Page 60 of Love in the Wild

Cameron stiffened. “Good Lord, don’t call me that. If you are who I hope you are, thenyouare Lord Somerset, or soon will be.”

Eden rushed up to join them. “My lord.” She shook Cameron’s hand. “I’m so glad you could see us.”

“It seems you’ve had quite the adventure to get here.” Cameron looked back behind him. “Isabelle, come my love.”

Isabelle was still at the top of the stairs, her mouth covered with her hand and her eyes shimmering with tears.

“This is my wife, Isabelle.”

Isabelle seemed to get ahold of herself but then rushed down the stairs and threw her arms around Thorne, hugging him.

Thorne froze, not sure how to react as Isabelle’s body shook with silent sobs. Then Thorne gently embraced her back.

“Why do you weep?” he asked when she finally let go.

Eden watched all this with a lump in her throat.

“I’m so sorry,” Isabelle apologized. Cameron gently put an arm around her shoulder. “It’s just ... It’s really you, isn’t it? Seeing you all grown up ... I used to read you bedtime stories when your parents were out late. Do you remember?”

Thorne was silent a long moment. “I wish I could. I wish ...” He said nothing more.

“Perhaps we should all go inside,” Cameron suggested.

“Yes, I’ll have some tea brewed.” Isabelle wiped her tears away and held out a hand to Eden. “Come with me, Ms. Matthews. Let’s leave the men alone for a bit.”

* * *

“Why don’t you come inside?”Cameron volunteered, and then he headed into the house. Thorne followed him, his mind searching for memories of this place, Cameron, and Isabelle. But he had not missed the fact that now that they were alone, his uncle’s warmth had cooled just a little.

“You’ll have to forgive my wife. She’s more convinced about you than I am, but Isabelle always had more faith in the universe. But I believe in what I can see, what I can verify. I’m a man of facts, and frankly the story that Ms. Matthews told us ... Well, it’s hard for a man like me to believe it.”

Cameron paused inside a large room with white columns along one wall. The ceiling was the color of a clear sky, and the walls were a soft yellow that reminded Thorne of mangoes, though a little paler. There were two white couches covered in fabrics that Eden had called silk and linen. She had made a point last night to tell him all about the odd furniture in their hotel room and the various fabrics, which he now knew were not animal skins at all.

Cameron waved at a couch. “Would you care to sit?”

“I like to stand. I’m not used to being so ...” He struggled for the right word. “Still.”

“Yes, looking at you, I can believe that. You look as though you never stop moving.” Cameron chuckled. “Now, let us get down to business. Eden said you have agreed to a DNA test. I have the kits right here.” He picked up two small white boxes and pulled out a white stick with a fluffy white end. He opened his own mouth and rubbed the fluffy end on the inside of his cheek and then put the stick in a clear tube, marking it with a black pen. He then took a second stick and handed it to Thorne. Thorne accepted the stick and opened his mouth.

“Scrape the inside of your cheek. Not too hard, but enough that you feel it,” Cameron instructed.

Thorne did as Cameron said, and then he handed the stick back to him.

“Thank you,” Cameron said, his tone subdued. “It’s not that I don’t want to believe you, but we’ve had many imposters over the years, and neither Isabelle nor I can live with another disappointment.”

“Eden told me that men and women have tried to trick you. To take money from you. I want no money. I do this for Eden. If I am to be with her, I must be the man I was supposed to be, not the one from the jungle.”

“I see,” Cameron said, but Thorne could tell quite clearly that his uncle was more than a little confused. Yet Thorne had no other way to explain things.

“Well, tell me about the jungle. About the gorillas who raised you. Your friend wouldn’t happen to be exaggerating about that part, would she?” Cameron leaned against the mantel, and Thorne walked about the room, studying it as he began to speak.

“Ex-ag-er-ate?”

“Is it true?” Cameron asked more bluntly.

Thorne nodded. “My mother, Keza, is a gorilla. She raised me alongside her own son, Akika. He is my brother.” Thorne smiled a little as he glanced at Cameron. “I am also an uncle. To Akika’s son.”

“You’re an uncle ... to a gorilla?”

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