After the three-and-a-half-hour drive, they arrived at the Ngorongoro hotel a little past two o’clock. This was another luxury resort, and it was situated at the top of the ridge around the enormous Ngorongoro Crater. Their rooms weren’t ready yet, so the whole party was led out to a terrace behind the hotel.
The view was incredible. Almost the entire crater was visible all the way to the opposite ridge (thanks to the binoculars from the Bridal Brigade kit), and Jana could see forested groves, flat plains, and a large pond in the distance that was tinged pink.
“Mommy, are there animals down there?” Imani was scanning the crater with her plastic children’s binoculars.
“Definitely.” But even with Jana’s better binoculars, she still couldn’t see any.
“Hi, Mini!” Anil said. Jana hadn’t realized his Land Cruiser had arrived.
“Daddy!” Imani said, frowning. “We can’t find animals.”
“Let me look,” Anil said, taking out of his messenger bag an even more powerful pair of binoculars—not like the ones from the wedding party backpacks. He looked for a minute, sweeping his gaze across the whole crater. Jana was sure he wouldn’t find anything. How would he even know where to look? She watched his face. Of course, she couldn’t see his eyes, but she saw his jaw set and his mouth form a straight line. He was wearing a leaf-print linen shirt and tan pants that miraculously didn’t look wrinkled after the drive. His brow was furrowed.
She needed to stop staring at Anil so much.
“There!” he suddenly said, brows shooting upward. “In that clearing in the trees!”
Jana looked where he pointed but couldn’t make out any clearing. Imani complained she couldn’t see anything, either. Anil passed his binoculars to Imani, trying to adjust them to her small face, but it wasn’t working.
“Let’s see if I can show your mother,” Anil said, taking Jana’s binoculars from her and looking into them. After a few seconds, his mouth widened. “There. Here—you look, Jana.” He moved his head away from the binoculars but didn’t move his hands, so Jana would have to squeeze between his arms to look.
Jana didn’t like the idea of being shown this…whatever it was…with Anil surrounding her. But they had a deal. They were supposed to be amicable now. She squeezed between his arms and put her face to the eyepieces.
Before Jana saw anything, she felt Anil’s warmth. He smelled like dust. A bit of sweat. Laundry detergent. The slightest hint of the same sandalwood cologne she’d smelled yesterday. Jana’s throat went dry. She focused on the view through the binoculars, ignoring the feel of his breath on her neck. She could lean back half an inch and she’d be touching him. He could kiss her under her ear with barely any movement.
Jana balled her fists and squinted through the eyepieces. It was an elephant. And it wasenormous. On the very edge of a small clearing in the middle of the trees, surrounded by bright emerald leaves contrasting with the animal’s deep gray color. Its tusks were huge and gleaming white. The elephant was pulling leaves from a nearby tree with his agile trunk and eating them.
Elephants were Jana’s favorite animal. Her hands rose to hold the binoculars herself, and Anil stepped away. She focused to see the animal clearer. Jana knew elephants were big. She’d seen them years ago on that first safari. And she’d seen smaller Asian elephants in India, of course. But this still took her breath away. It seemed broader, taller, and a richer shade of gray than any elephant from her memory. It was positively majestic, and Jana was rendered literally speechless.
“What is it, Mommy?” Imani asked.
Jana grinned, almost giddy from seeing her first elephant. “Here—let me show you.” She knelt to Imani’s level to show her daughter the animal.
Imani squealed. “Elephant! Daddy, it’s an elephant! Is that a real elephant? Kamila Aunty, did you see the elephant?” Others joined them then, no doubt drawn to Imani’s excited outburst. Soon, about half of the wedding party were passing around binoculars or using their own and excitedly laughing and pointing out the animal.
Jana took a deep breath. It felt like something unraveled in her. Or started to unravel, at least.
“Can we go down there, Mommy?”
Jana ran her hand over her daughter’s braids. “Tomorrow, love,” she said.
“With Daddy, too? We’ll all be in the same car, right?”
“Hello! Attention!” One of the hostesses had stepped outside. “Anyone in the north wing of the resort—that’s suites ten and up—your rooms are ready. You can follow me, please.”
There was a bit of shuffling as people checked their room cards, then about half the party left the terrace, including Anil, but Jana and her mother’s suite wasn’t ready yet. Imani was now with Kassim Uncle at the railing around the terrace looking for more elephants, so Jana went to the nearby bar for a bottle of water. Her phone buzzed while she was heading back to Imani. She checked it—Asha had sent another dik-dik pic to the Bridal Brigade group chat. Jana snorted, shaking her head. She was starting to find these weirdos in the brigade kind of funny.
“Something wrong?” Dr. Lopez said. He was sitting at a table with Farzana Aunty.
She turned and put on her smile. “Nothing at all. I’m still buzzing from seeing that elephant.”
“It was magnificent, wasn’t it?” Farzana Aunty said. “Your daughter’s enthusiasm was infectious. She is clearly very attached to her father.”
“Yes. She’s…”Jana hated the termdaddy’s girlbut that’s what Imani was. Especially lately. And Anil was a total girl dad.
“I think it’s wonderful that you brought her here.” Dr. Lopez smiled, looking in Imani’s direction at the railing around the terrace. “Your daughter will thank you for this trip when she’s older.” He indicated at the empty chair at the table. “Join us.”
Jana sat.
