Beloved by You

by Sloan, Molly

  “Well, I’m fine,” said Janet who was most definitely not sleeping.

  “Hey, Red,” Andrew said sheepishly.

  “Yeah. Not sleeping.” She glared at him. “I have a cracking headache.”

  Damn. Even all scuffed up from the accident and pissed off at him, she was still gorgeous. Her auburn curls were wound into something that looked as if she would have a terrible time detangling. He’d always said she had Disney Princess hair and that hadn’t changed. But the African sun had darkened her complexion from its usual New England pale to a peachy tan. It also made the freckles on her nose and cheeks darker and more plentiful. Someone probably got to have a hell of a time counting all of the new ones. Someone…I wonder who is the lucky guy who gets to lick those freckles now…

  “Hello?” she asked, her tone icy. “After we get to the hospital, feel free to leave. Seems you were in a terrible hurry. Don’t change your plans on my account.” Fiona turned and nodded triumphantly from the front seat.

  “No, I want to stay. Let me give you a ride back to your hotel.”

  “Oh, I don’t need a ride. I’m going to stay at the hospital with Oba.”

  “Oba?”

  “Yes, Oba.” She pointed at the sleeping boy next to her.

  “Oh! You know him?”

  She pushed up her defiant, adorable little chin. “Yes. I know him. We just left this hospital a little over an hour ago after visiting with his very ill mother. She’s dying, actually. That’s why Oba ran into the street. He wanted to give her one last kiss.”

  Winston overheard and shook his head sadly as Andrew took a good look at Oba for the first time. The way he curled up so tightly next to Janet told him that they were very close. He could see that Janet was trying to be strong, but soon his façade began to crumble.

  Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, “She knew she was dying and we didn’t want Oba to witness it. Now we’re back here and I have to tell him. I know he already knows, but I have to tell him.”

  “Oh, Janet…” He placed a hand on her back as she was getting out of the limo and into the wheelchair the nurse had at the curb. “I’m so sorry—”

  Janet threw his hand off. “I’m fine.” She swiped at tears on her cheeks. “We are going to be just fine. We don’t need your pity.”

  “I’m sorry, Janet. If there’s anything I can do—”

  “Just get back in your SUV and drive out of my life. Let’s start there.”

  As the door slammed shut, Winston clapped a supportive hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “It’s probably pointless to make a plea for you to keep your head on straight and stay focused on the business of acquiring this mine, right?”

  Andrew gave his friend and colleague a stiff nod. As he watched the love of his life and that sweet little boy being wheeled into the hospital he knew one thing for sure. He would never be driven out of her life again.

  Chapter Four: All Mines

  Janet pulled the blankets up to Oba’s chin and backed out of the room as quietly as she could. Ever since his mother’s condition deteriorated, Oba had been staying at A Place for Grace. Gouta and Janet both agreed that it would make the inevitable transition much easier. Janet had given him a private room in the wing closest to her cottage. While she didn’t want to seem to play favorites, she did tuck a few special things into his room, like a baseball lamp and a matching blanket. The boy loved to play ball.

  It had taken hours to get him calmed down after they left the hospital. At five years old, Oba knew death. So many of his friends had lost their parents. Although Gouta had done her best to shield her son from the harsh realities of the HIV crisis, not one soul in Africa was untouched. But no matter how much you understand death, you can never be prepared to lose the comfort of your mother. Especially when you’re just a small boy.

  “Is he sleeping?” Elyse Green asked.

  “Finally,” Janet said as she collapsed on the couch, grimacing when her arm banged against the cushion a little too hard.

  Elyse was the youth counselor at A Place for Grace and she was probably the only person who got less sleep than Janet. Caring for the emotional and mental health of kids orphaned by HIV/AIDS was hard work, especially now that their occupancy had doubled due to the increase in children left orphaned.

  “You should get some sleep, too,” the older woman advised.

  “Can’t. I’m gonna crash here for a few hours, but I have to be at The Department of Mines at 9:30.”

  Elyse tsked. “Are they trying to expand the mines into the cemetery again?”

  “Yes. There are diamonds out there. They’ll eventually find someone with enough money to pay everyone off and proceed to desecrate those graves.”

  “But nothing has been done since that mine collapse two years ago.”

  “Of course not. They don’t care about how it affects anyone. That’s why I need to be there. No one ever talks about how The Department of Mines downplays the negative impact of the mining in Botswana. None of it makes the international news. The impact of mining on natural resources, vegetation, soil, bodies of water, and the human population aren’t even recorded. If they did, the mining council would have to actually do something about it!” Janet felt herself getting angry again, and knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

  Janet knew the impact. She fed, clothed and wiped the tears of that very human impact every day.

  Elyse walked across the room to drape a throw blanket over her.

  “You can’t save all of Botswana, Red.”

  Janet grunted in response and threw an arm over her tired eyes.

  I might not be able to save all of Botswana, but I’m sure as hell going to try.

  At 9:30 am sharp, with little more than a buttered English muffin and strong coffee in her belly, Janet arrived at The Department of Mines, ready to do battle. She was meeting Radhika, A kindred spirit from Francistown who was determined to keep the cemetery intact. Some of Radhika’s family members were buried there. She was a sort of community leader and mouthpiece for the indigenous people living in the area.

  “Janet, it is so good to see you this morning. I heard about the accident. You are looking well.”

  Radhika’s English was perfect as she strode across the lobby. Her style could best be described as Modern Traditional. Today she wore dark blue trousers with rust orange colored high-heeled boots under them. Because it was a business meeting, Janet supposed, Radhika’s normally bold printed top was replaced with a more subdued turquoise blouse. The only compromise was a safari-inspired scarf wrapped around Radhika’s long, elegant neck. Next to her, Janet felt frumpy, despite Elyse’s assurance that she looked great today.

  “I’m fine, Radhika. Come, sit here.” The two of them had long since been banned from the inner offices, but they had no problem sitting quietly in the lobby to wait for Mykel Batou, Director of Banking and Economic Development to escort whatever CEO he was buttering up today. Today wasn’t any different.

  The women were catching up when Radhika’s phone rang. She whispered, “I need to take this,” and Janet could hear the clicking of her boots echoing through the lobby as she walked to a private area to take the call.

  Resting her eyes for a moment, and now that the adrenaline and fatigue had worn off from the the previous day, Janet couldn’t help but think of Andrew Atherton. His was the last face she expected to see in Botswana.

  Last she heard Andrew had become the face of Atherton Diamonds. He had dabbled in modeling in college - mostly holiday ads for his parents, but when they graduated, he started modeling full-time for Atherton. In those days, Janet couldn’t walk two blocks without seeing his steel blue eyes staring out at her from the side of a bus, or in storefront windows. Then there were the fashion shows and industry parties, and suddenly he was a part of the crowd that they loathed. The rich, beautiful and unaffected. A crowd she was born into, but never seemed to fit in.

  Andrew’s and Janet’s families had different missions in life. The Athertons were d
iamond miners — the very industry that was threatening the indigenous people Janet was here to protect. And Janet was the descendant of Stephen Girard, the wealthy philanthropist who’d donated his fortune to the education and welfare of orphans.

  At first, Andrew and Janet’s relationship was built on his rebellion from the family business. To him, modeling was a way to mock the family business. Yes, he would be a billionaire, but on his own terms.

  But that started to change. The more Andrew rebelled, the harder his family clamped down. And dating a Girard was not part of their plan for him. The more they tightened their grip, the more he dived into the world of modeling and high fashion. Neither of those was Janet’s scene, and that’s why she left.

  That glossy cover model was nothing like the boy she fell in love with. But he also wasn’t the handsome rescuer who had lifted her into his arms last night. With that thick black hair and stubbly rough cheeks, this Andrew looked like some dashing billionaire version of Indiana Jones. He was broader and maybe even a little bit taller than the Andrew she knew. And damn sexy. She knew this from experience.

  With Radhika still on the phone, Janet’s mind continued to wander. What purpose could Andrew possibly have in Botswana? He must be on holiday. Maybe he bought one of those safari vacation packages that they are always pushing at the airport and hotel. Or a big game hunt, or whatever the ridiculously rich did when they came to Africa.

  Either way, it was none of her concern. If last night was any indication, she would stay out of his way.

  Janet was startled out of her reverie when she heard, “Here they come!” Radhika was elbowing Janet to get her attention.

  They both stood and rushed to the other side of the the marble-floored lobby.

  “Dumela, Mykel!” Radhika called out loudly. “And good morning to you!”

  Mykel Batou sucked his teeth as he muttered to the man walking with him. “Pay no mind to these women…”

  “Is this the businessman who wants to buy the land near the cemetery?”

  “Cemetery? What cemetery?” the tall dark-skinned man with Mykel asked.

  “Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Janet asked. “So you don’t know that where you want to dig is protected ancestral land? Or that there are tributaries on that land that feed into the Tati River? Or that building a mine there would destroy local vegetation, poison a water source and displace the people and the animals-”

  “Is this true?” the man asked, looking at Mykel with a shocked expression on his face.

  Janet squinted at him. He looked familiar. Where had she seen him before?

  “Mr. Konteh, I assure you that The Department of Mines makes every effort to minimize exploitation-”

  “Of the socio-economic and financial integrity during the the extraction and processing of precious minerals,” Janet interrupted while rolling her eyes. “You’re getting really good at that. Too bad you don’t put some of that effort into safeguarding the health of your employees and minimizing the…”

  Janet’s words of protest died in her throat as another man strode up to the small group, piercing her with his steel blue eyes.

  At the same time, each exclaimed, “Janet?” “Andrew?”

  Andrew’s brow furrowed and a nervous smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “What are you doing here?”

  “You know this woman?” Mykel asked.

  Andrew’s gaze traveled from her eyes and raked down the length of her body. Her eyes were blazing in anger, and her red curls looked like fire escaping from her head. He could almost feel the heat coming from her and was transfixed for a moment.

  “Yeah,” he said finally. “I know her.”

  “Well, maybe you can convince her to stop delaying or impeding progress on every mining permit that comes across my desk. You gentlemen have a great day. I’ll be in touch.” He strode away indignantly, leaving the rest of them staring at each other in the lobby.

  “We have over fifteen hundred names on this petition!” Radhika shouted after him. “We will bring legal action if necessary!”

  “Legal action” Andrew echoed, alarmed. ‘What is all of this about, Red?”

  “So that’s why you’re here? You’re here to build a fucking mine?” Janet asked. “Are you here to dig up graves to get some damn diamonds?”

  Andrew turned to his colleague, with his eyebrows raised, expecting an explanation.

  Suddenly Janet recognized him. It was the man from the limo! Andrew’s colleague.

  “Don’t look at me,” the man said. “We were in the same meeting. I know as much as you do.”

  Andrew moved in close to Janet and dropped his voice. “If you know something, I need you to tell me, Red.”

  He was standing close enough for Janet to smell the hot cinnamon gum on his breath he liked to chew, and she could smell his sweat mingling with a clean, tangy citrus. It was a familiar scent that caused every nerve ending in her body to tingle. Oh, she remembered his spicy taste…

  Janet clenched her teeth and attempted to steel herself before she looked up at him. “Where did he take you on your tour? To the gold mine? And then to some barren land full of scrub brush and told you that’s where you're mine would be, right?”

  “Are you implying that he showed us land that wasn’t for sale?” Andrew’s colleague asked.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Winston Konteh,” he said and his accent had a bit of Jamaican in it.

  “Well, Mr. Konteh, that’s exactly what I’m saying to you.”

  “How is that legal?” Winston was perplexed.

  “It’s not illegal. No money has been exchanged. At this point, it’s all just talk.” Janet could barely contain her anger.

  Andrew turned and glared in the direction of Mykel Batou’s office. Janet knew him well enough to know he was furious. No one tried to pull one over on Andrew Atherton. No one.

  She could tell that he was debating whether he should stalk down the hall and give Mykel a beating. But instead, he looked at her and said, “Take me to the actual site for the new mine.”

  He then turned on his heels and strode past his waiting limo toward Janet’s beat up old Land Rover.

  Chapter Five: Digging up the Past

  Andrew seethed quietly as he rode in the passenger side of Janet’s beat up old Land Cruiser to the real mining sites that he had flown halfway around the world to buy. He hated the fact that someone had attempted to con the big, dumb American for a fool. It was shit like this that made him reluctant to join the family business in the first place.

  People had been surprised when his father named his sister Claudia as his successor. She wore the mantle of CEO and President of Atherton Diamonds well. It suited her, but the family business had never fit him. At least not until he was able to mold and carve his position into something he could stand doing every day. But that meant he had to try twice as hard to get everything right and this could have been a mistake that cost him billions of dollars.

  That’s billions with B.

  The thought of it almost made him want to vomit.

  “So this is what you’re doing now? Prospecting for Atherton Diamonds?” Janet asked.

  Andrew bristled. He wanted to have a serious conversation and he could sense that this could go sideways and he didn’t want that to happen with Winston and Radhika in the backseat.

  “Yeah,” he answered finally. “When dad retired I had to step up and take a larger role. I couldn’t stand the idea of being chained to a desk so I created a job that lets me work in the field.”

  She looked at him. Her light brown eyes caught the sunlight he was reminded of a weekend the spent at her family’s home in the Hamptons. How he had spent the day kissing every inch of her on that private beach.

  “What happened to the modeling?” she asked, a sardonic smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

  “I gave that up years ago. People didn’t take me seriously. I got tired of being treated like an empty-headed pretty boy.”r />
  Janet scoffed. “Well, I’m glad that worked out for you,” she said, though her tone said she was anything but.

  “What about you? Have you been in Botswana all this time?”

  She shifted her attention back to the road. “No. I spent some time in South America and Southeast Asia, but...Botswana has my heart. I volunteered here and decided that I wanted to open up orphanage here. Now I have three.”

  “Wow.” There was really nothing more he could say about that. Janet had always been the nurturing type and had never met a worthy cause that she wouldn’t get behind. “You really did it, huh?”

  “Yeah, I really did.”

  They were outside of the city now and driving through one of the townships that skirted Francistown. The views were what one would expect to see in Africa with its sweeping landscapes and a sky so blue that it felt low enough that Andrew could reach up and touch it if he tried. In the distance, he could see a cemetery come into view. Janet pulled off the road and parked under the shade of some trees. The four of them got out, but Winston tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

  “I want to go on record as saying that I’m not okay with desecrating graves. This kinda thing always comes back on you somehow.”

  “Comes back on you? What are you talking about? Karma?”

  “Karma, payback, haunting, superstition, whatever you want to call it. I don’t mess around with this kinda shit.”

  “Hm. I never took you for the superstitious type.”

  “Call me superstitious, but I don’t mess around with shit like this,” Winston repeated. “And you shouldn’t either.”

  “Are you coming?” Janet called out from where she stood in the middle of the road. She looked adorable, like one of those girls that backpacked through Europe in her utilitarian pants, boots, and a t-shirt that looked soft and well worn. Radhika looked very out of place in this environment, but she was just as passionate as Janet about protecting the gravesite, so she kept up with Janet.

  Winston tsked and fell in step alongside Andrew. Nodding his head toward Janet, Winston said, “Still say you need to keep away from that one, too, but you ain’t listening.”