A Secret, A Safari, A Second Chance

‘What?’ Eve’s head was still reeling from the impact of the encounter with Kit. How close she’d come to being face-to-face with him and uncertain which would have been worse: the shock of recognition or the polite expression of a man who was being kind to a total stranger. ‘No...’ She was holding the glossy brochure, looking down at a photograph of the elephant and her baby. ‘This can’t be right. There was another bid. Right at the last moment...’

‘The man who knocked you out of the way? So rude. He dashed off a bid but I managed to top it in the last seconds before the bell rang.’ She hesitated, for a moment uncertain. ‘I saw the longing on your face when you were looking at that photograph, Eve. If I was wrong, I have no doubt that your rival bidder would be happy to pay the extra hundred dollars and take it off your hands.’

Overwhelmed with such a rush of conflicting emotions, at that moment Eve couldn’t have said which way was up but there was one thing she was certain about.

‘No.’ Clutching the folder tightly to her chest, she said it again. ‘No,’ she repeated. ‘I’m going home.’ She looked at Martha. ‘There’s only one problem. You’ve volunteered Mary to look after Hannah, but who is going to look after the cat?’

Martha rolled her eyes. ‘I fed Mungo until you arrived, I suppose I can do it again.’

* * *

‘It’s the annual audit next month, Brad. You have to be here for that,’ Laura said. With their mother fully occupied looking after their father, it was just Kit, Brad and his sister Laura at the family meeting. ‘I can go to Nymba for the trust meeting. It’s just a formality, showing a Merchant face once a year.’

‘It’s not just a formality.’ Brad’s temper was wearing thin. ‘The Nymba Trust are major partners. But even if it was, sending a nineteen-year-old student to represent the company might be seen as a touch too casual.’

‘I’ll go,’ Kit said.

Brad threw his hands up in the air. ‘Break out the spinach! It’s Popeye the Sailor Man to the rescue.’

‘It takes more than spinach to put a world-beating yacht in the water and win races,’ Kit said, trying not to lose patience with his brother. He knew Brad had a lot on his plate. ‘It takes teamwork, psychology and a great deal of diplomacy. This is me being diplomatic,’ he added. ‘You’ll be a lot less stressed with me on a different continent.’

His brother’s face twitched, but he was nowhere near ready to take the olive branch.

‘This isn’t just swanning around, graciously showing your face once in a blue moon at one of the resorts so that a bit of the Kit Merchant glamour rubs off on the business. Nymba Lodge is a major partner, that’s why Dad always goes himself.’

‘Dad always went himself because he loves Africa. He treated it as a holiday,’ his little pot-stirring sister said, getting her own back for the ‘student’ put-down. ‘I’m sure Kit can handle that.’

‘Undoubtedly. We all saw the pictures of him having a good time in the Med last year with that French guy and Matt Grainger—’

He broke off, as Kit stood.

The holiday he and Matt had spent in Nice with Philippe d’Usay had been the last occasion they’d all been together before the accident that had led to Matt’s opiate addiction and death.

‘That was the last good time Matt had anywhere,’ he said.

The last good time he’d had anywhere.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—’

‘Forget it.’

It sometimes felt as if Brad had arrived in the world resentful that he wasn’t the firstborn, but despite the fact that he sounded like a spoiled brat, and this time had strayed into dangerous territory, Kit had a certain amount of sympathy.

Guilt for not being there when Brad had needed him had never left him. Even when he could have come home and tried to mend fences with his father he’d made a conscious decision to give Brad a clear shot at succeeding their father as CEO.

His stroke should have been Brad’s big moment to show the old man that he wasn’t the second-best son. He was so wound up about it he’d convinced himself that his big brother—not content with gold-medal glory and a room full of trophies—had returned to steal his glory when nothing could be further from the truth.

His team were at the bottom of the world preparing for the biggest race in the yachting calendar and he should be with them.

He’d thought, once the crisis had passed, he would be able to make his peace and return to his team. Right now, with his father unable to talk in any way that was coherent, that was impossible, but it wouldn’t hurt to start his peace initiative with his brother.

‘Brad—’

Brad muttered something under his breath but lifted a hand in surrender. ‘Make sure you read the files before you go.’

‘Can I ask one favour?’

‘You want us to polish your trophies while you’re away?’

He ignored the jibe. ‘Lucy has been through a rough time. I thought she could do with a break, so I asked her to stay for the summer. She doesn’t know anyone here, and with Mom busy looking after the old man, I thought maybe you could find something for her to do?’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll look after her,’ Laura said, quickly, before Brad compounded the insult by suggesting she polish them. ‘Won’t we, Brad?’

‘Sure. Don’t feel you have to rush back,’ he added. ‘We’re used to managing without you.’

‘Will you try and get it through his thick skull that I don’t want his job?’ Kit said when Brad had gone, then shook his head. ‘Sorry, it’s not your problem. This is my fault.’

Laura didn’t argue with him, just said, ‘I’ll book your flight.’

‘Thanks.’

‘At least you’ll have some home company while you’re there. The woman who won the auction will be at Nymba at the same time. Genevieve Bliss. Did you meet her?’

‘I imagine so. I made a point of thanking everyone. I’ll be sure to say hello.’

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