Free A Delicious Mistake by Roselyn Jewell Page B

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but she soon realized he had done it so no one would hear what he had to say.
Intrigued, she found herself leaning toward him, as if preparing herself for
the sharing of a secret.
    “You
have done well to come here to find your truth,” he said, his voice quiet but
firm. “But you will not find it where you think.”
    Sarah
blinked at him. “What do you mean?”
    “This
is Africa, Miss Hutton. Truth is not amongst men. Truth is in the land. It’s in
the savannah.” He reached out and grabbed her arm, squeezing so urgently it
almost hurt. “To find your answers, you need not to listen to men. You must
listen to the voices of the ground and of the animals. You must listen to the
voices of the Serengeti. That is the only way you will find your truth.”
    Sarah
recoiled from his hold. She searched his face, wary and suspicious. “Do you
know something?”
    “I
know nothing.” He shook his head and looked genuinely saddened. “I wish I did.
But the Serengeti knows.”
    Sarah
stared at him. He finally released her arm, dipped his head in salute, and
headed back to the driver’s side to climb into the Jeep. As she watched him
drive away with his riddles, she drew in a deep, shaky breath. She had barely
set foot in Tanzania and she was already exhausted. For a minute she doubted
her strength to see this truth, but once again she quickly dismissed those
thoughts of defeat. She wasn’t leaving without answers and without action
having been taken against Luke’s killer. The man responsible for this, whoever
he was, was going to be apprehended, and then justly punished. That was all
that mattered.
    “Is
that who I think it is? Is that my Nzuri Malaika ?”
    Smiling,
she thought one thing had not changed—the voice of her beloved Lindiwele still
filled her heart with warmth. Feeling suddenly more relaxed than she had in days,
Sarah turned around. She was shocked to see a stooped, frail old woman making
her slow way toward her with the aid of a cane. Quickly, Sarah hurried to meet
her. She was instantly enveloped in a surprisingly strong hug.
    “Welcome
home, Nzuri Malaika !” Lindiwele cried. Her dark eyes filled with tears.
She ran an appraising gaze over Sarah. “Oh, you have become such a beautiful, beautiful woman!”
    Sarah
laughed. She was about to say something predictable along the lines of how
Lindiwele hadn’t aged a day, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie so
shamelessly. Instead, she grasped the old woman’s hands. “I am so glad to see
you, my Lindiwele.” That was very, very true.
    Lindiwele
had been the home cook at the lodge for as long as Sarah could remember. She had
also taken up the role of a nanny, and Sarah remembered long afternoons and
evenings spent in the kitchen, helping Lindiwele and listening to her beautiful
stories. They both had cried hot tears the day they had to say goodbye to each
other.
    Lindiwele
had never called Sarah by her name. She had always used the endearing term of Nzuri
Malaika , which in her native dialect, a language Sarah had tried to learn
more than once, meant “beautiful angel.” That the woman was still using the
nickname for her filled her with a security and feeling of homecoming she had
not thought she’d find. Even if it turned out that Benjamin was no longer
anyone she could trust, it appeared that she would have an ally in the district
after all.
    * * *
                   
Sarah longed for nothing other than a shower and a bed, but she held off
seeking out those comforts. Instead, she had Lindiwele take her around to get
reacquainted with everyone. A few members of the staff Sarah remembered from
her childhood days, and she had to smile at their warm, open-hearted welcomes.
After such a long absence she wouldn’t have expected them to remember or even
to recognize her. She introduced herself to those she didn’t know. They seemed
pleased to be meeting Luke Hutton’s sister. Apparently, Luke had been genuinely
popular among these