by Leah Leonard
Once the company was gone, the room grew strangely quiet, and the three of them shared an awkward silence.
Finally Uri said, “Father, please join Stephanie and I in the dining room so we can discuss our engagement with you and plan the best day for our merger.”
Stephanie gulped. She hoped the Sultan would be agreeable. She didn’t want to get off to a bad start with him. Still, Tia made it clear she wanted someone else. That made Stephanie feel a little better.
“As you wish,” the Sultan smiled at them both.
She followed Uri and his father into the dining room where the servants cleared the extra plates and began serving the extravagant meal to the three of them. “Seems such a waste of food,” she said, trying her best to ease the awkward moment. “But it all looks wonderful.”
“Nonsense,” Uri told her, reaching for her hand. “The staff may enjoy what we cannot finish, and besides, this entire ordeal was my father’s doing. Isn’t that right, Sultan?”
“Yes, I am afraid it is, and I am sorry, Miss Stephanie.” The Sultan looked directly at her.
“It’s okay,” she said.
“My son only recently mentioned your marital plans, therefore I was merely presenting him with options.”
“Options I was never made aware of, I might add,” Uri snapped. “Go on, father, please tell the love of my life this is true.”
“My son was not the orchestrator of any such events, including the one where he met you,” the Sultan confessed.
“I appreciate you saying so, sir,” she said.
“He was on a deadline, and I suppose felt pressured to marry,” the Sultan added.
Uri looked as if he might be ill. His cocoa skin whitened and he stared at her. Before his father could reply, Uri said, “Darling, I was going to tell you of my father’s ludicrous plan, but it seemed…irrelevant. You see, he wanted me to marry before my birthday in order to fully inherit the estate. I promise, love, the threat of losing such privilege had no bearing on my decision to marry you. I loved you from the moment I first set eyes on you on the street in downtown Kusadasi. I’ve never wavered for a single minute.”
Stephanie digested this latest information and realized it was just like the Sultan to cause such pressure. “I trust and believe you.”
Uri exhaled. “Thank you for that, my love.”
Unfazed by the latest threat to their relationship, the Sultan asked, “When will you marry?”
“Miss Stephanie needs to return briefly to Iowa to make arrangements to sell her property, and then we shall marry soon,” Uri said. “I would hope by the end of the year, if possible.”
“Here?” the Sultan asked.
“That’s what we talked about, yes,” Stephanie said. “I just need to know you will be okay with me becoming part of your family.”
She hated to have to ask him such a direct question, but the fact of the matter was that her marriage to Uri theoretically may have cost their family quite a bit of money. Tia’s father said he might be open to future business dealings, but Stephanie was smart enough to know that the possibility would have been a definite had Uri married Tia.
The Sultan smiled. “I see you make my son happy. This is all I wanted for him, so yes, you are welcome. You shall be my new daughter.”
Stephanie never felt happier. “Then let’s get to Iowa and get everything set.”
Forty Two
Keeping to her promise to return home by Christmas, the private jet landed at the local Iowa airstrip in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve.
Uri’s faithful driver accompanied them and by dinner, they were sitting with Aunt Ellen around the old family table where Stephanie and her parents shared their meals and memories her whole life.
“So you two have made it official,” Ellen smiled as she admired the ring on Stephanie’s left finger.
“We have,” she smiled.
“And you’re gonna live in Turkey, I assume?” Ellen asked.
“Yes,” Stephanie said. “It makes sense since Uri has all of his businesses there. What about you?”
“We want you to come with us,” Uri told her.
“No,” Ellen said. “Thanks, but I have decided for sure to go to Omaha with my sister. I’m moving before the New Year. I already have most of my stuff there now.”
“Speaking of which,” Uri said, “I shall make arrangements to relocate your items, your furnishings, clothing, anything you shall need. That goes for both of you.”
“Thanks,” Ellen said. “I don’t have much myself though, and she won’t need any of the furniture,” Ellen announced.
“Why’s that?” Stephanie asked.
Before Ellen could answer, Stephanie heard the familiar knock on the kitchen door that led outside.
Buck and his parents walked in, everyone greeted each other.
“Speak of the devil,” Ellen smiled. “I think you folks have something to tell Stephanie.”
“We’re buying your farm, Steph,” Buck told her.
“What? Really?” Stephanie choked up when she heard the news.
“Yep,” Buck said.
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to know you’ll keep it and take care of it the way mom and dad did.”
“We will for sure,” Buck’s dad said.
“We’re going to miss you,” his mother told Stephanie, as she hugged her shoulders, and glared at Uri. “You’re sure this is what you want?”
“Yes.”
Buck’s mom backed away, nodded and said, “Okay.”
“I’m sorry if I hurt you. Any of you,” Stephanie pulled Uri close, put her arm around him, “but this is the right man for me. We love each other and I know this is what my parents would have wanted.”
Buck’s mom rolled her eyes.
The gesture hurt Stephanie’s feelings, but she couldn’t blame her.
Ignoring that, she continued. “I also know there’s somebody out there for Buck who’s better for him than I ever was. I promise. I know that now. Uri taught me there is great love and passion in life, if only we look for it.”
“All right,” his mother said.
Buck’s parents left soon after that, and only he remained.
“Give us a moment?” Stephanie asked Uri and Ellen.
“Of course,” Uri said.
Stephanie walked Buck outside. They stood on her back porch watching the twinkling Christmas lights off in the distance while the snow fell hard. The air smelled like smoke from the fire. The sight made Stephanie cry yet again, especially when she thought of how much things had changed, and how quickly it all happened.
Her parents were gone. Life would never be the same here. She couldn’t bear to stay. The idea of living here for the rest of her life seemed impossible to her, even if Uri hadn’t shown up in her life. How could she go on and pretend not to miss her folks? Looking at their graves would be a grim and daily reminder of what happened. Now that she was back home again, with Uri by her side, and with Buck’s family so eager to purchase her farm, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was right. Fate, destiny, whatever you wanted to call it, had definitely intervened on her behalf. Stephanie was destined to leave.
“I can see you’re happy,” Buck said.
“I am.”
“Then I got nothin’ for ya. Just wishin’ you well’s all.”
“Thanks, Buck. I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you still want the farm.”
“We do. My folks too. We always promised your parents we’d look out for each other. I guess they all talked about this when we was kids. If they went first, the other would buy them out, you know, all of that.”
She nodded and fought back tears just thinking of it.
“I guess none of us ever expected anything like this to happen,” he added.
He was right, she thought. They didn’t. Everybody thought they would live forever, but that simply wasn’t meant to be. “I can’t say I’m sorry for messing things up, Buck. I mean I feel
bad, but I really do love you and care for you, but I know it’s not the same as I feel for Uri and I can’t go on with you knowing that. I know someday you’ll find somebody like I did. You’ll be happy, I promise.”
“You can’t make that kind of promise, Steph, but like I said, I see you two together and I can tell you’re happier…or different…with him than with me.” He shrugged. “I guess that’s love. I hope it is, and that you’re happy in your new life.”
She hugged his neck. “I guess the lawyers will deal with all the paperwork, but meanwhile, take care of yourself, Buck.”
“I will,” he said.
“And you’re all welcome to come to Turkey to the wedding, or come anytime.”
“No,” he said. “I don’t think it’s for me. Take care.”
Buck sauntered back toward his house and she realized she may never see him again. It was weird, but she was okay with that. Really okay.
She walked around the house through the snow and stood by the gravesites of her parents. “Mom, dad, I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, I want you to know I love you, I miss you every second of every day, and even though I loved this life you’ve given me, I’m happy. Happier than I’ve ever been and I love this man, Uri. I have to go with him, but you will stay in my heart forever.” She turned to go, and saw Uri standing in the snow, holding his arms out to her.
***
Uri wasn’t sure what to think about Stephanie coming face to face with her former boyfriend and his family. He didn’t exactly like her going out to speak to him either, but he realized that despite it all, they were not so different. They both had their former lives to wrap up so they could begin anew, together. “Are you all right, darling?”
Stephanie ran up to him, threw her arms around his waist and squeezed him tight. “I am. Now. Thanks to you.”
He held her in silence for quite awhile. “Did you say what needed to be said?”
She nodded into his coat sleeves. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Both of them had people expecting one thing of them, and yet their hearts and the destiny that brought them together forged a new path, different than what either had imagined.
They kissed and he took her hand and they went back into the farmhouse, more a couple than they ever had been before.
Life was good. Better than ever.
Epilogue
On New Year’s Day, Stephanie and Uri stood hand in hand atop the stunning palace in Istanbul. A slight breeze blew her veil around her head and she never felt happier, gazing at the gorgeous and loving man who would be hers forever.
The New Year was just beginning. The past was over and finished and the bright future stretched out before them like an ocean sunset.
Aunt Ellen and a small gathering of servants, along with Uri’s father, watched the couple exchange tearful wedding vows.
“I promise to make you the happiest woman alive,” Uri said as he held her hands.
“You already have,” she told him.
They kissed and lived happily ever after.
The End
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leah Leonard is a world traveler and hopeless romantic who grew up in the southwest. She enjoys writing tales of intrigue featuring the southwest culture and romances set in the exotic places she's visited.
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