His Christmas Surprise by Harper Grace

Author:Harper, Grace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: GAVON Publishing
Published: 2019-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Bronwyn

Friday – One day until Mollie gets married

The wedding ceremony was happening in twenty-four hours, and I hadn’t assembled or decorated Mollie’s cake. The snow had steadily fallen all morning, adding fresh layers to the already frozen snow that had swept in overnight. The animals must have snow blindness and be forever lost in the surrounding woods with the meter high drifts. With my mug of hot chocolate hugged to my chest, I read Dean’s report on a Kenyan school. It was heartbreaking to the point I was so angry I couldn’t think to take a sip of my decadently made cup of cocoa. Yet, I couldn’t let it go, which lead on to fury at my two-faced attitude.

“I think you should stop reading it,” Dean said, taking my mug from my hands. He unclamped each finger and placed the cup on a mat next to the laptop, still within reaching distance.

“I will drink it,” I replied, eyeing the suspicious mug, threatening my morals.

“It’s stone cold, and you’re crying.”

I touched my face, the wetness coating my cheeks without me realising.

“The life that those young girls lead is harrowing, their mothers encouraging them to sleep with men old enough to be their fathers is just awful.”

“Not all the school kids have that life, there are some fortunate enough to live in on school grounds and are kept away from that option. The pressure on the daughters to marry well is immense, especially if there is a big family. Some of those girls are products of the same situation their mothers were in.”

“I want to fly over there and bring them home here, look after the girls, give them an education. They need to know they have more than one option.”

“A lot of them don’t, and that is the sadness about it all. The authorities are just as corrupt and turn a blind eye. Anyone looking too deeply into it gets stern treatment from the local police.”

“Like you?”

“I’ve spent a night or two in a jail cell, but that’s it. Part of the job.”

“It’s so dangerous, why do you risk so much?”

“Because the story needs to be told, awareness is key to making their lives more habitable.”

I dropped my head into my hands, quietly sobbing at the thought of me as a fourteen-year-old, being told to dress up to go and flirt with the older men to get them to sleep with me. It didn’t bear thinking about. I was far too young at that age to start thinking about having sex, let alone sleeping around for the meals on my table.

Dean took me in his arms and closed the lid of the laptop. He cuddled me until I stopped sniffling, and my breathing evened out.

“I’d better go and make Mollie’s cake, it will take my mind off what you’ve written. Which is excellent by the way. You write so well I can almost smell the sea air and see ramshackle houses.”

“Thank you. If I submit the article, it is possible I won’t be allowed back into Kenya or maybe any of the African countries.

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