“What’s going on, Sandy?” he asked, trying to keep his voice gentle, but he wanted to pull her into his arms. She was obviously in pain and his natural instinct was to protect. He wanted to protect her. Joe wanted to fight her demons and anything else that threatened her happiness.
If only she’d let him.
“I was married before,” she finally told him.
That was a surprise. “Okay. Well…” he thought about that for a long moment. “So, you were married. How old were you?”
She walked towards the sofa and sat down. Herbert and Roxy piled on next to her. This was obviously their normal routine, they clearly knew how to comfortably settle against Sandy so that her hands were free to pet them.
“I was twenty years old when I met Brett in college. He was studying to be a teacher and I wanted to be a lawyer.”
He nodded understandingly, but didn’t speak, letting her get there at her own pace.
She took a long, deep breath and Herbert sensed her inner turmoil. “We graduated together. He got a job quickly as a high school history teacher. And he’s a good teacher. Brett really knew how to teach those kids. Still does. I don’t mean to put his accolades in the past tense. He’s still an outstanding teacher.”
“I’m glad for the kids’ sake. But I’m more interested in what happened with your marriage.” Joe paused, smiling slightly. “Not that I’m upset about it. I’m glad that you’re not married to him. Because I love you, Sandy.”
Her hand stilled on Herbert’s fur and he saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. She blinked hard and looked up at the ceiling. “Right. Love. I loved Brett. He said he loved me.”
“What happened?” he asked again.
“He loves kids. Brett always wanted to have lots of kids.”
“You don’t?” he asked, assuming that her desire to be childfree was the breaking point in their relationship.
Sandy’s eyes widened at his assumption and she quickly shook her head. “Oh no. I wanted kids too. He was working when I finished law school.”
“Law school?” He chuckled, shaking his head, impressed. “I didn’t know that about you.” He tried to hide his sudden hurt that she’d hidden such an astounding fact about herself. But she probably saw through his efforts.
She smiled, but it was a dismal effort. “I never took the bar exam. So, I might have a jurisprudence degree, but before I took the bar, Brett convinced me that we should start our family. He suggested that I put my career on hold for a while. He said that it didn’t make sense for me to start with a law firm only to stop once we have kids.”
“Was that the problem? You wanted a career?”
She gave him a half smile. “I wanted to try my hand at being a lawyer, yes. But I agreed with Brett. The statistics on female lawyers and their chances of advancement and salary are pretty grim. That world is still controlled by men.” She sighed, mindlessly stroking Herbert as Roxy rested her chin on Sandy’s thigh. “The plan was that we’d have kids and then I’d take the bar exam once the kids were in elementary school. He convinced me that it made more sense and I’d be promoted more quickly in a law firm if they knew I wasn’t going to take years off to have children.”
“Okay,” he replied when she paused. “So, what happened?” Her explanation made sense. It wasn’t fair, but it made sense. He was still confused.
There was an audible swallow. Then another. She took a breath. Her fingers were tightening in Herbert’s fur, but the sweet dog only cuddled closer. Joe didn’t think that Sandy’s grip was hurting the dog. But Herbert knew that his mistress was in pain and wanted to soothe that pain.
“I found out that I couldn’t have children. I can’t get pregnant.”
There was a long, painful silence as Joe absorbed her words. “At all?” he asked when she didn’t continue.
She shrugged. “Well, I was born with only one ovary and it isn’t very active. Otherwise though, I’m perfectly healthy.” She smiled and looked down at her hands, rubbing Herbert’s fur once again. “I’ve always had erratic periods,” she blushed at such an intimate subject. But Joe didn’t flinch; menstrual cycles were a part of life after all. “But because nothing else seemed to be wrong with my body, I never really investigated the issue. Until we tried to get pregnant.” She took another deep breath. “After a year, we went to the doctor’s office, a specialist in fertility. Apparently, Brett’s sperm count was a little low, but the real issue was me. That’s when we discovered that I literally couldn’t conceive.”
He nodded, his hands clasped in front of him as he listened. Joe still didn’t understand the problem. “Why not try adoption?”
She laughed, then hiccupped as the pain from her past came back to her. “Brett didn’t want to adopt. He wanted his own offspring. As soon as we found out that I was infertile, he said some awful, hateful things. Then demanded a divorce.” She pressed her lips together, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “He didn’t even wait for a response from me. No counseling. Not talking things through. We found out on a Wednesday afternoon. By Friday, he’d filed for divorce and kicked me out of our apartment. He packed up my stuff and just left it out in the hallway.”
Joe stared, utterly horrified. “What an unbelievable bastard.”
She sniffed, which he took as agreement. “He said he needed a whole female. One that could do what God intended her to do. He said he’d be damned if he’d raise some other idiot’s child, so adoption was out of the question.”
“What’s his last name?” Joe demanded, his voice husky with anger.
Sandy laughed. “Oh, he’s been punished. I’ve sort of…stalked him through social media. He’s married with five kids.” She grinned. “The pictures of him don’t seem particularly happy. He’s rather grim in many of them. Plus, he’d told me several times that he only wanted two kids. His wife demanded more, so he produced more for her.” She giggled and it was such a feminine sound, he moved closer to her. “It’s just one example of why I truly believe that God has a sense of humor.”
He laughed, his hands moving over Roxy’s fur as well. “Okay, so that explains about your previous marriage. What about me? What about us? Why won’t you give us a chance?”
She blinked at him, startled by his question. “Haven’t you heard anything that I’ve said?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I heard you. You can’t have kids. That doesn’t explain why you won’t admit that you’re in love with me.”
Sandy held her breath, startled by his question. Shaking her head, she looked at him strangely. “You can’t tell me that you don’t want kids, Joe.”
“You’re right, I do want kids. But are you seriously going to tell me that you can only love your own children? Are you going to tell me that adoption isn’t an option for you? For us?” He looked pointedly at Roxy who stared back at him with adoration. “You love these dogs and the cats and…” He trailed off, distracted. “What the hell is Herbert doing?” he demanded.
Sandy turned to look and snickered. “Oh, um…” she grabbed Joe’s wrist. “Just wait. It’s a trick that Herbert loves to…” Herbert was creeping along the floor on his belly, inch by stealthy inch.
Herbert crept silently up behind Bear and…licked the cat’s ear, catching half the feline’s face in the bargain. Bear swung around, hissing and arching his back and tried to swat the dog, who ducked away.
Joe cracked up and Herbert triumphantly wagged his tail as he trotted back to the couch.
Sandy laughed right along with Joe, even though she got up to sooth Bear’s ruffled feelings. The big kitty was still lashing his tail, glaring at Herbert, as he stalked away and found a higher perch.
When Sandy walked back to the family room, she sat in one of the club chairs instead of resuming her position on the sofa. But Joe shook his head. “No way, Sandy. I’m finally finding out the reason for your reticence, and why you sneak away every night. We’re going to resolve this right now!”
In response, Sandy sighed, leaning forward and clasp
ing her hands together. “Joe, let’s just be real. You’re a guy. You want…”
“You, Sandy,” he interrupted, bending down in front of her. “I want you.”
She shook her head. “No, Joe. You want your own biological child. Men want that. It’s programmed into their DNA.”
“Sounds like that’s what your ex-husband wanted. Not me. I’ll admit that I’d love to have kids with you. But honestly, I don’t care if they are adopted or if they are created through our own efforts. More importantly,” he said, pulling her out of the chair and onto his lap, I want to be with you.” He kissed her, softly. It was a romantic kiss. Not a prelude to sex. “I want to be with you and create a life with you. I don’t care what kinds of children we have, as long as we have kids together.” He rubbed Herbert’s ears as he continued, “If they are animal kids, that would be fine as well.”
And with that, he pulled her into his arms. “Any chance you could finally admit that you have feelings for me?”
She sniffed, but buried her face against his chest. “I don’t!” she lied.
He chuckled, pulling the band out of her hair so the blond locks tumbled down around her shoulders. “So…what if I torture it out of you?”
She smiled. “I think I’m able to resist your efforts, Joe.”
“Think so?” he asked, and stood up with her in his arms. But he didn’t stop there. Nope! He shifted her weight and tossed her over his shoulder. Roxy and Herbert loved the game and immediately started barking their delight. The dogs raced up the stairs ahead of him, but he shook his head. “Nope. Its mommy-daddy time,” and he nudged the dogs out of the bedroom, closing the door to ensure privacy. Sandy was laughing the whole time, shaking her head. “Put me down!”
He tossed her onto the bed. “Oh, so you think that you can call the father of your future children names?” he asked, pulling at her leggings. “I don’t think that’s a very nice thing to do. I might just make you…” he stopped, not sure what threat would be effective enough.
“What? You’ll make me what?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he lowered himself to the bed and kissed her.
A long time later, both of them out of breath, Sandy let her hand slide down his chest. “I love you,” she admitted. “But…”
“Stop right there,” he ordered, patting her bottom. “That’s all you need to say. I love you too.” He shifted so that he was looking down at her. “The rest, we can figure out together.”
Epilogue
“Is she here?” Sandy whispered, pushing up on her toes to peer over the crowd at the international arrival’s gate at the Atlanta airport. “Is she here? Can you see her?”
Joe craned his neck, searching the crowd. “Not yet,” he told her, holding her close. “But she will be, Sandy. Have faith.”
Sandy fidgeted, hardly able to keep still. “What if something happened to her? What if she got sick on the flight? What if she…?”
Joe turned, lightly gripping her upper arms so that he could force her to look at him. “She’s going to be here,” he promised her. “We got the text message that her guardian boarded the flight. Then we got word that the flight took off. If anything had gone wrong, then the guardian would have let us know.” He kissed her gently. “I know that this is terrifying, Sandy. But our little girl will be here any minute.”
Sandy wrapped her arms around his lean waist, her heart pounding with love and fear. “I love you,” she whispered to him. “I love you so much and no matter what happens today, that will never change.”
He froze and looked down at her. “I love you too!” he whispered, just as fervently. “And the animals are going to love her too. I know they don’t understand what’s going on, but as soon as we walk in the house, they are going to be so excited.”
She laughed. “Herbert will hope we’ll be distracted so he can lick Bear’s ears. He’s impossible.”
Joe laughed as well, turning so that his arm was around her shoulders, but he could still see over the top of the crowd towards the gate. “Yeah, Bear is annoyed at me for fixing the lock on the chicken coop. He’s a little too smart for the old one.”
Sandy and Joe continued to chat about the pets and the chickens and Derick’s vegetable garden and anything else that occurred them.
Then Sandy felt it. Joe’s arm tightened around Sandy’s shoulders. “She’s here,” he whispered.
Sandy bounced on her toes, trying to see over the crowd, but she was too short. “Show me!” she demanded. Joe lifted her into his arms so she could see. Sandy recognized the blanket that she’d made. It was a tip that other adoptive families had suggested. Send a personalized blanket to the person who would care for the baby during the flight. Then they’d know which baby was theirs as soon as the guardian carried the baby through the arrival gates.
“Joe!” Sandy cried, tears slipping down her cheeks. “She’s here.”
Joe couldn’t respond. He was too choked up himself. Instead, he lowered Sandy to the floor again. The crowd quickly thinned out as visitors met with their arriving parties, leaving only the woman carrying a small baby in her arms.
“Angela!” Sandy whispered, staring as the woman walked closer and closer. She and Joe had received pictures of the tiny baby that had been born three months ago in Thailand. But seeing her up close, her beautiful, perfect features coming closer and closer, sleeping like an angel, Sandy couldn’t stop the tears of happiness from streaming down her cheeks. “Angela!”
“I believe this is your daughter,” the woman announced, beaming. The woman didn’t hesitate. She handed the little baby girl, blanket and all, to Sandy. Joe’s arms circled the joyous pair, and instant love erupted as they both stared down at their adopted little girl. It had taken two years, but they’d done it. They had their baby!
Excerpt to The Sheik’s Scandal
The Raminar Royal Family Series – Talia’s Story
Release Date: January 15, 2021
Click HERE to download Talia’s story!
“Stop!” Santos ordered, causing the SUV to swerve to the curb, cutting across several lanes. Horns blared and his guards swiveled around in their seats.
“That’s her!” Santos said, sitting up as he watched the elegant woman in a pair of tan slacks, white blouse, and colorful scarf walk into a building. Looking around, he was startled to realize that she’d walked into a school. Was she a mother? Did her children attend this school? The official beside her looked to be someone in authority. Was her child in trouble?
“We’re going there,” he announced, pointing to the school entrance. “Contact Prince Gaelen and let him know that I’ll be late this morning.”
Immediately, his aide pulled out his phone and started dialing while the driver pulled into the school, coming smoothly to a stop by the entrance.
Two guards stepped out to check the neighborhood while another three moved into the building, obviously searching for threats.
Santos stepped out of the SUV and looked around, buttoning his suit coat as he took in the old-style building. Several students peered curiously out of high windows, but not seeing anything interesting, they moved on.
Stepping into the large, tiled school lobby, he looked around. One of his guards nodded towards several sets of double doors.
“She’s in the auditorium, Your Highness. There is a conference about inner city kids and education.”
Santos nodded, wondering if she was a teacher. It would make sense, but the clothes she wore seemed too expensive for a schoolteacher. The profession was perpetually underpaid and schools always underfunded. It was something he planned to change in Padar as soon as he could focus on that aspect of improving the country. Hence, his need to get this peace treaty finalized with…Santos pushed Prince Gaelen from his mind, preferring to concentrate on his mystery woman.
Besides, perhaps he would learn something in this meeting that he could take back to Padar in addition to learning the name of the woman he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind si
nce yesterday.
Stepping into the auditorium, he paused, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim light. The stage was lit up as someone talked about test scores and graduation rates. Looking around, he allowed his eyes to skim across the backs of the people inside. When he sensed movement to his right, he looked there. In the last row, sitting alone, was the woman! And she was staring at him.
Finally!
He moved towards her and knew the exact moment when she stopped breathing. Staring up at him, he captured her gaze, willing her to…what? Talk to him? Not likely. Not in this setting.
Talia held her breath as the extremely tall man sat down in the chair next to her. Every cell in her body was aware of him, every muscle tense, waiting for...something. She wanted him to speak so that she could hear his voice, praying that his voice was as deep as she imagined, as deep as it had been in her dreams last night.
But he didn’t speak. Instead, he turned and looked straight ahead, paying strict attention to the speaker. Once again, Talia had the sense that she should know him, but her mind wouldn’t function. She was too overwhelmed, too astounded by his size and his presence.
“Who…?”
“Shh!” he whispered, not moving his head.
Talia quieted, amused at his shushing. Had he really done that? She couldn’t remember anyone shushing her since she’d left for college! Her tutors hadn’t even shushed her. She’d been too quiet and intense during her lessons, loving knowledge and eager to learn more. Okay, maybe not very focused during her math classes, of course. She’d truly hated math, but had eventually figured out how to get through it.
Turning back to the speaker, she smothered a smile and sank down a bit lower in her chair. Unfortunately, she was too aware of the man sitting next to her, of his long legs and strong thighs. His elbow rested on the armrest beside her, causing his body to lean towards hers slightly. His shoulders were already so broad, but the angle of his body caused those shoulders to invade her personal space.
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