Page 39 of The Sheikh and the Single Mom

When the plane touched down on Al Soubi soil, Rashad disembarked quickly. The hot, dry air of his native country enveloped him like an unwelcome hug from a tolerated relative. Rashad should have felt some sense of homecoming, but he didn’t. There were things he appreciated about Al Soub, and itwas where he’d grown up, but his time with Nina had shown him that Al Soub wasn’t his home in the strictest sense of the word. Home was about people more than a place, people who were welcoming and made you feel comfortable — as Nina did for her twins, and they did for her. Rashad didn’t have people like that here, so it might never feel like his home.

From the airport, it was a direct drive to the palace, where Rashad went to his rooms to shower and freshen up. He was hungry, too, so he rang for a tray of food, smiling to himself as he thought of the many meals he’d prepared with Nina. By the time he was finished with his shower and dressed in a fresh suit, the food had arrived, and Rashad sat down to eat.

He was immediately struck by the silence. The only sound was his fork scraping against his plate — there was no chatter of preschooler conversation, no insights from Nina, no slap of waves or caw of seagulls. Rashad looked around his rooms and felt more alone than he had in years. He’d always kept his rooms simple and clean, but now, they looked empty more than anything else. There were no pictures on the walls, no colorful rugs, and no sign of anyone living here.

In that moment, Rashad realized how much he’d given up by walking away from Nina. They hadn’t known each other for very long, but she’d represented a chance: a chance for him to be a better man and a different kind of businessman. A chance at happiness. A chance at a life that was loud and colorful and full of love.

Or maybe not. Maybe Nina had seen their weekend as a business meeting with a little extra fun, not as the start of a potential relationship.

Either way, it didn’t matter. Rashad was gone from Nina’s life — he had to be. He set down his fork, his food still half eaten, and stood, calling Abdul. It was time to throw himself back into his work, which meant a meeting with his business partners to discuss next steps into the US market. There was no more time for sentimentality.

CHAPTER 17

NINA

“Mommy,” Miles said, his tone bordering on wheedling, “when are we gonna see Rashad again?”

“Yeah,” Kate asked, looking up from the puzzle she’d been working on with pictures of zoo animals on it, “when are we gonna see him?”

Nina took a deep breath, trying her best to maintain her composure. She was sitting with her kids at the dining table on a rainy Thursday evening, several days after leaving Rashad’s yacht. Her laptop was open in front of her so that she could do a little work, while Kate fitted chunky puzzle pieces together and Miles played with a miniature basketball hoop. The rare San Diego rain, which left streaks down the window and cast the scene outside in muted gray, matched Nina’s mood perfectly.

“Honey,” Nina said, addressing both her kids with the endearment, “we talked about this, remember? We had such a fun weekend with Rashad, but he doesn’t live near here, which means we can’t see him.”

“But he got our card, right?” Miles asked.

Nina hesitated. She didn’t like lying to her kids, but the truth was that she hadn’t even sent the card. It was sitting in its envelope in a shoebox in her closet. Even if Rashad wanted to hear from the twins, he didn’t deserve the sweet card they’d made — and Nina wasn’t going to reestablish contact. She had half a mind to call Rashad and yell at him for hurting the twins like this, but even that would be too much.

“I’m sure he did,” she said. If only the twins were a little older, she might be able to explain some of the intricacies of what had happened with Rashad, but they were very young, and even if she tried, they wouldn’t understand — even Nina herself still struggled to understand Rashad’s behavior. A white lie was better.

“Maybe we can visit him,” Kate suggested, her blue eyes lighting up at the thought. “Does he live near Grandma?”

“No, honey. It takes an hour to drive to Grandma’s house, but to visit Rashad, we’d have to fly on a plane for more than twelve hours.”

“Wow.” Miles’s eyes lit up now. “A plane?” He’d been obsessed with sports the last few months, but Nina could see his interest shifting towards vehicles. Driving Rashad’s yacht had apparently sparked his curiosity aboutthings that go.

“How about we visit Grandma this weekend?” Nina said, hoping to change the subject.

This wasn’t the first time her kids had asked about Rashad in the last few days. In fact, the questions had been almost constant as Miles and Kate had inquired about where Rashad was, if he was coming over to play, and if he liked their card. Nina tried her best to be patient with all the questions. After all, it wasclear that her children had really liked Rashad, which she could understand, and she didn’t want them to face the same hurt she was struggling with.

Still, it was difficult to talk about Rashad without feeling teary, which meant that Nina had been feeling very teary this week.

“Grandma!” Kate wiggled in her seat excitedly. “I pack my bag?”

“Not yet, honey. Today is Thursday, and we’ll go on Saturday.”

“Oh.” Kate stuck out her lip. “Okay.”

“Rashad can come to Grandma’s!” Miles suggested. Nina almost dropped her head onto the table. They’d been so close to moving on to a different topic.

“Remember, he lives far away,” she said gently. “Now, who’s interested in a special dinner? How about some make-your-own pizza?”

“Yay!” both kids cheered.

“Great. Clean up your toys from the table, and I’ll get everything ready.”

As the kids gathered their puzzle and basketball hoop into their arms and carried them off towards the playroom, probably to dump them in a heap despite Nina’s recurring request to put them back in the toy chest, Nina got to her feet and rested her hands on the kitchen counter, feeling a little lightheaded. If only she hadn’t brought her kids on the yacht, perhaps this would be easier.

Or perhaps not. Beyond the twins’ sadness at not seeing Rashad, Nina was hurt, too. She wasn’t sad, exactly — just angry. Rashad had promised her a partnership. He’d spent the night with her.He’d played with her kids. He’d shared deep conversations with her and danced with her under the starlight. And then, at the last minute, he’d yanked the rug out from under her.

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