Page 28 of Devlin

She had met Alain and Dena before. Karen had spoken highly of them. While Karen was the lead nurse at the camp’s main clinic, Alain oversaw the satellite clinics in the villages. He was Congolese, but beyond that, Mia knew very little about his past.

But Devlin was listening to him now, leaning forward with sharp focus, his expression unreadable.What does this have to do with the stolen food?She didn’t have time to ponder further.

“Are you coming?”

She startled again, her friend snapping her out of her reverie.Dammit.Pushing her chair from the table, she quickly gathered her tray and returned it, her steps brisk. She didn’t look back to sneak another glance toward Devlin. Instead, she shoved her way out of the dining hall and into the sun-drenched lane, forcing her feet to move with purpose.

As she walked, she muttered, her frustration bubbling over. “I have a job to do, and it’s not spending my day staring at him.”

“Hey, wait up, Mia!”

She turned to see Robert jogging toward her. She smiled at the sight of Ravi watching from the side and then breaking into a run to see who could reach her first. Holding her arms out wide, she waited for them to tag her hands. Somehow, this had become a game between the two men. The loser would buy the winner and Mia a dessert from one of the refugee families that baked and sold mandazi. The sweet dessert was known as African donuts, a particular favorite of hers.

At the last second, Robert tagged her hand first, then turned and grabbed Mia around the waist, twirling her in a circle as he called out, “I won, I won!”

She laughed as he set her feet on the ground, then glanced over to see Devlin standing just outside the dining hall, his eagle-eyed glare pinned on her. Returning his glare with one of her own, she turned and walked with the two men toward the camp’s food distribution center.

Mia twisted her head to glance up at Ravi, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. "When will you be ready to start borehole drilling at Sweswe?"

"The equipment arrived yesterday, so we’re starting today," Ravi replied, his gaze shifting to Robert. "I’ll need you to coordinate the water trucking until we get the new source operational."

"Not a problem." Robert nodded. "I was already planning to review the trucking schedules today."

Mia crossed her arms. "Do we need to remind the camp that they should only use the trucked-in water for washing food? I’ll be making my rounds to Sweswe this afternoon and can make sure my food security team gets the word out."

"Good thinking," Ravi said. "Once they see us drilling and hit water, some people might assume it’s safe to use before it’s tested."

"Farid can coordinate with his team at each camp as a reminder. I’ll tell him to pay extra attention to Sweswe."

"Sounds good," Ravi said before pivoting toward the admin offices. As he walked away, he glanced over his shoulder with a grin. "I’ll bring the mandazi when I come back! And I’ll grab a few extra for tomorrow because I have a feeling I’ll lose again!" His laughter echoed as he vanished into the distance.

Mia chuckled as Ravi disappeared into his office. Robert draped an arm over her shoulders, steering her toward the food storage center. He leaned in, his breath warm against her ear. "I have a feeling the big guy trailing us isn’t too happy about this."

Mia rolled her eyes. "Are you seriously trying to make someone jealous?"

"Is he jealous?"

She peered up at him. "What are you really getting at, Robert?"

Robert chuckled, shaking his head. "Fine, I’ll be blunt. Do you know him?"

Mia tapped her finger against her chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Why, yes! I was introduced to all three of them when they arrived at camp."

"Smart-ass," he muttered, grinning.

Then his expression softened, his gaze searching hers. "You know, no matter how close we were, a part of you always held back."

Mia’s heart gave a familiar twinge. "Oh, Robert, why bring this up now?"

He leaned in, his forehead almost touching hers. "Because I still care about you. We may not be together anymore, but that doesn’t mean I stopped looking out for you."

Her heart ached at his sincerity. "That’s one of the things I’ve always admired about you. We stopped dating, but we never stopped being friends."

"And what about the guy who looks like he wants to tear my liver out?"

A giggle slipped out, and she shook her head. "I knew him years ago—many years ago. We didn’t end well, but before that... we had a lot of history."

"History has a way of repeating itself."

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