As they tore at each other’s clothes, Adam said, “Forey,” and she nodded. Fortunata was Vera’s mom’s best friend and she had cleaned the cabin for them.

They made love quickly, waited just minutes, then did so again more slowly. They didn’t say a word until after the second time and Adam fell back on the pillow beside her.

“I should have—” he began.

“Shh,” she said. She knew he meant that he should have used protection. She didn’t want to tell him that she’d started on the Pill weeks ago. She planned to fly to Kenya the minute Kelly graduated and she wanted to be prepared. Since it was barely legal for women to use birth control and the Pill was considered dangerous, she hadn’t told anyone.

Birth control was the last thing she wanted to talk about. What she really wanted to do was jump up and down on the bed and shout, “When do we leave? When do we leave?”

She needed to control herself. She snuggled in his arms, bare bodies pressed together. “How’s Robbie?”

She knew the answer to her question but she wanted to hear Adam’s reply. Actually, she wanted to know what he planned to do about his eighteen-year-old hellion of a brother.

Adam groaned. “I don’t know what Dad was thinking. He created a monster.”

Vera and Adam had a code of honesty between them. They didn’t lie and didn’t hold back. “Your dad blamed himself for your leaving. He told my dad he was too hard on you.”

“So he went soft on Rob?” Adam sounded angry.

“I think so.”

“Dad bought him cars. How many has he wrecked?”

“Two,” Vera said softly. Her hair had come loose. Brushing it aside, she looked at him. “He’s going to college in the fall. Until then he can stay with my mother.” She’d thought a lot about this problem.

“And you think your mother is strong enough to control him? Ha! The way he is now, I wouldn’t want him near your little sister.”

“Kelly will sic a dog on him.” She meant it as a joke but Adam didn’t laugh.

“That won’t work.”

She knew him well enough to know that he had a plan. “What are you going to do?”

He moved her hair aside and kissed her forehead. “I’ve not had time to think about anything much, but I don’t believe Robbie wants to run the farm. He wants to do something in a city. I don’t know what it is, but...” He took a breath. “I need to stay here until he’s in college.” Adam ran his hand through his hair, dark brown but with sun streaks through it. “I need to get back to Kenya. We’re putting in wells and I’ve been teaching classes on crops and—”

She turned to him. “I can help.”