Page 15 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

My heart leapt and I launched myself at him. “You didn’t!”

He, of course, caught me with one hand on my waist and one on my butt. “If this is the reaction I get, I’ll even book private guide runs to the grocery store.”

How was it possible that the middle-class, scholarship girl from Detroit ended up with such an amazing man?

“What? What’s that look?” he asked.

“I was just thinking how lucky I am to have met you.”

“Glory…” He paused as if considering his next words, but then he went for it. And oh, was I glad he did. “You know I’m falling for you, right?”

I thought a tear might’ve rolled down my cheek. “You know I’m falling for you, too, right?”

“Well, I was hoping you’d say that,” he said, but then Blake did something else incredible. Sure, he kissed me—we just had a ‘kiss me’ moment—but he didn’t go at me hot and heavy. Rather, he shifted me so that I sat next to him and he wrapped his arm around my waist. I rested my head on his shoulder and we silently looked out onto the plains of dirt and brush until we witnessed real live elephants gathering at the private watering hole maybe one hundred feet from where we sat and I sort of lost my mind. And by sort of, I mean I shot my head up from his shoulder, grasped his bicep in a death grip, and shook him.

“Elephants!” I whisper-freaked so as not to scare them and start an elephant stampede that led to the killing of the other guests and the staff. That would be bad. But Blake didn’t seem to mind. He laughed at my antics while continuing to watch the pachyderms drink and hose themselves down with water.

“This is amazing,” he said with awe in his voice. “When I set out on this trip, I never imagined that I’d not only meet the woman of my dreams, but we’d end up in Africa together watching wild elephants bathe.”

At those words, I stopped freaking out about the animals and settled back in, resting my head against his bicep again.Iwasthe woman of his dreams? Hell yeah,Iwas the woman of his dreams.

Even though we made some pretty serious declarations, he never pushed for more.

The next morning, we woke up early, showered, and dressed. While I showered, Blake called in our room service order. The cart they rolled to our door held this traditional Maasai porridge made of corn, water, milk, and sugar. The kitchen made it a little thicker for the foreigners as compared to how the Maasai would eat it so it came to us in more of a Cream of Wheat consistency. They served melon, scrambled eggs, and toast on the side. I loved it.

Once finished, we walked outside to wait for our guide. He didn’t make us wait long. He rolled the open-air Land Cruiser to a stop right in front of us and climbed out wearing a huge smile that immediately put me at ease. Not that I’d been nervous before, but he just presented himself as someone I knew right away, we were going to like.

“I am Moses Juma.” He introduced himself with his hand outstretched to Blake first. “Mr. Parker, I presume?”

“Yes. Please, call me ‘Blake,’ though. This”—Blake squeezed his arm around my shoulders—“is my girlfriend, Gloria.”

Hearing Blake introduce me as his girlfriend after what we’d shared yesterday—my heart almost couldn’t take it. But I didn’t have time to dwell on that as our guide for the next three days, Moses Juma, then held his hand out to me to shake. He had a firm handshake, but the softest skin, which didn’t really make sense, considering his job. He stood maybe three inches taller than Blake and had broad shoulders and this gorgeous dark skin that matched his eyes. The man hadheartbreakerwritten all over him.

“You are a very lucky man to have such a beautiful woman by your side,” he replied. And between these two men, I was in danger of getting a big head.

“Thank you,” I replied, smiling back at him. Well, both men. Blake slid my backpack off me and helped me into the Land Cruiser before sliding his own bag off his back and taking the seat next to me. Once we were buckled in, Moses got us moving.

“There are rules for your safety,” he said while keeping his eyes on the road laid out before us. “You stay in the car at all times. If we encounter large cats, we will engage the windows for your protection. Never try to feed the animals. That is prohibited here. No littering. No smoking. And if you find yourself in need of a restroom, just ask me to find a bush and I will get you to where you need to go. Most importantly, listen to your guide. I’ve been doing this for fifteen years. If you listen to me, I promise you will return home safely from the adventure of your life.”

“Seems fair,” Blake said.

“Absolutely,” I said to both of them.

Chapter Four

The first animals we came upon were a pair of tiny antelope. And bytiny, I mean they might’ve been fifteen inches tall at best. I would’ve missed them if not for Moses pointing them out.

“Those are our Naivasha dik-dik,” he said. “They are full-grown adults at this point. The dik-dik is known for forming monogamous pairs rather than living in herds. The larger of the two is the female. She’ll give birth to one baby once or twice a year.”

“That sounds horrible,” I said and Blake looked at me, laughing. “What?” I asked. “Give a girl a break once in a while.”

“They only allow their young to stay with them for about seven months or so before they chase them off in order to make room for more babies,” Moses continued.

“That’s harsh,” Blake said.

“If you think that’s harsh, then the moral to this story is don’t be a dik-dik,” I replied to the hoots of both men.

Moses shifted in to drive to get us moving again. He pointed out plenty of birds for us to see before we hit the safari jackpot. “Look there!” Moses shouted and Blake and I snapped our heads in the direction he pointed.

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