The Sheikh's Stolen Bride-To-Be

by Rayner, Holly

  “We were thinking about stopping in at one of your mother’s favorite places when we get there. You know, before the ceremony preparations get underway.”

  “That sounds nice,” Steph said, poking at her food with her fork.

  She glanced up in time to catch a meaningful stare between her parents. Her father cleared his throat.

  “Maybe it would help if I told you about the experience I had with your mother,” he said.

  That caught her attention. Her parents had rarely talked about the circumstances of their marriage. She knew it had been arranged, but that was all they had been willing to reveal about it. She watched her father carefully. Seeing that he had her attention, he took a breath and told his tale.

  “I had just finished making my first couple million. I wasn’t particularly young anymore, but I wasn’t old either. I had women throwing themselves at me, left and right.”

  Jerry paused as Elora cleared her throat. Casting her a sideways glance, he cleared his own throat and continued.

  “Yes, well. The point is, none of them were interested in who I was as a person. All they wanted was my money, whereas I needed a woman who would stick by me, no matter what. An El Farahn business associate of mine recommended checking out an arranged marriage. English is spoken in El Farah, and the women there are exceptional, he told me. So, I figured I’d take a risk.”

  He gazed warmly at Elora, then, reaching over and taking her hand in his.

  “It was strange at first. I won’t lie to you about that. We didn’t meet until the day of our wedding, and it had to be alone. No family were allowed to be present. It all felt so secret and exciting. When I saw your mother for the first time, I knew I’d made the right choice.”

  Steph noticed that Elora was strangely quiet during this retelling. Jerry finished his story with gusto.

  “We worked through the awkwardness of not knowing one another until we found that the things we had in common helped build a stronger love than any I could have hoped to find. That’s all we want for you, Steph: a chance at a love with a good foundation and the right start.”

  “You mean financially,” Steph said.

  Jerry frowned. “That’s a part of it, but I mean in all ways. I think the man we’ve found is an exceptional person and will make a wonderful husband for you in every possible way.”

  Elora’s dark eyes landed on her daughter, then. “Duty matters, Stephanie. It’s important that you understand this, as it is a very big part of who we are as women of El Farah. You will find happiness, even if it isn’t there at the beginning.”

  Jerry cast his wife a curious glance at that statement, but he didn’t ask about it. The conversation was finished, and the family finished their dinner in comfortable silence. When their plates were clean, Steph helped her mother wash up.

  “Stephanie, there is a box in the attic I want you to find before we go,” Elora said, putting the last plate away in the cabinet. “You’ll find a beautiful little hair accessory that I wore on my wedding day, and that my mother wore on hers. I think it will go beautifully with your gown.”

  Elora told her where to find the box before sending her up to the attic on her own. Steph pulled down the folded staircase and headed up the steps into the cool dark room above their house, turning on the flashlight on her phone to better see the space.

  She’d always been a little afraid of the attic. There was nothing particularly exciting up there—mostly spiders, from what her father told her.

  Looking around now, it was clear that he had been pulling her chain. The room was tidy and clean, with several labeled boxes stacked around the room.

  Following her mother’s directions, Steph headed toward a corner of the room where she found a box labelled “wedding.”

  “You must be my treasure,” she murmured, pulling the box from its corner.

  It was taped shut, and Steph was careful as she used her recently manicured nails to peel at the tape, opening the tattered old box. Inside there was a random jumble of things, and she began pawing through to find the accessory her mother had been talking about.

  There were piles of documents outlining the details of the marriage. Steph read a few paragraphs of small print before she got bored and set the papers aside, looking for better things. Her mother’s small, diamond-encrusted tiara was in a black box, snugly encased. Steph delicately pulled it out, turning it around to catch the muted light of her phone. It was petite, delicate, and beautiful.

  And it was a total wake-up call.

  Steph would be wearing this tiara on her wedding day, in just a few days’ time. She placed it on her head and reached for her phone, taking a picture without looking to make sure the flash illuminated the image. When she turned it around, she stared at the picture for a moment.

  In all honesty, she looked sad. Was this really what she wanted? To be dressed up as a beautiful doll and given away to some man? While her parents hadn’t really given her a choice in the matter, deep down Steph knew she had one. She could still say no. She could walk away.

  She could devastate her mother for the rest of her life.

  Steph sighed as she removed the tiara and placed it back in its case. She sorted through the box a little more, for curiosity’s sake, and came across a small pile of photographs from her parents’ wedding day.

  Her father looked young and handsome. He was smiling in every picture, clearly overjoyed with his new bride.

  Her mother, on the other hand, was another story entirely. Steph looked through picture after picture, all of which must have been taken after the private ceremony. In each image, Elora’s gaze was downcast, her features grim. While there were some images in which she had tried to smile for the camera, Steph knew her mother well enough to know that she had been faking it.

  Elora had not been happy the day she married Steph’s father. That much was clear.

  What had she said at dinner? That duty was the most important thing? She had done this out of duty—to her family, to their culture—over any personal feelings she might have had on the subject. Steph wondered if her mother’s parents had ever asked her what she had really wanted either, though she already knew that answer.

  In that moment, Steph knew she couldn’t go through with the ceremony. She couldn’t look as downtrodden as her mother had on her wedding day. That was supposed to be the most romantic day of a person’s life!

  Thinking back on the conversation she’d had with her parents at dinner, Steph couldn’t think of a way to express her concerns and actually get either of them to understand. Her father had justified her nerves as those of a skittish bride, afraid of the unknown. Her mother had dismissed them in favor of doing what she must, in the name of tradition.

  With her stomach in knots, Steph put the photos back in the box and closed it up, carrying the tiara downstairs before folding the stairs back up into the ceiling. She headed to her room, where she set the tiara in her suitcase. Her mother called from the living room.

  “Stephanie! Did you find the headpiece?”

  “I did,” Steph called back. “It’s already packed!”

  When she didn’t hear footsteps coming in her direction, Steph perched on the small windowsill of her tiny bedroom and stared out as the Vermont sun sank beneath the trees, casting an indigo glow across the carpet of forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. She looked at her phone again, tapping it open and looking at the picture of her in the tiara.

  She had never looked more scared in her life.

  Her parents came upstairs, then, knocking on her door.

  “Come in,” she said dully, closing out the screen and setting the phone down next to her.

  “Are you ready for tomorrow?” her father asked, ever enthusiastic.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Steph answered.

  Jerry nodded as though he understood, which of course he didn’t at all. “It’s going to be wonderful. We’ll have much to celebrate in the next few weeks, and there will be lots of ti
me for you to get to know your new beau. You’re going to have fun. You’ll see.”

  Her father walked over and planted an affectionate kiss on her brow, giving her an encouraging smile as he left the room, his hand squeezing his wife’s shoulder.

  Elora stared at Steph for a moment longer before she came and sat on her bed. “Do you have any questions for me?” she asked gently.

  Steph was taken aback. Elora had a way of being tough and cold, but loving all at the same time. It was difficult to explain. She simply showed her emotions differently, and while Steph knew she was deeply loved, it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to have an emotional conversation with her mother. A moment ago she would have jumped at the chance, but now, faced with the opportunity to tell her all her fears and worries, her tongue felt firmly tied.

  “Not that I can think of,” she said, even as her brain screamed at her for not telling the truth.

  What good would it do? Her fate was sealed now.

  After a moment, her mother released a breath. “I know how frightening it can be,” she said. “But you must know that we would never put you in a bad situation. We have done our due diligence by you, and I believe very firmly that you will be happy.”

  “What am I going to do without you?” Steph asked in a small voice.

  It was the one unasked question none of them had wanted to answer. Having found a man in El Farah, it wasn’t clear whether Steph’s parents would also stay in the country. Steph had been trying to come to terms with the fact that she very likely would be alone, married to a stranger in a foreign country that she felt no allegiance to.

  It wasn’t exactly the most comforting of thoughts, and while her parents believed they had chosen a good man, Steph knew that anyone could look good on paper. That didn’t mean they weren’t lying or hiding some aspect of themselves. What if she got trapped in a terrible marriage? What if she had to find a way to escape?

  Elora placed a warm hand over her daughter’s, startling her. “You’re going to make it through this just fine, Stephanie. Take your fears and pack them away. I would never send you to a man who could not provide for you in all ways. The emotional connection can grow between a man and a woman. I promise.”

  Elora hesitated before wrapping Steph in a tight hug. In a moment that was meant to be touching, Steph felt cold and awkward. After a moment, Elora stood and exited the room, reminding her daughter to get a good night’s sleep.

  Curling up under the comforter, Steph imagined that would be much more difficult that it seemed. Somehow her eyes managed to close, and the last thing she saw was the image of her frightened face on her phone, floating in her mind’s eye.

  Chapter 3

  Steph

  Steph woke up to a stream of gentle sunlight caressing her face. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light, and smiled. She had left her window open all night, and the scent of pine and fresh earth permeated the space, reminding her to keep her American roots close even as she prepared to pull them out from under herself.

  Her father was at her door a moment later, checking to make sure she was awake.

  “Big day!” he said, giving her two thumbs up.

  Steph began to wonder if some of that enthusiasm wasn’t a little bit forced for her benefit.

  She had always been close to her father. Perhaps he was emotional at the thought of be separated from her, too? Perhaps he was giving up a piece of himself for her happiness, too, though Steph’s was clearly at risk.

  Then again, wasn’t love a risk, no matter what?

  Steph took a steadying breath before sitting up, prepared to face the day. Not that there was much to face. The journey would take thirteen hours, and then they would be in a totally different time zone, recovering from jet lag. Not exactly the most exciting prospect, but what came after would be the adventure. Steph would get to set foot on a land that was in her blood, a part of her that had always been missing in so many ways.

  She double-checked for her passport before lugging her suitcase out to the front door and setting it next to her parents’. Her mother had made a traditional El Farahn breakfast of toasted pita bread with spices and a sweet mint tea. Elora didn’t always make El Farahn food, so Steph knew it was her way of getting her accustomed to what she would be eating from now on, though part of her wished she’d made scrambled eggs and toast, just for one last hurrah as a full-time American.

  The family enjoyed a pleasant breakfast before locking up the house and loading the car with their luggage. Steph took the time to really listen to the radio, feeling a sense of doom. Everything was the last—the last breakfast, the last car ride, all of it. With each step they took, it was getting harder for her to tell herself that it wasn’t actually going to happen.

  They parked in long-term parking at the airport, taking a shuttle to the main terminal and checking their suitcases. Somehow, Steph had managed to pack everything that really mattered to her in a regular-sized suitcase. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not; she had had a full and wonderful life up to that point, so shouldn’t she have had more to show for it?

  As they boarded the plane, Steph squeezed in between her parents in coach, prepared for a long, uncomfortable flight. An attendant walked down the aisle until she stopped and looked at their seat numbers.

  “Are you the O’Hanlon family?” the woman asked, and Jerry confirmed that they were.

  The attendant smiled. “If you’ll please come with me,” she said, taking a step back.

  Steph and her parents looked from one to the other in confusion. Not knowing what else to do, they stood and followed the woman up the aisle toward the front of the plane. She stopped at a row in first class.

  “You have been upgraded, courtesy of your future son-in-law. He didn’t provide any other information outside of that.”

  Steph and her parents stared at the woman, as though they were waiting for a punch line or for her to send them back to coach, and then they all burst into laughter.

  “See, I told you he was a catch!” Elora said, beaming from ear to ear as she settled into one of the plush seats with plenty of leg space.

  Settling into her own seat, Steph couldn’t help but be charmed by the generous gesture. It had cost her dad a pretty penny to get the three of them out to El Farah, and this upgrade was a reminder of the lifestyle they had once enjoyed. As Jerry sat down next to his daughter, she leaned in, ready to pry out some details.

  “Okay, spill. You have to tell me something about this guy, Dad. Just one tiny little detail!”

  Jerry shook his head, casting a glance at Elora, who was accepting a glass of mimosa while she perused the movies that were available to watch during the flight. Her expression was one of pure bliss.

  Steph realized that her mother had lost much when their stock had turned against them, though she had never once complained. She had simply soldiered on, ensuring that the rest of the family did, too.

  “Not a word from me, missy. I will not suffer your mother’s wrath by breaking with tradition. I’d never hear the end of it.”

  “Come on, she’s not even listening. Look!”

  Elora had her headphones on and what looked like a romantic comedy playing as she snuggled under a plush blanket and sipped on her morning cocktail. Jerry hesitated, and Steph saw an opening.

  “I’m going to marry this man, Dad. Don’t you think I deserve to know about him? What’s his job? What does he like to do for fun? Anything! Throw me a bone here!”

  Jerry considered her request, pursing his lips as he stroked his cleanly shaven chin. “All right,” he said, turning to her in a conspiratorial way. “He’s the kind of man who would put your whole family in first class on the way to meet him. Doesn’t that speak volumes about his character?”

  “I guess,” Steph mumbled, disappointed. It was clear that she wasn’t going to get any more information before the big day.

  Pulling up her own blanket and pointedly ignoring her father, Steph snuggled in and pic
ked a very long movie. She would be watching several of them on the way to her new home country.

  That was, if she could really stomach the possibility of what waited on the other side.

  * * *

  Many hours later, the pilot came on the speaker to inform them that they would be landing in El Farah in twenty minutes. It had been a luxurious day of lounging, snacking, and watching movies, as Steph had opted to make the most of the situation by enjoying some of her last moments with her parents as a single woman.

  By the end of the week she would become somebody’s wife, and according to her mother, that took precedence over her relationship with anyone else besides any children she might have.

  Steph tried to ignore how old-fashioned that sounded as she fought to savor every little bit of her time with her parents. As the ocean came to an end, an arid desert landscape, laced with palm trees and scattering pieces of oasis, came into view. A few gleaming cities dotted the scene, but the country seemed to be comprised mostly of beaches and desert.

  Steph watched with curiosity as her mother’s homeland came into view. Of course she had seen pictures, but nothing compared to the real thing. The plane approached the runway, landing gently as it touched the ground, sealing Steph’s fate.

  There would be no turning back now. She was in El Farah, possibly forever.

  She felt a sudden wave of homesickness wash over her, and she silently chastised herself. How many times over the years had she wished for an opportunity like this? To get away from her small Vermont life and see the world and all it had to offer? Missing home wouldn’t do her any good, she reminded herself over and over until eventually the feeling subsided.

  Being in first class, the O’Hanlons were among the first off the plane. They quickly made their way through customs before stepping out into the hot, desert air.

  Steph lost her breath in the dry heat, which was scorching compared to Vermont. She instantly longed to be sitting by her town’s lake, basking in the gentle Northeastern sun, not being beaten down by this harsh desert one. Her father hailed a cab, and before she knew it, Steph was speeding along toward their hotel, staring out the window at this foreign land that shouldn’t have been foreign.