Page 113 of River
“But what about a shower?”
“We’ll bathe in lakes and rivers. Sometimes with the animals. Elephants make excellent showers.” Fleur winked.
Saffron’s mouth opened. “I want to go too. Can I?” She turned her face up to Charles and Liv.
“No, you have school, remember.”
Maximum wasn’t letting Fleur off the hook. “Please let me come with you.”
Fleur hesitated, but then she said, “I’ll think about it.”
After dinner, Liv, Charles, Saffron, and Maximum said their goodbyes. Once more, I heard Maximum ask Fleur to let him come with her, and this time she seemed less closed off to the idea, although she still didn’t say yes.
I didn’t blame him for asking because I would have loved to go on a guided trip to South Africa with Fleur too, but I’d promised to watch the farm for her, and I wasn’t sure River would enjoy camping in the wild.
As we waved them off, Fleur, River, and I walked to River’s rental car.
“Are you going to take Maximum with you?” I asked her.
“I don’t think so, although he is very persistent.”
“My brother is so much nicer when you get to know him,” River said. “I don’t know what made him behave like such a petulant child today.”
“He’s not the first person to be critical of my work.”
“For what it’s worth, he’s a kind and good person. You wouldn’t have to worry about him… ehh…” River trailed off. “I mean, if you go camping in the wild and you’re alone, he wouldn’t be a danger to you or anything.”
“You mean he wouldn’t rape me?” Fleur sounded amused. “That’s good to know.”
“I think that despite his criticism, he actually really likes you.”
Fleur was in the backseat and looked out the window. “He’s a sweet boy but much too young for my taste.”
“He turned twenty-seven in October, and you just turned thirty.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“There’s not even three years between you. That’s not so bad.” River looked in the rearview mirror.
“My husband was nine years older than me. He’ll be forty next year.” Fleur sighed. “I’m not sure why we’re even discussing this. I’ve given up on men, and although your brother is very handsome, you can tell him that if his reason for wanting to come to South Africa is to chase me, it’s a lost cause. I’m done with men.”
“I’m sure it’s better if you tell him yourself. I saw he gave you his number.”
“Yes, he did.”
I put on some music as we drove the last ten minutes to the farm, where we said goodnight to Fleur.
River and I were tired from a long day, and after another mind-blowing round of lovemaking, we lay nose to nose.
“Did you have a nice birthday?”
“Yes.”
“What was the best part?”
“That I got to spend it with you.”
“Was there something you didn’t get that you’d hoped for?”
