Willette was everything Rafael was looking for, plus more. From the moment she’d agreed to spend the afternoon with him, she’d proven to be just as authentic as the night they’d met. Their conversation during the ride to the zoo had instantly become like one of old friends, covering an array of topics. He was impressed by their opinions being so aligned, and by her obvious enjoyment once they’d arrived at the zoo.
Though he knew better, he let himself imagine how easy it would be to marry her.
A mistake. All too soon, his imagination was taking things further than it should, lingering on the perfect curves he was sure lay beneath the layers of her billowing yellow satin dress…
He shook himself out of it. ‘Have you not been here before?’ he asked.
As soon as he’d mentioned the zoo, her face had taken on a shine, as had her eyes, and it remained as she replied, ‘Oh, yes, but that was many years ago, when we’d come to the city to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins.’
‘The cousin you are staying with now?’
A foreboding struck him at the way she quickly looked away. ‘Yes. My cousin’s parents died several years ago, and now she’s married with her own family. I’m grateful she’s allowed me to stay with her for so long.’
Her answer made it sound as if she’d soon be leaving. He knew how well she sang and could believe she’d been hired to travel the world, singing at all the famous opera houses. Unprepared to hear that, he nodded towards the large enclosure they were approaching. ‘So you haven’t met Hugo?’
Her pace increased at the sight of the huge grey elephant. ‘No, but I read about his escapade in the newspaper.’
All of London had read about how the elephant had recently escaped the zoo for a night. ‘Can you imagine an elephant drinking twenty-five gallons of wine? Drake, the fellow who first brought him to the zoo, said Hugo sat on his haunches hiccupping when he woke him up in the alleyway.’
‘He’s huge,’ she said, stopping near the pipe fence. ‘According to the newspaper he had been thirsty, running scared as he was.’
‘Drake said the boys responsible for letting him out of the enclosure have been required to repair the damage done.’
‘That’s good. Do you know Captain Drake Taylor?’
‘I do. He’s donated several animals, beside Hugo, to the zoo.’ Before them, inside his enclosure, Hugo had dropped to his knees and then rolled onto his side. ‘Watch, he’s going to take a dirt bath.’
The words had no sooner left Rafael’s mouth when a flash of genuine terror gripped him, and he leaped into action.
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