A Christmas Bride (22 page)

“So I am.”

She took the book from Pepper, then set the girl on the sofa next to her. After she rose, she paused, as if not sure what to do. They were engaged now—some greeting was required. Obviously she did not know what.

He crossed the room to her and pulled her close, then kissed her. Behind him, he heard the girls murmuring. They were not used to such displays of affection, but they would become accustomed to them. He enjoyed being with a woman and having Kayleen in his bed would be one of the perks of married life.

When he stepped back, he kept his arm around her.

“We have something to tell you,” he said.

All three girls huddled together, their eyes wide and apprehensive.

Kayleen smiled. “It’s a good thing. Don’t worry.”

“Kayleen and I are to be married,” As’ad said. “Nothing has been formally announced so you’ll need to keep the information a secret for now, but I wanted you to know.”

The girls stared at each other, then back at him. “What about us?” Dana asked, sounding worried.

Kayleen knelt down and held out her arms. “You’re staying right here. With us. We’ll both adopt you. This will be your home forever.”

Nadine and Pepper ran into her embrace. Dana looked at him. Her smile was bright and happy, her eyes wide with excitement.

“I’d hoped this would happen,” she admitted. “I wanted you to figure out you were in love with Kayleen. You look at her the way Daddy used to look at Mommy.”

Love? Not possible, As’ad thought, dismissing the very idea. Kayleen kept her head down. Dana rushed to her.

“Do you have a ring?” the girl asked.

Kayleen removed it from her pocket and slipped it on her fingers. The girls gasped.

“That’s really, really big,” Pepper said. “Is it heavy?”

“I’m getting used to it.”

As’ad watched in contentment. All had turned out well, thanks to his aunt. She had given him advice on the best way to approach Kayleen. While he didn’t usually agree with taking advice from a woman, in this case she was the acknowledged expert.

She had told him about Kayleen’s desire to be needed. It was a position he could respect. Having a place to belong was far better than worrying about a fleeting emotion like love.

Kayleen stood. The girls rushed at him and he found himself embracing them all. He bent down and gathered Pepper into his arms, then straightened and settled her on his hip.

“I’m a real princess now,” she said. “I want a crown.”

“A princess wears a tiara,” he told her.

“Then one of those. Does this mean the next time I hit a bully I won’t get into trouble?”

“Hitting anyone is never a good idea,” Kayleen told her.

Pepper sighed and looked into his eyes. “But you’re the
prince.
Can’t you change that?”

She was delightful, as were her sisters. He smiled. “I will see what I can do.”

“You shouldn’t encourage her,” Kayleen told him.

Perhaps not, but he suddenly wanted all that was possible for the girls. He wanted to give them everything, show them everything, and always keep them safe.

An odd pressure tightened in his chest. It was a feeling he didn’t recognize, so he ignored it. But it was there.

* * *

FAYZA ST. JOHN arrived the next morning exactly on time for her prearranged meeting with Kayleen. She was a fifteen-year veteran of the protocol office, something she shared with Kayleen immediately upon their meeting.

“I’ll be in charge of the wedding,” Fayza said as she stretched her thin lips into what Kayleen hoped was a smile.

Everything about the woman was thin—her body, her face, her legs, her hair. She was well-dressed, but more than a little scary-looking, although elegant. Kayleen had the feeling that the other woman already knew her dress had been bought at sixty percent off at a discount outlet and that the patch pockets had been added after the fact to cover a stain that wouldn’t come out.

“You’re our first bride in decades,” Fayza went on. “Princess Lina was the last, of course. With the princes getting older, we knew it was just a matter of time, so we’ve been doing a lot of prep work, just in case. Now you’ll have to deal with a lot of decisions yourself, but much of the wedding will be handled out of my office. You can request things like colors, but everything will have to be vetted. While this is your happy day, it is also a state occasion.” She paused. “Any questions?”

Kayleen shook her head. A question would require a functioning brain, which she didn’t have at the moment. Marrying As’ad was unexpected enough, but to find out the event would be a state occasion?

“Obviously no serious work can get done until we have a date,” Fayza continued. “The king mentioned a spring wedding.”

“Uh-huh.”

“With a formal announcement right after the holidays?”

Kayleen nodded.

“All right. That gives us time, which, believe me, we won’t have enough of. You’ll start working with one of our people right away. She’ll help you learn the culture and traditions of El Deharia. You’ll need instruction in the language, deportment, current events, etiquette and a hundred other things I can’t even think of right now. Oh, I’ll need your personal list for the announcements and the wedding. What family are you inviting?”

Kayleen had to consciously not grab her head to keep it from spinning. This wasn’t anything she’d imagined. All she wanted was to marry As’ad and get on with her life.

“Does it have to be like this?” she asked. “Can we just go away and get married quietly?”

Fayza laughed. “He’s a prince, dear. And the first one to marry. You’re going to be on the cover of
People
magazine.”

The idea made her want to throw up. “What if I don’t want to be?”

“Sorry—this will be the social event of the spring. We’ll try to keep the number of guests down. Anything over five hundred is a nightmare.”

F-five hundred? Five? As in five hundred?

Kayleen stood and walked to the window. The need to run was as powerful as her instinct to keep breathing. None of this felt right, probably because it wasn’t. Not for her. But this was As’ad’s world. This was what he expected. If she was to be his wife, she would have to learn his ways. He believed in her and she wouldn’t let him down.

“Your family? About how many?” Fayza asked again.

What family? Not her own—they had abandoned her. Why would she want them at her wedding? Would any of the nuns she knew back home make the journey?

“I’m not sure I have any,” she admitted.

“Something we’ll deal with later. Now, you’re going to have to be a little more careful when you go out. You must be escorted, either by Prince As’ad or Princess Lina. If neither of them are available, you’ll have a security person with you. You already have one in the car when the girls go to and from school, so that helps. You will not be allowed to be alone with a man who is not attached to the palace. No friends even. Brothers are fine, cousins squeak in.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Kayleen told her as she stared down into the garden.

She wanted to marry As’ad, she thought. She wanted to be with him, his wife, the girls’ mother. But like this? Why couldn’t he be a regular man? Even the camel dealer he had joked about on Thanksgiving.

She told herself she was being ungrateful. That her hardships were nothing when compared with those in the world who truly suffered. She should be grateful.

“We won’t be making an announcement for a few months,” Fayza continued. “It’s unlikely there will be any media leaks, but it would be best if you didn’t wear your engagement ring outside the palace. Just to keep things quiet.”

Kayleen nodded, but she wasn’t really listening anymore. Instead she stared at the cage in the garden. The one that had held all the doves. Even though the door was open, the space was full again. They had all returned home.

Products of their destiny, she thought. Trapped. Just like her.

CHAPTER TEN

“I’M NOT SLEEPING at all,” Lina complained as she sat on the stone bench in the garden.

“Thank you.”

It took her a moment to realize what Hassan meant. She laughed. “All right. Yes, you’re a part of my exhaustion, but not the only part. Playing matchmaker is hard work. I feel guilty in a way. I started all this. I brought them together.”

“You introduced them and then removed yourself from the situation. You did not lock them in a room together and insist they become intimate. They chose that course themselves.”

“I agree, in theory. But I planned this from the beginning. I thought Kayleen would be good for As’ad and that she secretly longed for more than teaching at the convent school. But what if I was wrong? What if I messed up both their lives?”

Hassan leaned in and kissed her. “You worry too much.”

“I’m very good at it.”

“Perhaps it is not a gift one should cultivate.”

She smiled. “You don’t actually expect me to change, do you?”

“Not really.”

“Good.” Her smile faded. “I just wish I knew I’d done the right thing.”

“Why would it be otherwise? As’ad proposed and Kayleen agreed. Now they will be thrown together even more. Who knows what might happen.”

He was so confident the outcome would be positive, but Lina wasn’t so sure. What if As’ad couldn’t open his heart to Kayleen? What if she stopped falling in love with him?

“I can see I do not have your full attention,” Hassan complained. “I forbid it to be so.”

She laughed. “You are not king here, sir. You are my guest.”

His dark eyes brightened with humor. “I have enjoyed being your guest. Spending time with you makes it difficult for me to consider going home. But I must.”

She didn’t want to think about that. “You have many sons to rule in your place.”

“For a time, but the ultimate responsibility is mine. I must also consider my people. I do not want them to believe I have abandoned them.”

“I know.” She didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t want Hassan to leave, but couldn’t ask him to stay. She looked at him. “I will miss you.”

“As I will miss you.” He squeezed her hand. “I suppose it would be presumptuous to ask that you could come with me to Bahania.”

She steeled herself against hope. “As a visit?”

He smiled. “No, my love. Not as a visit. It has been so long, I’m doing this badly.” He kissed her. “Lina, you are an unexpected treasure in my life. I did not think I would find love again. I certainly never expected to find such a beautiful, enticing woman such as yourself. Your physical perfection is only matched by the gloriousness of your spirit and your mind. You have bewitched me and I wish to be with you always. I love you and would be most honored if you would consider becoming my wife.”

Kayleen stood frozen on the garden path. She’d been walking as she did each morning, only to accidentally stumble into a personal moment.

At first she’d only heard the low rumble of voices and had thought nothing of them. There were often other people in the garden. Then she’d heard King Hassan say something about his people. The next thing she knew, he’d proposed.

Now she held her breath and looked desperately for a way to escape so they could be alone. She turned slowly, intent on creeping away, when Hassan spoke again.

“Tears are unexpected, Lina.”

“They’re happy tears. I love you so much. I never dreamed, either, that I could fall in love.”

“So you will be my queen.”

“Oh, dear. A queen. I never thought of that.”

“My people will adore you nearly as much I do. I have the added delight of knowing every part of you.”

There was a soft giggle and silence. Kayleen took advantage of their attention to each other and quietly moved away.

So Lina and the king had fallen in love. She was happy for them. The thought of her friend moving to Bahania was a little sad, but also exciting. Kayleen had never known a queen before.

She made her way back to her suite. As she climbed the wide staircase leading to the second floor, she paused, remembering the king’s emotional proposal and how happy Lina had been. Even from several feet away, Kayleen had felt the love they shared.

“I want to be in love,” Kayleen whispered. “With As’ad.”

She wanted to love the man she would marry and she wanted him to love her back. Could it happen? Was it possible? Or was she like a child, hoping to catch the moon?

* * *

AS’AD WALKED INTO the suite Saturday morning. “Are you ready?” he asked.

The girls all called out that they were, while Kayleen hovered behind them. For some reason, she felt shy with As’ad. How strange. She’d never felt awkward with him before. Perhaps it was because they were engaged now. Everything was different, yet it was oddly the same.

“You never said what we were going to do,” Dana told him.

“I know. It’s a surprise.”

He crossed to Kayleen and smiled at her. “You are quiet.”

“I’m caught up in the moment.”

“You don’t know what the moment will be.”

“I’m sure it will be wonderful.”