Martin and Leo chuckled as they watched Derek start to push Lyndsey on the swing.
“So what are you going to do about the Ms. Squires?” Martin asked.
“If she’s not careful, I’m going to take a few days off and show up where she works. But first I need to make sure she’s in-country.”
“Why not just fly out to wherever the hell she is? Or are you afraid of going out of the United States?” Martin asked with a raised eyebrow.
Leo laughed. “Guess not. But first I want to figure out the lay of the land.”
“So what’s been stopping you?”
“We didn’t part well.”
“What did you do?” Martin asked.
“My job. But I felt like shit about it. I let her down.”
“I don’t know much, just read about the doc and his family. But it seems to me that anyone like this daughter of his would understand about your job and the constraints you have to live by. If she doesn’t, then she’s not the right one for you.”
Leo didn’t say anything, he just watched the kids rioting around the backyard. The sad part was, he really wanted her to understand. She was the first woman he’d ever imagined bringing home to this menagerie. What would she think about it?
“Leo?”
“Hmmm?”
“So are you going to hunt her down?”
Leo grinned. “I don’t see as though I have any choice.”
“Good man.”
17
It was the beginning of her third week in Yemen, and she was beyond exhausted. They needed to come up with a new word. But looking at the women who had a houseful of children to care for, not enough food, and were still keeping on, Daisy knew she couldn’t bitch. Hell, she at least had water and food!
She hiked up the toddler on her hip and made sure that he was sucking on the life-saving package of peanut butter nutrient as she tried to find what tent he’d wandered away from. Abia was holding on to her long shirt and once again jabbering away in Arabic.
“Sweetheart, are you sure you know where his mother is?” Daisy asked for the third time.
Again the girl nodded and pointed.
Daisy had to get back to the aid station. Three of her directors were coming in today from the states. She wanted to give them a tour and see what their thoughts were about what W.A.N.T. could get done for the displaced women here in this specific camp in Yemen. If they could set up something here that was effective, it could be a model that they could use for different camps across Yemen, then spread to different countries. But Daisy would need their brainpower.
“There!” Abia tugged hard at her shirt. For once the little boy seemed to be showing some interest in something other than Daisy’s necklace.
How the little girl seemed to know everything that was going on in the camp was beyond Daisy, but over the last couple of weeks, she’d learned to roll with it.
“Lais,” a woman in a worn blue skirt hollered out. The boy dropped his food and let go of Daisy’s St. Christopher charm and yelled out for his mother. She mopped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as she ran toward them. All the way over to them, she thanked Daisy profusely for finding her son.
It was no wonder that someone would get lost in this camp that teemed with over a quarter-million people. Lais grabbed at his mother as Daisy picked up the little packet of food and wiped off the dirt. When she realized it was unsalvageable, she grabbed another one from her backpack and handed it to the mother who took it gratefully. They went off to their tent.
“Come, Abia, shouldn’t you be learning your letters with your sister?” Daisy asked of the young girl.
She gave Daisy a sour look. “I like being with you.”
“If you want to do great things one day, you must learn your letters. Let’s go to your home, and you can practice. After you are done with your learning and your chores, you may ask your mother if you can spend some time with me tomorrow, how does that sound?”
“I want to spend time with you today,” the little girl whined.
“I’m busy today. It will have to be tomorrow.” Daisy was firm. It was the only way with this strong-willed little girl.
“Okay. But I don’t like it.”
Daisy had to bite back a laugh. This kid was killing her.
“Duly noted.”
She took her hand and they walked back to Maysa’s tent. When Maysa saw her, she raised her eyebrows and shook her head. Daisy shrugged. The women were in perfect accord. There was no stopping the little girl, she was a firecracker. Daisy loved seeing that spurt of energy and defiance when the girl was undernourished and living with so many in their small little tent. She had such a will. This little girl could grow up to change the world.
When she got to the aid station, she was met by a shock. Besides her directors of development, operations, and public affairs, there was Rayi Abad.
And Leo Perez.
One she was happy to see, the other she was stunned to see. Daisy honestly thought Leo would have given up on her by now.
“Daisy, these gentlemen assured us you would want to have them tag along. Rayi said that he would be able to help provide some much-needed publicity for this project, and I couldn’t agree more,” Annie Cartwright smiled. She was fifty-two and an experienced Director of Development that Daisy had stolen from the Red Cross two years ago.
“Yes, Rayi is great. He helped me on a project in Afghanistan not so long ago. Has he told you his resume?” Daisy asked.
“Yes, he has. It’s formidable.”
“I
