The Sheik's Arabian Christmas (The Sheiks of the Arabian Coast Series Book 6)

by Erin Snihur

  “The Royal?” Amoz questions. The Royal was his country's premier resort for those willing to relax and get away. It also held a special place in Amoz’ heart. It was where he had first met and fallen in love with Teresa.

  “If you and Teresa are to reconnect before Xavier’s first Christmas, then it must be done at the Royal. You aren’t going to fix your wife by keeping her in the one place that she saw her mother become truly happy and then was buried only months later,” Samantha growls unleashing that familiar anger that she and Teresa inherited from their fiery mother.

  “Send the jet.” Samantha demands and before he can say anything further, the screen goes black. Smirking at his reflection in the black screen, Amoz shakes his head.

  “Those Monet women certainly know how to make an entrance and departure,” Palo, his advisor and trusted friend, speaks up then from his seat off to the side of the room. Samantha didn’t seem to even notice his presence throughout their entire conversation. Palo was good at that. Being present, but never seen.

  Turning to gaze at his elderly friend, Amoz smiles and tilts his head, “What about you, Palo?”

  Eyebrows raising, Palo stands then, appearing nervous for the first time since Amoz can remember, “Me, your Highness? I don’t know what you mean.”

  Rolling his eyes, Amoz stands as well, watching Palo as the man begins sorting through papers on his desk.

  “Palo,” Amoz protests, taking the papers from his friends’ hands and setting them aside on the desk. Turning back to the man who helped raise Amoz and turn Elish into a safe and peaceful place, Amoz feels as though his hands move to the man’s shoulders and squeeze gently automatically.

  “How have you been since Linda’s passing?” Amoz asks, realizing regretfully he hadn’t even thought to ask the man in the last month. Since Linda’s arrival a few days before their wedding and when Amoz had introduced his new mother-in-law to his normally stoic advisor, the man had changed from stoic and proper to kind and humorous. The pair had become quite close, much to Amoz and Teresa’s amusement at the time. Linda’s passing had no doubt been a blow to the man who’d only recently come into her life.

  Palo’s lips pull into a slow smile, “Linda was an amazing woman. Even though her memory issues caused our friendship to become difficult at times, my fondest memories of her were when she was at her worst. She was a very strong woman and I am very thankful to have had her in my life.”

  Nodding in understanding, Amoz murmurs, “I am glad she was able to meet Xavier.”

  Smiling at the memory of Linda’s first meeting with her first grandchild, Palo sighs softly and straightens, his stoic mask once more in place.

  “I shall have the preparations for our stay at the Royal prepared.”

  “Thank you, Palo,” Amoz murmurs and watches as his friend leaves his study. Eyes drifting to the frame on his desk, Amoz’ chest warms at the sight of the family portrait he and Teresa had commissioned after Xavier’s birth. Staring into the happy face of his wife, Amoz vows, I will fix this, ya helo.

  12

  Six days until Christmas…

  Sheikha Teresa el-Safar dully stares out the darkened windows of the limo that drives silently through the many villages and small cities of her country, Elish. The sounds of gurgling and her husband’s crooning voice as he speaks to their son in Arabic distracts Teresa from her silent musings. Turning her gaze to rest on Amoz as he shakes a small rattle over Xavier’s face, Teresa shivers slightly as the empty feeling in her chest. In his car seat, Xavier’s arms flail about as they try to grab onto the rattle.

  A harsh stab to her chest causes Teresa’s eyes to well up and she quickly turns away as Amoz stops rattling the toy and catches her turning swiftly away. Eyes closing to rid herself of the tears welling up.

  “Ya helo?” Amoz croons and slides closer to her as Xavier’s nursemaid takes the rattle from him and distracts Xavier.

  Shaking her head, Teresa wordlessly turns her gaze back to look outside the window, wincing slightly as the limo takes a sharp bump at the entrance of the resort. Amoz had insisted they spend time at The Royal before attending the Christmas celebration they had been invited to in Hattan. Inwardly, Teresa was frustrated. She didn’t want to go anywhere new. She preferred their palace and the quiet gardens. At least there she could hide her failures. Now, there would be no place to hide away without others discovering her inabilities.

  It was bad enough that her own husband had witnessed her inability to care for her son, she couldn’t bear it if anyone else was to find out. Clenching her fists, Teresa ignores Amoz’ gaze and questions as they enter the VIP area of the resort. In a separate vehicle, their security team exit and surrounded the limo, waiting for it to come to a complete stop.

  Waiting until Amoz exits the car first, Teresa finally lets out the breath she is holding, only to pause when she meets the gaze of Xavier’s nursemaid. The young girl has been a true friend to Teresa and Xavier liked her. Perhaps that was the answer. Let the maid be Xavier’s mother. She was so much better at it than Teresa, a wicked voice croons to Teresa inwardly.

  At the sight of Amoz’ hand outstretched for her to take, Teresa gently takes it and shudders at the feeling of warmth filling her cold bones. Amoz’ hands always warmed her up and sent tingles shooting through her spine. Though, the tingles over the last few months had been muted. Perhaps that has been why Amoz demanded she speak to a therapist or even why he’d brought them back to The Royal. The place they’d met and had started their physical relationship. Her husband obviously wishes to rekindle their physical relationship. Amoz would never stop trying to fix her. She didn’t need fixing. She was fine, she just needed space and time.

  As she exits the limo, Teresa comes face to face with the resorts head concierge, Henry. He smiles at her brightly and welcomes her and Amoz with open arms.

  “Your Highnesses’, it is so lovely to have you spending time at our resort once more!” All at once, Henry’s face grows solemn as he meets Teresa’s gaze, “Your Grace, I was so sorry to hear about your mother’s passing. Please accept the resort staff’s most sincere condolences.”

  Heart aching, Teresa feels her tears begin to well up again and this time, there is nowhere to hide. As if sensing her shifting mood, Amoz shifts his body, distracting Henry.

  “Thank you, Henry, please see that our bags are taken to our villa and our guards are given access to the resort. We will be traveling with our nursemaid and son, so please see that the maid is accommodated as well.”

  With her husband’s back to her, Teresa slowly backs away, almost bumping into one of the guards, who mutters in concern, “Are you alright, your Majesty?”

  “I need space,” Teresa whispers, though the only person who seems to hear her is Amoz as he spins around, worry in his eyes. He sees everything lately. All her failures. She is embarrassing him. Fake. Failure. Ugly. Cow.

  Ignoring the nursemaids questioning look as the woman holds Xavier in her arms, Teresa feels the weight of everyone’s stares becoming too much. Rushing past the guards, Teresa flees down the familiar tiled path. Not even Amoz’ cry for her to stop is enough for her to truly shake away the feeling of pain overcoming her.

  Walking the familiar path, Teresa sighs in frustration as she arrives before the Royal family’s villa. Thankfully, their villa is separate from the rest of the resort. Arriving at the front door, Teresa hangs her head in shame at the realization she doesn’t even have her pass key to enter her own villa. The walls to the gardens are too tall to climb. Not that she wants to be caught climbing the walls of her own villa. As if Amoz wasn’t already embarrassed enough. That would surely send him running for the hills.

  As if her willing the door to open was answered by God, himself, the door to her villa opens. Like looking in a mirror, Teresa stares at the woman before her. Instead of green eyes staring back at her, however, they are blue and the woman’s hair is pulled back in a loose bun.

  “Samantha,” Teresa gasps in shock. H
er sister, Samantha smiles back, though her eyes hold a deep sadness.

  “Hey, sis.”

  Inhaling a shuddering breath, Teresa allows her tears to form then. Seeing this, Samantha rushes forward and the two sisters embrace. Sobbing into her sister's shoulder, Teresa isn’t sure where her sobs end and Samantha’s sobs begin.

  13

  Six days until Christmas...

  Teresa watches as her sister thanks the villa’s maid for the tea tray and waits until the girl departs before speaking. The two sisters spent quite some time in each other’s arms, just crying and being with one another. Now they sit in the villas living room across from each other on the comfortably soft couch.

  “How did you get here?” Teresa asks bluntly.

  Not shocked by her question, Samantha leans back on the sofa, handing Teresa a cup of tea as her lips quirk in amusement, “I took a plane, of course.”

  Tilting her head, Teresa shoots her sister a look that plainly said, be serious.

  Smiling, Samantha reaches over and squeezes Teresa’s knee as she mutters, “Amoz called me.”

  Rolling her eyes at her sisters’ statement, Teresa glares into her cup of tea, “He had no right to involve you.”

  “Oh, so you divorced a man who abused you both mentally and physically only to marry a man who cares so much for you that he flies your sister halfway across the world just to cheer you up?” Samantha sputters in disbelief, gaining Teresa’s glaring attention.

  Inwardly bristling at her sister’s comment, Teresa wills away the memories of her ex-husband. Some things were best left in the past.

  Her sister doesn’t take her silence well and instead, snatches Teresa’s cup out of her hand and sets it aside, “What is going on with you?”

  Teresa clenches her fists in frustration. Shaking her head, she wills the tears to keep at bay. She has already cried enough in her sister’s presence. She couldn’t physically handle it anymore.

  “I’m fine,” Teresa groans and winces when her voice cracks.

  “Sure, you are,” Samantha mutters, “Then why don’t you tell me about Xavier?”

  Furiously wiping at her eyes, Teresa shakes her head, “I don’t want to…”

  Voice trailing off, Teresa leans her head back on the couch and sighs. It isn’t until Samantha’s warm hand clasps Teresa’s that she opens her eyes and meets her sisters gaze.

  “What’s going on, Teresa?”

  Bottom lip trembling, Teresa shakes her head. She can feel the pressure building inside her. Usually it diminishes when others back off, but this time, Samantha doesn’t back off.

  “Tell me! Is it Amoz? Is he hurting you? Are you sick?” She asks and Teresa covers her ears to stop the incessant questions from entering her jumbled mind. Silence follows when Samantha asks, “Is this about mom?”

  Pulling her hands from her ears, Teresa’s noisy sob echoes around the room as she tries to muffle them with her hands. Samantha’s warm arms wrap around Teresa tightly. Refusing to let her go when Teresa tries to escape, Samantha murmurs, “Let it out.”

  Finally, only a few minutes later, when Teresa’s sobs muffle, she inhales sharply and breathes out one sentence, causing Samantha to stiffen, “She’s gone.”

  “Who?” Samantha asks before clueing in and murmuring, “Mom?”

  Nodding against Samantha’s shoulder, Teresa whispers, “I’m a terrible mother.”

  Pulling back, her face filled with shock, Samantha asks in disbelief, “Why in God’s name, would you make a statement like that?”

  “I am, Sammy. Xavier cries all the time. I can’t breastfeed and every time I look at him, I cry. Besides, if I couldn’t even take care of my own mother, how can I possibly care for my own son?” Teresa murmurs before breaking into more sobs.

  Straightening in her seat, Samantha stands and puts her hands on her hips, something Teresa had seen their mother do many times before she was confined to her wheelchair.

  “You think you caused mom to pass away?” Samantha asks and Teresa winces at her harsh question.

  “I married a King, for goodness sake, Sammy. A man who has millions upon millions, but none of it mattered when it came to saving her. I failed her!”

  Shaking her head, Samantha collapses closer to Teresa on the couch, pulling her hands away from her sobbing face. Giving her a serious look, Samantha hushes Teresa’s sobs.

  “You know, that isn’t true. When it came down to the end, Mom was comfortable and she was surrounded by family. No other woman in the world had been given such amazing care,” Samantha murmurs.

  Squeezing Teresa’s hands, Samantha continues, “I’m not saying this isn’t hard for you. Hell, it was hard for me. I wasn’t even here when it happened. But I know Mom wouldn’t want you to wallow in your grief. Especially at the expense of Xavier or Amoz.”

  Shaking her head slowly, Teresa inhales, trying to calm her sobs and racing heart, “Xavier won’t breastfeed. We’ve had to switch to formula and every time I see him latch onto the bottle, I just start crying.”

  Nodding, Samantha soothes Teresa for a few more minutes, “I know it’s hard, but that little boy of yours loves you and he needs you, more than he needs you to breastfeed. It doesn’t matter if you can’t give him milk from your boob. You can still give him love and affection until he’s blue in the face.”

  A low chuckle at her sister’s description causes Teresa to sigh pathetically, “Amoz wants me to see a shrink. He must think I’m so weak and crazy.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with speaking to someone about what’s going on in there,” Samantha murmurs and points to Teresa’s head, “You did when you separated from Gerry.”

  “Gerry was abusive. How can I possibly tell a shrink anything like this? She’ll think I need to be sent to the funny farm!” Teresa cries and blows her nose into the tissue Samantha offers.

  “You just told me and I don’t think you need to be sent to some funny farm,” Samantha murmurs and strokes Teresa’s hair away from her face. Tilting her head slightly, Samantha smiles, “I think it’s good that you’re here. This place, well, I think it’ll help you and Amoz reconnect and definitely help you realize what an amazing mother you are to your son.”

  Not waiting for Teresa to protest, Samantha jumps up from the couch and claps her hands, “Let’s eat some of these sweets before the maid comes back to clean up. I’m starving!”

  Inwardly, Teresa’s mind is mulling over everything her sister had told her. She prayed Samantha was right.

  14

  Five days until Christmas…

  “A date?” Teresa gazes up at her husband in confusion as he turns sheepish and secretive looking.

  “Yes! I thought it might be nice. Just the two of us. You and Samantha spent so much time together last night that we didn’t even get a chance to enjoy supper together before you went to bed,” Amoz purrs as he carefully lifts Teresa’s feet from their prone position on the outdoor lounger to lay them in his lap as he takes their place on the cushion.

  Fingers carefully massaging her feet and toes, Teresa is barely able to examine her husband’s ulterior motives and begins moaning in pleasure. Whispering, Teresa concedes, “I guess it might be fun.”

  Shooting up with much excitement as her feet drop back onto the reclining lounging cushion, Amoz grins down at her with a wink, “Perfect! Meet me in the lobby at six, ya helo.”

  As Amoz moves to walk away towards their villa, Teresa cries out and then lowers her voice, realizing their son is taking a nap inside, “What about Xavier?”

  Grin widening, Amoz scoffs, “Our son will be spending the evening with his lovely Aunt!”

  Continuing on his path, her husband almost makes it inside before Teresa calls out to him again, “Where are you going?”

  Waggling his dark eyebrows at her, Amoz croons, “I must prepare for our date. Wear something sexy, ya helo.”

  And with that her husband darts inside the villa, disappearing from her view. Scanning the private pool
and spa area of their villa, Teresa bites her lip.

  Wear something sexy?

  “I don’t have anything sexy! Can a mother even be sexy?” Teresa cries in anguish as she throws bits of clothing off their hangers in the closet of the master suite of their villa.

  Samantha, who sits on the large bed behind her while she rocks her nephew, snorts and murmurs to Xavier in a goofy voice, “Mama is so silly. Doesn’t she know men love the MILF look.”

  Spinning around in the doorway of the closet, Teresa’s eyes widen in alarm as she hisses, “Don’t tell my son about MILFS!”

  Laughing at her, Samantha winks and turns her attention back to Xavier whose chubby hands bat at some of his aunt’s loose hair, “I don’t see what the big deal is. Amoz loves you. He thinks you’re always sexy.”

  Groaning, Teresa looks at herself in the floor length mirror and grimaces at her appearance. Child birth had given her more than just a little jiggle. Her curves had curves. Not to mention the stretch marks.

  “I haven’t been that kind of sexy since the day we met!” Teresa exclaims, but Samantha isn’t even paying attention as she lays Xavier in the middle of the bed and shakes a toy at him, causing the little baby to squeal.

  “Didn’t you tell me Amoz didn’t care about the scars Gerry gave you? Why would he care about those now?”

  Marching out of the closet, Teresa begins to pace, biting her lip and running her hands through her reddish brown hair, “It’s not just the scars anymore! I’m fat!”

  Rolling her eyes, Samantha looks Teresa up and down, “So your butt is a little bigger? So what? I thought Amoz was an ass man.”

  Grimacing, Teresa pushes past her sister and moves to cover Xavier’s ears, much to her son’s obvious delight at the new game, “You can’t talk about stuff like that in front of Xavier! I won’t have his first word being something derogatory.”

  Rolling her eyes once more, Samantha marches into Teresa’s closet, “I’m going to find you something sexy and if we can’t, well you just might have to go naked! I’m sure Amoz will love that. You guys won’t be able to leave the villa. You’ll be popping out another kid by the summer!”