Steph pondered her comparison for a moment. “Of course not, but liking vegetables and marrying someone are two pretty different things.”
“That is true,” Elora agreed. “However, you have to acknowledge the positive changes that came from a little pressure from us as your parents. To me, this was no different than that. I see now that, perhaps, in this instance, I was wrong.”
“In this instance?” Steph said with a smirk.
Elora’s grin was sheepish. “Don’t push it. You’re getting one of my rare apologies, and I’ve been very angry with you these past few days.”
“I’m sorry,” Steph said, and she meant it.
Elora reached out a hand and grabbed Steph’s, squeezing it gently. “Now, tell me what Sadiq was talking about when he said you were already in love with someone. As far as I knew, you didn’t have any love interests back in Vermont.”
Steph blushed a little, but she decided to tell her mother everything. After what she had just put the woman through, she deserved to know the whole truth.
“The other night, when I went out walking, I got lost. A man found me crying by a fountain, and he gave me a tour of the aquarium before showing me the way back to the hotel. He is the person who sent the limo to take me away, and he is the reason I didn’t show up to the wedding. Otherwise, I would have gone through with it.”
“You were kidnapped?”
The worry in Elora’s eyes was real, and Steph shook her head.
“It wasn’t a kidnapping. Well, it kind of was. The truth is, Mehdi offered me my freedom from an arranged marriage, and I took it. I didn’t have to stay at the palace. I chose to.”
Elora’s eyebrows shot up. “The palace? Do you mean to tell me that the man you have fallen in love with is...” She sputtered, unable to find the words. The teapot began to whistle, but Elora ignored it, waiting for Steph to answer her question.
Steph grinned. “Sheikh Mehdi of El Farah? Yeah, that’s the guy.”
FOURTEEN
Steph
Deciding to give her mother some time to absorb that information, Steph rose and removed the screaming teapot from the burner, filling two mugs and bringing them out to the living room, where she set them on the coffee table. By the time she sat down, Elora seemed to have recovered, somewhat.
“You know I would have approved of such a match, right? You would be royalty, Stephanie!”
The thought hadn’t really occurred to her, though Steph realized that marrying Mehdi would come with its fair share of royal obligations. She wondered if she would have a hard time adapting to that life. Then she thought about Mehdi’s face and couldn’t care less about the challenges. She would be with him, and that was what mattered.
“Yes, I suppose I would.”
“You speak as though your chance with him has passed. Has it?”
Steph hesitated, reaching for her hot teacup and blowing on the steaming liquid before taking a tentative sip. It burned her tongue, so she set it back down.
“Not necessarily.”
“What does that mean?” her mother asked.
“It means that I left him to come resolve our situation, but he’s left me a window. He said he’d wait for me on the beach tomorrow evening at sunset, if I could find a way to change my fate.”
Elora plucked her own teacup from the table and took a sip.
“And what are you going to do?”
Steph sat back, realizing she actually had a choice now. A real one. She could pick Mehdi and spend the rest of her life with him, if she wanted.
And, God, did she want to.
When Steph looked back at her mother, her smile was radiant. “I suppose I’ll just have to wait until sunset tomorrow and see if my king is waiting for me on the shores of El Farah.”
Elora grinned, gripping her daughter’s hand once again. “I should have allowed you to make your own choice. In the end you picked better than I ever could.”
Steph laughed. “In the end Mehdi and I picked each other. At least, I hope so,” she said, looking out into the night.
Elora took a breath, letting out a gusty exhale. “I suppose we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go check on your father. I’m afraid I might have scared him a bit when prying information about your whereabouts from him.”