“The elders would want to care for widows and children, but there would be problems. Most leave if they want to find a companion to spend their life with. We can live and love outside of the rain forest, and many do. It’s possible your father asked your mother to take you and your brother and find another man to fill his shoes.”

“How did your father die?”

“He went in with a team to pull a diplomat from a rebel force. He was shot. It happens.”

Rachael rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry. It must have been so difficult for your mother to know that you chose to carry on your father’s work.”

“She didn’t like it. My mother didn’t do what my father wanted her to do. She stayed in the rain forest on the edge of the village. It caused some problems occasionally. She was a beautiful woman and it was easy enough to fall in love with her. Do you look like your mother?”

She smiled and relaxed in his arms, sinking into him without being aware of it. “I do look somewhat like her pictures. We have the same eyes, and my face is shaped like hers. And I have her smile. She wasn’t as tall or as heavy.”

Rio stopped right there under a tall tree with silvery bark and hundreds of orchids cascading down the trunk. “Heavy? You have curves, Rachael. I’m very fond of your curves.” He bent his head to her throat, his breath whispering fire against her skin. “Don’t say anything bad about yourself or I might be forced to prove you wrong.”

Rachael laughed happily. He made her feel bright and alive when she had been so close to gloom. “I don’t think that’s much of a threat, Rio. And thank you for bringing up my mother. It’s been a while since I had such a mental picture of her. When you asked me about her, I began to think of all the little details and I can see her again so clearly. She had thick hair. Very curly.” She touched her hair. “I always kept my hair long because she wore hers that way. When I wanted to disappear, I cut my hair to my shoulders because I thought having it reach to my rear end was too conspicuous. I cried myself to sleep every night for a week.”

“Wear your hair any way you want to wear it, Rachael. They’ve already found you here.” He began walking again, picking up the pace, wanting to get back to the house and get her settled again. She was obviously growing tired and attempting to hide it from him.

“But they don’t know I’m still alive. We might be able to make them think I drowned in the river. I threw my shoes in so something would turn up if they were really looking.”