“Look! Elephants below!” Rob, Lucy’s pilot who had introduced himself when he met her at Maun Airport half an hour earlier, pointed out of the window as the little Cessna banked left. “On the runway!”
Despite being familiar with the drill—wildlife on the dirt landing strip near the safari lodge where she’d worked for two months earlier in the year—the sight still thrilled Lucy. After five years of Eddie’s suffocating control, every moment in the Okavango felt like breathing freely again.
Peering out, she spotted the plume of red dust that heralded the game vehicle racing between Chubaoro and the airstrip to chase the elephants away so Rob could land.
“How exciting! Three of them!” Lucy raised her voice above the engine noise, and Rob flashed her a smile. He was sweet—gentle in a way that felt foreign after Eddie’s constant corrections. Although she didn’t know the Canadian well, he’d spent a couple of overnights at the lodge when he’d flown in guests, and they’d talked easily together.
On one memorable evening, they’d sat beside each other at the long communal table until nearly midnight while he told her about flying in the Yukon—the bitter cold such a stark contrast to Africa’s dry heat.
“I prefer lions and elephants to polar bears any day,” he’d said with that laconic grin of his. “Even demanding clients beat frozen water pipes.”
Lucy understood completely. The Okavango was her sanctuary from the endless recriminations she’d finally escaped when she’d given Eddie his marching orders after seven suffocating years.
Though she’d been the one to march, packing her bags after their only real fight—because Lucy had always been the peacekeeper, swallowing her words to diffuse the tension.
But she’d finally done what her family had begged her to do for years: she’d left.
Rob brought the Cessna down with practiced ease, and Lucy braced for the familiar bump of dirt runway. Some guests gasped at bush landings, but Lucy relished every bounce—proof she was exactly where she belonged.
“Another relatively crash-free landing!” Rob’s dry humour made her laugh as he jumped out to open her door. “How long are you staying this time?” He extended his hand to help her down.
“Forever!” Lucy couldn’t contain her joy as he swung her to the ground. “I’m never going back to that life.”
“What about the boyfriend?”
“Eddie and I are finished. For good this time.” The words felt like shedding a heavy coat. “I told him I was coming back to Botswana permanently, and Wilderness Safaris offered me my old position almost immediately.”
“That’s wonderful. At Chubaoro again?”
Lucy glanced toward the game vehicle where a tall figure was directing Jacob to fetch the Avgas barrel from beneath a camel thorn tree. Even from a distance, she could see the easy confidence in his movements, the way he commanded attention without effort.
“That’s Starky Willis,” Rob said, following her gaze. His tone shifted slightly—was that concern? “You wouldn’t have met him when you were here last as he was in Germany, where a lot of his hunting clients come from.”
“Starky Willis?” Lucy had heard whispers about him throughout the safari community—the charming hunter with the magnetic personality and complicated reputation. “The one who owns Zerangu?”
“Jack-of-all-trades. Hunter, pilot, camp manager when needed.” Rob paused in his refuelling preparations. “He’s... experienced with everything the Delta can throw at you. And now he’s covering for Gary and Tessa, who had to fly to Johannesburg unexpectedly. Hunting season’s barely started and his lodge is quiet.”
Lucy watched as Starky noticed their attention and raised his hand in greeting. Even across the distance, his smile was dazzling, and something in the way he moved toward them made her pulse quicken unexpectedly.
“Does this mean I’ll be working with him alone?” With so few guests during the low season, they’d be in close quarters constantly.
“You’ll be fine,” Rob said, though something in his voice suggested otherwise. “Starky knows what he’s doing. Always has.”
As Rob secured the fuel cap, he added casually, “Keep your ears open, though. Word is he’s looking for someone to hostess an overland hunting trip next month. Germans, I think.”
“Well, that definitely won’t be me,” Lucy muttered, steeling herself as Starky approached with that predatory grace she’d heard other women describe in hushed, admiring tones. “I’d rather drop dead than be involved in hunting operations.”
But as he drew closer, she noticed something unexpected in his green eyes—not the calculated charm she’d been warned about, but something more complex. Almost as if he were studying her as carefully as she was studying him.
“Lucy Brennan, I believe,” he said, extending his hand.
“Welcome back to paradise.”
His grip was firm, warm, and he held her gaze just a fraction longer than politeness required. But instead of the practiced seduction she’d expected, there was something almost... protective in his assessment of her.
“Thank you for covering for Gary and Tessa,” she managed.
“Family comes first,” he said simply. “Always.” Something flickered across his expression—pain, perhaps, or old regret. “Besides, Chubaoro deserves the best care. These guests are paying for the experience of a lifetime.”
As Rob prepared for departure, Starky helped load her bags into the vehicle. Lucy tried to ignore his close proximity, but when he handed her up into the passenger seat, his touch lingered just long enough to send warmth racing up her arm.
“Ready for another adventure, Lucy Brennan?” he asked, and something in his tone made her wonder if he meant more than just her return to camp management.
