Under the Madagascar Moon by Rae Marks

Author:Rae Marks [Marks, Rae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-11T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Brady

Even though I shouldn’t. Even though I technically cannot afford it, I keep the room at the Mantadia Lodge when I have to leave for a few days. I’ll tell Elliot to deduct it from my commissions, and I know he will.

But it’s worth it because I want Kale to have that privacy. I want him to have the security of knowing I’m coming back. And I don’t want him to have to live with Paulo.

We spent the first weekend together exploring central Madagascar. I let Kale take me to all the little spots he’s discovered in his few short weeks there. But I also want to show him something he hasn’t seen, something I know he’ll love. So while I’m gone, I’m planning.

Madagascar seems like a small island nation, but driving around the country can take hours, and sometimes it can be dangerous. Some roads require cars to caravan for safety. I’m not interested in putting Kale in a dangerous situation like that, but I do want him to see more of the country than within the fifty-mile radius around where he’s staying.

After flying to Italy for two days to attend an auction to bid on behalf of clients, I arrange for the secure delivery of a few items but have to hand-deliver two very expensive rare items. I stop in Crete and Abu Dhabi, and then I fly to Rome because it shaves about twelve hours and two stops off my return flight to Antananarivo. I have Kale meet me in Antananarivo with a bag packed for the weekend.

When I spot him in the airport, my heart gives a slow rolling thump. His smile is wide and happy. As soon as our eyes meet, he rushes forward. I’ve been looking forward to seeing him again, counting the hours until I could touch him, but my reaction to his presence still has me shell-shocked. When he gets closer, Kale hesitates and his smile dims, which makes me want to kick my own ass.

“Everything okay?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah, just…I’ve only been gone a few days, and I just realized I’ve missed you a lot more than I expected.”

His smile spreads even wider than before. I feel a lightness in my chest because even though I might have tripped over the words a little, I brought back that smile.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he says. “So where are we going? Did you want to drive to the west side of the island? Is that why I packed a bag and met you here?”

I shake my head and hand him his ticket.

His brows furrow and the smile melts away. “We’re flying? But it’s much cheaper to drive.”

“Sure, but then we’d waste a whole day getting there. This way, we get two whole days to explore.”

Kale reads his ticket. His lips curve up once again, reluctantly, shyly. “Are we going to Nosy Mangabe?”

I shrug as if I didn’t plan this whole thing just to see his excitement. Kale takes two large steps forward and wraps his arms around me.

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