Nadine giggled. Dana joined in. “What happened?” she asked.
As’ad wove a funny tale about a boy and four stubborn, angry camels, a lost night in the desert and many disasters. By the time he was done, all three sisters had finished their dinner, gotten seconds and were eyeing the pie. The tears were gone, as were the bad memories.
This is what they would remember about their first Thanksgiving in El Deharia, Kayleen thought as she tucked them in and kissed them good-night. As’ad’s story would be a part of their history and they would remember it and him for the rest of their lives.
He’d escorted them down to their suite and had waited while they got ready for bed. As she walked back into her living room, she saw he’d started a fire in the fireplace and made himself at home on the large sofa across from the flickering flames.
“It’s not exactly chilly outside,” she told him, knowing it made sense to sit next to him, but suddenly feeling shy.
“I thought you would appreciate the ambience. More memories of home, but happy ones I hope.”
She walked over to the sofa and sat down at the far end. “There are a lot of happy ones,” she said, then turned to him. “Thank you for tonight. For the surprise and for helping the girls through a difficult time. This is their first holiday season without their parents and it’s going to be hard for them.”
“They will need both of us to get through,” he said.
“I agree.” She was a little surprised that he saw it that way, though. “I didn’t think you wanted much to do with them.”
“They are charming girls with much potential. I find I enjoy spending time with them.”
“I’m glad.”
“And you?” he asked, his dark gaze seeming to see into her soul. “What do you think of them?”
“I adore them. Why do you ask?”
“Because you plan to leave them.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. Embarrassment made her stare at the fire. She battled guilt, as if she’d done something wrong. She knew she should have talked to him before—so he learned of her plans from her and not someone else. But she’d been afraid of what he would think of her.
“They told you,” she murmured.
“Dana said you planned to return home on your twenty-fifth birthday. That you would lock yourself away and teach at the convent school.”
When he said it, her dreams seemed small and pointless. “As you say, it’s my home.”
“A place we cannot always return to. What of your commitment to the girls?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I haven’t really thought anything through. This was planned a long time ago. I didn’t expect to be their nanny.”
“You are the one who insisted I adopt them. You are the most stable adult presence in their lives. Would you subject them to more upheaval by leaving them so soon after they came to be here? Are they nothing to you?”
“No. Of course not.” She hated what he was saying. “I don’t know what I was going to do. Of course I’d help you hire someone else. Someone to replace me.”
“Would you? Or was your plan to take them with you?”
She ducked her head. “I thought of that, too.”
“Did you think that would be allowed? This is El Deharia. No one may take royal children from the country without their parents’ permission. I will not give it.”
Kayleen could only stare at him. Of course. Thanks to her, he was their father and his rules applied. She hadn’t thought that part through, either.
“It’s all a mess.”
“No decision has to be made now,” he said. “We will find a solution together. Do you have any other secrets you are keeping from me?”
“What? No. Never. And I would have told you about leaving.” She leaned toward him. “As’ad, I wasn’t trying to trick you about anything. I was desperate for Tahir not to take the girls back to his village.”
Somehow he wasn’t at the far end of the sofa anymore, she thought as he reached out and lightly stroked her cheek. “I believe you.”
“Good, because it’s true. I just…” She had a hard time stringing words together. His touch was very distracting. “I love your country. It’s beautiful. I love the modern city and the wildness of the desert. I love your people, the kindness of them. You were right about Tahir only wanting to do the right thing, even if I don’t agree with him. I’ve been learning so much about the villages while researching my project for you. This is an amazing place.”
“But it is not home?”
She shook her head slowly. “I feel safe at the convent. That probably sounds stupid to a man like you.”
“Feeling safe is important, especially when one did not grow up with that benefit. But there is so much more for you to experience than what you will find behind the convent walls.”
“I like the convent walls.”
“They lock you in.”
“They shelter you.”
He smiled gently. “From life. That is not a good thing.”
Getting back had been her goal from the moment she’d been told she must leave and live in the world. Those words had broken her heart. It was like being thrown out of her home.
“Those walls protect me,” she told him.
He looked at her intently. “I will protect you.”
Then he leaned in and kissed her.