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Wazza had to hold in a laugh. She had that one right, it sure was hot, and getting hotter. The dial on the dash now read thirty-six degrees. The temperature had gone up even in the hour or so he’d spent with Kee. It’d probably hit forty by midday. Way too hot to be sitting under a sheet, trying to survive.
“I agree,” Kee replied with a relieved grin.
It was the first time Wazza had seen her smile, and it drove home to him how terrified she must’ve been. How much resolve did it take to pack your car with the bare essentials and drive your child into the unknown? Leave your life behind to save the one thing you loved? She was certainly a brave, courageous woman.
Kee helped Benni into the rear seat, which was a long way off the ground. After buckling her into her booster and making sure she was happy, she drew a deep breath and swung up into the passenger seat beside Wazza.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready as we’ll ever be,” both Kee and Benni chimed together, and Wazza gave her a curious glance. “Sorry,” she said, chuckling. “It’s a thing we always do when someone asks us if we’re ready.”
“Yes.” Benni was bouncing in her seat. “We did it with Daddy all the time.”
Kee’s face blanched.
“Didn’t we, Mummy? Daddy was the best at saying it.”
“Yes, bunny, he was,” Kee replied, but her mouth puckered up like she’d sucked on a lemon.
“I miss Daddy. When are we going to see him again?”
Kee cast an unhappy glance at Wazza, but kept her voice bright and cheery, as she said, “I’m not sure, Benni Bunny. You know he had to go away. I’m not sure when he’s coming back.”
“But soon, Mummy. We’ll see him soon,” Benni continued, a determined tilt to her chin, making her look like a mini version of Kee. Wazza took his eyes off the track for a second to glance back at the little girl, and she had her doll clutched tightly to her chest again, as if the toy would make it come true.
“Yes, soon.”
“Okay.” Benni settled back in her chair.
Wazza wondered exactly where her ex-husband had gone. And for how long. How could he be conducting a custody battle if he wasn’t even in the same state, or perhaps not even in the same country? But he let none of the worry he felt reach his face. She’d called him her ex more than once. He hoped she was telling the truth about them being divorced. There was no ring on her finger—he’d already scoped that out earlier. He wondered idly how old she was. Her brown skin was smooth and supple, no signs of wrinkles. She looked young, especially to have a four-year-old daughter, but he probably wasn’t much of a judge. His thirtieth birthday a few months ago had come and gone without much fanfare. Of course, Skylar had baked him one of her amazing cakes and all the staff at Stormcloud had sung “Happy Birthday” at the top of their lungs. But Wazza had really only wanted to forget he’d turned another year older. Thirty might be a milestone for some, but for him, with nothing new on the horizon, no real ambitions or goals, he felt like he was merely drifting through life.
Conversation inside the cabin was kept to general topics as they drove. Of course, Kee didn’t want to tell him more in front of Benni, and he had to respect that. But he itched to ask the questions burning in his brain.
It took around twenty minutes to travel the track from the water trough, to the larger dirt road that’d eventually take him out to the highway. Once he was on the wider road, he lifted the sat phone from its cradle on the dash. “I’ll tell Lefty you’re a friend of Daisy’s, come to visit her, but you arrived a few days early. I’ll ask him to keep it quiet, as you want to surprise Daisy when she gets back. How does that sound?”
