there would be some mention of Chad. But, no – infuriatingly, Camilla switched to debating with herself whether to round the meal off with a coffee. She decided against; she felt fine as she was. Kerry concurred.
“Let’s go,” Camilla commanded, glancing at her watch. She gave Kerry a curious smile. “I have something to show you.”
They split the cost of the meal, as agreed beforehand. Camilla drove in silence, heading farther away from the city. Kerry could not relax; she felt that they had unfinished business. She had no real desire to see the Olsen’s home or Per’s factory, or wherever the heck they were going. She sat in a kind of daze, taking in little of the passing scene. Once she turned from looking out the side window and for a moment believed she was in the Fiat with Chad.
Meeting Camilla had been a mistake, Kerry realized. The high-point of their talk had been discussing the Dane’s pregnancy – and that could have been done over the phone. Kerry’s earlier fear of being unable to recapture the warmth of their first meeting had been an accurate forecast.
At a crossroads, Camilla pulled in to the roadside. She studied a scrap of paper. It appeared to Kerry to be scribbled directions. This awakened her interest. If the other woman was unsure of the way, then they were hardly going to her home or to meet her husband.
“Almost there,” Camilla said with a forced laugh.
She had to be aware of Kerry’s growing curiosity but made no attempt to satisfy it. She got the car going again and kept her eyes fixed on the road.
They were beyond the outermost suburb; the terrain was open veld with a scattering of gum trees. The land was flat, save for an occasional low rocky outcrop.
Camilla slowed the Golf and turned onto a dirt road. Both women closed their windows to keep out the dust. At the junction, a large display board advertised building plots for sale. In big letters it proclaimed the site to be the area’s Newest, Best & Most Exclusive.
A road-grader worked ahead, noisily throwing up a cloud of dust as it scraped along the dirt road. Once they were through its dust cloud, Kerry noticed on each side plots had been marked out with rows of whitewashed rocks and coloured tape. Nowhere had building work begun.
A kopje, topped with great slabs of weathered rock, lay ahead. The road rose gradually to meet it. At the base of the hill the road turned at a right angle and here the blue gums stood tall and stately in the sun.
Camilla brought the car to a stop. She looked around, a nervous smile playing about her lips. She appeared to recognize something in their surroundings and looked relieved.
“Come,” she said, opening her door. “This is the place.”
Robot-like, Kerry followed. She had not the faintest idea what they were doing here. She should have questioned Camilla more in the car, but it was too late for that. The Dane had plainly wanted to surprise her, and Kerry had played along. Now, seeing the end result, she wondered why.
She was struck by how peaceful it was. The distant hum of the road-grader and the rasping calls of weaver birds in the gum trees were the only sounds. Her sharp eyes picked out a pair of small falcons circling the kopje’s summit. What had Camilla in mind? Surely not rock climbing; not in her condition. And neither woman was dressed for it.
“Camilla, what . . . ?” Kerry’s question died in her throat.
The Dane was no longer at her side. She had slipped back to the car, from where she waved. Kerry had no time to ponder this outlandish behaviour. She sensed movement off to the side. She whirled round and her mouth hung open in shock.
Emerging from the trees was a familiar face – familiar, yet markedly changed from the time of their last meeting.
TWENTY – TWO
A pale, gaunt-featured Chad whose stride was hesitant, lacking the purpose and confidence of old.
“Hello, Kerry,” he said simply.
There was a roar as Camilla took off in the Golf, job done. The car raised a fresh cloud of dust, a few joyful-sounding beeps on the horn the Dane’s only farewell.
Kerry could only shake her head, thinking of the planning that had gone into this and knowing that she was helpless to do anything about it.
“She’d better pray that I’m in a good mood next time we meet – if there is a next time.”
“If anyone’s to blame, it’s me,” Chad told her. “I put her up to it.”
“Really? I’d never have guessed. I understand you’ve changed trades – from painter to plumber.”
The South African smiled for the first time. Suddenly he looked more like the man she remembered and she was glad to see it.
“No flies on you,” he said. “You have it all figured out.”
Kerry was angry. She felt she had been made to look a fool.
“Will you stop grinning and fetch your car from wherever it’s hidden?” she demanded. “You can drop me at the nearest bus route. I don’t care for this deception.”
Chad’s look darkened. “You’ll do us both a favour if you quit acting so bloody aggrieved and hurt.” His words carried a sharp edge. “I’m not something crawled out of the swamp. We spent three weeks together, remember?”
How could she ever forget? Every day since, she had thought of him, convinced they had blown any chance of a reconciliation . . . only for him to appear like some half-starved wanderer from the bush.
“I wanted to talk to you,” he told her, cautiously keeping his distance, respecting her space.
“But, why here?” Kerry couldn’t understand the thinking behind it. “All right, I’m listening . . . I’m going nowhere, it seems.”
Chad Lindsay visibly relaxed. His artist’s eyes moved, taking in the trees and kopje which dominated the scene. He breathed deeply of the warm Highveld air.
“In a year or two, when the homes are up, this will have changed,” he said. “But not too much, I hope.”
“Why should that concern you?”
“Sorry, I should explain.” Chad threw his arms out wide. “The land we’re standing on is mine.”
“Yours? You’re going to build here?”
He nodded. “The cottage at Kyalami is rented. I’ve made good money over the last year or two. The time is right for a home designed to my specifications. I can have that here. The plot is large enough for a fine house, a garden and pool – all that a man desires.”
Kerry was genuinely pleased for him. “It’s a prime site.”
“I engaged an architect. That’s why I was unable to meet you at the airport. I’d some details to discuss with her before we left for Zimbabwe –”
“Her?”
“A woman, yes. Erica van Rensburg.”
“Erica . . . that first day I heard you and Anna talk about a meeting with Erica.”
“And you assumed she was a girlfriend?” Chad read the situation exactly right.
Kerry glared at him, feeling colour rush t
o her cheeks.
“Well, what was I to think? Anna warned me that you had a reputation.”
“Moving on,” Chad said, taking a few tentative steps towards her. “Things have changed somewhat since then.” His voice had grown tight, almost pained. “I’ve told Erica to suspend work on the house plans.”
“Whatever for?” Kerry was shocked. “There’s nothing wrong, is there? You’ve lost weight.”
“For the first time after a field-trip, I couldn’t get down to work. Even now, I’ve hardly put brush to canvas. Doubts about the house design, never there before, keep springing to mind. Life is a trifle confused – worrying – right now. For me, a new and humbling experience.”
“There must be a cause you can pinpoint and put right.”
The South African laughed, his piercing eyes fixed so intently on Kerry she felt a couple of lasers were being directed her way.
“Sound advice,” he answered. “It seems I’ll have to spell it out for you. I mentioned that with this new home I’ll have all a man desires. Not true. Something is lacking. A year or two back, it wouldn’t have mattered – but I’ve matured. The time is right. Kerry, I’m talking about a woman to share it with . . .”
He paused, glancing at her nervously.
“After you left, I missed you more than I would ever have imagined. The cottage seemed bleak without you. The prospect of future field-trips without you at my side was unappealing. I realized that I love you and want to marry you – if you’ll have me. I want us to go into this . . . this home, this future, together.”
He waited, his look awkward, fearful.
***
After the initial shock, Kerry was experiencing a feeling so wonderful she doubted it could ever be bettered.
She loved this man.
Had from some indeterminate moment in Zimbabwe.
They had fought, as strong-willed people do, but gradually, like adversaries in the ring, each had won the other’s respect – and more.
Her legs seemed to be on the move even before her brain had given its permission. They took her at a rush into his open arms. And when his mouth and tongue sought hers – not darting hungrily like a sneak thief in the night – but gently with all the warmth and tenderness deserving of such a moment, Kerry knew happiness beyond her wildest dreams.
***
Chad laid her gently down on the veld grasses. He stretched out his long frame beside her, supporting her head with his arm.
“Owning my own piece of Africa is something I’ve always wanted,” he said, emotionally. “I have it now – and I have you. I’m a lucky guy.”
He seemed transformed from what he had been only minutes before. Kerry was glad to have the old Chad Lindsay back. Already he was making plans.
“We’ll see the architect. We’ll need an extra room for your writing study. And you’ll have to okay the kitchen and number of bedrooms . . . Ah, it’ll be a grand house . . . with room for your father. I’m sure he’ll fancy tackling the tigerfish in Lake Kariba.”
He paused just long enough to draw breath.
“One thing – as the house goes up and I’m working – you’ll have to chase around choosing fittings, furniture, all sorts of things. We can use some of Per Olsen’s Scandinavian designs. I’ve been over to check him out, and he’s good. That’s when I hatched the plot with Camilla – I had a hunch you would phone her. What I’m saying is you’ll need that driving licence.”
Kerry laughed, giving vent to her pent-up joy. She told him not to worry.
“It’s done. Unlike someone I could mention, I haven’t been idle.”
***
The air over the veld shimmered under the summer sun. A falcon rose on a thermal above the rocky hill. Kerry could smell the grass and the sweet scent of crushed blue gum leaves. This small part of Africa would soon be hers too. Like Chad, she had long harboured such a dream.
His lips captured hers again. Kerry shut her eyes happily. A vision of her life flashed through her mind – not her past, but her future through to maturity and old age.
At that moment she knew such contentment, it brought sudden tears to her eyes.
Table of Contents
copyright
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY – ONE
TWENTY – TWO