Page 11 of Worlds Apart
“You’re welcome.” She looked around the table. “It seems like such a small group this week.”
“It’s hard to predict how many people will come from week to week. Some are booked out months in advance and some will fly in at the last minute if we have space. But it’s early in the season. The wildebeest have just started their migration, so most visitors will wait until they are really moving.”
“Alice said this time was the best to come though.”
Martin nodded. “It is. It’s early so there won’t be much crowding if you want to go to the national park. The weather is beautiful and cool. She advised you well.”
While Martin finished his omelet, Sunny turned her attention to a story that Ethel was sharing with the table, an amusing anecdote from a few years ago when she nearly fell out of the Land Cruiser in the middle of a wildebeest stampede.
“I told Kapen that he needed to driveintothe skid, but he wasn’t very keen on advice from an old lady.”
Alice’s eyes were wide with alarm. “Mrs. Merriman, you have to promise me that you will not try to climb on top of the Land Cruiser when Martin is driving.”
Sunny leaned over to him. “Alice says Ethel comes here every few years.”
Martin enjoyed the fresh smell of lemon and flowers that scented her dark hair. “She spends her birthday here every other year. Amazingly, our insurance hasn’t discovered her antics. If they had, I imagine our premiums would increase with alarming swiftness.”
“So is the new guide…” She looked over toward the truck. “I forgot his name.”
“Mingati isn’t a guide, he’s a wildlife spotter. It’s a unique talent and he’s very good, but he can be very…
Surly.
Impatient.
Spitting?
Sunny was slightly more kind. “He seems like a very internal person.”
“You’re very kind, Miss Randolph.” He smiled and reached for a bowl of cut fruit. “Mingati is excellent at what he does, but most of the guides don’t like working with him. With his talent for knowing where the big cats are, I thought he might be able to help me keep Ethel in check. She’s easily distracted by shiny objects and cheetahs.”
“Aren’t we all?”
Martin glanced to the side and saw her smiling again. “I confess, sometimes I need to be reminded of this place and how unique it is. I suppose we can lose appreciation for the beauty right in front of us when we see it every day.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. “I suppose you’re right. But maybe if you recognize that, you’re not as likely to take it for granted.”
He smiled. “Miss Randolph, I think you are very wise.”
Her cheeks flushed again. “Please call me Sunny. Miss Randolph sounds so formal.”
“Only if you call me Martin.” He finished his fruit and juice, then he stood when he sensed the meal was winding down. “If everyone is finished, we can continue with our morning game drive. I hope your cameras are ready.”
ChapterFour
Sunny letthe warm water pour over her face, reveling in the scent of lemon-scented soap and warm water cascading over her sore body. She’d already washed her hair and cleaned off the sweat and dust accumulated during two game rides, a fishing trip to the river with the boys, and a rousing game of charades before dinner. Now she was enjoying the comforts of her luxurious safari tent while the rest of the camp enjoyed after-dinner drinks in the reception tent.
Her first full day on safari had been everything she was hoping for and more. Her camera had been glued to her face all day, taking in the herds of antelope, the grazing buffalo, and the slowly moving elephants that Martin spoke to as if they were annoying neighbors.
The roads through the park were nothing more than dirt tracks that led through the most stunning landscape Sunny had ever seen in her life. They’d passed through no towns or settlements in their hours of driving, and most of the day, it felt as if they were the only people on the face of the earth.
Flocks of birds dancing overhead. Endless crowds of zebras and the ever-present clutches of giraffes nibbling the trees. They had driven near one group with a few new calves and watched as the ungainly babies cocked their head at the passing trucks, twitched their huge ears, then galloped away with their elders.
The most stunning nature documentary on earth couldn’t hold a candle to the real thing.
Sunny wrapped her hair in a towel and wrapped another large bath sheet around her body, the cool air a relief after the dust of the day. While the rest of the camp had continued visiting long after dinner, Sunny was tapped out and overwhelmed by socializing.
In her everyday life, she interacted with very few people. Her job was solitary and most of her reports were written and transmitted by email or—rarely—given over teleconference. She waved at the security guards in her building, knew the names of the local Indian restaurant staff by their voices, and spoke with her boss weekly.
