by Laura Wright
A heaviness settled in Bobby’s gut. “What the hell are you talking about? I know why we lost this land.”
“You know only part of the reason.” When Bobby said nothing, Sakir’s eyebrow lifted. “Are you going to take this or not?”
With an indignant growl, Bobby fairly ripped the papers from Sakir’s hand. His eyes scanned the documents. The first was a statement from the drilling company who had botched the job on his land, claiming they had no affiliation whatsoever with Al-Nayhal Corporation, squashing Bobby’s almost decade-long conspiracy theory. The other papers consisted of five notices from environmental agencies warning Bobby’s father about the instability of the land, warning him that if actions weren’t taken to bring the land up to code, he would never be allowed to run cattle or horses, or to drill on his land.
A slow sick feeling came over Bobby as he stared at the date of the first and second notice. Six years before his father had lost the property. And he’d still allowed drilling, knowing what could happen, knowing that the drilling could ruin not only the land, but also his family. And afterward, the man had forced Bobby to come home from the road—a life he’d loved with all his heart—to fix a problem that could have been fixed long before.
And through it all, his father had made him believe that Sakir Al-Nayhal was to blame. Worse still, his father had made Bobby promise to carry a burden of revenge for years—while life went on around him, while a woman had found him and helped him to breathe, love life and care about someone again.
Bobby’s hand fisted around the papers. If this was true, Bobby’s father could have saved the property. If this was true, Kimmy and Bobby would have had their home without having to beg for a tiny portion of it back.
“Mr. Callahan, I—” Sakir began, but was cut off.
“This is a fake,” said Bobby, unwilling to believe that his father would have done something like this. The man had been a great father, a good rancher, a respected member of the community. “You have the money to do it, and you’ll stop at nothing to defame my father—”
Sakir actually appeared empathetic. “You can check for yourself. Local county offices and state offices have all these records on file.”
Bobby started to shake, with fury for his father, for Sakir, for himself and for Jane. But the anger in his heart came out as anguish in his tone. “If this is really true, why would you keep this a secret? Why wouldn’t you tell me? I spent years blaming you….”
With a heavy sigh, Sakir said, “I loved my father. I did not want to know of his mistakes or misdeeds. You and your sister thought much of your father.” He shrugged, though his chin never dropped. “I thought it best you both hate me and not him.”
Bobby couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was no way that Sakir Al-Nayhal was a good guy. No way! Bobby had spent too many years despising him. “And why are you telling me this now? After all these years?”
“I never thought you would try and avenge your father with something I could not handle.” Sakir’s eyes darkened. “My sister’s heart is something I cannot control.”
Jane. His beloved Jane. Caught up in a scheme based on lies told by an old man because he didn’t want to deal with his mistakes. Bobby fell against the stall door and stared at the rafters.
“I love my sister, Mr. Callahan. And she loves you. I will not attempt to make choices for her again.”
Shaking his head, Bobby uttered, “She said she’ll never step foot on my land again.”
“No, but perhaps if you went to her first.”
Bobby came awake in an instant. “Emand?”
Sakir nodded. “It is her land now. Perhaps you will both find peace there.”
The palace gardens were scented with citrus and roses, a heavenly combination that sought to soothe Jane’s restless mind. But neither the roses nor the spectacular pink sunset before her could manage to curb her sadness. It had been this way for almost two weeks, she mused dejectedly as she sat on an iron bench and sipped her tea. She hated herself for feeling so downcast, missing Bobby the way she did, as though he were an appendage that still felt very much attached.
If she were wise, she’d force him to the back of her mind and concentrate on her future. Over the past week, she’d managed to make a list of restaurants, all bearing her name, some menu ideas, even thoughts on decor. But what she couldn’t get down on paper was where this restaurant might be.
“Hi, sweetie.”
Jane glanced up and saw her mother on the arm of Abel Garret walking toward her. Tara and Abel had arrived two days ago. Jane hadn’t been surprised to see Abel with her mother when Jane had met them at the airplane. The two were most definitely inseparable, and their obvious devotion to one another made Jane’s heart seize up every time she saw them.
“We have a surprise for you, Janie,” said Abel, tossing her a crooked grin.
Jane returned the smile, half-hearted though it was. “Thank you, guys, but I’m not really up for surprises today.” Or any day, for that matter.
“You’ll love this one,” Tara said with deep conviction, then glanced over her shoulder.
The low, masculine voice echoed throughout the garden, causing all the night insects to still. “You said you wouldn’t come to me, so I came to you.”
Jane’s heart dropped into her shoes, and she whirled around. The man coming toward her was dressed in jeans and a pale-blue shirt, his chest as wide as the pathway on which he walked. His eyes glowed with regret and happiness and love, and his look nearly caused Jane to break down into tears.
Without a word, Abel and Tara slipped away, and Bobby Callahan stood before her. He took a deep breath, his gaze moving possessively over every inch of her until at last, he stared into her eyes. “You look beautiful.”
“Bobby…”
“God, I’ve missed you. I’ve never ached like this before, in my body and my soul.”
She knew exactly what he meant. Nights of loneliness and endless days with nothing to look forward to, a deep ache that nothing would ease. But Bobby had hurt her beyond measure, and no matter how much she still loved him, he wouldn’t gain her forgiveness easily.
As if he saw the reticent glow in her eyes, he nodded. “I don’t deserve this, just standing before you.”
Jane’s gaze flickered, her legs felt suddenly water-filled.
“I don’t deserve it, but I’m taking it because I love you, Jane. I love you with every part of me, and I had to tell you so. I had to come here and apologize for what I did to you and your family.” He reached out, tentatively brushed her hand. His eyes were a deep shade of blue. “Oh, Jane, darlin’. You belong back in Paradise. We belong together. You belong with me.”
“I don’t know if I do,” she uttered, pain slashing her heart, tears pricking her eyes. “I’m scared, Bobby. I gave you everything, my love and trust…my heart and soul, and you tore them up and threw them back in my face. How am I supposed to believe in you again?”
Pain flickered in his eyes. “I’m not asking you to believe in me, Jane. But maybe you could believe in us.”
Tears fell down her cheeks.
“Hear me out, darlin’, please,” he beseeched her, taking her hands in his, his eyes imploring to listen—really hear him. “Guilt and shame are funny things. They make you desperate. They make you do things that you know are wrong. They make you hurt people you love. In my case, they made me turn a blind eye to the weakness of a father I loved dearly, a man I wanted to believe was beyond reproach. A man I was sure had put the needs of his family ahead of his own.”
The undisguised misery in his eyes made her heart ache, her throat tighten.
“I made a vow to my father on his deathbed,” Bobby continued to say, “to avenge his honor, to hurt the Al-Nayhals as we’d been hurt.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know the truth of it. I didn’t know that it was really my father, through all his mistakes, his blind eye, who had lost our land. I didn’t want to believe that. Neither did he, obviously. He was a good man
, Jane. He was Kimmy’s savior, her touchstone. It broke her heart when he died. Mine, too. So, I blamed Sakir for every one of my losses.” With a curse, Bobby pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry. I was such a fool. I hurt you, pushed you away after the love and the life you gave me, gave back to me, really. God, you’ll never know how sorry I am.”
“Yes, I do.” Jane couldn’t stop the tears, the sobs. She cried against his chest.
He held her for a moment, rocked her, crushed her in his embrace. “Will you forgive me, Jane? Can you forgive me? All I ask for is another chance.” He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her bleary-eyed gaze to his. “I want to be your family. I want the babies we’re going to have. I want you.” With the pad of his thumb, he wiped a fat tear from her cheek. “I love you.”
Even through tears, through the pain of what had been said in the past, Jane felt alive and tall and purposeful for the first time in almost two weeks. She understood his past, and now, so did he. When she spoke, her voice rang true and joyful. “I love you. More than ever, and I know what’s in your heart. I see it.”
A smile broke out on his face, so bright with relief and adoration it squeezed at Jane’s heart. “Marry me, darlin’,” said Bobby, lowering his head, giving her a tender kiss. “Marry me and teach me everyday how to be a better man.”
His words gripped her tightly, curled around her, made her feel safe and filled with love. Finding his way through a wounded past, Bobby’s heart had finally opened. He was ready to embrace a future, and Jane knew where she belonged—in his arms, her mouth to his, their breath as one.
“Yes,” she whispered between kisses as the pink sun slowly set before them. “We will teach each other, my love.”
Epilogue
Six months later
“Do you take this man to be your husband?”
Jane held her breath, her heart seizing with emotion. She’d always wanted this day to come, always hoped that there was a future to look forward to.
Standing proudly at the makeshift altar, Tara smiled at Abel and said, “I do.”
“Then I pronounce you husband and wife,” the preacher said with a wide smile. “You may kiss your bride, Abel.”
In the field beside the lake where Bobby and Jane had swum, and where Abel and Tara had looked at the stars in their own beautiful way, two people committed their lives to one another.
Bobby took Jane’s hand in his and squeezed it, his own wedding band rubbing softly against her fingers. “Want to do that all over again?”
Remembering their emotional wedding ceremony in Emand a month earlier, Jane grinned at her husband as he lifted her onto his gray stallion. “In a heartbeat. But maybe we should wait until our anniversary.”
Climbing up behind her, Bobby kissed her ear and whispered, “It is our anniversary. One month today.”
She snuggled against him as they rode back to the ranch house, back home, all of their family and friends behind them. “Who’d have believed that a six-foot-three, barrel-chested cowboy would be such a romantic?” she called over her shoulder.
“Anyone who looks at the woman he’s married to,” Bobby shouted over the thunder of horse’s hooves.
“I love you, Bobby Callahan.”
“I love you, and tonight we’re going to say those vows all over again.” As Rip galloped beneath them, Bobby held her tightly to his chest, brushed a kiss over her ear and uttered, “When I’m inside you.”
She laughed, true happiness enveloping her as the fresh Texas air pelted her face. “I’m not sure I can wait until tonight for that.”
“’Fraid you’ll have to, darlin’,” Bobby said as they pulled up to the ranch house, and the brand-new structure beside it. “Got a wedding feast to go to. And it’s at my favorite restaurant in town.”
Her heart full, Jane stared up at the sign above the restaurant, her restaurant. “It’s not set to open for three weeks. How is it your favorite already?”
He winked at her. “I’ve sampled the goods.”
Around them, the whole gang, her whole new family rode up to The Darlin’, ready and hungry for a full Texas feast. It was beyond her wildest imaginings, but Jane had everything she’d ever wanted—Bobby, a restaurant of her own and a true purpose, as KC Ranch was expanding, taking on more students, staff and wonderful programs. And Jane would nourish them all not only with her food, but her heart.
“Do I smell cornbread?” Ava’s husband Jared asked as he jumped down from his horse.
“I love cornbread,” said their daughter Lily, still sitting in front of her grandmother Muna, who cooed at the girl and said, “You just love food, Little Star.”
“Like the rest of her family,” Rita commented, stepping out of her car and handing Daya to Sakir, who promptly kissed the little girl’s forehead.
“You did make coleslaw, my sister?” Zayad asked, helping Mariah from the same car as she was too pregnant to ride a horse now. “I do so enjoy that salad.”
“Hope you made that brisket of yours,” called Abel as he walked up the restaurant steps hand in hand with his new bride.
After assuring them all that their Texas favorites had indeed been prepared, Jane escaped into The Darlin’ and into her beloved kitchen. And as she removed macaroni and cheese, beef brisket, potatoes and a chocolate sheet cake from their respective ovens, she smiled. Crowding noisily into her restaurant was her family. Happy, healthy and so much wiser.
Her heart swelled. She did indeed have it all.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7400-0
HER ROYAL BED
Copyright © 2005 by Laura Wright
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