Once in Africa, I kissed a king…
“And just like that, in an old red barn at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, I discovered the elusive magic I had only ever glimpsed between the pages of great love stories. It fluttered around me like a newly born butterfly and settled in a corner of my heart. I held my breath, afraid to exhale for fear it would slip out, never to be found again.”
When a bomb explodes in a mall in East Africa, its aftershocks send two strangers on a collision course that neither one sees coming.
Jack Warden, a divorced coffee farmer in Tanzania, loses his only daughter. An ocean away, in the English countryside, Rodel Emerson loses her only sibling.
Two ordinary people, bound by a tragic afternoon, set out to achieve the extraordinary, as they make three stops to rescue three children across the vast plains of the Serengeti—children who are worth more dead than alive.
But even if they beat the odds, another challenge looms at the end of the line. Can they survive yet another loss—this time of a love that’s bound to slip through their fingers, like the mists that dissipate in the light of the sun?
“Sometimes you come across a rainbow story—one that spans your heart. You might not be able to grasp it or hold on to it, but you can never be sorry for the color and magic it brought.”
Did you see Jack’s Love Note from last year???
Gah…Jack is the best!
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Mrs. Warden,
I say that with wonder every single time. Why? Because there have been three Mrs. Wardens in my life:
1) My grandmother, who spanked me, and loved me, and still kicks my ass.
2) My mother, who planted wild jasmine, and read me stories, and was gone too soon.
3) My ex-wife, who braved a whole different lifestyle on the farm, and gave me the most precious daughter ever – a daughter who came and went like a beautiful, fleeting rainbow in my life.
I never thought there would be a fourth Mrs. Warden. But then you arrived. A bolt of lightning on my front porch. Daggers in your eyes when I refused to help you. I hated the way you made the air crackle, hated the way the hair on the back of my neck stood to attention. I fought it every step of the way – my crazy attraction to you. Losing that battle was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I love you, Mrs. Warden. And on Valentine’s Day, I’m inviting you to a couple of dates with me:
1) 6:00 p.m. Soap suds and rubber duckies in the bath tub with Mr. Warden.
2) 7:00 p.m. Dress-up time! A surprise item to be delivered by Mr. Warden and worn by Mrs. Warden.
3) 7:30 p.m. Book charades in the study room. FYI, I can’t cheat because your books are now mixed in with mine and I haven’t mapped out the shelves yet. But you know what I noticed? That the pregnancy book is sitting right next to Pride and Prejudice. Ha! Take that, Mr. Darcy! I still remember you scooting out that night to cuddle up with him on the porch swing.
4) 8:00 p.m. Dinner on the very same porch swing with Mr. Warden. And only Mr. Warden. Arrangements have been made for the moon and stars to attend. Bring a blanket and your gorgeous, sexy, round-bellied self, and be prepared to be serenaded by a choir of crickets.
5) 10:00 p.m. The party will proceed to the bedroom. Surprise item comes off Mrs. Warden.
6) 10:01 p.m. *RESTRICTED* due to graphic sexual content, nudity, explicit language, and more nudity.
Leylah Attar writes stories about love – shaken, stirred and served with a twist. When she’s not writing, she can be found pursuing her other passions: photography, food, family and travel. Sometimes she disappears into the black hole of the internet, but can usually be enticed out with chocolate.
LOVE this love note so much! Thank you! ❤