Harlequin Heartwarming May 2016 Box Set (8 page)

“I can't believe you remember that.”

“How could I not? It was one of the few times you showed a little courage. Writing about fashion? I don't know. Just surprises me, is all.”

“It's not like I never dressed well.” Maybe she knew how, she just never did. Jeans and a sweatshirt had been more her speed than miniskirts and heels. “So fashion's not your thing,” she continued. “It is for a lot of people.”

“Four-inch heels and leopard-print leggings? Yeah, not sure I could pull off the look.”

“Very funny.”

He was right, though. Writing made her feel courageous. It was the one way she felt comfortable speaking up or taking action. Brice's influence had gotten her the opportunity to put her words out there—it just came with limits and no control.

“Anyway,” she said. “Shortly after Allan and Maria's funeral, things began to change. Brice grew more distant, but I didn't care at first because I needed to be alone. Losing my sister crushed me. I was emotionally and physically drained, but Nick came first. So the fact that Brice was around less and less, taking more trips and coming home later at night, was a bit of a blessing in disguise. He was supportive of Nick living with us. He understood, yet there was palpable tension when both of them were in the house. Brice was less equipped to deal with Nick's emotional state, on top of the usual teen challenges, than I was. At least whenever Brice wasn't around, I didn't have to spend time placating him.” She hoped Mac picked up on the fact that
he
hadn't been there to help with Nick, either.

“I hate to bring it up and don't jump on me for asking, but how do you know he wasn't having an affair? That it isn't still going on right now? Watch all of this have nothing to do with poaching and everything to do with another woman.”

Tessa forced her lips shut before she could spit out the response he deserved. Her throat tightened. She should have expected as much from Mac. It only proved she'd never be more than an awkward, wimpy nerd in his eyes. What cut even deeper was that the very same suspicions had crossed her mind. What did that say about her self-worth?

“Why? Because I was never the girl a guy wanted to ask out, let alone one to land a husband? You think I can't hold on to a man?”

“I didn't mean it like that. Usually, when a guy is scarce without reason, an affair is a possibility. The fault being on him, not you, Tess.”

She shuffled her sneaker in the dirt. Why did being around Mac make her feel like a teenager again? Unsure of herself, needing approval and struggling to think clearly in his presence. She scratched her upper lip. She was an adult now. She had a career...a voice.
You're in control here, Tessa. You're not a kid anymore.

“I can't be one-hundred percent sure,” she said, “but I don't think he is. He trusts me to take care of things like paying the bills. I've never seen anything out of the ordinary on our bank statements. Of course, he could be smarter than that, but I've never smelled perfume on him or seen lipstick, and if something was going on there would be rumors going around by now. Okay, I'll admit, the same thought crossed my mind at first. Who wouldn't wonder when their spouse's behavior changed so drastically? But then about a month ago, we had a cocktail party. The usual, except there were a couple of men I hadn't met before. New business associates, presumably. Nick was in his room, where he always hides during these parties. He hates them, too.

“I went up to check on him and came down the back stairs to the kitchen, not knowing that Brice was having a private talk with someone in the walk-in pantry by the steps. At first, I thought he was with one of the guests, but then I saw from behind that he was on his cell phone. I didn't think anything of it until he began saying things like, ‘No one can find out,' and ‘You're on your own if there's a leak.' My gut told me to keep quiet and back up the stairs. I did, but my heel caught on my long dress. I stumbled, he heard me and he turned. I pretended I was just coming down.”

Tessa took a deep breath. The memory of that moment, the instant panic and churning in her stomach, came back. Adrenaline had helped her keep her wits about her, but she knew in that second that something was very wrong. Her skin had prickled like fire ants were crawling up her arms and her chest had gone ice cold.

“Did he threaten you, Tessa?”

She looked at Mac and pressed her fingertips to his jaw to stop him from popping it up and down. He stopped.

“No. He gave me a gift. He hesitated when he saw me and ended the call, then pulled a box out from his tuxedo pocket. It was a fountain pen.”

“A pen? I would've expected diamonds from Brice,” Mac said.

“Oh, it had diamonds on it, all right. Mac, this fountain pen had a solid gold nib and the barrel looked like hand-carved ivory. It was studded with diamonds. It was a work of art, but I was in shock. I remember the word
ivory
leaving my lips and he immediately explained that it was ‘humanely harvested'—his words—from elephants who had died of natural causes.”

Mac let out a string of expletives and began pacing with his hands on his hips.

“I know,” Tessa added. “It doesn't make it okay. I didn't believe him for one second, but I had to fake gratitude because a part of me wasn't sure what was going on. I felt sick just looking at it, but tried to seem appreciative. I had no idea if he'd bought into my act or if whatever he was dealing with would put Nick in danger. I felt overwhelmed and all I could think was that I had to be smart. He told me he'd gotten me the pen because he knew how much I loved to write in my journal.”

“He was buying you,” Mac hissed.

“Don't you think I didn't wonder if that's what was happening? I didn't want to be bought. I've never wanted to be bought.” Tessa fought the tears burning her eyes. She swiped at them and swallowed back their saltiness. “Whatever you might think, I didn't marry him for his money. I wasn't after his materialistic life. All I wanted was the sense of security he offered. I didn't want to hurt inside anymore, Mac. That pen was the ultimate sign that he didn't know me. My own husband and he doesn't know or care about who I really am.”

Until that instant, she wasn't sure if
she
had really respected or known who she was. She'd gone to bed that night unable to stop thinking about the fact that the only person who'd ever understood and accepted her for who she was deep down was her sister, and she was gone. That night, she'd also decided that she had her limits and cruelty was too high a price to pay for staying safe. Turning a blind eye would make her just as guilty.

“This trip he's on is to China.”

“All sorts of business takes place in China,” Mac said. “Still not proof.”

“I know. I know, but do you really think these are all a bunch of coincidences? Come on, Mac. You can't deny a possible link between China and ivory dealings. And why an ivory pen of all things?”

Mac didn't answer because there really wasn't an answer. She knew these weren't coincidences. Not with Brice's dealings at the art gallery. His choice of gift had been calculated and deliberate, but the Henning connection to the art gallery was more information than Mac needed to hear. She had to be careful about what she shared and what details she kept to herself.

“Did you ever love him?” Mac asked.

“I thought I did. I've been doubting myself, wondering if he's really involved. Maybe the pen had nothing to do with the call and his only crime was ignorance. But even if that's the case, then I don't know him any more than he knows me.”

“Then I guess there are two big questions here,” Mac said. “Is he innocent, and if he is, after all this, will you stick to your promise of ‘till death do us part'?”

CHAPTER SIX

M
AC
PEERED
OUTSIDE
the cottage window. Nick was wiping the Camp Jamba jeep's dipstick on a rag. Mugi was standing next to him, demonstrating how to do an oil change and general checkup on the vehicle. Nick seemed to be having a good time. He'd even stopped looking over his shoulder nervously at the monkey who'd been chattering persistently in a nearby tree.

“He's starting to fit in. It didn't take long,” Tessa said from the stool next to him as they waited for the Lagats' personal computer to boot up.

They'd both confided in Mugi after breakfast and his first piece of legal advice was to make copies of everything on the drives before handing them over to any authorities...and not to hand them to just anyone. It was a sad fact, but too many “officials” out there were easily paid off.

“There's a good kid under the wall he's put up. He'll come out sooner or later,” Mac agreed. “If anyone can reach him, it's Mugi. They seem to be getting along.”

“My guess is he would take just as much interest in you showing him what all those buttons on your chopper are for.”

The computer screen flashed and its start-up page began loading.

“Don't push it, Tessa. You know I can't be his main guardian right now. You saw where I live.” Tessa had done her share of confessions last night. It was his turn. If she ended up thinking any less of him than she already did, so be it. “The fact is, I can't afford much more right now and business hasn't been what it needs to be for me to barely break even. Helicopters aren't cheap. There's gas and maintenance involved. A place to ground her. My office space isn't free, either. I love what I do, but business has slowed down because of competition, and if I can't focus on turning things around, I'll lose Air Walker Safaris by the end of the year.”

Tessa frowned and stopped rocking sideways on her stool.

“I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

“It's not your problem.”

It wasn't anyone's problem but his. Air Walker Safaris going under would prove to the world that he wasn't good enough. That his father had been right about him. But the worst part was that if he couldn't fly, his friends in the area who were dedicating their lives to wildlife, and who were counting on his volunteer efforts, would pay the price, too. Friends like Anna Bekker. He wouldn't be able to take them on herd-spotting flights or to make population estimates or to spot the bloody trail of poachers and help to rescue the babies who were left defenseless—worthless without tusks or skins large or luxurious enough for harvesting. He couldn't let that happen.

“Maybe not, but we need to figure something out. It's not just about me not being enough for him. If things don't go down well in the near future, I may not be safe for Nick to be around.”

“I won't let it come to that,” Mac said. He meant it, too. He'd help her get to the bottom of this, so that she could carry on living safe and secure with Nick. Somewhere. Everything would go back to normal.

Tessa looked back out the window, and Mac followed her gaze. Kesi was offering Nick and Mugi a plate of
mandazi
. Nick took a careful bite of one of the triangular doughnuts and then grabbed three more in one hand. Kesi threw her head back and laughed at him.

“Have you ever wondered why Maria and Allan chose the two of us as coguardians?” Tessa asked. “I mean, obviously we're his only close relatives... My parents couldn't take him in—not on a boat—but why didn't they pick one of us? Why both? They had to have known we'd be torn on what was best for him and that we wouldn't agree on anything. They
knew
we lived in different countries.”

“Maybe they did it on purpose. Maybe they thought Nick would keep their two families together. His paternal and maternal sides. Maybe they thought we'd learn to get along for his sake. Kind of like what some married couples do. They think having a child will fix everything and keep them together.” Mac's mother had tried that route, but ended up leaving both of her sons with their father.

She never came back.

He and Tessa weren't married, though.

Tessa cocked her head at him but didn't say a word. She knew all about his mother. It had been school gossip for a while. She tucked her hair behind her ears and rubbed her palms against her jeans.

“Maria was so angry with me when I got married,” she finally said. She had a faraway look in her eyes and a sad smile. “She didn't even want to attend the wedding at first. She insisted that I was making a huge mistake. That I wasn't following my heart.”

Mac let her words sink in. What had her heart been telling her to do? Mac knew firsthand that sometimes following one's heart simply wasn't a good idea. Sometimes the heart's fantasies needed to be balanced by the mind. That balance was an elusive thing, though. In high school, his heart used to tell him that Tessa needed someone around. That she needed protecting and needed to be kept from feeling utterly lonely. It told him he was attracted to her, not that he would have admitted it. Not then. Not now, either. But his mind had set him straight. It had registered her reactions to him and warned him to pull back. True. He'd been a jerk to her at times, but that defensive, cocky attitude had saved his heart.

“What did my brother think?”

“He agreed with her. They teamed up against me in a mini intervention. For some reason, neither one of them felt that Brice and I fit well together.” She met Mac's eyes but he didn't agree or disagree. He wasn't about to. None of his business.

She pulled her shoulders back and sat a little straighter.

“I guess we can just agree to put Nick first and hope Maria and Allan aren't regretting their faith in us from their graves,” she said.

He almost missed her chin quivering as she ducked her head and pulled a small, plastic box full of flash drives from the backpack purse she kept close. She handed them over. He took the box. Kesi used to always tell him that everything in life happened for a reason. Well, there were plenty of good reasons why he was neither married nor a father. His life was better this way. No one was going to turn him into the hardened man his father had become after his mother left them.

“Here it goes,” he said, sticking the first one into the computer's USB port and waiting for the external drive to show up on the screen. This old machine was painfully slow.

“I'm guessing he hasn't shared his passwords over pillow talk,” Mac said.

Tessa rolled her eyes but didn't look at him. “No, he hasn't.”

He tapped several keys and then a few more. Nothing got him in.

“Sheesh. He's not fooling around. This flash drive is encrypted.”

Mac tried the others. All encrypted. He sat back.

“I hate to break this to you, Tessa, but I'm no hacker. I wouldn't even know where to begin. We're never getting into these files. We should just turn them in and let the authorities try. They have professionals and computer programs designed to do this sort of thing. I have connections.”

“We can't do that. We don't even know if these drives have anything to do with ivory smuggling. I can't go turning my husband into the government without finding out more first. That was my plan. Otherwise, I could have marched right over to the authorities back home.”

He raked his hair back and glanced at her sideways.

“I thought you were trusting your gut on this. I thought you'd overheard him.”

“Ask Mugi. None of that would be enough evidence in a court of law. I'm not ignoring my gut entirely. That's why I'm here. But I can't go destroying his life, then turn out to be wrong. False accusations are serious, especially with something like this. You said so yourself. He could turn around and sue us both for destroying his business reputation. We'd lose everything, and where would that leave Nick? What about Air Walker Safaris? Brice could ruin you. Or what if he is guilty, but without solid evidence against him and whoever he's working with, he gets off? We'd become targets. We need to be careful.”

Mac put the drives back inside their box and wrapped it in his fist. He held his other hand out.

“If you want my help, Tessa, then we need to do this my way. All the way. You need to trust me.”

She licked her lips and glanced at his palm.

“Come on, Tess. Take a risk. Trust me...for Nick's sake.”

She nodded and placed her hand in his.

“Okay. Your way. For Nick.”

* * *

A
YELP
ESCAPED
Tessa's throat as a rut in the road sent them bouncing hard against the jeep's worn seats. She braced against the olive green frame and held on for dear life. So much for foregoing air travel. Mac had given her the choice: a quick chopper ride or the camp's jeep. She'd given him a rough time about not being totally honest about ground transportation when they'd first landed at Camp Jamba, but going back to Hodari was a moot point now. Something told her the helicopter might have been a smoother ride. Kesi had made her a cup of herbal tea before they left. A delicious blend of ginger, mint and honey. She'd even packed her a thermos of the brew. Luckily, despite how fast Mac was going, her stomach didn't bother her the way it had up in the air. Or maybe the herbs were really doing their job.

“Please slow down, Mac. We don't want to be vulture food,” she said.

“Go faster! This is amazing!” Nick screamed. He held both hands up in the air the way kids let their inner daredevils out on roller coasters. “Whoo hoo!”

A beautiful, tan-colored herd raised their heads in unison at the sound of his voice, their black-spiraled horns held high above the tall grasses. Two seconds later, they took off running in the same direction the jeep was headed. Mac slowed to a more reasonable speed.

“Those are impala. They're great jumpers,” he called out over the engine noise.

As if on cue, one of the impalas leaped gracefully into the air, avoiding a mass of bushes in its path, and cleared a phenomenal distance before landing just behind the rest of the herd. They were like a group of Serengeti dancers: stunning and dramatic against a backdrop brought to life by an artist's brush.

“They're so lovely. Are they endangered?” Tessa asked.

“No, but too many species here are. Some that most people have never heard of and some more recognizable. Black rhinos and elephants to name a few. And Rothschild's giraffe. World's tallest land animal.” He pulled to a stop and pointed toward a pair of giraffes and their baby enjoying a treetop picnic in the distance. The female turned her elegant neck and Tessa could have sworn she was staring right at her from beneath those luxurious lashes. She seemed to give Tessa a knowing nod and then lowered her neck and nudged the baby lovingly. A family of three. At peace. Something stirred deep inside Tessa.

“Look at them, Nick,” she whispered.

“I saw. Now can we go fast again?”

Leave it to a restless teen to spoil the moment. He definitely had Walker blood in him. Or perhaps it was a testosterone thing. Tessa wanted to stay there and watch. Never before had she been so hyperaware...so in tune with her senses. The way the air softly brushed her skin, the light snap of a twig, the smell of dewy grass and freshly rutted dirt, the striking blue and red of a bird taking flight from the acacia tree ahead of them. Everything around her was awe-inspiring. It didn't feel scary or risky. It felt right.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and was enveloped by a warm, fresh scent that was uniquely Mac's. She quickly opened them. What was that about? The stress, drama and romantic atmosphere of the Serengeti were getting to her. Nick's therapist had said something about kids often retreating into fantasy worlds to escape the pain of reality. He'd told her to keep an eye on him in that regard. Clearly, she needed to keep an eye on herself. There was still a chance, though tiny, that her husband was innocent. Even if she were single, Mac wasn't her type. Was he? He belonged here. There was no separating him from the land and life that surrounded them. Mac and the Serengeti had an understanding. A symbiotic relationship.

A balance.

And he'd made it clear he didn't have room in his life for anyone else. And honestly? She didn't want a rebound relationship. After all this, she was starting to appreciate the simplicity of being alone in a way she never had before.

“We should move on,” she said, shaking away her thoughts. “It would be great for Nick to see more endangered species. You can impress your biology teacher,” she said over her shoulder.

“Who cares? Have you
seen
Mrs. Beechum? She looks and acts like she's half croc, half baboon. I hate that class.”

“Oh my gosh, you are so right.” Tessa laughed. “But don't tell anyone I agreed with you. I shouldn't agree, but who can hear us out here? A croc and baboon. Wow. I think you may have a knack for genetics.”

Nick stood up in the back of the jeep and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Mrs. Beechum is a crocoon!” he screamed, then bounced back into his seat with a wide smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. “Can't get me in trouble, Uncle Mac. It's a made-up word. It only sounds like a cuss word because I'm brilliant.”

Mac chuckled and shook his head at both of them.

“You two are something else,” he said. He restarted the engine and stepped on the gas. “Just don't repeat it at school.”

“Of course I will. In front of the entire class—on the last day.”

“No, you won't,” Tessa said, coming off her laughter high. “Get it out of your system here. Don't get yourself in trouble and don't ever be rude or hurt someone's feelings.” She was pretty sure that he was kidding, but not entirely. With Nick, she never knew. What was it the therapist had told her? That kids' brains weren't fully developed until their mid-twenties? So they were prone to making bad choices and taking unnecessary risks. Did that explain some of her past...and Mac's? That would mean her brain wasn't fully developed when she married Brice. Oh, come on. She was fishing. Her parents married right out of high school and were still happily together.