“I will not marry her.”
Lina narrowed her gaze. “No one has asked you to.” Her voice was level enough, but he saw the temper in her eyes.
“You would not ask,” he told her. “But you have gone out of your way to throw her in my path. Tell me, was Tahir a part of your plan? Did you arrange for him to come to the orphanage and set the events in motion?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but if I did, I would point out Kayleen would be a good mother. Her sons would be strong. You have to marry someone. Why not her?”
Why indeed? A case could be made for his aunt’s logic. Kayleen may not have been born royal, but sometimes that was an advantage. She had an inner strength he respected—it was her heart that made him wary.
“She cares too much,” he told his aunt. “She is too emotional.”
“She’s a woman.”
“She leads with her heart. She deserves someone who can appreciate that.”
Lina studied him for several seconds, then nodded. “All right. That’s the one answer I can respect. It’s too bad. I think she would have been good for you. Then we’ll just have to find her someone else.”
“She is the children’s nanny.”
“She deserves more than just a job. You were right, there’s no young American man, but I’ll find her someone.” She rose and smiled. “Don’t worry, As’ad. While I’m finding Kayleen a husband, I’ll find you another nanny. You won’t be inconvenienced.”
Those should have been the words he wanted to hear, but something about them bothered him. Something he couldn’t define but that created a knot in the middle of his chest.
“What is it?” As’ad asked, staring at the thick, flat cutout.
Dana grinned. “It’s a turkey.”
He eyed the layers of paper. “It is a turkey that has met with some unfortunate circumstances.”
She giggled, then pulled the top over, creating a three-dimensional paper turkey. “It’s a decoration,” she told him. “They delivered a whole box of ’em. We can put them on the table and hang them from the ceiling.” She glanced up at the curved, fifteen-foot ceiling. “Okay, maybe not the ceiling. But we’ll put them all around.”
“This is tradition?” he asked.
“Uh-huh. Along with the leaves.”
The box with the flat paper turkeys had also included festive garlands in fall colors, along with silk leaves in red, brown and gold.
Pepper leaned over and grabbed a handful of leaves. “I’ll put these on the table. We can make a line down the center of the tablecloth. It’ll be pretty.”
Nadine trailed after her younger sister, picking up the leaves that drifted to the floor. As’ad took a length of garland and followed them to the table.
“This will go on top of the leaves?” he asked.
Pepper grinned. “Uh-huh. And we need to have candles. Really tall ones. They’re the prettiest.” She set down her leaves, put her hands on her hips and looked at him. “How come you don’t know this?”
“We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here.”
Her blue eyes widened. “But you have to.”
“They weren’t discovered by pilgrims,” Nadine told her. “America was the new world. It had to be found.”
“It was lost?” Pepper asked.
“In a manner of speaking,” As’ad said. “It’s a celebration unique to your country. Although I believe the Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving, but on a different day.”
He waited while the two girls straightened out the leaves, then he set the garland on top. It was attractive, he thought. Very festive. Kayleen would like it. The surprise would make her happy.
He imagined her throwing herself at him, and him pulling her close. Then the vision shifted and changed so they were both naked and he was pushing his way inside of her as they—
“As’ad, what traditions do you have here?” Dana asked.
He forced his attention back to the present. This was not the time to explore sexual fantasies with the girls’ nanny.
“We have many celebrations. There is the day the El Deharian armies defeated the Ottoman Empire. We also celebrate Christmas, although it is not as big a holiday here as it would have been for you back in the States.”
Pepped sighed. “I worry about Santa being able to find us here.”
“He’ll find you and he’ll enjoy the large fireplace in your room,” As’ad told her. “It won’t be so hard for him to get inside.”
Her eyes widened. “Santa comes to the palace?”
“Of course.”
“So I can write him a letter? I’ve been very, very good this year.”
“Yes. You can write a letter. We’ll arrange to have it sent through the royal post office, so it gets priority treatment.”
The little girl beamed at him.
“Will there be snow at Christmas?” Dana asked as she set yet another paper turkey on the bookcase.
“We do not get snow here.”
“I didn’t think so.” She shrugged. “I miss snow. We grew up in Michigan and we always had a white Christmas. We used to made snowmen and snow angels. Mom always had hot chocolate and cookies waiting.”
“I don’t remember her much,” Pepper said in a whisper.
“Sure you do,” Nadine told her. “She was tall and pretty, with blond hair.”