by Holly Rayner
Karim paused atop the gently rounded bridge to absorb the view.
“It’s beautiful here,” Hallie, stopping beside him, said quietly. “What a place for rest and relaxation. I envy the owners.”
“A getaway,” he added, lifting his free hand to touch first the baby’s velvet cheek, and then hers. “To leave the world behind.”
“Do you know anything about them?”
“The owners?”
“Yes. Imagine having a home like this, only to leave it. For what? Travel? Wherever else in the world could be as nice as right here?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “There are all sorts of reasons for being gone, Hallie. Perhaps they, too, regretted departing as much as you might.”
Wandering on, along a path worn through the thick, cut grass, they reached the shady section where a small table and chairs had already been established, and decided this would be the perfect place to stop.
Karim put down the heavy basket with a sigh of relief and spread the blanket upon the lawn, plush as any carpet. Hallie, too, gave a sigh of relief, as she relinquished the equally heavy baby to playtime. Settling herself cross-legged beside him, she pulled a handful of colorful teethers and toys from the bag and spread them out.
“He is not so much interested in those,” observed Karim, taking his place on one of the wrought-iron seats.
“You’re right. He just wants to crawl.” She glanced around at their surroundings. “Oh, well, I suppose it can’t hurt. This grass is probably cleaner than my living room rug.”
And so, Aaron, freed of all constraints, explored this part of his world and delighted in what he found. And what he could put into his sweet little mouth to taste. Blades of grass. A fallen leaf. A busy ladybug, which promptly flew away home.
At that, Hallie drew the line. Picking up the little padded bottom, she returned him to home base and distracted his howl of outrage with a foam ball of many colors.
Karim, leaning forward, chuckled. “A child who knows his own mind.”
“Oh, he’s an independent little devil,” agreed Hallie—not with irritation, but with pride. “He’ll be walking soon, just to show me he can do it.”
For a few minutes, they discussed her hopes for the baby’s future: starting him in a good nursery school, prospects for his education, further advantages to suit his potential, whatever that might be. Karate and baseball and perhaps joining a band. From there, the possibilities were endless, after college. A surgeon. An airline pilot. A biologist. A teacher.
“A teacher?”
“What’s wrong with being a teacher?” Hallie asked, her chin up.
“Absolutely nothing. I was but following your train of thought. Being a teacher is a most noble career.”
“All right, then. Watch yourself, buster,” she teased. “We don’t want any disparagements being cast upon teachers.”
Leaning forward, elbows resting on wide-spread thighs, he laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Soon, Aaron began making the squawking noise that indicated his stomach was empty and he wanted food—now. Another rummage into the diaper bag, and Hallie could oblige. Sitting up on the blanket, he was treated to first a bib, and then a plate of his usual baby snacks and teething biscuits.
“Hallie, are you sure you haven’t purchased the wrong product? Those look as if they were taken from a box of dog treats.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. Despite the circumstances of their arrangement, she found she was laughing more with Karim Al Ahsan than she probably had with anyone else in the past few months.
“Climb down off your mountain, Zeus.” Her eyes were dancing with mirth. “You need to take a few steps into the real world.”
“Oh. You think I am not cognizant with what an average citizen does?”
“Nope. But stick around with me long enough, and I’ll be happy to show you.”
Aaron suddenly yelled, “Aw-wah!” and waved both arms for attention.
“Okay, buddy, I get the picture. Solid food it is.”
As she scooched around, getting more comfortable, and produced a jar and spoon for mealtime, Aaron’s eyes lit up and he flapped some more, adding whatever noises he could to show approval. Overall, he was a happy, satisfied baby, complaining bitterly only when his will was crossed and life was treating him unfairly.
“Come on down here, Karim. Join us,” Hallie urged, never dreaming that the slightly stiff, definitely formal sheikh would even consider such a move.
But he did, sprawling beside the baby who was delirious with delight and ready to play. Pats and grabs continued to interrupt feeding and took twice as long, but no one seemed to mind. Oddly enough, during such a simple, quiet interlude, all three were having a grand time.
At some later moment, Hallie might wonder about that very fact. Here was this man, used to everything that was luxurious and opulent in life—from clothing to events to transport—and he was content to spend the day accompanying a woman and her child around the grounds of a country estate? Hard to figure, even if true. But, then, she was finding Karim Al Ahsan to be an enigmatic figure, who followed only his own rules…most of which were made up as he went along.
With the miniature jar empty and replaced in the bag, Hallie mixed up a bottle and handed it over. Aaron pounced on it like a cheetah cub, let out a triumphant shout, and rolled over on his back to enjoy it, all the while shifting his gaze back and forth from his mother to the man who had entered his young life so briefly, and would so soon depart.
Karim, watching with an inscrutable expression, occasionally tucked his finger into the baby’s fist to hold onto.
After a minute, he asked, “Have you any siblings, Hallie?”
Her gaze shifted, as Aaron’s had, the only difference being in eye color.
“Siblings? No, there’s just me. Sometimes I’ve missed not having brothers or sisters, but that’s the way it goes, I suppose. How about you?”
“I, too, am an only child. Now.”
“Now?”
Surprised, Hallie sat a little straighter to look at him, lying stretched out with one bent arm supporting his head, near the baby.
“Yes. I had a brother. Badir Al Ahsan—the Shining One.”
Karim seemed more absorbed in Aaron’s antics than in whatever revelation he was about to make. Or hoped to make, if his voice steadied itself enough to speak.
She reached out one hand to hold his.
“What happened, Karim?” she asked quietly. “Can you tell me about it?”
“If you would be interested in hearing.”
“I would,” she assured him very gently. “When you’re ready.”
It took a few minutes, as he carefully gathered his thoughts from some far place to put into words. She waited, holding his hand.
After a moment, during which the baby kicked happily and played with his toes while the bottle was being drained, Karim raised his sober focus to her face.
“My brother—ah, he was always the one seeking adventure. He was as reckless as I am…calculated. Badir was always seeking a new thrill, and my parents and I tried to rein him in, but he was hard-headed. Five years ago, he decided to go rock climbing in a remote location that only the most skilled climbers ever visit. He…never came home.”
Her fingers tightened their clasp. Who would have expected a disclosure of this magnitude, especially considering how little time they’d known each other? It was amazing that he, so reserved and self-contained, would be willing to let down the barriers to his very core. All she could offer was a listening ear, and sympathy—just as she would to her son, should he need the same.
“Karim, I’m so sorry. That’s awful.”
“I carry it with me,” Karim said in a low voice. “Every day of my life.”
Little Aaron had drifted peacefully off to sleep, the empty bottle having fallen sideways and his sweet rosebud mouth still splattered with milk. Smiling wistfully, Hallie lightly ran the backs of her fingers over the baby’s romper, already
discolored by grass stains.
“And your parents?” she asked.
“At the beginning,” Karim reflected, “they were as broken as I. We have all done our best to recover, but it has been, as you can imagine, a difficult path to walk.
“My brother was the finest of men, Hallie. He left behind him a big legacy, to not only my family, but my whole country. Before his death, he was adored by our people—he did much charity work in between his traveling adventures. Such a big, bright personality; so fearless. But that is what ultimately caused him to leave us all. It became a burden, seeing memorials to him all over the city back home. A constant reminder that he was gone…and why.”
Hallie’s face expressed compassion and understanding.
“You weren’t always ‘calculated’, as you put it. You adopted that trait after his death. And launched yourself into work far from home so you could be away from the pain.”
“Yes. I suppose it is a natural reaction after such a terrible tragedy.”
“Of course it is, Karim. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”
“Perhaps…” He glanced up at her, attempting a small smile. “Perhaps I am but a coward, not wanting to share my brother’s fate. Choosing to be as different as possible from him in personality and lifestyle.”
“A coward? No. I don’t see that in you, Karim. You are circumspect, traveling your own road to attain your goals in the way you think best. And when—or if—you are ready to make any changes, you will.”
Silence swept over them, then. It was filled with a little rattling snore from the baby, the swirling current of a sudden breeze, a slight rustle of oak leaves overhead, and the distant cawing of a crow several hillocks away. There was an intensity of emotion, as their gazes locked together, made almost palpable.
She saw the muscles of his throat work as he swallowed.
“That is very kind of you, Hallie. I thank you for your generosity,” he said as he squeezed her hand, which was still entwined with his.
“It isn’t generosity. It’s just simple human nature.”
The afternoon wore on. After Karim’s surprising divulgence of his recently troubled past, he asked Hallie how she had dealt with Aaron’s father leaving. It was a short story, and not one as distressing as his own, yet the Sheikh looked deeply perturbed when she’d finished telling him about the milestones Aaron had already reached without a father there to cheer him on.
“Hallie, you are a remarkable, strong woman. I do not know how you have managed all this on your own, but you and Aaron both more than deserve to have a caring, reliable man in your lives. Not to complete your family—because you already are a beautiful family—but to add to it; to make things easier and amplify the joy you share. I deeply hope you can have that, one day.”
For a moment that only lasted a second, but seemed to stretch on into eternity, Karim and Hallie shared a deep, soul-baring look. Neither the one who had said nor the one who had heard the statement was sure if there was a deeper implication…a suggestion of a feeling, a hope…?
The moment was gone as soon as it had appeared, with a now-awake Aaron demanding a dry bottom and more food.
Once the adults had sorted out Aaron’s feeding, they realized the sun was beginning its descent from noon, and it was time for them to eat, too. They dove into their picnic supplies and Karim complimented her on the tuna salad, seeming impressed that such a simple dish could be so delicious.
During these enchanted hours, secluded on a country estate, no impediments existed between them; they were merely a man and a woman, sharing time, growing closer, and watching over an active, curious child.
By four o’clock, a few clouds had begun to move in, slowly darkening the sky and blotting out the brilliant sun. From off to the west came a soft rumble of thunder.
Hallie cast a worried glance upward.
“I haven’t seen or heard a weather report since we came here yesterday, but it does look as if we’re going to be in for a storm.”
“I agree. We should pack up and return to the house before the rains hit.”
With most of the food eaten, gathering everything together could be done much more quickly and efficiently. In a matter of minutes, they were ready for the return journey, with Aaron in his tote babbling away and, as usual, taking a keen interest in his surroundings.
They reached the terrace just as fat drops of rain began falling from the sky. Somehow, Hallie felt like she’d left something at their picnic spot, though she knew she hadn’t. Maybe it wasn’t a physical something, but something was definitely missing. What was it?
Chapter 14
“It’s really pouring out there,” Hallie noted with surprise as she joined Karim in the large yet cozy family room.
“Good to be here, certainly, instead of traveling in dangerous weather,” he agreed.
They had gotten back from the picnic spot just in time, before the rain started falling—first in fat, slow drops that splatted as if playing some game, then with more force and fullness. A swirl of the cool wind that had brought the storm had also dropped the temperature by about twenty degrees; a darkening of the skies had turned everything gloomy and lessened visibility to twilight.
Quickly getting the three of them inside the kitchen, Karim had divested himself of the baggage he had been carrying and snapped on the lights. Aaron, blinking like an owlet, had immediately clamored to get out of his mother’s arms and onto the floor, where all sorts of possibilities for exploration awaited.
“The family room would, perhaps, be more comfortable,” Karim had suggested, leading the way.
More lights, the comforting warmth and leap of colorful gas flames in a magnificent natural stone fireplace, an impressive newest-model television on the wall, and sprawling plush sofas and chairs in rich aqua blue, with pillows and afghans to match.
Hallie, settling in on the floor (her favorite location, especially atop such a thick carpet) to play with Aaron, sighed rapturously. It just didn’t get any better than this. She couldn’t help taking a mental snapshot of the moment, just to keep the memory forever saved in the recesses of her brain.
Aaron, crawling around like a caterpillar with his little padded bottom wiggling, pulling himself up beside furniture in an attempt to stand, only to plop down again as he lost balance. Karim, with one eye on the TV screen and the other on the child, chuckling over his antics, occasionally reaching down to assist a stand or catch a toppling-over. Hallie, dreaming while awake, of what life was and what it could be.
Eventually, while rain pummeled the house and the fire hissed softly behind its screen, Hallie went into the adjoining kitchen to prepare dinner.
Karim apologized in advance. “I had planned on taking us to a nice restaurant nearby, Hallie. There should have been no reason for you to cook today. But with this storm…” He spread his hands wide, helpless to overcome the elements.
“No problem. I’m sure the rain has thrown a kink into everyone’s plans. Besides—” Paused in the doorway, she flung a satisfied glance at the shining steel appliances and beautifully coordinated cabinets and counters. “—I’ll enjoy myself. I can’t wait to take advantage of all these wonderful amenities.”
“Please, let me help. Although I’m not sure how useful I am outside the realm of toast…” the Sheikh offered with a sheepish smile.
“It’s fine, really. Watch over Aaron and make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble,” she replied with a grin.
Hallie certainly enjoyed herself in the massive, well-stocked kitchen. And, she found herself at peace as she heard Karim softly talking to her son, explaining things on the TV—it sounded like he’d turned the nature channel on. Just under an hour later, she’d whipped up a gourmet meal.
Tossed salad, lightly flavored with a vinaigrette dressing. Steaks rubbed in spices and seared to perfection. Mashed potatoes—the real kind, not from a box like she usually had. Sautéed fresh asparagus. Flaky crescent rolls. It smelled wonderful.
&nbs
p; Right as she was dishing up, Karim walked in with Aaron in his arms and settled the baby into his high chair. Cereal rings, at first, kept Aaron occupied; then, a favorite baby food mixture.
Karim’s delight in her cooking expertise was quite flattering. She couldn’t help blushing a little as he complimented her on the menu and its tastiness.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were interviewing me for the job of your sous chef,” she teased at one point.
He was shocked. “No, never that. Chef de cuisine, only.”
They laughed together.
The rain poured down. The meal progressed. The baby made his messes, managed to get more inside him than on his bib, and gurgled in his happy attempt at communication.
Another snapshot moment, unparalleled in every detail.
More leisurely time was absorbed in clean-up—of the table, of the kitchen, and of the baby. And, in a pleasant surprise, Karim was right beside her to help. She hadn’t asked, and he hadn’t volunteered. He was simply there, quietly supportive, transferring items to cabinet or dishwasher, tidying this or that, anticipating her moves.
“When did you get to be so domestic?” she asked, eyes dancing, over her shoulder.
His expressive brows went up. “You think I live with a staff of servants at my every beck and call?”
“Well—yeah, sorta. I do think that.”
“Then you would be…correct.” Laughing at the expression on her face, he tugged loose the apron around her waist to toss over a stool. “It is true, I am spoiled, as I believe I mentioned earlier. But I’m not completely helpless in domestic tasks, as you seem to think I must be.”
It wasn’t until much later, after Aaron had had a bit more playtime, enjoyed his bath and bottle, had a few stories read to him, and been tucked into bed, that she joined Karim in the family room. No television now, just something classical playing in the background, as part of the symphony of the rain.