by Jane Toombs
“Sounds like it. This is the first I’ve heard her laugh. I’m glad she and Danny are getting along so well. At first she wouldn’t let me or Talal out of her sight. It made for some awkward moments.”
Jade grinned at her. “I can imagine.”
“Talal?” Yasmin asked, looking at Linnea.
While she was struggling for a way to make Yasmin understand he’d be coming soon, Danny offered the carrot stick he was eating to Yasmin. She looked from the carrot to Danny and back at the carrot, finally taking a small bite before handing the stick back to him.
“I think our little Arab charmer has discovered a new taste treat,” Jade observed.
Talal and Zed came in the back door as Linnea was placing carrot sticks on Yasmin’s plate. “That’s Yasmin,” Danny informed them. “My fwend.”
The adults ate later, after Danny and Yasmin were through and once more playing with his toys. By then Erin had been put to bed in the nursery and Karen joined them. The conversation remained general, no one asking any questions about why Talal had brought Linnea and Yasmin to Carson Valley with him.
Over coffee, Jade yawned, apologized and added, “It’s not the company, that blasted well over near Dayton had me up at five and I was on the site half the day. One problem after another on what should have been a routine drilling. The only good thing was that Wyatt finally got to work on a bad drill. Can’t have the kid thinking well drilling’s a breeze. Anyway, I’m going to make my excuses and run or I’ll risk falling asleep going up Kingsbury Grade.”
“I enjoyed meeting you,” Linnea told her as she prepared to leave.
“You’re really not what I expected,” Jade said. “But then I’ve always liked pleasant surprises.” She slanted a look at Talal. “Watch out for my Arab brother.” She gave him a hug as she went past. “These macho foreign types are mucho dangerous.”
“Don’t mind Jaida,” Talal said when she was gone. “My little sister is outspoken but she has a good heart. This boy she’s teaching to drill is one labeled ‘incorrigible’ by the authorities. She refuses to believe in labels.”
“Nothing fazes our little sister,” Zed put in. “I keep telling her one day she’ll meet a man who’s her match, but she claims. no man is her match. I can hardly wait until the guy, whoever he is, shows up. There’ll be some fallout.”
“Zohir women are notoriously hard to handle,” Talal added.
“I didn’t understand about the well drilling,” Linnea admitted.
“Jade owns and actively runs the Adams well-drilling business,” Zed told her. “I got the ranch, so we’re both happy.”
“Zed,” Karen said, “there’s something I need to show you. Will you excuse us?”
“My tactful sister-in-law is leaving us alone,” Talal said after they left the kitchen. “I’m not sure whether her motives are practical or romantic.”
“I’m rooting for practical,” Linnea said warily.
“I agree that two children crashing block towers in the next room isn’t particularly romantic. Yasmin seems to have made a complete recovery. lnshallah.” He added the last word almost under his breath. She recognized it as meaning God willing and was touched that Yasmin meant so much to him.
“How much have you told them?” she asked.
“Very little over the phone before we arrived. One learns to be careful about phone calls. The truth to my brother while we were in the barn. He’ll tell Karen. Are you comfortable here?”
“This place feels almost like home. I like your family. But we can’t stay here forever. We need to discuss—”
He held up his hand. “Yes, but not tonight. Not until we consult with Zeid and Karen. Tonight we will sleep.” He rose, smiling, and held out his hand. “Once more under the same roof. It’s getting to be a habit.”
She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. “While we’re still alone,” he murmured, “permit me, my lady.” He raised her hand and brushed his lips across the palm again rather than the back of the hand in what was, for her, far from a courtesy kiss. More like an imprint of ownership, like Danny saying “Mine!”
But that was being fanciful. Talal had kissed her hand because they both realized it was the closest to a good-night kiss they dared to exchange. As it was, the feel of his lips on her palm tingled through her.
Yasmin slept on a trundle bed right next to Linnea’s bed. Either the little girl was too tired to worry about where Talal was or she was getting accustomed to not having Talal within sight all the time.
When Linnea awoke in the morning, to her surprise, Yasmin wasn’t in the trundle bed. Opening the bedroom door, she heard Karen’s voice, then childish laughter, and she relaxed. It was mutual. Danny had become Yasmin’s “fwend,” as well as the other way round.
Though she regretted just a little not having Yasmin depend on her so completely, she knew it meant her daughter was taking a step forward. Once dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, she made her way to the kitchen where Karen, holding Erin, sat with a coffee mug on the table in front of her.
Apparently noticing her looking around, Karen said, “Zed and Talal have taken the kids to the corral to meet Windy the pony.” She started to rise.
“Stay put,” Linnea urged. “Tell me where things are and I’ll feed myself.”
“Decaf’s on the stove, leaded in the pot.”
Linnea smiled. “I assume Zed, like Talal, prefers leaded. I’m trying to wean myself from the stuff.” She took a mug from the tree and poured herself decaf before joining Karen at the table.
Baby Erin stared at her, then suddenly grinned. Linnea tried to respond, doing her best to ignore the pang in her heart.
“Zed says your little girl was the same age as Erin when she was taken from you.” Karen spoke matter-of-factly, but sympathy shone in her eyes.
“My Yasmin, yes she was.”
“And now Talal, all unknowingly, has brought you another Yasmin, a little girl that isn’t the baby you lost.” Karen’s even tone of voice made it easier for Linnea to respond.
“I love her just the same,” she said. “I’ll never give her up. But I want my—” She paused, struggling to keep control as tears threatened.
Karen leaned toward her. “Of course you do! What mother wouldn’t? I know Talal will find her for you.”
“You do?” Despite herself, bleakness threaded through Linnea’s words.
“Even if he didn’t care about you, it would be a matter of Arab honor.” As she spoke, Karen rose and crossed to the cradle, now in the kitchen. After arranging Erin comfortably in the cradle, she stood looking at Linnea. “I understand your ex-husband was Kholi.”
“Yes.”
“Then you must know something about Kholi honor. Talal feels he must right the wrong even though he isn’t the one who made it wrong.” Karen smiled. “Besides, once he met you...” She let the words trail off. “Let’s just say I’ve seen my brother-in-law come on to attractive women before, but I’ve never seen him behave the way he does with you. Gallant is the word that occurs to me.”
Made uncomfortable by Karen’s words and at the same time wanting to hear more about how Talal might feel about her, Linnea veered off at an angle. “Was your cousin—that is, did Talal—?” She broke off, not wanting to offend by being too blunt.
“They weren’t married. They had only a brief affair and my cousin never told him she was pregnant. She died having Danny without telling me or anyone else who the father was, though I had a snapshot of her with a man on a boat. Through a mix-up, I identified Zed as that man and accused him of fathering Danny. It became a real mess because he didn’t even know he had a twin.”
Linnea raised her eyebrows. “Zed didn’t know about Talal?”
“Believe it or not. The story’s a strange one. Talal can tell you about it better than I since he was the one who straightened things out. But you’ll have to catch him before the plane leaves. He’s taking off for Kholi tomorrow.”
Setting her mug down with a thum
p, Linnea muttered, “Just like him not to let me in on his plans. Those damn arrogant Kholis.” She stood. “Which way to the corral?”
She found Talal holding Yasmin on a gray pony’s back while Zed sat on the top rail of the corral fence with Danny on his knee. She climbed up beside him.
“What time tomorrow does Talal’s plane leave?” she asked.
Zed gave her a wary glance, apparently alerted by her grim tone. “Seven in the morning.”
“From Reno?”
He nodded. “Don’t worry. You and Yasmin will be safe with us, I guarantee it.” He nodded toward the pony. “Look how she’s fitting in already—we’ll make a real Nevadan out of her.”
“Me ride,” Danny said loudly.
“I hear you,” Talal responded, lifting Yasmin off the pony. She ran to the fence.
Linnea slid off and hugged her.
“Ya, Mama,” Yasmin said excitedly, “pony, ride pony!” She looked up at Danny. “Danny ride pony.”
“He’s had his turn,” Zed said. He jumped down and set Danny on his feet. “How about showing Yasmin the barn kittens?” Without waiting for an answer, he shepherded the two children from the corral, offering them a hand apiece. Yasmin took his hand without any hesitation.
“She’s adjusting even better than I hoped,” Talal said, joining Linnea.
“I agree.” Evidently something in her voice warned him because his smile, that oh-so-charming Kholi smile, faded.
“You’re not pleased?” he asked.
“I’m definitely pleased. It won’t be so hard for me to leave her when I know she’ll not only be well taken care of but happy.”
Talal scowled. “Leave her? What in the name of a thousand demons do you mean?”
“I think you can come up with the answer.”
At that moment, Windy, looking for a handout, butted his head against Talal. “Not now, old hoss,” he muttered to the pony. “You’ve had your share.”
“Hoss?” she echoed.
“This is ‘Bonanza’ country,” he said. “It’s become a habit to take on the protective coloring of the area I’m in.” He eased the gate open and they left the pony behind in the corral.
Pausing outside, he turned her to face him, letting his hands rest on her shoulders. “You’re not traveling to Kholi with me, if that’s what you’re planning to do.”
She shrugged free. “You’re not in your country. At the moment you’re still in mine. Women may have a ways to go here yet, but at least we’re treated as thinking human beings. I have the right to share in any plans you make about finding my birth daughter. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving for Kholi tomorrow?”
“I was going to.”
“When? By calling from the Reno airport? Or did you plan to leave a note on my pillow?”
He shook his head. “A note on your pillow? Linnea, you’re being unreasonable.”
She glared at him. “I am not! I merely refuse to be treated like some helpless creature. That seems to be the way you Kholis view women.”
His hands fastened on her shoulders again. “I warned you not to confuse me with Malik. I believe you to be a very capable woman, if stubborn.”
“Then you must realize you stand a far better chance of finding my birth daughter if I’m with you in Kholi. Think about it. I’m the only one who can be sure whether or not any child you come up with is, in fact, mine. I’d be able to identify her positively as no one else could.”
His grip loosened and he turned from her, walking with a slight but definite limp to where an empty hay wagon sat in the shade of a thick-trunked cottonwood. She followed on his heels. He leaned against the wagon and she stopped, confronting him. “Well?” she demanded.
“You’ll stay here,” he said with finality. “Because of your prejudice against my country, it’s no place for you. Our customs are not yours, and I doubt, with your attitude, if you could even try to conform to them. Therefore, you’d be nothing but trouble. I don’t want to spend my time rescuing you from awkward situations.”
Taken aback, she could only gape at him until her anger surpassed her surprise. “How do you know what I could and couldn’t do?” she cried. “I can do anything in the world that’s necessary to regain my child.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “I understand you’ve never been to Kholi.”
He was right. Malik had urged her to visit his country with him but she’d known almost from the first that their marriage had been a mistake, and once she became pregnant she was afraid if he ever got her to Kholi he might hold their child hostage to keep her from leaving.
“No, I’ve never been there,” she said bitterly. “After Yasmin was kidnapped by Malik, I tried to get a visa to fly to Kholi and search for her but my request was repeatedly denied. Your country obviously didn’t intend to have me interfere.”
“Then why do you think you’ll be able to obtain a visa now?”
She shrugged. “You belong to the royal family. I’m sure Prince Talal can arrange pretty much what he wishes.”
Talal took a deep breath and released it slowly. He started to speak but apparently was distracted by childish voices coming from the direction of the barn. Grasping her arm, he propelled her away from the wagon and around the corner of the house to where a red sports car almost identical to the one he’d stored in New York was parked. He opened the passenger door.
“Get in,” he ordered.
“Why should I?” she challenged.
“Because we’re not going to argue in front of Yasmin.”
He had a point. Linnea slid into the car. Moments later he roared out of the drive.
“Do you have one of these waiting for you in every state in the union?” she asked snidely.
He slanted her a sharp look and jammed his foot onto the accelerator. The car shot recklessly ahead, its speed effectively distracting her. She clamped her mouth shut, refusing to beg him to slow down and forcing herself to resist the urge to hang on to something. He was, she told herself, just waiting for her to show fear. She might be scared silly, but she was damned if she’d let him know it.
They squealed around a corner, gravel from the shoulder spurting out from under the wheels. How she’d love to see him pulled over. Where were all the sheriffs patrol cars? Not on this road, certainly.
“Where are we headed?” she asked finally. “Other than the hospital or the morgue, that is.”
He shot her another glance, more assessing than the last, and eased up slightly on the accelerator. “J.J.’s,” he said.
Wherever and whatever that was.
J.J.’s turned out to be a small casino called Lucky Joe’s off to the side of another road not far from a little town. Talal ushered her into the dark, smoky, noisy interior and led her past the brightly lit, musically muttering slot machines to the far end of the building where a small bar was tucked into a corner. They were the only two customers. He pulled out a chair and she reluctantly sat at the small table. At least the circulation system worked efficiently in this part of the casino because the tiny room seemed almost smoke-free.
He bellied up to the bar and came back with two glasses of foaming beer. She could take beer or leave it alone. For the sake of not bringing up trivia, though it wasn’t her favorite drink, she said nothing.
“I like it here,” Talal said. “My brother and I first came to an understanding at this very table.”
Fine, but what did that have to do with her?
“Here, where there will be no interruptions, is where we will also come to an agreement,” he added.
The darkness and the alien jingle of the slots in the background made Linnea feel this wasn’t quite real, almost like a dream. She took a sip of the beer, more to keep oriented than because she wanted a drink.
When she set the glass down, Talal reached over and ran his finger along her upper lip. “Foam,” he said, licking his finger. “The best taste of all.”
A frisson ran along her spine, almost as if he’d licked the foam fr
om her lip instead of touching her with his finger. She shook her head to rid herself of the sensation.
“I admit you’ve made one valid point,” he said. “You alone can make a positive identification of your child. I’m not sure that’s enough reason to risk bringing you along because, based on the time I’ve spent with you, I don’t believe you’ll do as I say and not cause problems in Kholi.”
His words had the sound of compromise in them. Linnea cautiously let go of her anger and sat back in her chair, getting ready to negotiate. “I didn’t realize you found me so hard to get along with,” she said sweetly.
He swallowed half his beer before replying. “One thing I can’t bear is deception. So far, unlike most women, you haven’t been guilty of deceit. If you try to deceive or betray my trust in any way while we’re here, I’ll see that you never get a Kholi visa. Betray me in Kholi and you’ll put yourself at such risk even I may not be able to save you from the consequences.”
Betray him? Linnea bristled. What was he talking about? How could she possibly do that? “I don’t believe women are any more deceitful than men,” she said. “Malik, for one, was a master of deception.”
Talal waved a hand, dismissing Malik. “We’ll stick to us, to you and me. Perhaps you’re naturally honest, as you appear to be, perhaps not. I warn you, we must always be open with each other.”
“Ha! You’re about as open as a frozen clam. You may not consider it deception and maybe it actually isn’t, but you don’t discuss what you intend to do ahead of time, you just expect me to go along with whatever your plan is. That won’t wash. As long as we’re forced to be in each other’s company, I want to be consulted before you make decisions.”
“You find my company distasteful?”
I wish I did, she thought. Everything would be so much simpler. “No more distasteful than you find mine,” she countered.
He grinned. “In that case, we’ve reached an agreement, maddamti. ”
She hoped she wouldn’t come to regret it.
Chapter Six
Talal couldn’t sleep. He rose from his bed in the annex his brother had added to the ranch house and pulled a pair of khaki shorts over his nakedness. Pushing open the sliding door leading to the rose garden flourishing to one side of the pond, he padded out onto the cool brick path, where he paused and glanced upward. The same familiar constellations as in his home sky blinked down at him. He thought of going back to get Zeid’s telescope but shook his head. Not tonight. The moon, a crescent sliver, seemed to follow as he ambled on toward the pond, the delightful scent of roses beckoning him.