My Desert Rose (22 page)

In her mind,
she constantly argued with herself. The fact that she was moping
over someone she'd hardly known proved that she was being
ridiculous. How many people have a holiday fling and think nothing
of it? They put the experience to the back of their mind, maybe
laugh about it once in a while and carry on with life. She used to
think Annabelle was nuts waiting ten years for Tristan. All that
'saving yourself for the one person' nonsense, but in truth, Tariq
had become the marker for all of her future relationships. He was
the gauge by which she'd measure them.

A loud knock at
her front door made her jump and nearly spill her coffee all over
her. Shuffling to open it in the oversized feet of her onesie, she
found Annabelle standing on the doorstep under an umbrella. They
hadn't seen each other since Annabelle's wedding.

"Well, are you
going to let this pregnant woman in or shall I be left to get
hypothermia and die on your doorstep?" she chirped in a no-nonsense
voice.

Katie didn't
know whether to laugh or cry.

Annabelle must
have seen Katie's trembling lip as she immediately stepped inside
and hugged her. They stood for a few moments in silence before
Annabelle took off her coat and handed it to her. Katie smiled at
the size of her stomach, which had expanded greatly in the last
five weeks. "What did you do, swallow a small cow?"

"No, it feels
more like a herd," she answered breezily. "Anyway, what's
that?"

"What?"

"That?"

Katie looked to
where she was pointing at her, "Oh, that's my onesie."

Annabelle's
eyebrows rose. "A onesie, huh? Seriously, it's a pink babygrow with
purple polka dots on it."

Katie laughed.
In minutes, Annabelle already had her feeling better.

"See,"
Annabelle smirked. "I came just at the right time to save you from
reverting back twenty-eight years into an overgrown newborn."

Katie followed
Annabelle as she waddled into the open space of her kitchen and
lounge.

"Actually, I
haven't come to save you," Annabelle said matter-of-factly.

"You haven't?"
She watched Annabelle lower herself into her snuggle chair.

"No, I haven't
forgiven you yet for withholding information, so I thought, rather
than sit on my sofa at home in Edingthorpe not forgiving you, I may
as well sit on your sofa, while you wait on me hand and foot,
reminding me just how much I haven't forgiven you yet."

Katie smiled.
"I guess that's perfectly logical."

Annabelle
picked up Katie's cold cup of coffee and sniffed at it. "Ugh! I so
can't take coffee anymore." Moving it aside, she patted the cushion
next to her. "Come on. Come and sit with Agony Aunt Annabelle and
tell me all about it."

Katie frowned
at the tiny space she was expected to squeeze into. "You want me to
wedge my butt into that spare inch of a cushion?"

"Yup, a snuggle
chair is not a snuggle chair without any snuggling."

Katie rolled
her eyes, but inside a bubble of emotion was rising. She so needed
a really good snuggle right now. Cramming herself into the small
space next to her, she felt Annabelle's arms go about her and pull
her into a full on hug. She smelt so good, like a field of fresh
daisies on a summer's day. Nestling down, she rested her head in
the crook of her arm.

"How was the
honeymoon?" Katie hoped a change of topic might ease the ache in
her heart and give her something else to focus on.

"Ha, ha, ha,"
chuckled Annabelle. "So, you think you're getting out of it? Okay,
the really short version. It was fabulous. Now that's out of the
way, Katarina, my little dark horse. Spill the beans!"

Katie groaned.
Annabelle had only been home from her honeymoon for a week and
Katie had avoided her like the plague. It wasn't that she didn't
want to tell her everything. Talking about it was proving to be
difficult. Katarina Turan had been buried under the identity of
Katie Sharpe and both felt like two different people to her. In
truth, aspects of both needed to be laid to rest. "You spoke to
Tariq, didn't you?"

"Yup, and he
told me everything. I have yet to forgive him too for kidnapping
you from
my
wedding." She went quiet for a moment before
continuing. "But, what I don't understand is that he says he loves
you and you're here in a babygrow depressed and moping about, so
you obviously have feelings for him, so why aren't you together
right now sorting things out and doing the humpy pumpy?"

Katie hooted
out loud, which quickly turned into noisy tears. "I'm afraid," she
sniffled out between loud sobs.

"Afraid of
what?"

"I'm afraid of
losing him." There, she'd said it. This is exactly what was really
hidden deep down inside.

Annabelle
looked down at her in surprise. "Erm, I'm just pointing out the
obvious here, okay? But you don't actually have him at the moment
to lose him."

Katie fished
her tissue out of her purple onesie pocket and blew her nose. "I
know, how ridiculous is that, but it's his lifestyle."

"Okaaaaay, I
can see that living in the desert may not be everyone's cup of tea,
but he has homes, like, everywhere. Surely he has one you'll
like?"

Katie smiled
despite the layer of realisation that was rising. "No, I don't mean
like that. I mean, what if someone breaks into our home and hurts
us, hurts him? I couldn't recover from that happening again."

"Katie honey,
you sound like yourself as that six year old."

A fresh set of
tears emerged. "I think it's actually my inner six year old
speaking. She doesn't want to be that vulnerable. Tariq lives in a
huge world, a vast space. I live in a little safe box. If I go to
him I will feel exposed, open to abuse and loss."

Annabelle
sighed heavily. "But no-one is truly safe. It's the risk you take
for love. You don't know what's around the corner. All you can do
is live in this moment. If you don't seize the day, you'll end up
alone. In fact, a very wise friend once told me that I had to stop
running and face my fear."

Now they were
both crying.

"I love him,"
Katie spurted through the snot and the tears.

"Annabelle blew
her nose, "You don't say!"

"But I don't
know where he is?"

"I do,"
Annabelle replied smiling. "In fact, I have a message for you.
Digging in her pocket, she pulled out a piece of paper and read
from it. "Come to me, my desert rose." Turning, she winked at her
whilst grinning. "Aw, how sweet is that, eh? I'd be there like a
shot with that poetry in my ear!"

Katie tutted
and snatched it from her to read it again. Underneath was an
address in Socotra. A rush of excitement flowed through her. Maybe
they could build a Fort Knox together? She shook her head. No, if
she was going to do this, then she needed to do it standing tall
with open eyes and huge amounts of awareness. Her father had told
her that he'd received a warning of a threat a few days before
they'd ambushed the house. If only he'd listened her mother and
brother would be alive today. That's the guilt he'd carried around
with him. From this cruel lesson, he said that if he could teach
her only one tool for surviving life, it would be to listen
carefully and take the right action. Not to hesitate, which she
just realised was exactly what she'd been doing.

"I have a
suitcase to pack," she whispered.

"That's more
like the Kat I know," smiled Annabelle.

"Kat?" she gave
Annabelle a puzzled look.

"Yeah, I
decided, whilst considering whether to forgive you or not, that Kat
covers both names of Katarina and Katie."

Katie gave her
the biggest hug. "Thank you," she sighed into her shoulder before
rising out of the chair and picking up the annulment papers.
Grinning, she ripped them in half. "I guess the reason for an
annulment won't stand up in a court of law if it's not true."

Annabelle
clapped her hands. "That's great, but honey, I'd leave the onesie
behind if I were you, it's just so not sexy."

Katie bent over
and laughed so hard she began to cough. "What would I do without
you?"

"You'd be a
lonely old maid. Oh, and on your way upstairs can you call that
takeaway that does those little dough ball things? A cup of herbal
tea would be nice too."

Katie put her
hands on her hips in protest. "What am I? Your servant?"

"Yup, it's my
way of letting you know that I haven't forgiven you yet."

Chapter
Seventeen

Katie drove the
hire car around the last bend and there, nestled in the sand dunes
with the view of the turquoise Indian Ocean, was Tariq's secluded
beach house. Raised on stilts, it was made from wood and was one
storey high with a balcony that extended around the front and sides
of the building. It was simple and sturdy. This house reflected
Tariq much more than his opulent family home in the north. It felt
like a middle ground between her small box and his vast world, like
a bridge. A sigh escaped her. Only he would know that this was
exactly what she'd needed, and yet she'd doubted him.

Guilt snapped
its sharp teeth at her. If she'd let him see her during the week
after the incident perhaps he would've shown this side of himself.
There was so much to discover where Tariq was concerned, and that
both excited her and scared the bejeezers out of her. All she knew
at this moment was that she loved him and wanted him so completely.
There would be no-one else for her. Somehow, he'd managed to draw
out the best and the worst in her and having him in her life had
revealed aspects of herself that she didn't even know she had.

Walking up the
stairs, she knocked lightly on the door. Soft music was playing
somewhere inside. It was hauntingly beautiful, like a call to the
soul. She wondered if it was the Alma song he'd spoken about during
their first dinner together. After a few moments of waiting, she
turned the handle and stepped inside. The door closed quietly
behind her. The white pristine kitchen, dining and living room were
all one huge space, moving seamlessly from one to the other. A bank
of bi-folding glass doors had been opened, extending the living
space out onto the balcony, making it feel that the outside, with
the sound of the ocean, was also inside.

Tariq was
standing with his back to her on the balcony wearing rolled-up
chino pants and a white shirt, which was flapping gently in the
breeze. There was a quiet presence about him, a strength, which she
knew she could take rest in. Suddenly, she froze. Maybe this wasn't
such a good idea. Panic assailed her. What if he'd changed his
mind? What if he didn't want her like she wanted him? Turning back
to the door to grasp at the handle, a vision so unbelievable caused
a huge wave of shock to engulf her. There, on the console table at
the side of the door was a small white pot. A single green stalk
was growing from its centre, and at the top it held the head of a
perfect golden rose. Its petals were open wide and tipped with a
vibrant pink. It was a desert rose.

"It's for
you."

His warm breath
on her neck made her shiver and her knees nearly buckled. "How did
you know I'd come?" she whispered.

A butterfly
kiss landed on her nape and she almost fainted with the zing of
electrical pulses that it sent through her body.

"Because we are
each other's home and when you're away from home, you feel
restless, like a piece of you is missing."

The words were
softly spoken on her neck between tiny kisses. Tingles vibrated
down her spine. Oh, now she wanted to forget about fainting and
just melt into a little pool on the floor instead. Turning to face
him, she met his eyes. The look in the depths of those soft, coffee
coloured orbs was one of vulnerability. It was so raw it made her
catch her breath. "I won't lie to you, I'm scared, Tariq."

Every day for
the last three weeks of her absence he'd prayed that he would be
forgiven. Lifting his hand up, he cupped her face and smiled back
into the blue of her eyes. "Me too, little moheet," he replied
tenderly. "I've never had to let something go before and allow it
the freedom to be itself. To live in hope that it will love me
enough to come back for me."

A little sob
escaped her. "I do love you, Tariq."

His thumb moved
gently across her bottom lip. "Then show me."

The beat of her
heart pulsed in her chest and all that she felt for him rushed
through her body. Reaching out, she pulled his head down and sought
out his lips with her own, fusing them together.

Not giving her
time to back out, he scooped her up into his arms and made his way
towards the bedroom. Laying her down on the comforter, he took a
moment to drink her in. Golden hair fanned out around her and a
pink blush had crept up her neck and into her cheeks. Big blue eyes
openly watched him. Trust was shining out of them. "Utterly
beautiful," he murmured, whilst lowering himself to kiss the trail
of the pink blush down her neck and across her chest.

Katie sighed as
he began to undo the little buttons down the front of her blouse,
revealing her white laced bra.

Gently cupping
each breast and feeling the weight of them through the lace, he
asked playfully, "Does this one open at the front too?"

"Yes," she
giggled lightly and undid the clasp.

Full breasts
spilled forth and he groaned as he lowered his mouth to suck on her
erect nipples.

"Oh," she
whimpered, as she ran her hands through his hair whilst wriggling
her hips against him.

"You want
this?" he crooned against her breast as he cupped her mound between
her legs.

"Yes, that's
exactly what I want and you have to give it to me," she replied in
a husky, playful voice.