Rula Sinara - Through The Storm

Dear Reader Dear Reader Dear Reader TITLE PAGE ABOUT THE AUTHOR DEDICATION Acknowledgments CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN EPILOGUE EXTRACT COPYRIGHT , One of my favorite poems is Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” We all know journeys through life tend to be circuitous with many difficult choices along the way. More often than not, our choice of path is complex and the driving force runs deep. I look back on my own life (hindsight is a great teacher) and can plainly see which of my choices were based on fear, insecurities or even expectations...and which were made because I followed my conscience, listened to my heart and had the courage to be true to myself. When faced with divergent paths, are you a risk taker? Someone who takes the less-traveled road? The beautiful thing about life is that it allows for change. A journey through life, after all, is about self-discovery. It’s about learning from mistakes and righting the wrong. It’s about connecting with those who share or respect our passions, ethics and values. It’s about opening your heart to love in its many forms. In this book, the hero and heroine are two very different people brought together by co-guardianship of their nephew. Mac is a risk taker...an adventurer who has convinced himself he’s better off alone. Tessa, on the other hand, craves security...a need that led her to a marriage and husband she’s determined to be loyal to. Yet both Mac and Tessa are facing internal and external battles between right and wrong. Both have made choices based on childhood experiences and both have now reached a crossroads where their choices will either drive them apart...or make them stronger. I hope you enjoy this third story in my From Kenya, with Love series. My door is open at rulasinara.com , where you can sign up for my newsletter, get information on all my books and find links to my social media hangouts. Wishing you love, peace and courage in life, Rula Sinara

TITLE PAGE Through the Storm

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Award-winning and USA TODAY bestselling author RULA SINARA lives in rural Virginia with her family and crazy but endearing pets. She loves organic gardening, attracting wildlife to her yard, planting trees, raising backyard chickens and drinking more coffee than she’ll ever admit to. Rula’s writing has earned her a National Readers’ Choice Award and a Holt Medallion Award of Merit, among other honors. Her door is always open at rulasinara.com , where you can sign up for her newsletter, learn about her latest books and find links to her social media hangouts.

DEDICATION To the elephants and all living things that have endured unspeakable suffering. And to those whose hearts are filled with compassion and respect for all life...regardless of race or species. May your love heal wounds and make the world a better place.

Acknowledgments Acknowledgments Acknowledgments CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN EPILOGUE EXTRACT COPYRIGHT To Claire Caldwell—a brilliant poet, writer and editor—for helping to bring each book in this series to life and whose patience and invaluable guidance gave me the courage to dig deeper...and reach Through the Storm.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EPILOGUE

EXTRACT

COPYRIGHT

CHAPTER ONE

HE WOULD COME after her.

Without him, Tessa Henning wasn’t worth the dust left by a mercilessly harvested and exquisitely carved elephant’s tusk, but once he discovered she knew too much, Brice would hunt her down just the same. He’d come after her because she was a traitor. He’d find her because she was his wife and he believed in gratitude and loyalty. He expected it. Brice had put her on a pedestal...made her feel beautiful and wanted at a time when everyone else saw her as awkward. He’d given her a life of luxury and security. He’d been generous.

He loved her.

She closed her eyes. She hoped it had been love all this time. Maybe it still was. Maybe she was wrong about everything. Brice had always been a decent man. A decent husband. Marriage involved trust. But didn’t love and trust take two in a marriage? Love and trust were funny words. Tessa swallowed hard, but the lingering, bitter taste of uncertainty dried her throat even more. She needed to stop rationalizing.

Listen to your gut. Don’t ignore your instincts this time. This isn’t just about you anymore. There’s a kid involved.

She took a deep breath, the kind she did in yoga class, then opened her eyes and took one last look around. The designer “organic eggshell”-colored paint she’d once thought made their bedroom appear clean and classy now seemed cold and painfully neutral. She ran her hand across the brown silk sheets that lay rumpled next to her duffel bag, making sure nothing she needed had been lost in them. Their silky touch was anything but soothing. It reminded her of how easily comfort and security could slip away. The pit of her stomach quivered.

“Just get Nick out of here first, then figure out what to do next,” she muttered, trying to keep her nerve up. The sound of Nick’s name grounded her and she rammed the last few bare essentials she’d piled on her bed into her bag, including her journal and the iPad she’d saved some work, research and personal files on. Nothing was only about her anymore. Not since her sister and brother-in-law were killed in an accident six months ago and her thirteen-year-old nephew became her responsibility. Well, hers and his uncle Mac’s, but she’d pretty much assumed primary guardianship. It had been Mac’s choice at first—a choice that preserved his rugged, bachelor bush-pilot lifestyle up in Kenya’s Serengeti. Not that he was entirely delinquent as a guardian, but Mac had managed to convince her early on that there was no way he could raise Nick. He sent money instead.

But she wasn’t complaining, exactly. She loved Nick and was glad he was a part of her life. Six months ago, she’d thought that having him around would be like having a part of her sister to hang on to. Things didn’t turn out that way. For someone with no child-rearing experience, suddenly having a grieving teenage boy dropped into your life was like expecting a deer to raise a baby wolf. Still, a part of her hated that she was going to lose Nick if her suspicions about Brice proved to be true.

She slung her mini backpack purse onto her shoulder, grabbed the duffel then hurried down the curved marble staircase to the main level of their modern South African villa. The floor-to-ceiling window that framed a spectacular view of the Southern Ocean’s crested waters never failed to take her breath away, but today the clawing waves seemed like they were desperate to capture her...to keep her from escaping. That same view made anyone who attended one of Brice’s upscale cocktail parties jealous of what they had. Those guests didn’t have a clue that his fortune had come at a price. Even Tessa didn’t have solid proof, and hadn’t even suspected Brice’s illegal activity until recently, but she was not going to stand by and be a victim. Or watch others suffer at his hands.

The journalist in her had been screaming that something was off for a while now, but given all she was going through after her sister’s death, her mind kept telling her to stay out of it, play it safe and take care of Nick. The problem was, there was no safe anymore. Home would never feel safe again. Tides changed and the undertow was deadly for the unprepared. She needed to be prepared.