by Rula Sinara
“You cut your hair,” he said.
She reached up self-consciously and touched her tightly cropped hair. It had been part of the new her. Symbolic of discovering her true self. No chemicals. No dyes. Just the real her.
“Yes, I did.”
“I like it,” he said, tilting his head and gazing at her. “You’re so beautiful.”
Her cheeks heated, and she fidgeted with one of her hoop earrings, ones that reminded her of the bracelets she’d given Maddie.
“Are the children with you?”
“No. I didn’t have the paperwork ready, and I couldn’t wait to come see you.”
To see me.
“Ben. The last time we spoke—”
“The last time we spoke, I was confused. I’m not confused anymore.”
“You’re not?” She tried to read his face, his eyes. “Was Jack in on this?” she asked, recalling his comment to Simba about a “shipment,” and not letting her speak to Maddie.
“Of course. He and Simba picked me up at the airport. I already met your parents, too. And I’m still alive.” He grinned.
“And you came across the world to tell me that you’re not confused?”
He took her face in his hands.
“Hope, I haven’t changed my mind about not wanting you to give up your career. I told you that I couldn’t ask you to stay in America, and I meant it. But I don’t want to be without you. We all miss you, and nothing has been the same since you left. We love you, Hope Alwanga. I love you. You’re part of our family, and we can’t let you go.”
Hope couldn’t hold back the tears. A curtain fluttered off the living room, and Hope saw her parents before they closed it to give her privacy. That had to mean they approved. But she knew no one could stop her. No one could keep her from loving someone and wanting to be with him for the rest of her life. No one could cheat destiny or fate.
“Oh, Ben. I love you, too, and the kids. I’ve been miserable without all of you. But how? You went off to DC and—”
“We’ll make it work. The kids are young. If there’s a good time for them to experience living abroad, it’s now.”
Her eyes widened. Was he saying…?
“I’ve spoken to a few companies that have foreign locations. I’m also looking into potential work with the American embassy here. I want to move here, Hope, with the kids, to be with you. And we can take vacations back to the States to visit Nina and Eric. There are no rules, Hope. We’ll do what it takes to make this work. There’s only one thing you have to do.”
“What? Anything.”
“Ask me to stay, Hope.”
She swallowed back tears. She’d asked him that very question in America and he’d turned her down.
“Ben, I want you to stay. Please stay. You and the kids. I want us to be together.”
He frowned. “I don’t know. That depends.”
She frowned back and slapped his arm.
“You just want to mess with me,” she said.
“I just want to marry you.”
She licked her lips and took a shaky breath.
“Hope Alwanga, will you marry me? And Maddie? And Chad? Although I hear he’s spoken for. And Ryan?”
“Yes. Absolutely, yes.”
“Does kissing you in plain sight of that curtain that keeps opening and closing mean that I’ll have to face a lion’s wrath from your overprotective brother?”
Hope laughed. “That’s a chance you’ll have to take.”
“Consider it taken,” he said, then he sealed their future with a kiss.
*
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ISBN-13: 9781460376201
After the Silence
Copyright © 2015 by Rula Sinara
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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