Surely something had woken her up. She glanced back over her shoulder at Seth still sleeping soundly and a ripple of butterflies erupted in her stomach. He’d made love to her for several hours before they finally succumbed to exhaustion. His desire for her had aroused her own needs, and she’d met his every thrust, his kisses, his strong embraces. She had surprised herself, because it had been years since she’d even thought about making love to a man, and that long period of abstinence seemed quenched in one night. She’d known from the moment they met, when he first grabbed her hand to run into the rain, that she was attracted to him, but she’d gotten good at keeping up walls through the years. Tonight, they’d all come tumbling down. And it felt good.
Seth slept peacefully, a mere shadow in the evening light from the window. Moments from their whispered conversations during the last few hours repeated in her mind. He’d told her about growing up in Mumbai, the son of a local seamstress and a schoolteacher. The oldest of five kids, he made breakfast for everyone on a daily basis, got them ready for school and helped them with their homework every night, but he lived for his vacations when he could escape to his grandparents’ farm near Seoni. His grandfather, one of the village elders, knew every creature who lived on or passed through his land. He had spent years studying them, and Seth told Natalie that Papaji knew more about animals, their migration, and social habits than any other person—educated or not—that he’d ever met.
Papaji had imbued Seth with a curiosity about the animal world that he’d translated into a business over the years. Seth started as a veterinary assistant at one of the local zoos, then took some classes and worked his way through university, dropping out only a couple of months before graduation because his money ran out.
“I had to be creative,” he told her, so he relied on his wits, became a tour guide for a state forest and liked it so much that he applied for a job at the local TV station. “The rest is of historical significance.” He grinned.
Though his grandfather had died suddenly of a heart attack while tending to his herb patch, at least he had seen Seth’s first appearance as a guest on a local TV news show, and he’d been confident that Seth would succeed.
“Every time I see the green light on a camera, I think of him and send up a prayer,” Seth had said in a reverent whisper. He absently played with a long strand of her hair, then brought himself back to the moment and smiled into her eyes. “He would have loved to meet you and Sophie.”
She smiled back and almost told him about Danny and Stephen, but she wanted at least this night, this weekend, with him before the story of the school shooting came out and her reality started seeping back into her daily life. She’d managed to step out of her media nightmare for a long while. This had become a place to start healing, which both surprised and pleased her. But she still needed more time.
She placed her hand against the window now, and its clammy coldness reminded her that this moment was very real and that hiding from life wouldn’t last forever. She sighed.
She turned, watching him sleep, and took a silent step toward him.
With one finger, she tentatively reached out and touched him to make sure the moment was real, that she was still there. In the act of making love, she’d discovered she was, indeed, still alive. Still there.
She smiled and sighed and looked back out the window.
On the street below, she saw movement. Several people running. Then more came after them, and within moments, the street was full and the sounds that must have woken her up filled the canyon between the buildings. She opened the window and a warm current of humid air made her draw back her face. She’d become so used to air conditioning for the past couple of days that she’d forgotten how hot Thailand had become over the last month or so.
Now she could see a group of people—red shirts, protestors in the same group Siriporn had been following—and behind them, at least half a dozen military.
“What’s going on?” Seth stood behind her, the sheet wrapped around his waist, the contrast between the white sheet and his brown body so enticing that she wanted to crawl back into bed with him, then another shout brought her attention back to the window.
“I’m not sure. I think this must be part of the demonstration everyone was talking about earlier. I know that there’s been some problems with the government, but I must admit I haven’t really been following it. When you’re at the sanctuary, you’re pretty much cut off from the rest of the world.”
She watched as the group of red-shirted people scattered into the darkness below, some followed by the militia who appeared to be carrying guns. It all seemed a bit surreal, like a scene from an action movie.
“Something’s obviously going on. Let’s turn on the television and see if there’s anything on the news.” Seth headed for the remote on the bedside table and perched on the edge of the bed as he scanned the channels. “Well, I never . . .”
“What is it?”
“The TV stations have all been shut down. Looks like the military has taken over.”
“What does that mean?”
“I have absolutely no idea.”
Natalie moved from the windows to peer at the television. No matter which station Seth flipped to, the message appeared the same: The Center for the Administration of Peace and Order had temporarily halted broadcast. She’d never been in a country that had the power to shut down the television stations. But for that matter, she’d never experienced a military coup d’état.
Within moments, the phone rang. Andrew had heard the demonstrations as well, and had called the front desk. Nothing they could do tonight, he told her, but they must be on the road back home first thing in the morning.
She hung up the phone and told Seth, who’d already begun gathering his clothes and getting dressed. All the warmth and passion of only a few hours ago had dissipated.
“Don’t go outside,” he warned her a few moments later as they stood at her door. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” He paused long enough to drop a lingering kiss on her lips, touched her cheek, then disappeared down the hallway.
When she turned to the window again, the sky had brightened a little. She stood, watching a few pairs of headlights cutting through the early dawn light, and. for the first time, she wondered about Siriporn and worried about both him and Mali. That must have been on Andrew’s mind when he called earlier. She made a mental note to ask him whether he’d heard anything.