She was enjoying her renewed friendship with long time pal, Wilda Wildebeest. The two had been great friends in the old days when they had covered Ralph Lyon’s early presidency together. Then Wilda had married her cousin, Walter. she retired to live as wife and mother. After she and Walter split, and her sons were grown and married, Wilda   returned to her former career as a journalist and was established as the State House correspondent for WMM-TV. Now Betty and Wilda worked for the same entity. Betty found Wilda greatly changed from her old naive days when she was so in love with Ralph Lyon. She would come to Betty’s house crying and Betty would offer what succor she could, considering that she was a confirmed bachelorette at that time in her life. Betty had always thought her to be a top notch reporter, writing clear and concise copy when needed. These days, Wilda was rather sophisticated and matter-of-fact. Now the shoe was on the other foot. It was a rather cynical  Wilda that offered comfort to Betty in her complicated relationship with the love of her life, Shane Simba. Wilda fully understood what it meant to be in love with an unattainable male lion. She still adored Ralph after all these years. Now she was contented with the friendship they shared where he considered her something of a confidante.

Betty and her good friend, Wilda Wildebeest...

A very disgruntled Caroline Cheetah had to move from Lyon Towers. Her pay at the Masai Mara Daily was not to be compared with the salary given the director of the arts center. She rented a small cottage that was offered by the same land lord as her sister, Chelsea’s quaint home. The two rental properties stood very close to one another. A rather precarious situation given the contentious relationship  between the two siblings.

    Another problem niggling Caroline’s mind and life, was her lack of suitors. Micah Mbubé never called anymore. Chelsea had apprised her of the fact that Micah was seeing their sister, Christine, these days. Caroline noticed the smirk on Chelsea’s face as she reported that particular tidbit. Chelsea and Christine were tight as ticks. Alexander Simba was never in the pub anymore. She supposed he was baby sitting his pregnant wife. An ace in the hole were her tennis games with Shane Simba. Shane was a powerful player and had a difficult time finding partners that played as well as he. Lewis Lyon was his favorite but due to his heavy work load and dedicated family time, he wasn’t always available. In sheer desperation for an adequate opponent, Shane would play Caroline on occasion. The down side was that he never invited her for a drink in the club house afterward. He would be there to meet his children for lunch. They were taking various sporting lessons from the pros. He didn’t even ask Caroline to join them at their table, despite the fact that she was his children’s aunt.

The dynamics of Leah and Ashley Lyon’s marriage had altered significantly. Leah, having developed a bawdy sense of humor and very outgoing personality, began to take the lead in the couple’s social life. This extended to their private life as well. Where she had once lived in the shadow of her flamboyant and charismatic husband, she now moved from behind and began to take the lead. The strange thing was that her husband was enjoying this. Leah did it with such good humor, grace and genuine love that Ashley never took offence. She handled her household with remarkable skill. Her children, including her stepson, Arlon, simply adored her. Her hirelings also doted on her. The young lioness/jaguar mix of two successful parents was on top of her game these days. Leah had a remarkably well balanced life between home, sporting activities with her family, being the patroness for the Masai Mara Orphanage and an up and coming film career at her father’s studio. The most remarkable factor in all of this was that she had taken Ashley Lyon, a formerly dedicated rounder and player, and was turning him into an increasingly contented husband. He was wild about Leah and grew more so every day. When she asked him to accompany her on a publicity tour for her new film, The Thomas Crown Affair which was to premiere in the very near future, he gladly agreed.

Leah and her happy husband, Ashley Lyon.....

Nat Cougar and the new Mrs. Aurora Leopardiaz Cougar (formerly Lyon) had returned from their Parisian honeymoon some time ago. They settled into life in his beautiful, self designed, home on the savannah. She continued managing her Masai Mara Garden Center. She and Nat were well suited to each other despite their age difference. The only thing lacking in their ordered and loving existence was children. Aurora had been spayed at the Madrid Zoo when she was a cub.

She was helping Leah Lyon one day in the garden center. Leah was a steady customer with her passion for growing things.  They were good friends. Leah inquired about Aurora’s life since her marriage to Nat.

"We are so happy, Leah. All we lack are offspring and I can’t have them."

"Aurora, there are two orphaned leopard cubs from Tanzania. They just came to our orphanage. Their mother was killed by trophy hunters. They are bright, adorable and need a loving family."

"Can Nat and I see them?"

"Of course you can, Aurora. I volunteer next Monday. Why don’t you come when I’m there."

"Oh, Leah! This is so exciting, I can’t wait."

A car pulled into Betty’s drive. A Masai askari (guard in Swahili) got out and rang the door bell. He handed Babs, the housekeeper, an embossed envelope. She brought it to Betty who opened it and drew out a note on elegant paper. It was handwritten. It read: You won’t take my calls so I’m sending this. How about dinner? Your choice of place. We can even fly to Paris and dine there if you like. Shane.

"Betty, you want him badly. You’ll never get anywhere if you keep him away. He’ll just find someone else and that’ll break your heart," advised Babs, who was also a good friend. The Masai was still standing in the hall. Betty quickly wrote a response and gave it to him.

"Am I going to regret this, Willie?"

Betty and Wilda were on Betty’s patio having drinks. The blood red African sun was descending swiftly behind the line of acacia trees that bordered Betty’s lawn. Wilda lit a cigarette, blowing the thin smoke into the Jasmine scented air.

"Betts, I don’t think you are. You can’t hide from him. You love him too fucking much. If Ralph Lyon had pursued me that way, I would have been in seventh heaven. But  he won't keep that up forever. He’ll move on to someone else and there won’t be enough tissues and hankies in Kenya to dry your eyes if that happens."

"That’s what Babs says."

Flash cameras were everywhere as Betty and Shane entered Croc’s Bar & Grill. She had chosen this restaurant because it had been the site of her first meeting with him after his return from Botswana. Hippi Potomus escorted them quickly to the deck where she had placed a screen to shield them from the prying paparazzi. Candles were on the table and a silver cooler of iced champagne was placed next to two flutes. The evening was clear and lovely. Elephants and hippos lolled in the shallows on the near side of the Mara River.  The elephants splashed contently, bathing their calves with the river water.  Shane poured the Dom Perignon and handed one to Betty.

"Shane, I was terribly harsh to you the night of Arlon’s party. I really do want to be your friend. It’s just that when you go from hot to freezing cold in such a short time, it’s something that’s hard for me to take."

"Betty, there’s one thing you should know about me. When I’m tied in devilish and debilitating knots inside, it presents like ice on the exterior. I’ve always been that way. I didn’t want to hurt you but I couldn’t seem to function unless I withheld all of myself. It’s a terrible trait... I know. The bad thing about my position now is that I can’t just go somewhere and get over it. I have to continue to function as vice president in a very public way."

"My terrible short coming is my intense and unreasonable love for you, Shane. For which I should probably apologize."

"Why apologize?"

"It must be something of a burden for you. It really interferes with my desire to help you move past  your wife’s death."

"What do you mean, Betty? Your love sustains me. I couldn’t live without it."

"I will always love you, Shane."

"And you can’t believe that I might just possibly feel the same about you?"

Her blood was singing so loudly in her ears she was afraid she would miss parts of the incredible things he was saying to her.

"You told me many times in the past that I was just another adequate screw for you."

"Of course I did. I was in denial.  I was married and didn’t want to think about the fact that I felt that strongly about a female that wasn’t my wife. One who was actually married to my brother part of the time. Not that I didn’t adore Catherine. She was my first love. But, Betty, I had and have a powerful attraction to you. I have screwed numerous females but I have only found two in my entire life that have the intellect and intriguing personality of you and Catherine. And, Betty......she’s gone. I can’t bring her back. So now, there’s you. Am I being too insulting? I don’t express these things very well. My strong forte is making a political speech. I fuck up when it comes to declarations of a personal nature."

"I guess I’m confused. I really don’t understand what you’re telling me."

Suddenly, she began to cry. He handed her the handkerchief from his lapel pocket. She dabbed at her eyes.

"I’m telling you that I love you. You want me to write it down for you? I will, damn it!"

"What about the other females you seem to always need?"

"I would never hurt another female I love the way I hurt Catherine with that useless and destructive bullshit. I’ll go to my grave with that terrible regret and guilt. I can swear to you that I’ve not had sex with another female but you since Catherine died. If you don’t believe me, I can’t really blame you. Not with my track record. But I’ve changed. Tragedy has a way of knocking your ass off and bringing you to realization. You’ll come to believe me in time, Betty. I’ll prove myself to you."

Nat and Aurora Cougar adopted the two adorable leopard cubs from the Masai Mara Orphanage. Leah Lyon, the patroness of that organization, handled the adoption. They were a male and a female of only seven weeks. The elated couple took them to the nursery they had created in the house on the savannah. They named them Sylvia and Bernard.  The following week, Sylvia and Bernard Cougar gave a huge party to welcome their new leopard grandcubs.

Betty swung between elation and apprehension. He had told her he loved her on that night at Croc’s Bar & Grill. Until the day she died, she would remember every gripping detail of that star studded and breathtaking evening. His Armani jacket and silk tie were burned in her memory along with the champagne, candles and a myriad of other details. Her fear was a component of being so happy she was practically walking on air. There was a basic insecurity, deep within, her that panicked at that much happiness. Possibly its roots were in the harsh realities of her early days in the Gombe district in Tanzania as she helplessly watched her addled mother continue to eat the fermented fruit that was destroying her brain cells. As to Shane Simba, he seemed to have relaxed totally now that she knew he loved her too. He came to her home several nights a week after he had seen his children to their sleep. They would make love and then speak of their lives apart and together. He didn’t ask her to marry him but she didn’t care. It was enough to watch the smooth rise and fall of his chest while he slept by her side and know that he loved her.

"What are we going to do to celebrate the first lioness’ favorite holiday?" he had asked her.

He was referring to All Thanks Day that had now become ingrained in Kenyan society since Mildred Lyon had ripped the idea off the Americans and their Thanksgiving.

"What would you like to do, my love?

"I don’t know, really. We could go to my mom’s but I know there’s a strong possibility that Sam will be there. I want to include Tookie in whatever we do."

"Of course we will.  Tookie is wonderful."

She celebrated inwardly every time he or she had occasion to use the term ‘we’. We, that wonderful word denoting the charmed circle of those who share their lives. She couldn’t believe her life these days. She had a glow about her that everyone around her commented on. She wished Jason and Joshua were around to share her happiness with their uncle.