The Promise of Rain

“You’re wrong, Niara. I’ve been protecting both of them. Jack from himself and Pippa from growing up the way I did. There’s no way I’ll let her go through what I went through. And why should I have to endure the life my mom did? Dad never loved her.” Not in sickness or in health. Anna covered her face with her hands, then pushed her hair back. Niara had always been there for her, and here she was snapping at her. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“No. I am, but you have to understand. Men like my dad and Jack don’t know how to love. Career men with a conscience. Guilt and duty...but not love. Jack thinks he wants Pippa, but I know it’s only because he’s doing what he thinks he has to do.” He tried that on me before.

“You think he feels obligated?” Niara said.

“Yes. I know he does.” And not for the first time.

Anna’s nose tingled and she rubbed it with the back of her hand, unwilling to break down. The granule of hope that she’d latched on to for five years had dissolved, leaving her feeling deflated, just as when Pippa had been drawn from her belly. Only this time, Jack threatened to take the only person she was left with to cherish and fill the void. Pippa’s love was the only love that was real for Anna, and the only love she could trust.

“I don’t have time for self-pity anymore. Not as a mother. He wants to meet Pippa later.”

“Of course,” Niara said.

“He wants to take her, Niara. I can’t let that happen.”

Niara rubbed her fingertips against her mouth before responding. “No fears, okay? It’ll all work out.”

“I need to get back,” Anna said, standing up and scooting the stool out of the way. She gave Niara a hug. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“Always nice to hear.” Her friend chuckled. “But you’re even better, and stronger than you think. You’ll be fine, Anna.”

* * *

JACK SEALED THE tissue sample and began labeling it as per Dr. Alwanga’s protocol. Although it wasn’t how he spent most of his research time, Jack had received samples before. Straight to the lab for analysis. Collected by someone else. He hoped that the keeper who’d taken him to the calf had dismissed the sweat on his face as a by-product of heat. Maybe it was in part because he’d witnessed Anna mourning the baby elephant. It wasn’t just a calf or a sample to her.

He sensed her the second she walked in, turning just in time to catch her looking wide-eyed at the label before she masked her expression.

“Not wasting time, are you?” she said, walking past him.

“I’m sorry, Anna. I had to. Besides, the sample will let us make sure infection wasn’t a factor, and it’ll help confirm a genetic connection to poaching victims.”

“I know you have a job to do, Jack. No need for apologies. I’m a doctor, remember? I can do autopsies in my sleep. I investigate every death here thoroughly. I don’t rely on assumptions.”

“I don’t doubt that. I just thought that since—”

“Well, don’t think,” she said. She drew a file from a lower cabinet and plopped it next to him. He flipped open the cover. Their inventory and expenses. “I keep a printed list, just in case. And before you go off on the cost of paper, it’s only because power and internet can be unreliable here and the computer is rather old. I do send data and records to Miller, but I don’t want to risk losing any of it, so I keep a hard copy, as well.”

“How’s the generator working?” Dr. Miller had given him the rundown on the camp’s setup.

Anna smiled and the memories of when she used to beam at him hit Jack hard. This one came with a shake of her head.

“Wow. You really are investigating. Guess that’s what you’re good at. The generator works fine. Most of the time. Again, nothing comes with a one hundred percent guarantee, does it?”

He tore off his sterile gloves and scrubbed at his jaw. “Guess not, Anna.”

There certainly hadn’t been any guarantee that she’d come back from her postgraduate internship. Only he hadn’t realized that at the time. Not until the brief email she’d sent telling him that she’d made plans to stay in Kenya for at least another year or two. A short email. No call. No sound of her voice so he could decipher the true reasons behind her words. To figure out whether he’d permanently destroyed their friendship. A part of him had wondered if she’d met someone else.

She’d always been a romantic. She’d gone on and on in anticipation of her trip to Africa, and how she felt like Elsa Martinelli in Hatari!. He’d wondered who, if anyone, had become her John Wayne. Somehow, their roles seemed reversed. Besides, Jack had given up thinking that he’d ever be enough for her.

He knew when to let go. When to stop caring. Until now. Now she had a little girl with her. His little girl. He could forgive Anna for not wanting him; that was her right. But not for this. Not for keeping Pippa from him.

He slapped the folder shut on the papers he was pretending to read.

“So, when do I get to spend time with my daughter?” My daughter. The words sounded so foreign to him.

“I was thinking after dinner. Everyone at camp eats the meal together. You’ll see her before then, of course, but after that you, Pippa and I can go for a walk or ride...and we can talk to her.”

“What time is dinner?”

Anna actually laughed. And he loved it, as much as the mischievous way she looked at him. Boy, was he in trouble.

“It’s a small place, Jack. Trust me, you’ll know when dinner is. Put an actual time on it and it’ll get jinxed into being several hours late.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s how time works here. Stick around long enough and you’ll see what I mean.” Anna’s face fell as soon as the words left her mouth. He’d stick around long enough, all right.

Long enough to get the necessary paperwork cleared so that he could take Pippa home.

CHAPTER FOUR

ANNA COULDN’T EAT. Not with the way her belly tightened every time Jack glanced at her and Pippa. Pippa wasn’t doing any better at finishing her food. Anna tried every trick, conscious of him watching, but Pippa was too busy playing peekaboo with the stranger. She’d duck her face under the table, then slowly peer over the top at him. Every other time, he’d wink and Pippa would giggle. And every giggle would ripple through Anna like a wave that would drag her little girl farther and farther out to sea. Closer and closer to America...and Jack.

Haki watched their interaction intently. “Stop it, Pippa,” he said, finally.

“Why should I?”

The little boy came around Anna and whispered into Pippa’s ear, then ran back to his spot on the bench. Pippa frowned.

“Haki said I’m talking to stwangers, Mama.” Haki blushed and dropped his head into his hands. So much for secrets. “I’m not. You let him eat with us so he’s not a stwanger. Right?”

“He is,” Haki mumbled.

“He’s not and I didn’t say any words.” Pippa puffed her cheeks at him, convinced she’d won the argument. Jack raised a brow, waiting for Anna’s reply.

“Well, Dr. Harper is a stranger to both of you because you haven’t actually met him before, but he’s really a friend. He’s going to be here a couple of days for work, so don’t get in his way, but if he’s free, it’s okay to talk to him.”

Haki dug into his food without a word. Pippa lit up.

“Hi,” she said to Jack.

“Hi there.” He turned away from a conversation on border patrols that several of the keepers were having with Kamau, and propped his elbows on the table, giving Pippa his full attention. “It doesn’t look like you’ve eaten much there.”

She shrugged.

“I bet if you listened to your mom and ate your food, she might let you go for a ride before the sun goes down.”