His eyebrows shot up. “Rayne and I aren’t together.”
She huffed a laugh. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Levi.”
“I’m serious.” He waved a hand. “That’s all media hype, likely started by the publicity department for Serengeti Sunrise. You don’t honestly think—”
As if the mere thought had conjured her from thin air, Rayne stepped out onto the patio looking like she had just stepped off a page in Pretty Citizens magazine.
Speak of the devil…
Rayne sidled up to Levi and hunkered into his side, rubbing one palm over his T-shirt and resting her head on his shoulder. “You two look like you are having fun,” she purred.
Havyn raised an eyebrow at Levi and gave him her best “yeah, uh-huh, sure…” look.
Levi suppressed a growl of frustration and stepped away so quickly Rayne lurched to catch her balance.
He wished she wouldn’t do that. There was no media around. They didn’t need to portray any sort of image here on the porch of a house in the middle of Africa. And Havyn obviously had the wrong idea about them.
But Rayne seemed unfazed. “Mmmmm, coffee!” She took his mug and cupped it between both of her perfectly manicured hands, inhaling the aroma as her gaze swept the valley across the way. “Oh my, look at how pretty the view is!” She sipped delicately from his mug and then held it back toward him.
“I should go see about Chelsea.” Havyn brushed past both of them, disappearing into the house.
Gritting his teeth, he waved an indication to Rayne that he didn’t want the cup anymore. “You can keep it. I need to go wake the guys. The cook said breakfast should be ready soon.”
He started into the house, then realized he’d better take the opportunity being alone with Rayne afforded him. “Listen. There’s no media here, and you and I both know there’s nothing going on between us, so let’s drop the act, please.”
He felt only a hint of guilt when a wave of hurt flashed in her eyes. Just that quickly, the hurt was gone and replaced with a petulant, sultry pout.
She sidled close and ran the tip of her fingernail over one pectoral muscle, blinking her big blue eyes up at him. “You mean to tell me you don’t think there could be anything between us? I kind of thought we might actually have the beginnings of something real.”
He leaned away and folded his arms. “I’m sorry. I was only trying to honor Gil’s request that we not quash any rumors that might arise until after the movie’s release. I know you’ve had a hard life, Rayne. But I’m not the guy to make it better. I’m sorry.”
She jerked back so quickly some of the coffee sloshed onto her hand. “It’s her, isn’t it?! You were all good with us till you saw her in the airport.”
Levi sighed. “Listen, my chances with Havyn are about as good as a frog’s crossing I-5 in LA. I blew it with her a long time ago.”
Rayne tilted her head. “But she’s the one, isn’t she? Every woman I’ve talked to who dated you said there was always someone lingering in your mind.”
Levi frowned. “I haven’t dated anyone.”
“Oh, come on!” Rayne wagged her finger at him. “You went out with Lacey Melton after the release of Overcomer. And you took Shaunnesey Hampton to Disney World during the making of Across the Southern Border.”
Levi scratched his head. He couldn’t deny either charge, though he hadn’t really thought of either outing as a “date.” And neither woman had been the kind he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. “I need to get the guys.” He squeezed her arm, unable to deny he felt a measure of pity for her. “Someday, a guy is going to come along and sweep you off your feet, Rayne. Then you’ll know what true love feels like. And”—he swung one finger between them—“this is not it.”
“What in the world do you see in her? She doesn’t even wear makeup or care about the way she dresses!”
Not daring to open his mouth to respond, he left her standing on the patio and stalked down the hallway toward the multipurpose room he was sharing with Jeremy and Grady. He might have known Rayne would talk to Lacey and Shaunnesey about him. They were all of a similar color, those three. Pretty enough from a distance—but “pretty” tarnished easily when rubbed up against personality. Give him a woman who was beautiful and also held her shine once he got to know her.
And the only woman he knew who fit that bill wanted absolutely nothing to do with him right now.
Just as they were all finishing breakfast, Havyn heard soft gasps from both Rayne and Chelsea, who were seated on either side of her. When she glanced up to see what had caught their attention, her eyebrows raised slightly. The missionary they would be working with on the building project had just arrived and was chatting with Pastor Chad and the Portmans, who had already finished eating.
Ai-yi-yi! Who knew missionaries could be so hunky?
The man was probably in his mid to late twenties and looked more “bodybuilder” than “servant of God.” Sun-streaked blond hair, cropped short, accentuated a bronze tan and light blue eyes. A subtle assessment showed no ring on his left hand.
She glanced over at Chelsea. Her mouth was hanging open, and her half-eaten piece of toast hung frozen in midair. Havyn grinned and reached over to give Chelsea’s chin a friendly bop before scooping her last bite of eggs into her mouth. Those were just about the best scrambled eggs she’d had since Grandma used to make her famous jalapeno omelets. The scramble had contained bacon, tomatoes, cheese, onions, and some sort of spice she hadn’t been able to figure out. Delicious.
As her gaze wandered once more toward Missionary Hunk, it collided with Levi’s. Amusement combined with a touch of irritation danced in his blue eyes. He took in Rayne and Chelsea, who were apparently both still studying the missionary from the look on his face, and then rolled his eyes at her and stood to clear his plate.
The short little black woman rushed into the room. “You leave. You leave. I clean!” She radiated a white-toothed smile, first at Levi and then at those still seated around the table. “You help my village build school…I help you…Jesus happy!”
Havyn returned the woman’s sweet smile as she stood. She pointed down at her empty plate. “Those were the best eggs I’ve had in a very long time. Thank you.”
The woman beamed, and by the tilt of her head, Havyn could tell that could she see it on her dark skin, a blush would be shading her cheeks. “When I was girl. I live in Blantyre. I learn cook in Blantyre Hilton Hotel.” She gave a definitive nod. “Like cooking!”
“Well, we are blessed to have you!” Havyn stretched out her hand toward the woman. “I’m Havyn Jessup.”
The woman laid her left hand on her right elbow before reaching out to accept Havyn’s handshake. She dipped her knees and bowed over their clasped hands as she said, “Esther.”
“Nice to meet you, Esther.” Havyn in turn introduced Esther to the others around the table and encountered warm approval in Levi’s gaze as she did so.
Desire to remain right there basking in his approval froze her to the spot for a moment. Then a jolt of reality burst in. This was the man who’d made her feel this way for years and then walked away from her.
She pressed her lips together and looked down.
Thankfully, at that moment Pastor Chad turned to face the room. “Alright, everyone, can I have your attention, please?” He gestured to the man at his side. “This is Cannon Jones. He’s an architect and builder who travels all over Africa helping with various building projects. This time, he’s been slated to help us finish this school, which will also double as a church on Sundays for this village.”
Pastor Chad went around the circle and introduced each of them, and the man got double points in Havyn’s eyes for not ogling over Rayne but simply nodding at her as he shook her hand and then transferring his gaze to the next person Pastor was introducing.
When it came to her turn, she found the man’s handshake warm and firm, and the power of his presence up close could quite easily render a girl speechless.
>
Apparently Chelsea felt the same way, because when Cannon shook her hand, she stammered and sputtered all over herself until Havyn reached over and touched her shoulder in a “pull yourself together” show of support.
Cannon stepped back and swept the group with a glance. “Unfortunately, I have a little bad news. There’s been some rebel activity just recently. A couple mines have been found in the road. So it will be safer for us to cut across the valley to the village each day on bicycles, if that works for all of you?”
“Why would they be digging up the roads?” A frown of true puzzlement puckered Rayne’s brow.
If Havyn had blinked at the wrong moment, she might have missed the twitch of humor at the corner of Cannon’s mouth. “‘Mine’ as in ‘land mines,’ Miss McQuaid, not ‘mine’ as in ‘digging for buried minerals.’”
“Oh!” Rayne flipped a worried glance toward Levi. “Will we be safe from such people out in the open on bikes?”
Levi folded his arms and deferred to Cannon with a questioning glance.
Cannon rubbed his palms together. “I won’t sugarcoat things. This rebel activity just popped up two days ago. We likely would have canceled this build, but you all had already left on the first leg of your flight from Seattle. Only two mines have been found on the road so far. One detonated under a truck, injuring a man. The other was found by a sweeper. They continue to sweep, searching for more. We’re hoping nothing more will come of it.”
Pastor Chad’s eyebrows rose. “Wait, what road had the mine on it? Surely not the one we drove in on last night?”
Cannon sighed. “I’m afraid so. We had sent word to the driver we hired to take you to a hotel in Lilongwe instead of bringing you here. But apparently he was afraid he wouldn’t get paid unless you arrived here as first planned. So…finding out you all were here this morning was quite a surprise to me. I was climbing into my truck to come talk to you all in the city when the driver showed up for his payment and told me you all were here. I’m just glad everyone is okay and nothing happened.”
They’d driven over a road that could have had land mines? Havyn felt a prickle creep across her scalp.
Rayne let loose a string of curses. “Of all the irresponsible—we could have been blown to—”
“Rayne!” Levi snapped a warning before more curses could pop from her mouth.
She at least had the grace to look a bit sheepish as she cast an apologetic glance around the circle. Guilt over her dislike of the woman clutched Havyn’s heart. Rayne really was out of her element, and maybe she needed a true friend to open her eyes to God. Havyn reached over and squeezed her arm, offering what she hoped was a sympathetic smile.
Rayne nodded her thanks, but then she glanced down to where Havyn’s hand rested and took a purposeful step away from the contact, making it clear she didn’t want comfort—at least not from her.
Why did rejection, even from someone she didn’t like very much, sting so severely? Havyn sighed and clasped her hands together.
Pastor Chad looked uncomfortable as he stepped forward. “There’s no sense in dwelling on what might have been. The Lord obviously protected us and brought us here for a reason. So let’s just concentrate on what we came here for. And that’s to help the people of Chigwa raise this building.” He pinned Cannon with a look. “However, I have two very high-profile Americans in my group. What are the dangers we need to consider?”
Cannon rubbed his jaw. “To be honest, I suspect this was put into motion by the locals who align themselves with a mosque one village over. The leaders of the mosque are none too happy about us being here to build a school and a church. The mine that detonated had been buried in the road just near the construction site. They may have been targeting us.” Cannon leveled each one of them with a look. “I want you each to be aware of the danger you may be stepping into.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That said, I don’t think there is any more danger to Mr. Carter or Miss McQuaid than to any of the rest of you.”
A measure of relief washed through Havyn, but fast on its heels came concern. At least Levi and Rayne wouldn’t be a target, but any one of them could be seriously hurt or even killed. She swallowed as a feeling of apprehension coiled in the pit of her stomach. She felt a rumble of fear. But more than that she felt a dogged determination to get the job done no matter what. And after a quick glance at the others, she could tell they felt the same.
Well, all, that is, except Rayne, who looked like she might pass out at any moment.
Levi stood next to Pastor Chad as everyone checked over their bikes and prepared to ride out.
Pastor cleared his throat. “Levi, listen…I know Rayne isn’t really here for the missional aspect of this trip. And normally I wouldn’t bring someone along who wasn’t totally committed to the Lord. It’s only because your producer pledged so much to the cause and insisted she be included that I reluctantly agreed to let her come along.” He shuffled his feet, and Levi could tell he was a bit uncomfortable with what he was about to say. “Could you talk to her about her language? It’s upsetting Mrs. Portman.”
A sigh hissed from Levi’s lips before he could stop it. “I’ll try to get her to think before she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.”
Pastor Chad rested a hand on his shoulder. “How serious is this thing between you two?”
A jolt of surprise flashed through him. “You’ve fallen for the media hype too?”
“So there’s no relationship?”
Levi shook his head. “Our producer would love for there to be one. And he asked us not to put a stop to any rumors that might arise. But no…Rayne is one of the last…” His gaze involuntarily darted to Havyn straddling her bike and laughing softly at something Cannon said. His jaw hardened. “There is nothing between Rayne and I, Pastor.”
The pastor glanced from Havyn and Cannon to him and back again with a slow deliberation. Finally he said, “Well, I have to say I’m glad to hear it. Best we get going.”
Cannon led them down the station property, past a house he told them used to be the guesthouse for the station but was where he now lived, and onto a little dirt track beyond. They passed a tiny little mud hut that had seen much better days, and Cannon informed them it used to be a guard shack at the border of the station land. The path led into the lowlands then and was so narrow they were forced to ride one behind the other. As they rode into a marshy area, tall tan grasses, so thick they formed a wall, rose high on either side of the narrow dirt track, and Havyn couldn’t help but shiver as she wondered what kind of creatures might be hiding unseen only inches away. After two or three miles the trail climbed partway up the other side of the valley and the track widened out a bit. The grasses slowly grew shorter and shorter. Soon she could see over the top of them to the misty mountains ahead.
Cannon stopped suddenly, and she pulled her bike to a standstill just behind him. She rested one foot against the ground and peered past him. They had arrived at the roadbed they would need to cross. She gaped at the hole in the road caused by the mine. The crevice was five feet across and at least four feet deep. Off to one side of the road the blackened corpse of a pickup truck leaned at a precarious angle, the front left tire missing. The vehicle had obviously caught fire.
She swallowed. “Is that the truck?”
Cannon glanced over. “I’m afraid so.”
“It’s a miracle the man driving wasn’t killed!”
“Yes, we’re very thankful he’s doing okay now.” He swung off the bike. “Wait here, alright? I’ll have them sweep us a path just to be safe before we cross the road.”
As Cannon strode along the embankment and called instructions to a man standing across the way, Levi pulled up beside her and propped himself against one foot. He eyed the crater and then the village across the dirt road. She followed his perusal.
Mud houses with shaggy thatched roofs huddled along the bank of a barely trickling creek. Despite the tiny strip of green hugging the creek banks, dust filtered
through the air and coated every surface. Even the grasses, which here were short, thick blades of green, wore a brown coat of powder.
A noise behind her drew her attention to Chelsea, who stopped and flapped the front of her T-shirt. She rolled her eyes. “I’m already sweating like a pig. So much for hoping to make a good impression on the hunky builder.”
Havyn angled her friend a look as heaviness settled in her heart. People here lived with danger like this every day. She and Chelsea’s greatest challenge of late had been which hamburger place to settle on for their weekly Friday girls’ night out.
Chelsea’s gaze slipped past Havyn, and she gasped. “Wow…”
“Yeah.”
Cannon strode back, followed by a young black man with a long-handled broom. “Okay, Yohann will sweep us a path that is clean. So follow me one behind the other, please.”
Rayne peered dubiously at the road. “How does a broom prevent us from getting blown to h—bits?”
Cannon gave her his full attention. “The mines have to be buried very close to the surface. They are triggered when you step on them and usually just have a little filtering of dust over them to hide them. That’s partly why they can be so dangerous: it only takes a moment to lay one.” Her offered her a compassionate smile that raised him even higher in Havyn’s estimation. “I assure you we are doing everything in our power to keep you safe, Miss McQuaid.”
Rayne tilted her head. “I see.”
Cannon led the way across the road and parked his bike, motioning for all of them to pull up beside him. He used a long chain, which was fastened to a large truck parked on the outskirts of the village, to lock all the front tires together and then directed them across the way to the school building, whose foundation Havyn could see had already been poured. “The first thing we need to get done is the framing. So if everyone could put on a tool belt, we’ll get started.”
As they hooked belts around their waists and strode through the center of the village, Levi sighed. “Three days ago Rayne and I were at a prerelease party for Serengeti Sunrise eating caviar that probably costs more by the ounce than one of these huts cost to build.”
My Blue Havyn (Hearts of Hollywood - Christian Romance Novellas) Page 4
