by Rula Sinara
“Ah. Niara told you. Good. I felt it was her place to share,” Kamau said.
“See, Niara. He said you should share.” Anna winked at her friend. Of course, she wouldn’t really pressure her, even if Anna was supercurious about the poem. But teasing a girlfriend was part of the fun of celebrating an engagement.
She turned to Kamau. “How many cows?” she asked with a grin, in reference to the traditional dowry.
“She can have all she wants, but there aren’t enough on earth. She’s priceless. I never knew what my greatest fear was until this threat of losing funds arose. The possibility of us all going separate ways, of me never seeing Niara and Haki every day. That was the last grain of dust. It pushed me to take a chance.”
Kamau stepped up to Niara, took her left hand in both of his and kissed it. Niara blushed harder than Anna thought was possible. Seeing her so happy gave Anna a rush. Something good—extraordinarily good—had come out of the mess her life was in.
“That’s beautiful, Kamau. We’re not going anywhere, but I give you my permission to take my best friend and make her the happiest woman in the world. And Haki, too. He’s so much like you,” Anna said.
Kamau ruffled the boy’s hair. “Eat so you can get big and strong,” he said.
“I can get big and stwong, too,” Pippa declared.
Haki shoved a huge bite in his mouth. Pippa tried for a bigger one. Anna watched her dear ones interact.
She was so happy for them. Kamau loved Niara and she loved him back. That’s all that mattered. The two of them had stood by Anna, their loyalty and friendship unwavering. They deserved this. They deserved every bit of joy they had coming.
Haki looked at Kamau. “Can we play later? Will you help me build the Lego Auntie Anna brought me?”
“Sure,” Kamau said.
“I can, too,” Pippa said.
“Okay, but only the pieces I let you touch,” Haki told her.
Anna had never seen so much emotion from Haki as when they’d arrived back from the States. He had really missed his friend. Explaining that Pippa would be moving away would be excruciating in so many ways.
Pippa had gone on and on about her trip...and her new room. Her anticipation of going back to her father’s place, her pink room, left a knot in Anna’s chest, and she had to keep silently reassuring herself that she was doing the right thing. That no matter what, Pippa loved her and would someday forgive her.
Trust your instincts. Anna thought about her parents and the choices they’d made. It wasn’t easy, knowing what was best for your kid or knowing what was right. There were no concrete answers.
* * *
ANNA SCANNED THE EXPANSE before her. She’d barely seen an elephant in the valley, let alone other animals, since she’d gotten back four days ago. The scarcity of herds gave her a nagging feeling she couldn’t shake. Kam had taken the Jeep out earlier and would be back soon. Anna walked back to the clinic, stopping to check on Bakhari before resuming paperwork.
“Hey, Bakhari boy. Are you growing?” She ran her hand down his trunk and smiled when he nudged her empty palm. “No treat right now. I’ll bring you something later,” she said. He tamped the ground and she laughed. “Yes, I promise.”
She settled in at the counter in the clinic and pulled up a letter she’d been writing on the computer. The grind of Kam’s engine grew louder. She prayed he wouldn’t have another injured orphan on board. She had to get this letter sent off in case he needed her.
She gave the draft a quick read through and hit Send. Without Miller as a sponsor, she had to find someone else to back her stay in Kenya. She hoped Dr. Alwanga would be able to help.
Anna stepped outside and took comfort in the familiar scene of Kam’s crew unloading gear.
“Anything?” she asked as he approached.
“Good or bad first?”
“Good.”
“The closest water hole has dried up. I think the herds moved in search of water.”
“That explains why they haven’t been around. I was worried about poachers.”
Kam rubbed the sweat from his neck. “The bad is that a large poaching ring was intercepted. The group was arrested before dawn. They’d made a kill, but the ivory has been confiscated.”
“Oh, no. How many elephants?”
Kamau looked away. Anna could tell by the way his jaw ticked that it was more than he cared to say. She hung her head for a moment.
A faint rumble sounded in the distance. It seemed more like thunder than elephants, but the sky was clear.
“The good is that some of the recent killings will stop,” Anna said.
Kam nodded. “Yes. But do you remember the wedding we took Jack to? I had noticed the groom’s cousin missing. Turns out he’s been helping the poachers. He turned himself in after the last kill and gave the authorities information that tracked them down. I knew there was someone.” Kam fisted his hands. “The arrows at that poaching site Jack helped with... Now we know where they came from.”
“That’s terrible! The tribe must be devastated. He’s Ahron’s cousin, too,” Anna said.
“Which is why I must leave you,” Ahron said from behind them.
“Absolutely not,” Anna said. She stepped closer to him. “Listen to me, Ahron. You’re indispensable. The elephants need you. We need you here. You and your family have done so much for us. People do desperate things sometimes. Your cousin made a mistake. He realized that and has helped catch some very bad people. There’s no reason for you to leave.”
“But I should have seen signs. I should have known,” Ahron insisted. The poor boy’s face was taut and his eyes downturned. He truly loved the animals. He was meant to work with them.
“If that were the case, I would be as much to blame,” Kam said. “Let’s not waste energy on what-ifs. We all need to take what is and move forward.”
“We need you, Ahron. Okay?” Anna waited. He finally nodded. Thank goodness. “Bakhari wants a treat from me, so don’t let him con you into one, too,” she said, in an effort to lighten things.
Ahron offered a small smile and headed to the pens. “Thank you,” he said, before disappearing.
Another rumble sounded, this time closer. Anna looked at Kam.
“Tell me that was thunder.”
* * *
WITHIN MINUTES OF checking the local weather reports, Anna had the camp in motion, lowering tent tarps and covering anything that needed protection. Just in case. Confident that things were under control, she ran to her lookout. Sure enough, dark clouds billowed in the distance and a damp, rusty smell permeated the air. Early storms were sometimes too brief for any benefit, but this one was looking as if it had downpour potential.
She hoped it wouldn’t pass them by. At this point, she would be thankful for any drop the skies unleashed. Anything.
She turned, hearing the whirr of Mac’s chopper in the opposite direction. He was nearing the landing area. Was he nuts? Mac was a stickler for weather reports. Why would he take off in the direction of a front? Unless there was an emergency.... What if he’d spotted something from the air?
A gust of wind rustled the leaves overhead. Standing on the platform with thunder in the distance wasn’t smart. Anna climbed down and took long strides toward camp. Mac had to have a good reason for coming, because he’d be grounded for as long as the weather stayed bad.
And he was in a hurry, because halfway home, Anna could already see one of their Jeeps headed towards camp from the landing. What on earth was going on? She broke into a run, but by the time she reached the copse of fig trees a few yards from the supply tent, he was already coming toward her.
Jack.
Jack.
“What are you doing here?” Every cell in her body thrummed. He looked just as he had the first time he’d come to Busar
a. There was a difference, though. His eyes on her...his shoulders back... He had a purpose. He wanted his little girl.
Anna swallowed hard and waited for him to get closer, then took one step and threw her arms around him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, wanting to remember the scent of his soap, the sound of his pulse beating against her face and the comfort of his warmth. She’d need that memory to last, because it’s all she would have.
“What’s that for?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her. His voice sounded gruff and weary. Anna pulled back slowly and looked at him.
“That was for what you did for my mother...for me.” She couldn’t help the tears welling up as she spoke. For once she didn’t care. They could fall and she could look like a fool, and she didn’t care. “No thank-you could ever be enough. She called and told me everything you did. Jack—”
“Anna—”
“No. Don’t try to minimize it. And Pippa...I understand now where she really needs to be.” Anna’s voice cracked. “I want you to be sure she sees my mom a lot, and her cousins, and I want her to be here summers, but I haven’t spoken to her yet. I need some time. I didn’t expect you to show up and—”
“Anna, stop. Look at me,” Jack said, wrapping his hands around her shoulders. “I’m not here for Pippa. I’m here for both of you.”
Anna frowned. What? She sniffed back tears. “I thought you understood. I—I can’t leave. This is my home. It’s who I am. I can’t abandon Busara and the baby elephants we’ve taken in.”
“I don’t want you to. I know this is where you belong. That’s what I think is so incredible about you. Your nurturing strength. Your loyalty. It’s in everything here. I’m hoping you might find room for one more.”
“I don’t understand. One more—”
“Rescue. Only this one is two-legged and hasn’t been an orphan for a very long time. But he is blind.”
She stared at Jack and couldn’t speak if she wanted to. He wanted to stay? Here?
He reached into his pocket.
“Jack, we’ve been through this.”
“No, we haven’t. What we’ve been through is you being too scared, too hurt by your parents, to believe two people could be so meant for each other that even oceans couldn’t keep them apart. And me assuming you knew how much—” He shook his head and closed his eyes, then opened them again and looked hard at her. “—how much I love you. I always have, Anna. What we had wasn’t just friendship. It was so much more. The last time I said ‘I love you’ was to my parents, the night before they overdosed. I was just a kid. I think subconsciously it was easier to assume you understood how much you meant to me than to put it in words because I was afraid. Afraid that if I said it, I’d lose you and anyone who mattered to me. I’m so sorry if I hurt you.”
Anna took a step away. Her pulse raced and she couldn’t feel her feet beneath her. He’d said the word. But he never said the word. To anyone. His mother had said so.
Jack pulled a box out of his pocket. A ring box. Anna’s mouth felt dry. She pushed her hair back and jolted when a sharp crack sounded, followed by a streak of lightning.
“Jack—”
“Wait. Let me explain before you turn me down again. If you really don’t love me that way, I’ll accept it,” he said. “I still want you to have this. It’s the ring I bought before your graduation. Before I first proposed...”
It took a minute to register. He’d bought the ring before her graduation date. Before they’d made love—and yes, it had been love. She knew that with every cell in her body, because in spite of what had made her turn to him that day five years ago, she’d never have let it happen if deep down she didn’t believe they were made for each other. That they were meant to be together forever.
He’d planned on proposing. Even if he hadn’t been able to define his feelings as love, he hadn’t proposed out of guilt, or to try to convince her her fairy tale could happen despite her parents’ divorce bomb. It hadn’t been because of Pippa, although his heart had been in the right place. They loved each other. All three of them. Jack put the ring in her hand, closed her fingers around it, then held her fist against his heart.
“If it’s not worth something to you, it’ll be worth something to Busara. You can sell it and use the money to help buy you more time. But I’m hoping you’ll wear it and let it be a reminder of how much I love you and how much I want to build a life here with you and Pippa. I don’t need to hide behind white walls and protocols anymore. That’s not the life I want. What I want is here. Will you please marry me, Anna Banana?”
Everything in her contracted in a wave, from her legs up to her chest. She swallowed, but the lump in her chest kept rising, pressing against her throat and neck, and everything she’d ever held back. She gasped for a breath and the dam broke. Release. Relief.
Jack’s arms wrapped around her and she let her strength drain into him, her body limp with fatigue she’d never let herself give in to. Emotion she’d longed for and feared. They held each other tight. An embrace that Anna felt at her core was a promise of forever.
“Yes,” she said. “I want to be married to you, Jack. You’re the only man I ever wanted to spend my life with.”
She let go long enough to slip the ring on her finger, then held his face in her hands and kissed him. She felt a drop of rain on her cheek, and the metallic ping of drops against the clinic’s aluminum roof told her they were about to get drenched, but she didn’t care. Jack was kissing her. He was staying. That’s all that mattered.
“There is someone whose approval we should probably get,” he said, taking off his hat and putting it on her head.
“I’m sure Pippa will be thrilled.”
“I don’t mean Pippa. I mean your Doberman,” Jack said, pointing to Ambosi, who clung to the clinic’s dry windowsill. The monkey cackled and leaped onto the wood fencing of the first elephant pen. Anna’s tears turned to laughter.
“Why, Jack Harper. I think that’s his way of saying you’re a keeper.”
EPILOGUE
Three months later...
JACK PACED THE foyer of the tourist lodge, cognizant of the fact that little Pippa was mimicking his every step. He put his hands behind his back. She did the same. He stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling elephants carved in rich wood along an entire wall, and rubbed his chin like an art savant. She did the same, brow raise and all. Jack chuckled.
“Okay, shadow. That’s enough,” he said, grabbing her playfully by the waist and hoisting her in the air. She squealed and several heads turned at the front desk. “Sorry, my fault.” Jack waved at the manager.
“No problem, Dr. Harper,” the man said.
After the several science lectures he’d given, and the conference he’d arranged here with Dr. Alwanga, the staff had gotten to know him. Lectures brought in money for Busara, but working by Anna’s side at the camp was where Jack felt whole. Busara was home and he was grateful that life—that Anna—had led him there.
Everything was working out well. Their efforts and networking were keeping Busara alive, and Jack was using his own savings to build them more comfortable, permanent homes on site. Two, so that Kam, Niara and Haki would have a place, as well.
He’d felt awful when his mortgage fell through on the animal park, after a final audit showed that he’d quit his research position back in Pennsylvania. Regardless of the mess he’d gotten himself into, Mr. Chase shouldn’t have had to suffer. But as it turned out, Jack didn’t have a choice in the matter. Nonetheless, he and Anna contacted everyone they knew at the vet school for help placing the animals. Last he’d heard, they’d all found homes, and Mr. Chase had moved West, though the property was still on the market.
Jack glanced at his watch impatiently and reminded himself that things didn’t always run on time here. He missed Anna. Only a few days and he was out of hi
s mind.
The outer doors swung open and she, her mom and Mac came through. Jack put Pippa down and she ran into Anna’s arms.
“Oh, my goodness, you’ve grown,” Sue said. “Do you remember me?”
“Yes, Grandma.” Pippa reached out and hugged her. “And I won’t ask you if you got me a present.”
Everyone laughed.
“We also got a new baby elephant. Do you want to help name her?” Pippa asked.
“I’d love to!” Sue said, letting Pippa tug her down to eye level to discuss names.
Stealing a moment while he could, Jack took Anna in his arms and whispered in her ear. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
“Jack!” Sue stepped forward, Pippa still grasping her hand. “It’s so good to see you again, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be here in person for the ceremony. I’m so proud to have you as a son-in-law.”
She hugged him, and Jack knew from the softness of her voice and eyes that she was saying more than she cared to express in front of everyone. They had used Skype so that she could “be” at the double wedding ceremony Jack and Anna had shared with Kam and Niara two months ago. They’d wanted her to come for Christmas, but after discussing it with her and her psychologist, they all decided that Sue staying in therapy this holiday and having her professionals teach her how to cope in the future would be best. There would be many more seasons and celebrations to come.
“It’s good to have you here. I really hope you’ll extend your stay,” Jack said.
Sue had been nervous about traveling in a plane, but she was determined to make changes in her life. Anna had flown to the States just so she could see her mom safely over. She was doing well and the doctors gave her the clear, but Anna wanted to be sure.
“Well, like I said...” Mac cocked his head and winked at Mrs. Bekker. “The job is yours if you want it. I could really use the help of a manager with marketing experience, and they do offer permanent rooms here. Think about it.”