Page 34 of First Comes Marriage
‘OK, fine. Do I need to do anything?’
‘Just get into comfortable clothing to go out in. Jeans and a T-shirt will do. And boots or trainers. I’ll see you downstairs when you’re ready.’
She joined him half an hour later, dressed appropriately for what he had planned. He led the way towards the car and, once they were both settled, the driver silently put the car in drive and moved off, Zafar having already told her where they were supposed to go.
‘Can I have a clue? Please?’ Reshma turned in her seat, as much as her seat belt would allow, and gave him a pleading look before looking around her to see if she could figure out where they were going.
‘Hmm, a clue.’ Zafar folded his arms and lifted a finger to tap his chin as though he was giving it a great deal of thought. He was happy for them to be on neutral ground where there was none of their usual baggage and they could be a more relaxed version of themselves. ‘Ah, I know. There will be sand and I think there might also be a body of water, but it’s not the beach.’
She scowled at him before turning to look out of the window on her side again and Zafar laughed. She could be really cute when she wasn’t conscious of what she was doing. In fact, she could be downright grumpy sometimes but he found it endearing. It made him want to be even more cheerful around her.
‘It’s a surprise, Reshma. I want you to enjoy it.’
It didn’t take long for the driver to pull into the car park of their destination, and after Zafar had confirmed their pick-up time and place, she left.
Reshma was reading the board welcoming visitors.
‘An animal sanctuary?’ She turned to look at him, her eyes wide and excited.
‘You can’t really come to Kenya and not experience some of their wildlife, right?’
Her smile was bright and beautiful as she nodded in agreement and closed the distance between them, though there was enough of a gap that they weren’t touching. ‘This is amazing. A wonderful surprise. Thank you.’
Zafar felt his stomach somersault as Reshma directed her smile fully at him. He’d put that pleasure on her face and he felt ten feet tall for it. He also felt a sense of peace lodge itself in the vicinity of his heart at putting a smile on her face, where a handful of days ago it was he who had caused the tears in her eyes. That wasn’t to say that all his crimes were atoned for, but it was a start.
‘Don’t thank me just yet. You might not enjoy it.’
She shook her head. ‘Even if I don’t enjoy it, thank you for thinking about doing this. I appreciate it.’
God, why was she letting him off so easily? This was nothing compared to the fact that he’d practically ignored her for as long as he had. She should put a bulk order of humble pie in for him, but instead, she was showing him open appreciation and gratitude for the simplest gesture. She really was something.
‘OK, which way?’
Zafar smiled as he spread his hand out for her to precede him, where, hopefully, her second surprise was waiting for her.
They turned the corner to the main reception area of the animal sanctuary and there stood Haniya, Shoaib, Khalil and Saleema.
Haniya and Saleema shrieked, ‘Surprise!’ when they saw Reshma and she joined in with their hollering as she ran the short distance towards them.
‘No way! What are you guys doing here?’
‘It was Zaf’s idea.’ Shoaib gave him a high five which became a back thump as he spoke and Khalil did the same. ‘He suggested we all come out here today, but he sent us ten minutes before to surprise you. Said you could do with a pleasant surprise, whatever that means.’
He saw Haniya waggle her eyebrows at Reshma and she rolled her eyes in return. Zafar had no idea what that meant, but she looked happy and that’s all that mattered. Initially, he had thought just he and Reshma could go out. The two of them could spend the day together. But then he realised that involving her cousins would make the trip a lot more special for her, so he’d run his idea past them and they’d happily agreed. He wanted it to be just the two of them, but more important than that was the need to earn Reshma’s trust and do what would makeherhappy. He was glad he’d made the right call.
‘Right. I’ve got all the details. I think the nature walk will be best because we can take it at our own pace. There are rangers throughout the sanctuary to help and they said walking the trail is a great experience, though it can be done in a car too.’ Saleema handed maps out as she spoke. ‘Let’s start together and then see how we go. Just make sure no one is left behind.’
She turned and led the way, Haniya’s arm linked through hers, and Khalil and Shoaib followed them. Surprisingly, Reshma didn’t join the girls and kept pace with him.
‘Thanks. Again.’
Zafar shook his head. Again. But responded with a soft, ‘You’re welcome.’
The smile on her face stayed very much in place as they followed behind Khalil and Shoaib while Saleema and Haniya led the way.
The sanctuary homed a variety of wild animals and visitors were able to walk through their natural habitat. The team leader of the sanctuary had assured him when he’d spoken to her to make the booking that it was perfectly safe to walk around the animals because they had staff members dotted around the sanctuary who were trained in handling them and the animals were used to being around people. None of the animals were carnivorous, so they needn’t feel like they were in aJurassic Parkfilm – the safari edition.
They’d barely gone twenty metres when Shoaib paused to take some photographs, and seeing him do that, his sister came and decided to take centre stage just to wind him up. Khalil and Saleema moved ahead, looking at the map in Saleema’s hand, and they began pointing in opposite directions.
