by Leslie North
Striding into the room, he let his luggage hit the floor with a thump and went to glance out the window. Just like before, the room had a spectacular view of Mistywood Forest just beyond the farm. The pine trees were still capped in snow, and the forest continued for as far as the eye could see.
“Damn,” he whispered. He’d almost forgotten how much he loved Alaska. His country occasionally surprised him with hints of snow, but mostly it was sun and sand. Alaska purified everything with snow in the winter and lush greenery in the spring and summer. More than anything, he wanted to see a moose. He hadn’t stuck around last time to go exploring, but this time, he would.
This time, he would do everything he hadn’t been able to do last time. Kristy Cohen had stolen his heart four years ago and he was determined to find out exactly what happened to change things. He had no intention of leaving until he got his answers.
5
“Kristy?” someone called out from the hallway.
Kristy was still struggling with the bundle of lights when Arella suddenly shrieked and took off around the corner. Sighing, she gave up what she was doing and followed suit to greet her aunt.
Her Aunt Julia was still in excellent shape for an older woman. Although her hair had long since turned completely grey, it was still long and thick, and there wasn’t a single wrinkle on the woman’s face. Julia used to tease her and say it was because she made her husband, Darren, do all the work, but they both knew that wasn’t true. Julia was a hard worker.
“Aunt Julia,” she said with a big smile. “I didn’t realize that you were coming out here today. Is everything okay?”
Her aunt was already leaning down to scoop Arella up in her arms. “Everything is fine, dear. I’m just here to check on you.”
Really? She wanted to check on Kristy mere hours after Kashif arrived? That couldn’t be a coincidence. Narrowing her eyes, she crossed her arms. “The truth, Aunty.”
Julia kissed Arella on the cheek and set her down with a sigh. “Fine. Darren happened to check the logs…”
“What?” Kristy cried out. “How often does he do that?”
“Don’t get all excited, dear. He’s looking out after you and he was concerned about some cancellations, but when he saw who had checked in this morning, I thought I’d better come check on you.”
Setting Arella down, she scampered off to play with the dogs while Kristy drew in long breaths.
“First of all, he has no right to log into the system to check up on me. Mistywood Farm is mine, and allowing Sheikh Kashif to stay here is good business.”
“Darling, he’s the father of your child. There’s nothing business about that.”
Kristy winced. “I don’t think he knows. He didn’t mention it. I’m sure as hell not telling him, and I don’t want you saying anything either.”
“You loved him,” she reminded her gently. “And you don’t really know what happened.”
“It wasn’t love. It was infatuation. Stupid, childish infatuation, and I know exactly what happened,” Kristy said hotly. “I was too naive to realize that I was nothing to him but a temporary bed warmer. It won’t happen again.”
“Kristy,” Julia said sadly. “You don’t know that for sure. You’ve been angry for so long that you haven’t even tried to see his side of the story. You need to let your guard down, darling.”
Stiffening her back, Kristy shook her head. “I can’t risk it. I won’t risk him finding out about Arella.”
Julia narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to hide Arella from him? Most women want the father around.”
Kristy’s eyes widened. She had to make her aunt understand. “No,” she hissed. “Aunt Julia, he has money and power. Those are things that I don’t have. Arella might be the illegitimate daughter of royalty, but she’s still his daughter. If he decided to take her away from me, there is nothing that I could do about it.”
“You don’t really think that he’d do that, do you?”
“I don’t know, but given everything that happened, it’s not a chance that I’m willing to take. I’m not lying to him. I’m simply omitting information until I know for sure that I can trust him.”
Putting her hands on her hips, her aunt stared at her. “And if he point-blank asks you?”
Kristy inhaled sharply and shook her head. “I don’t know. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. He’s always been his country and his family first. Well what happens when he finds out about this family? Will he do the right thing or will he walk away again and simply send me another check?”
Her aunt sighed and looked at her with pity. “You never were the kind of girl to take risks. I was surprised that you even let Kashif into your life to begin with.”
“I did, and look what happened.”
“Sweetheart, life is not a Harlequin novel. Real life is about putting yourself out there and sometimes taking risks. Not taking a risk can have just as many consequences. Things will never change unless you open your heart.”
“I love Arella, and that’s enough. It has to be. I won’t risk her happiness,” Kristy said stubbornly. “Besides, Kashif being here has nothing to do with my love life. Maybe he did in the past, but that’s behind me now.”
“I worry about you, darling. You never show interest in even falling in love again.”
“I never said that I was in love with…not that it matters… you know what, Aunt Julia? That’s not important. What we need to focus on here is keeping Arella safe and here. Okay?” Kristy grumbled. She didn’t want to have this conversation.
Unfortunately, her aunt didn’t seem to want to let the matter go. “I don’t want you to let an opportunity pass you by because you’re too stubborn to trust someone.”
Kristy felt the familiar ache of loneliness in her heart, but she pushed it away. “One of these days, I will, but right now, all I care about is Arella. When she’s older, maybe I’ll be able to find love. You can be damn sure that it won’t be with Sheikh Kashif. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to try and spread some Christmas cheer!”
Pasting on a fake smile, she called for Arella and stared at her aunt defiantly. While she loved the woman, they were often at odds with each other. Julia was a completely different woman, always larger than life. She married Darren a couple of years ago, and although Kristy hated to admit it, Darren was a good husband. She just didn’t like that the man was always nosing into the farm business and constantly drilling ideas into Arella’s head.
“Okay, dear. I’m going to make some hot chocolate for you two when you’re finished,” her aunt called out. Arella jumped up and down with glee, and Kristy shook her head and smiled.
6
Holding the hooks in her mouth, she worked along the railing. The dogs raced around her legs, and she growled in frustration and tried to shoo them away. There was a time when the dogs listened to her every word, but lately, Arella was their master, and she laughed and danced in the middle of everything. How could she be mad when her daughter was having so much fun?
When Arella grabbed the string of lights and yanked them all down, she closed her eyes and shook her head. She was about to ask Arella to play in the yard when the toddler looked at her with big eyes. “I’m sorry, momma.”
Smiling, she reached down scooped the little girl up. “It’s okay, baby. I’m not mad. Do you want to help me put them back up again?”
Arella nodded, and Kristy sat her down and handed her the wire. “Okay, hold it up for me so I can re-hook them.”
Her daughter obediently did as she was told, and finally the lights were hung. Kristy stood back and nodded her head. “What do you think, baby girl? Pretty?”
“Pretty!” Arella agreed.
“All right. Let’s get the tree inside!”
Unhooking the ties from the top of her car, she grunted as she struggled to pull the tree down. For all she knew, the tree was scratching the top of her car, but she didn’t really care. Arella had picked it out two days ago, declaring it her favorite, and
naturally, it was the biggest one in the lot.
It would be a pain in the ass to get it through the front door, but Arella was old enough to retain Christmas memories, and Kristy wanted her to have a good one this year.
“Need some help?” a voice asked smoothly. Before she could do anything, the tree was lifted off her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Kashif hefting it up easily and carrying it inside. “I had that,” she called after him. “You don’t need to help me.”
Inside, he set the tree down easily and grinned at her. “Of course you can do it by yourself, but why not use me while I’m here?”
“Christmas tree!” Arella yelled excitedly. “Momma, can we make it pretty?”
Kristy froze as Kashif turned around to stare at the child. “Momma?” he asked softly. “You have a daughter?”
Feeling the need to protect her daughter, she quickly reached out and took Arella’s hand. “I do. Arella, can you say hi to our new guest? His name is Sheikh Kashif.”
Arella’s face screwed up a little as she tried to repeat the foreign name but ended up blurting out “Kashy” before erupting into giggles. Kristy opened her mouth to apologize thinking that no one had ever called him that before. She was surprised when he bent down to the floor and studied her while Kristy held her breath. “Aren’t you beautiful? You’re just like… a princess.”
A princess? My God, he knew. Arella’s eyes widened. “A princess?”
Kashif nodded. “And I should know, because I’m a prince. Arella is a lovely name. How old are you?”
When Arella held up two fingers, Kristy bit her lower lip. Although she was closer to her fourth birthday, Arella still didn’t understand the concept of aging. It was ludicrous to think that Kashif would believe that she was two, but if he wasn’t around children much…
“Two, huh? That’s a good age to be.”
“Arella,” Kristy said suddenly. “Why don’t you go to the kitchen to see if Aunt Julia has that hot chocolate ready?”
At the promise of hot chocolate, Arella immediately abandoned her ideas of princes and princesses and took off for the kitchens. “Thank you for helping with the tree,” Kristy said tensely.
“I didn’t know you had a daughter. It must be a lot of work to raise a child and run a farm, Kristy.”
“What’s your point?” she snapped. Her tone was harsher than she’d intended, but she didn’t want his pity. She got enough of that from the townspeople. Poor Kristy. Single mother and owner of a dying business. She didn’t want it from them, and she certainly didn’t need it from him.
Looking around the lodge, “This place used to be filled to capacity, especially near the Iditarod. Clearly, business hasn’t been good and it’s obvious you have a lot on your plate. Why don’t you let me help? I would be happy to give you some money.”
What? Her blood ran cold as she stared at him. “You want to help by throwing money at me? To what end? I’ll be so grateful that I’ll fall back into bed with you? Must be nice to have so much money and power that you can simply hand someone a check and make everything go away.”
“Wait. What? Kristy, I’m only trying to help. I…”
“Save it, Kashif, I’m not for sale. You are here for the Iditarod and once it’s over, you’ll leave again and we’ll still be here.”
“You hate me.” It wasn’t a question, and she didn’t bother replying. She tried to walk past him, but he reached out to grab her arm. “I don’t want you to hate me, Kristy.”
She clenched her jaw. “After what you did, I don’t really care what you want.”
“After what I did?” he challenged her. “You were the one who shut me out. I know I left abruptly, but you were told why. You knew that I didn’t have a choice, and yet every time that I reached out to you, you refused to speak to me.”
Unable to help herself, she laughed. “Really? Now you have the audacity to lie to me? I know exactly why you left, Kashif. I believe your man’s exact words were, ‘he takes a few weeks and pretends to be someone new. He enjoys a woman, and when he tires of them, he leaves,’” she said as she tried to mimic the man’s deep voice. “Then he tried to make me feel better about myself by commenting on my talents in bed since I’d made you stick around for so long.”
“Kristy, no!” Kashif gasped.
She frowned. “I was there, Kashif. You weren’t. You were long gone. And still that wasn’t enough to convince me that I was an idiot. It took twenty unanswered letters, and a plane ride where I was rejected at the airport and paid to leave before I realized just what kind of man you were. Looking back now, I can’t even believe how I’d humiliated myself over you.”
“Kristy, I left because my father was ill. Melka was supposed to instruct you that I’d contact you when I was able, but I never heard from you. You didn’t return my phone calls. I must have left fifty messages with your father. I never got any letters from you, and I certainly didn’t know you’d tried to visit. I made reservations a few months after I left and came back, but you weren’t here. Your father said that you’d moved in with another man, that you were in love, and I needed to leave it alone.”
Kristy stared at him. Either he was lying, or they had both been played. The problem was, she wasn’t all that inclined to trust him. She’d been far too hurt by the rebukes, she was not prepared to put her heart out there again. Possibly not ever. Heartbreak was hard enough; she wouldn’t survive if he took her daughter away.
He’d yet to deny his bodyguard’s claim of the other women. There was no way she could be with a man who thought it was okay to lead women on like that. And there was no way she wanted her daughter associating with someone like that; father or not.
“It really doesn’t matter what happened,” she said finally. “It was only a fling, and now it’s over. I appreciate you wanting to help, but like I said, the farm is doing fine, I don’t want your money.”
“It was more than a fling, and you know it,” he said darkly. “And if things are fine, why am I the only guest here?”
Before she had to answer, Julia came around the corner. “Kristy, darling? Sue had to take off. Apparently there was an emergency with her father in Rhode Island, and she’ll be gone for a few weeks. I’ve got lunch ready. I thought I’d fill in until she got back.”
Kristy’s stomach rumbled, and she remembered that she hadn’t eaten yet. “Thanks, Aunt Julia. I’m starving. I’m sure Sheikh Kashif will take his in his room. After lunch, can you see that Henry shows him the dogs? I need to finish decorating.” Whirling around, she stared. “Unless you were never interested in the race.”
“I’m staying,” he said firmly. “And I’ll eat in the kitchen.”
“That’s just as well. I need to check on the horses, so I’ll take mine to go.”
She watched him walk away and felt her emotions war inside her. Part of her wanted desperately to believe him, and that part immediately began to hope for a happily ever after ending. She’d tell him the truth, tell him that Arella was his daughter, and they’d move forward with their lives. He’d get to know his daughter, and maybe they would even give it another go. They’d be a family.
But the other part of her could see the reality of the situation. Kashif would be the Crowned Sheikh of his country. He couldn’t stay with them, and he would have certain responsibilities and duties. His family would never let them be together, and her original fears could come to life. The Shadid family would take Arella away from her. They had the kind of sway that could easily shut Kristy out. She’d never see her daughter.
Feeling the tightening in her stomach, she swallowed hard. Most unwed mothers feared their baby daddies wouldn’t want to claim their kids, but Kristy knew that Kashif wasn’t like that. He’d want a relationship with his daughter, and his family would make sure that he’d have one.
“God,” she whispered as she closed her eyes. After everything that he’d just told her, she felt so guilty about keeping his daughter from him. He’d be a great father, and she wante
d so desperately to have everything work out.
But, if it didn’t, she’d lose Arella and that was one risk she wasn’t willing to take.
7
Kashif’s head was still reeling. After all this time feeling rejected, he couldn’t believe that Kristy had tried to find him. It definitely explained how hurt she seemed. So what really happened?
He had a feeling that Melka knew. Part of him wanted to call him and demand an answer, but he suspected there was more to it. Instead, he joined the older woman and the child at the lunch table. He would investigate later.
“I’m Julia,” the woman said with a warm smile. “Kristy’s aunt.”
“Kashif,” he offered, trying to shirk his titles.
“Oh, I know who you are. You’re the man that broke Kristy’s heart the first time around. I have half a mind to pull that shot gun off the wall and run you out of town.” Instead, the woman sat down with a plate with what looked like roast beef and gravy on toast.
“So I’ve heard,” he said quietly. “This whole time I thought Kristy had broken mine.”
“So, you didn’t leave because you were tired of her?”
Kashif shook his head. “My father had fallen ill, and they weren’t sure he was going to make it. I’m the oldest son, so I’m obligated to be there to sign the paperwork should my father pass away and I need to take his place. I thought my bodyguard had told Kristy that.”
“Well, he didn’t. You left out of duty and not out of concern for your father?”
Widening his eyes, Kashif shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Of course, I care for my father. It’s just that had my bodyguards not had their orders, I would have been able to say goodbye. As it was, protocol dictates that I’m not to speak to anyone until I’ve returned to the palace.”