Diamond Legacy. Monica McCabe

for settling down.

      “Have it your way,” Jason said, his voice laced with disgust. He dried his hands on a towel, then grabbed his backpack and pulled out a large manila envelope. “Here, take this.”

      Something jittery danced in her stomach. “What’s that?”

      “Heck if I know.” He shrugged. “Maxwell yanked me out of the chimpanzee enclosure and said to deliver it posthaste.” The last word he said with puckered lips, imitating the very staunch, very British, head veterinarian.

      Miranda shot him a disapproving frown before taking the envelope and breaking the seal. When she pulled out the contents, something fell to the ground, and she reached to pick it up.

      Airline vouchers. Round trip from San Diego to…Botswana?

      Her heart skipped a beat. Africa.

      Its very name invoked visions of vast primeval deserts, game reserves filled with rare species, and pure untamed natural habitat just waiting to be explored. Her college thesis dealt with the reserves constant threat of poachers, of civil war, and desperately poor countries struggling to balance human need and animal dominance.

      “It’s about time!” Jason tossed his backpack down and stared at her with hopeful expectation. “Much longer and you’d sprout roots.” He shuddered at the horror. “Where to?”

      She caught her lower lip between her teeth and glanced away from the excitement in his eyes. Why now? Why couldn’t this have come eight months ago when she would’ve jumped at the chance to get out of California? Now she had direction, a planned future. This was no time to be flying off to the wilderness for…for…she glanced at the letter.

      Katanga Wildlife Center is fortunate to have in its care a rare and valuable albino hippopotamus. Estelle is small, only four-thousand pounds, but suffers from an advanced abscessed lower canine. We would greatly appreciate someone of your notable expertise to perform a difficult, but much needed dental procedure.

      “What is it? Come on, you’re killing me here.”

      Jason’s impatience near had him twitching, yet she was reluctant to answer. “The Katanga Wildlife Center in Botswana has a hippo with dental problems,” she finally conceded.

      “Africa?” He whistled long between his teeth. “Lord have mercy. You’re gonna need an assistant, right? Someone to lug your equipment, take notes, catch your dinner? Tell me that’s me.”

      We have taken the liberty of making travel arrangements on your behalf…

      “I don’t know, Jason. There’s a lot to consider.”

      His eyebrows shot up so high, it was a wonder they didn’t fall off. “You’ve got to be kidding. What’s to consider? It’s Africa. Lions and tigers and bears. Are there bears? I don’t know. I’ve never been there!” The last he emphasized with plenty of melodrama, practically begging her to agree to go.

      “It’s not that simple. There’s Hank to consider, for one.”

      “Hank? Hank! Come on, you can’t take him. What good would he be on the Serengeti? The man can’t rope a steer in a pen. How’s he gonna catch a rampaging hippo with a toothache?”

      “Okay, for one, I’m certain the rampaging hippo is already penned up, and two, the Serengeti is in Tanzania, not Botswana.”

      He rolled his eyes. “Logistics. Who cares? The point is, it’s an all-expense-paid trip to safari land, a once-in-a-lifetime chance. How can you even hesitate?”

      He was right, of course, and not so long ago she wouldn’t have thought twice. But now there were complications. A job interview at University of Southern California next week, Hank’s hint of an important question to ask her, and she’d just ordered a new Toyota Rav4 online in a shade of slate blue that perfectly matched her eyes.

      “I can’t blindly fly off to the other side of the planet without consulting my family first.” She should use more emphasis if she wanted to sound convincing. The words were true, but they came across like an excuse.

      “Yeah, you do that,” Jason said. “But come Monday morning, I expect you to arrive wearing standard safari gear. And I’d better be the named assistant. Because I’m telling you now, tomorrow I’m going down to the local Safaris R Us and loading up.”

      Miranda shook her head with a laugh before sliding the documents back in the envelope and tucking it inside her kit. “Hold off on spending your life savings, at least until Monday.”

      “Fine. But don’t you dare let Humdrum Hank talk you out of this!”

      “I’d appreciate it if you’d quit maligning my…boyfriend. He happens to be a fine man.”

      “Yeah, whatever you say. Just remember—it’s Africa. It’s free. And I’m begging you.”

      With a lopsided grin she systematically packed up her dental kit, gave a final pat to Daisy, and headed for the lab.

      * * * *

      Miranda stacked dirty dishes on her kitchen counter and glanced at the pricey bottle of Australian Shiraz. It was three quarters gone, dinner was now a memory, and she’d yet to broach the subject of Africa with Hank.

      Her father had been ecstatic when she’d called him that afternoon. When she expressed her hesitation, he threatened to barrel out of his wheelchair and personally drag her “nincompoop brain” to the plane. So what if he nearly died over there? If she let that prevent her from taking advantage of an adventure like this, he’d never forgive her. And her sister Erika all but ordered her to go. But as of this moment, she still hadn’t decided for certain.

      Boscoe, her orange tabby cat, rubbed against her leg with a mighty purr, and she reached down to absentmindedly scratch his head. Hank seemed a little edgy tonight, probably due to that unspoken question of his looming on the horizon.

      What should come first? His ultra reserved proposal? Or the mention of her spontaneous trip to a war-torn continent to perform a root canal on a rare and valuable albino hippo?

      She broke off a tiny chunk of Parmesan cheese and handed it to Boscoe. The tabby pranced out of the kitchen with his prize, and she opened the fridge to toss in the remaining cheese and leftover lasagna.

      Hank stepped up behind her, slid his arms around her waist, and kissed the top of her head. “You’re a wonderful cook, Miranda. You’ll make someone a fine wife one day.”

      Please, she prayed, not yet. “I’d hold off on that judgment until you’ve tried the dessert.”

      “It doesn’t matter. I’ve known you over two years now, and in the six months we’ve been dating…let’s just say I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

      She captured her lower lip in her teeth and turned in his arms to face him. Shouldn’t such a declaration come with a feeling of euphoria? Was something wrong with her?

      “Hank, there’s something I need to tell you.”

      He angled his head to give her a sideways look. “Not quite what I hoped to hear.”

      “I know.” She breathed a heavy sigh. “But I received an unusual offer today.”

      Hank stiffened, and despite his perpetual stoic demeanor, Miranda clearly saw dismay. She worried her lower lip between her teeth, her decision suddenly twice as hard. He released his hold on her, reached for the last of the Shiraz, and refilled their glasses.

      “Tell me about it.” He handed over her crystal goblet.

      “Geoff Maxwell has been contacted by a game reserve that requested my veterinary specialty. They have a hippo with an abscessed tooth.”

      “Which reserve? The Xanadu Ranch in upper Texas?”

      She shook her head. “Not Texas. Africa.”

      He