‘And what is “the truth”? Enlighten me.’ They were snapping at each other, releasing the almost intolerable energy they created together in the only way open to them.
‘You want a woman barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. No opinions. No life of her own. That is why you are marrying Kalila.’
He was marrying Kalila because it was the only option left to him.
‘This is a pointless conversation.’
Her glossy mouth curved into a smile. ‘Men always say that when they’ve lost. Never “you’re right” or “I screwed up”, just “this is a pointless conversation”. Do they give speeding tickets out here? Because if they do then you’re going to get one. You seem angry. Are you angry?’ She was pushing him and he realised just how easy he made that for her. It was doubly frustrating because normally the desert relaxed him.
‘I’m concerned about Kalila. It’s important that we make the edge of the mountains by dusk.’ He slowed the speed fractionally, exasperated with himself for allowing her to wind him up. ‘I know a good place to camp, but I want to set up while there is still some light.’ That observation was greeted by silence.
‘So no chance of reaching your bride tonight then?’
‘If she is where her sister suspects she is, then no. We will have to stop for one night.’ A night alone in the desert with this woman. He was greeting that prospect with almost as much enthusiasm as his impending wedding.
‘So if her sister knew where she was going, why didn’t she stop her?’
‘She didn’t know. Kalila sent her the same note she sent me. Jasmina was afraid of her father’s reaction, so she contacted me instead. Which was fortunate because at least we have more to go on than we did before. She is covering for her sister. At the moment the Sheikh does not even know his daughter is not in her rooms.’
‘Her father sounds like a real treasure. Better to not have one than have one who induces fear.’
It was the first time he’d ever heard her mention her father.
Mal turned his head and glanced at her, but she was looking forwards, a tiny frown between her eyes as she focused on the sand dunes that rose either side of them. ‘I love how they change colour with the light. And the way the pattern changes—it’s fascinating.’
‘It’s the combination of wind and sun.’ He’d watched her fall in love with the exotic, mysterious dunes the first time round and he could still remember the delight on her face when she’d witnessed her first desert sunset. Another irony, he thought, that this woman who had been raised in a Western city should feel an affinity for the place of his birth while Kalila, with her desert heritage, found the place nothing short of repellent. ‘Your father wasn’t around when you were young?’
‘Are we playing psychotherapy next?’ She met question with question and he sighed, wondering what it took to get her to open up.
‘In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never talked about your father.’
‘That’s because there is nothing to say.’ Her cool tone was like a wind blown straight from the Arctic, her words designed to freeze that line of questioning in mid-flow.
Mal refused to be deflected even though part of him was wondering why he was choosing to ask these questions now, when it was too late for them. ‘Did he leave when you were young?’ It was a personal question, and probably unadvised given his vow to avoid the personal, but nevertheless he asked it. He’d always assumed that her father was somehow responsible for her aversion to marriage but she’d never given him any detail.
‘Why the sudden interest in my father? We were talking about Kalila’s situation, not mine.’
‘I’m just thinking it must have been hard for you growing up without a man in your life.’
‘You’re doing it again—assuming that a woman needs a man to survive.’
Mal breathed deeply, refusing to rise. ‘That is not what I assume. Why are you deliberately misinterpreting my words?’
‘I’m not. I just know you, Mal.’
‘Maybe you don’t.’ He wondered how he could have been so blinkered. She was afraid. Why hadn’t he seen that before?
‘We both know you have very traditional views on the role of women.’
‘Do not assume to know what I am thinking.’
‘It’s not hard to guess. You’re marrying a woman you barely know so that you can have a traditional set-up and breed children.’
‘Is it so wrong to think a child benefits from being raised in a traditional family unit?’
‘I wasn’t raised in a traditional family unit and I’m fine.’
No, he thought. You’re not fine. ‘I’m not saying that a child can’t be fine with one parent. But family offers security.’