Page 45 of Her Surprise Baby Christmas
“We have nothing,” he said urgently.
“It doesn’t sound like nothing.” She stared up at him for several long seconds and then moved through the door. It was cold outside, and fairy lights were strung overhead.
“Don’t call me,” she reminded him, turning away quickly and fumbling her way down the steps, to the waiting car. She had no idea where she would go, but she knew she couldn’t stay here in Athens a moment longer.
CHAPTER TEN
“I’LL CANCEL,” SOPHIA MURMURED, stroking Bella’s dark hair, her enormous blue eyes roaming Bella’s face with concern. “We can push it back.”
Bella’s smile was weak. “Don’t be silly. You can’t cancel.”
“I can delay.”
“It’s your wedding ceremony,” Bella pointed out quietly, shaking her head and leaning back on the sofa. “The whole country’s invited.”
“Not quite the whole country,” Sophia corrected. “Only the al-hashaman.”
“What’s that, for those of us not fluent in Abu Fayan?”
“You’re going to have to learn to speak the language one day,” Sophia chided gently.
“I know. And I will.”
“The al-hashaman is the parliament,” Sophia explained, her smile tight. “And foreign dignitaries. That kind of thing. But I can move it. The most important thing was the betrothal, and that’s all been finalized. Like it or lump it, I am to marry the king of Abu Faya.”
Bella pushed up and peered at her sister through hair that was in need of a wash. They’d been in Colorado three days, and Bella couldn’t remember when she’d last showered. “You want to marry him, though.”
“Yes,” Sophia nodded calmly.
“So why would you put it off? To watch me wallow?”
“Yes.” Sophia nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. “You bet.”
And ridiculously, Bella laughed. “You have to go. And honestly, I just want to be alone.” She winced, softening the rejection from the words. “I love you, and I’m so thankful you’ve been here, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to process any of this until I’ve had a few days of complete silence.”
Sophia nodded thoughtfully. “So mom’s in love with him?” Sophia prompted, reaching for her tea cup and wrapping her fingers around it. The enormous diamond ring she wore, an engagement present from Addan, glistened in the gentle evening light of their cabin. Beyond the windows, the mountains were white with snow, and enormous pine trees jutted out of the ground like real-life Christmas trees.
“I haven’t spoken to her,” Bella said quietly. “But yes. I believe so.”
“And he loves her?”
The question – entirely natural given the situation – still felt as though Bella was being scalped. “I don’t know.” A hoarse whisper, and then a sob, and her hand dropped to her stomach. “I don’t know, but I can’t get the idea of them out of my mind. How could I have fallen in love with him when he was … God, Fi. I’m so angry with myself.”
“Why?” Sophia demanded, her expression stern. “You did nothing wrong, just like he said. You’re the innocent in all of this. You met some hot guy in a bar and hooked up. Who hasn’t?”
“You,” Bella said, smiling in spite of herself.
“I might as well have been engaged to Addan since I could walk,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “But what you did was totally normal. And then you tried to tell him about the baby, but he was a total douche. And when he came to you in Edinburgh, you were reasonable and polite and you even agreed to marry the guy, because you wanted what was best for the baby – never mind that he’d treated you like crap. Bells, you have behaved in a way you should be completely proud of.”
Bella fixed Sophia with a dubious stare. “I fell in love with him.”
The confession sat, heavily, in the room for a minute, and Sophia sighed. “With your own husband? How dare you?” The words were teasing, yet sad. “What is the world coming to where a woman might actually love the man she’s committed to spend the rest of her life with?”
Bella laughed again, even when there was nothing funny about it. “I just mean, I fell in love and I never asked the questions I should have asked. I should have gone deeper, I should have asked him more about mom and dad. I shouldn’t have trusted him so soon,” her voice broke. “I shouldn’t have believed him.”
“Why?” Sophia challenged.
“Because he lied to me.”