Page 37 of The Sheikh's Secret Family

“So, can we?” Owen asked, bouncing a little. His curls fluttered.

“Sorry,” Emelia said. “What was the question?”

Owen sighed. “I wanted to know if we can play Simon Says in the gardens.”

“Of course we can,” Emelia agreed. Trying to bring back her bubbly happiness from before, she took her son’s hand and let him tug her out into the garden. Everything was okay.

When evening rolled around, Tariq texted to say that his meeting was running late again and to have dinner without him. Emelia felt her heart sink again. Worse was the crushed expression on Owen’s face when he realized that he might not see his father that evening.

“Why is he always working?” Owen asked, his lip sticking out.

“He has to,” Emelia reminded him gently, as she had many times before. “He would rather be here with us, but his job is really important. Besides, maybe he’ll come between dinner and your bedtime for a game or something.”

Owen didn’t look cheered up. His little shoulders were still slumped. Emelia felt an unwelcome stab of annoyance with Tariq. She knew his job was important, but he didn’t have to see Owen’s sadness when he didn’t show up. That was all her responsibility to deal with. At first, Tariq had been with them almost every night, but now he seemed to be busy in the evenings more and more. Something wasn’t right.

“How about we make a pizza?” Emelia suggested, trying to get herself and her son back on track.

“Like Sunday Pizza?” Owen asked. It had been their tradition, back in Boston, to make pizza every Sunday evening to celebrate the start of a new week. Of course, the tradition had stopped when they moved here, and today was Friday, but it seemed as good a time as any to bring it back.

“Just like Sunday Pizza,” Emelia agreed. “It’ll be fun. We can make the dough into a cool shape.”

“Like an airplane?” Light was started to come back into Owen’s eyes, so Emelia nodded, even though she wasn’t sure how they would do that. She would have promised Owen the moon if it would have cheered him up at that point.

The pizza turned out okay in the end, although the wings cooked a little faster than the rest. Before they ate it, Owen insisted on taking a picture so that they could show his dad. He spent a few minutes with Emelia’s cell phone, trying to get just the right angle for the snapshot.

“Do you think Dad will like it?” he asked, showing Emelia the finished piece.

“He’ll love it. Now let’s eat before it gets cold!”

Even as they dug in to the pizza, Emelia couldn’t help but notice that, although Owen called Tariq his dad in private, he never said it to Tariq’s face. Maybe there was still some trust that needed to be built there, too. The thought brought back a wave of unease. Could Owen tell that something was a little off, too?

Tariq arrived a little while after they finished eating. He and Owen spent an enjoyable half an hour making paper airplanes while Emelia tidied up the house, wanting to give them some alone time. Then Owen went to bed, Emelia following to read him some stories and tuck him in. Afterwards, she wandered back out into the kitchen and was a little surprised to see that Tariq was still there.

“How was your meeting?” she asked softly. They’d decided to stay in her rooms today, to be close to Owen in case he woke up. Hamid and Noora, their usual babysitters, were still with Hamid’s family.

“Okay,” Tariq told her. Emelia thought that his expression looked a little guilty, but tried not to read into it. “How was dinner?”

“You saw the picture,” Emelia said lightly. “Owen was really proud of the shape. And sad that you weren’t here.”

“I know.” Tariq shook his head. “I wish I could be. It’s just a lot.”

“I know, too.” Emelia gave a slightly tired smile and decided to change the topic. “Anyway, I was thinking of getting a job.” Her smile brightened a little, anticipating Tariq’s reaction. A job would mean that she was planning to stay longer, which had to be good news for him.

Instead of happiness, though, Tariq’s expression was one of worry. “A job?”

“Yes.” Emelia nodded, wondering where the confusion could be. “I was thinking of getting into translation or something else that would actually use my degree.” She tried another smile.

“That sounds great,” Tariq said hesitantly. “But remember, I said you should stay in the palace for now.”

A shiver of ice passed through Emelia. “I know, but I thought that was just in the beginning, while we were getting settled. I’d really like to get out and explore a little, and I think a job would help with that.”

“How about I ask around?” Tariq suggested. “But in the meantime, aren’t you enjoying having some free time?”

“Sure,” Emelia said slowly. Something felt off about this conversation, too. “But I also feel like I need something purposeful to do. And like I said, exploring would be fun. Is Adan dangerous or something? Is that why you don’t want me to go out?”

“No, no,” Tariq waved his hand. “Adan is very safe. Please, just trust me that it might be best for you to keep a low profile for a while.”

Emelia opened her mouth and closed it. This was strange, yes. Stranger still that Tariq wouldn’t give her a reason why she should stay in the palace and not get a job. But Tariq was a good man. He’d told her just yesterday that she could trust him. Emelia would have to try to do that, despite her private worries.

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