Through The Storm. Rula Sinara

table and smoothed the simple black-and-brown patterned dashiki shirt that Mac recognized as the one Kesi had recently made. She’d made him one, too, only she’d chosen a brighter yellow-and-orange pattern for Mac, saying it was because he liked to be in the sky with the sun. Kesi was right behind Mugi with several more dishes.

      “Kesi makes the best chapati. She cooks it in an iron pan over an open flame out back. Please, help yourself,” Mugi said. “And this is vegetable and potato curry and this other dish is sukuma wiki. Fried onion, tomato and spinach.”

      “My gosh, this looks like it was so much work. I wasn’t expecting a vegetarian meal. I’ll admit, I was prepared to just eat bread and claim to not be hungry, out of politeness, but boy, am I relieved. I’m starving. We didn’t mean to bother you,” Tessa said.

      “It’s no bother when it comes from the heart.” Kesi smiled and laid her worn hand on Mac’s shoulder. “Any family of Mac’s is family of ours.”

      “Thank you,” Tessa said, dipping her chin. The corner of her mouth tipped into a grateful but slightly sad smile.

      Mac felt her kick his boot lightly and raised his brows. Her eyes opened wide and pink spread to her cheeks. She glanced sideways at Nick, and from his abrupt thanks to Kesi and Mugi, Mac figured she’d kicked the wrong foot the first time. He couldn’t resist messing with her. He tapped hers back, anyway.

      * * *

      TESSA DID HER best to ignore the way the corner of Mac’s mouth lifted lazily after he kicked her foot under the table. If he added that flirty wink he was famous for in school, she’d scream. Don’t...don’t... He did it. She took a deep breath and turned her attention to the Lagats. She knew Mac wasn’t really flirting. She was a married woman. He’d never even gone out with ex-girlfriends of his buddies back in school. But he had always enjoyed giving her a hard time. If it was at all possible for a sexy wink to be aggravating, he’d just pulled it off. Why did that not surprise her?

      “You look a lot like Mac did when I first met him, Nick,” Mugi said with a deep chuckle. His accent was highlighted with a different quality than Kesi’s musical voice. Tessa couldn’t place it. He sat down at the end of the table and eyed Mac to his left and Nick to his right, then scratched his graying sideburns. Tessa had no idea why, but the scene struck her oddly as one of grandfather, father and son.

      “I look like my dad,” Nick said, raising his chin as if to uncover his face and prove his point. He totally had his mother’s chin.

      “I’m not surprised, given your uncle carries the same blood,” Mugi pointed out. “I never met your father, but I can already see pride runs deep in your family. It makes a man strong, if not stubborn.”

      “Stop giving our Mac a hard time.” Kesi laughed at the opposite end of the table, closer to Tessa. She wore pants and a white cotton top embroidered around the neck. A printed scarf was wrapped around her head and beaded earrings added beautiful traditional touches to her outfit. Her style would have made a great subject for one of Tessa’s fashion columns. Kesi couldn’t have been much younger than Mugi, yet her warm skin had such a youthful glow.

      “Are you two calling me stubborn? Me?” Mac asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He took a piece of chapati, tore it and offered half to Nick. Nick took one bite and immediately reached for another piece.

      “Oh, should I tell embarrassing stories of the first time you landed here?” Kesi smiled as she waved her hand across the table. “Please, everyone, fill your plates and don’t be shy. There’s enough for seconds and thirds.”

      “I think I need to hear this story,” Tessa said.

      “Yeah. Embarrass Uncle Mac. Please.” The way Nick’s lopsided smile mirrored Mac’s was uncanny. She wished she had a camera.

      “Did he run out of gas and get stranded?” Tessa ventured.

      “Worse. He ran out of gas on the wrong side of the river,” Kesi said. “You tell them, Mugi. I love hearing this story.”

      “They don’t want to hear it,” Mac insisted.

      “Yes, we do,” Tessa and Nick said simultaneously.

      Mugi laughed and put his elbows up on the table. He leaned a few conspiratorial inches toward Nick and jerked his head at Mac.

      “Your uncle here was out on his first flight in the area. No passengers. Just him...a fledgling.” Mugi chuckled. “So he had lost his bearings and realized he was too low on gas to make it back safely. According to him, he had been told over the radio that there was a camp nearby, but the trees had just greened up, lush enough to make spotting this place from the air difficult. So he went for a clearing...but not the one where you landed today. No, this one was across the river. Kesi and I were sitting at the edge of the camp watching the various herds make their way upstream for water when we saw him land. Now, mind you, where there’s prey, predator is not far behind.”

      “So you called out to him?” Nick asked, chewing more slowly.

      “Of course not. We just watched to see what he’d do. After all, even lions have babies to feed. He was just part of the food chain we were observing in action. There’s no television out here. A guy needs entertainment.”