After the Rain (The Twisted Fate Series Book 1) (16 page)

22

Baywatch,
the R-rated edition

Marcus woke up before Stormy did. It was already 10:00 and he couldn’t believe he’d slept that long. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he’d just had the best sleep of his entire life. Possibly because Stormy had landed up sleeping with her head on his shoulder and her arm on his chest. And he’d felt so close to her.

Marcus took out his phone and switched it back on, doubting that the reception would have somehow (miraculously) returned overnight. He was wrong – the screen showed that full signal had returned. Strange – he’d been fully expecting to climb another hill, or maybe Kilimanjaro today, just to find reception.

Suddenly, a familiar sound overhead made Marcus look up. And then, he was hit by an idea that he couldn’t believe he hadn’t had earlier. It was so clear. So logical.

Most of the luxury game reserves around here had helicopters for game viewing purposes. And according to the road signs, and his trusty iPhone Google Map App, they were currently close to the Tsavo East National Park, and not too far away from Mt Kilamanjaro National Park, South Kitui and Mkomazi. They were basically surrounded by game reserves – which meant luxury lodges with helicopters.

He looked up at the skies and wondered just how many helicopters were close. It was only a matter of phoning some of the surrounding lodges, hoping they weren’t all busy, and waving his credit card around. Simple.Easy. Much quicker than a car.

There was no way they were going to make the rehearsal dinner that night – they’d already missed their flight. He would have to phone Damien and apologize. But with any luck, they could still make the wedding itself the next day. He’d call the airline and book them on the flight to Dubai that left the next morning, and from there, on to Prague; they could spend tonight in Mombasa. It wouldn’t be that bad.

He was actually really looking forward to Mombasa, with its white sandy beaches and tropical waters and air-conditioned rooms with ablution facilities. Now all he had to do was convince Stormy that a helicopter was a good idea.

That might be problematic.

Stormy had been watching Marcus pacing up and down on the phone for the past ten minutes. She couldn’t hear him, but he’d called at least four or five different numbers, and from the look on his face, whatever plan he’d concocted was working. He looked so authoritative and confident – not panicky like before. He looked like a man on a mission. She bit her bottom lip, trying to suppress the feelings that were welling up inside her. She couldn’t help it; God, he looked yummy, being all manly like that. Perhaps those feelings were somehow intensified this morning because of how they’d slept the night before. She’d landed up in his lap – not by accident, mind you. They’d also ended up holding hands – again, not by accident.

She’d never liked manly men who made plans and took charge and watched “The Big Game” from their Lazy Boy couches. The kind of men who knew how to barbeque a cow and swigged beer back while they talked about their golf handicaps and shrewd investments.

But Marcus… He looked good doing it.

So,
so
good.

And not only that – she was suddenly overcome with a strange feeling of safety. This was a particularly unfamiliar feeling for her. She’d never felt totally safe before, physically or emotionally. Her father had never really instilled that kind of reassurance in her. He’d once dropped her off at his cocaine dealer while he went to draw money from the ATM downstairs. Not to mention how she’d felt around her lascivious foster dad, who salivated every time he saw her; or her other foster family, who hadn’t noticed she was missing for three whole days when she ran away. In fact, the only time she’d ever felt remotely safe was holding onto Lilly in bed with the duvet pulled over their heads while they sang pop songs together, trying to drown out the sounds of their mad parents fighting.

Yet now, even though she was stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere in deepest, darkest Africa, she felt more safe than she’d felt in years. Marcus was the kind of guy who just instilled that in you. He was one of those natural provider-and-protector types. Not that she would ever trust a man to protect her. Not that she
needed
protecting, either; she made her way in the world perfectly well without a man looking out for her and providing for her.

But for some strange reason, with Marcus looking out for her right now, organizing and planning and pacing on that phone, it felt good. She decided to momentarily bask in the feeling. Only
momentarily
, though. It was not a feeling she should get used to.

But just when she’d built him up to being some magical knight in shining armor, he dropped the bombshell…

“NO, no, no, no, no.” She felt sick. “Absolutely NOT. No, no no.”

“But it’ll be the quickest, easiest way out of here,” Marcus pleaded.

“Well, you can go on your own, then. I’ll walk.”

Marcus shot her that look again, the one that always came with a raised eyebrow. “You’ll dehydrate if you walk.”

“I’d rather dehydrate on my own two feet than plummet to my death from a flying soup can with spinning things on its roof, thanks.” Marcus laughed. His reaction couldn’t have been more terribly timed, though, because it only served to rile Stormy up even further. “How does it even fly? At least you can kind of understand an airplane – it has wings. Those blade things just go round and round and
what
… it just lifts into the sky like that? It’s unnatural,” she huffed.

“The blades work by pushing air down, thus lifting the helicopter up,” Marcus explained patiently.

Like that was supposed to make her feel better. “And I suppose you learnt that on the Google?” she scoffed, her voice dripping with disdain.

“No, it’s a scientific fact.”

“Oh, a
fact
– like the ‘fact’ we evolved from monkeys?”

The look that came over Marcus’s face was one of pure confusion. “We didn’t?”

“NO! Extraterrestrial visitors genetically modified our DNA.”

And then he was laughing again. Stormy couldn’t believe how inappropriate he was being, laughing at a time like this. And not just ordinary laughing, either. Noooo, his shoulders were shaking and he was holding his stomach. He was in hysterics.

“Aliens?” Marcus gasped in between his annoying laugher. “I should have guessed.”

“Yes, a very highly evolved, peace loving, spiritual, friendly race of aliens who –” His laughter stopped and he smiled at her queerly, which made her stop talking immediately. “What?”

“Oh Stormy, you’re something else.”

“No, I’m not.” Though he seemed to say it indulgently – fondly, even – she felt offended by his implication. Marcus saw the look on her face and quickly corrected himself.

“I mean it in a
good
way. You’re unique. You’re… lovely.” He smiled again.

LOVELY!
Where the hell had that come from? The second it was out of his mouth, he regretted it. But it had just come flying out, and now she looked even lovelier as she smiled at him coyly and twirled her hair around her finger. But he couldn’t let himself get distracted right now – he had a plan that needed to be implemented.

“Look, the helicopter will be on its way soon,” Marcus said brusquely, looking at the time on his phone. “I’ve sent them our co-ordinates and they are on their way.”

Suddenly the hair twirling wasn’t as coy and playful as it had been seconds earlier. Terror flashed across her face… and he wanted more than anything to make it go away.

“What about Sammy? We can’t just leave her alone,” Stormy said, pouting adorably.

“I’ve called the car rental company and told them where she is. They’ll come out and tow her as soon as possible. She’ll be fine on her own for a few hours.” He couldn’t believe he was actually calling the car “she” and trying to reassure Stormy of her wellbeing.

And then the tears welled up in her eyes again and Marcus thought he might actually die from the knot that was forming and twisting in his stomach. The first time he’d seen her cry was at the airport, just after they’d first met. He’d thought it ridiculous that someone – a grown woman, no less – could cry over flying. It had seemed childish and stupid and it had irritated him beyond belief; but now, the tears glistening in those startling emerald eyes evoked the totally opposite feeling in him.

Right now, if he were granted one wish, it would be to take her tears away. To see her like that stirred such a strong urge to hold her and make everything right. He wanted to wave a magic wand and make her smile again. He knew how corny that sounded the minute he thought it, but it was true.

“I promise, it’ll be fine.” He was tempted to walk up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, but… well, maybe that was not such a good idea.

“That’s what you said with the plane.” The first tear dislodged itself from her eye and rolled down her cheek.
No,
he couldn’t take it a second longer. He walked up to her and gently wiped the tear from her cheek. She looked up at him with those big green eyes, made even more brilliant by the wetness.

“I promise you. Cross my heart and hope to die, it’s going to be fine. I promise.”

Another small tear escaped and he wiped it away again. Her skin was so soft; her cheeks were flushed a pale pink and on closer inspection, she had a tiny spray of freckles on her nose that he’d never noticed before. It must have been from sitting in the sun the day before. He wanted to trace his finger across them. Play join-the-dots.

“Stick a pin in your eye?” she asked with the tiniest of smiles.

“I’ll stick whatever you want me to stick in my eye,” he assured her.

Stormy managed a slightly bigger smile. “Whatever?”

“Within reason,” he smiled back at her.

“Fine,” Stormy said, finally conceding to the whole thing. She nodded and her shoulders seemed to drop a little as she sighed and looked like she was relaxing again.The sound of distant chopper blades suddenly thrummed through the air; they both turned and looked up at the same time, but the helicopter could be heard long before it could be seen.

“Do you know what’s in Mombasa, Stormy?” Marcus asked, trying to distract her. His hand was on her shoulder now, which was unnecessary because he had finished with the tear-wiping, but somehow it had just gotten stuck there. She shook her head, looking up at him curiously. “Well, its tropical. White beaches, warm blue waters, palm trees… and air-conditioning and icy cold beverages.”

“It’s hard to imagine something tropical, standing out here in all this dryness.”

Marcus nodded. “I know. But look…” He pointed down the road. “It’s a mere forty minutes away, as opposed to three hours by car and who knows how many more for someone to find us, or a car to give us a lift, or a tow truck.” Stormy nodded slightly. “We’re going to miss the rehearsal dinner tonight, which sucks, but think about it: at least this way we can enjoy a bit of time there. Explore, go to the beach, swim.”

Suddenly, the image of Stormy in a bikini frolicking in the waves in slow motion flashed through his mind. A true Baywatch moment. Then the next thought – she didn’t have a bikini… now she was frolicking naked in the waves! Baywatch, the R-rated edition. The helicopter had come into view and was lining itself up to land on the other side of the road.

“Only forty minutes?” He could see Stormy tensing up again as she watched the helicopter approach with trepidation.

“Only forty,” Marcus assured her in the most comforting tone he could muster.

“Okay. Fine,” she said confidently, even though he could see the hair twirled around her finger getting tighter and tighter.

Marcus pulled the bags out of the car and put the car keys in the glove compartment. He watched as Stormy walked over and rubbed the bonnet fondly. She leaned in and said a few whispered words. By now, he knew her well enough to know what she was saying – no doubt wishing Sammy would feel better, or have a safe journey home, and thanking her.He smiled to himself.

Marcus led the way as they crossed the road to the helicopter. The blades were slowing down now, but it was still windy, and the dust was being whipped up into a frenzy.