several keepers in rimmed hats leading the baby elephants in their care out for some sun and socializing. A cloud of dust trailed along the road beneath Mac’s helicopter and turned into the camp ahead.
“Haki just got back,” Pippa said into the mic of her headpiece. She pointed at the man shielding his eyes and looking up.
A flutter of excitement mixed with apprehension swirled in Maddie’s stomach. She nodded to let Pippa know she saw him.
Mac began his descent into a clearing just far enough from the camp to keep the draft from kicking up a dirt storm. She waited for the all clear, then removed her headgear, hoisted her backpack onto one shoulder and managed to climb out of the chopper without stumbling. Pippa grabbed her hand and tugged her at a jogging pace toward the jeep.
“Look who’s here, Haki!” She ran to his side, then stretched out her arms and made a show of presenting Maddie. Sometimes the pep in Pippa was too much.
Haki stood there, his strong jawline softened with a few days’ worth of stubble that looked disconcertingly good on him. His shoulders seemed broader, too, unless it was the dark green shirt he wore with his khakis and the way his hands rested on his hips. He’d put on a few pounds of muscle for sure. The corner of his mouth lifted and he let his gaze rest on her for a few seconds.
“Maddie-girl. Finally here.”
She ducked her head and smiled. Why did she suddenly feel shy?
“It has been a while, Haki. Pippa says you’re becoming quite the hero around here.”
He shot Pippa an annoyed glance and let his hands fall to his sides.
“No. Nothing I’ve done comes close to what others do here. But I hear you’re on your way to becoming a world-famous lawyer.”
“Not even close. Pippa,” she admonished. Was he being sarcastic? Had someone already told him what she was here for?
“We could use good counsel around here,” he said.
So he didn’t know.
“Both of you are much too humble,” Pippa said.
Haki put a hand to his shirt.
“I wanted to shower. I mean, I thought I’d make it back ahead of you—all of you—and have time to clean up.”
Mac’s chopper whirred as it lifted off. The air current pushed past them, and Maddie quickly pulled her arms back and wrapped them around her waist before anyone realized she almost went in for a hug.
“Hey, Dr. Hak-man, do you know if Anna is here or off in the field?” Jack asked, walking past them and giving him an air salute.
“I just got here. Last radio communication, my father was out, so she’s probably in the clinic.”
“I’ll check. See you guys at dinner,” he called back.
“Sounds good. I’m going to head in to wash up,” Haki said, thumbing toward the house. “I’ll see you two afterward.”
No hug, then. Friends hugged, didn’t they? Even if he’d been covered in mud from head to toe, it shouldn’t have mattered. This all felt so anticlimactic, but what had she expected? They’d both been so busy the past few years that they hadn’t seen much of each other even when she’d visited her parents. She hadn’t made the effort. So why did it matter now? Because she was afraid he’d hate her by tomorrow?
Pippa looped her arm in Maddie’s and they made their way to the house, purposefully lagging behind Haki. His long, focused strides made it easy.
“Dr. Hak-man? Really?”
“My dad is silly when he’s in a good mood. He doesn’t get that it annoys Haki. By the way, you have to find time for a reading while you’re out here,” Pippa said.
“No way. I don’t need my fortune told. I have enough in my head without cluttering it with nonsense. Besides, it’s kind of overstepping. It’s a tribal custom, not a tourist attraction.”
“You’re not a tourist and you’ll be right there talking to the villagers and elders anyway. One reading wouldn’t be disrespectful or overstepping. It would show that you respect their ways.”
The aroma of freshly baked chapati wafted past them and Maddie inhaled deeply.
“Why is the mere smell of freshly baked bread like a drug? I don’t need to eat anything else but that while I’m here.”
“You’re switching subjects.”
“I’m not promising anything.” She had to admit, Pippa had a point about respecting the Masai culture. It was all in fun, though, right? Or was it? The one reading she’d done, back when she was seventeen, had come so close to the truth it made her nervous. The Laibon had taken one look at his stones and told her she would go far away. Journey far. Leave. Those had been his words. She hadn’t yet told anyone that she’d been applying to colleges in the US, not even Haki or Pippa. She hadn’t told anyone she’d desperately needed to get away. To escape. To live without parents or siblings constantly checking over her shoulder. The Laibon had known, though. Whether it had truly been the stones, or the old man had simply guessed it from her notoriously expressive face, he’d been right. And it had freaked her out a little.
“Fine, but at least think about it. For old time’s sake. I miss having you around and doing things like henna tattoos and...ditching Haki. Oh, yes. Right now. Don’t say no.”
“No. I want to go in and say hi to Auntie Niara and the boys, then run by the pens to see Auntie Anna.”
“Come on. Wearing a suit all day is really sucking the fun out of you. Leave your backpack on the porch steps. We won’t go far. Just far enough to get his attention.”
Haki’s attention. As if Pippa didn’t already get enough of it.
* * *
“WHAT DO YOU mean you haven’t seen them?”
It had been at least an hour since Haki had showered. He’d stayed in the house to help Noah and Huru with some homework problems they’d been assigned via their virtual classes and figured Maddie and Pip had gone to see the orphans and everyone at the clinic.
“We assumed they were here,” Anna said. “I just finished logging treatments and Kam just got back from rounds. They’re still restocking their jeep supplies for tomorrow. But none of us has seen them yet.” She pulled her walkie-talkie off her belt, then set it back and flung her hand toward the unit sitting on the console by the door. “That’s hers, isn’t it?”
Haki flattened his lips. It was hers, all right. She hadn’t taken it to Nairobi, naturally, but she also hadn’t come by the house to grab it today.
“I’ll go look for them. Huru, Noah, go check the old mess tent and the area behind it. Don’t wander off. Just see if they’re hanging out there. Tell them dinner is ready. Let me know if they’re there. I’ll check the lookout.” The old mess tent and adjacent framed tents were original to the camp and where Haki and Pippa had spent their toddler years. They were used mostly for storage now, but Pippa still liked to go back by the old water well and sit in the hammock under the mango tree. He had a gut feeling they weren’t there right now, but with the sun setting and Pippa’s recent carelessness, the more ground covered, the better.
“I’m sure they’re close,” Niara said, setting the last of the dishes on the long, wood dining table. His mother patted his back. “Pippa really knows how to push your buttons.” She nodded toward the massive floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the southwest side of camp and the valley beyond. Anna’s acacia tree sprawled like a black mushroom silhouetted against a watermelon sky. A flash of blue on the lookout platform beneath the canopy caught his attention.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said. He couldn’t help but wonder if wedding bands could be rigged with two-way mics or maybe even tracking devices. Not that he’d do that to Pippa,