Diamond Legacy by Monica McCabe Read Free Book Online Page A

the Bobotie, a hot beef pie similar to English shepherd’s pie. Then they moved over to the drink line, filled up, and landed at a corner table near the exit.
    “There’s another, smaller, cafeteria toward the back of the building,” Letta explained, “and an employee lounge upstairs in the administrative offices. But this one is my favorite.”
    It was easy to see why. Native drums softly entertained diners while jungle scenes decorated the walls. It was spacious, colorful, and best of all, had fast service. They’d barely settled in when their food arrived. Enticing aromas wafted up and they dug in.
    “Heaven,” Jason declared after his first mouthful. He reached across the table and forked up a helping of Miranda’s steaming pie. “Oh, Lord,” he mumbled around the bite. “They know how to cook in these parts.”
    When he eyed the fresh baked soetkoekies , a spice and wine cookie, Miranda slid them out of his reach. “USA or Africa, it’s all the same. Dessert is after lunch.”
    He laughed and accepted a roasted potato wedge from Letta. “So tell us,” he asked her, “are you from Gaborone?”
    She shook her head. “I grew up in Karatu, a Maasai village near Lake Manyara in Tanzania.”
    “How’d you end up here?” Miranda asked.
    Letta absently stirred her soup. “Cattle are wealth to the Maasai and my father has many. He also has many daughters and no son to care of the herd. So he sent me to the university. They hope I will bring veterinary skill home to the village.”
    “Is that what you want?” Jason asked with his usual blunt curiosity.
    “I am honor bound. This year is all I need to complete my studies before returning home. I just need to get through Katanga’s program.”
    “You will,” Jason stated confidently. “You’re a natural.”
    “Not everyone thinks so.”
    “I don’t understand why,” Miranda said. “It’s easy to see you love what you’re doing. It shows in everything you do.”
    Letta’s gaze slid away. “Perhaps, but this is my third residency location. I’ve been shuffled from one clinic to another.”
    Jason’s fork froze mid-air. “Whatever for?”
    “I’m a jinx.” Letta lowered her soup spoon and sat back in her chair. “Catastrophe follows me.”
    “Total nonsense,” Miranda scoffed. “No one is jinxed.” Except maybe herself. That could explain the perpetual disaster that was her love life. It wasn’t a dedication to her job, bad decisions, or lack of emotional commitment. There was a curse.
    “I am unlucky,” Letta argued. “At my first clinic, a Jeep lost its brakes and I demolished a building. Three months later, I burnt a storage shed to a crisp with a faulty lantern and a bale of hay.”
    “You can’t be blamed for equipment failure,” Miranda reasoned.
    “At the second clinic,” Letta continued, “an aviary collapsed as I tried to herd a flock of flamingoes inside. The birds panicked, escaped the cage, and terrorized visiting school children on a field trip.”
    Jason burst out laughing, and Miranda glanced at him like he’d lost his mind.
    He only laughed harder. “I’m sorry. It’s just… Remind me sometime to tell you about the year I changed my college major from criminal justice to veterinary medicine. The comedy of errors that followed had me doubting my sanity.”
    “Well, that proves it.” Miranda smiled wide. “Jason is the best intern at our zoo. And the same will happen for you. Quit worrying about jinxes. You’re good. That’s all you need to focus on.”
    “Even if you are right,” Letta said with despair, “I’m afraid Katanga may be on the verge of sending me off after an incident two weeks ago. It’s why I’m assigned to look after the visiting zoo dentists.” She smiled sheepishly. “Keeps me out of the way.”
    Miranda exchanged a determined glance with Jason. “How long before your residency is completed?”
    “Four weeks.”
    “Perfect,” Miranda said. “Jason and I will return the