Chapter Twenty-Nine
Their procession back to the airport was a reversal of their journey to Cooke Place only a few days earlier. Sameera turned around to watch the big house disappear behind her before settling beside Tom. His hand was warm in hers, and he squeezed it, once.
When she checked her phone, she saw that Bee had left several text messages.
What is happening up there?
Girl, are you leaving me on read??
I’ll pull some favors at work. We can still salvage this!
Just let me know you’re okay.
Sameera texted back that she was fine, and promised a long phone call when she landed.
Bee responded with a heart emoji. She settled back in her seat and tried to banish her sadness.
Sameera knew that even if she never returned to Wolf Run and never saw Barb, Rob, or Calvin again, she would never forget this trip.
She felt fundamentally changed by the journey, with a clearer sense of who she was and what she wanted: a closer, more open relationship with her family; the ability to open her heart to new experiences and possibilities .
. . and Tom. She squeezed his hand back.
“You’ll text me when you land?” Tom asked, his voice low and intimate in her ear. “And answer the dozen texts I send every day?”
“I’ll respond to one in four,” she teased.
“I miss you already,” he said quietly.
Their mothers were silent in the driver and passenger seats, but she spotted them exchanging indulgent smiles. We’re not together, she wanted to remind them. Long-distance never works. Not for two workaholics like Tom and me.
Except Barb and Rob had started off long-distance, too, Sameera remembered. But Barb had moved to Wolf Run, which Sameera couldn’t do. Her life, her family, her job—for now, at least—were all in Atlanta.
At the airport, the Maliks and the Cookes hugged and exchanged promises to stay in touch. At Tahsin’s side, Naveed cleared his throat. “We have a confession of our own to make,” he said, glancing at his wife.
Esa gasped. “Your marriage is a sham, too? A long con to inherit a castle in Hyderabad?”
Tahsin tsked at Esa. “Don’t be silly, beta. Your father and I might have started out that way, but we decided to stay together after year three.”
Everyone paused to look at her, and Tom laughed. Sameera followed a beat later—her mother had made a joke, and it was actually funny.
“The truth is, we agreed to come to Alaska with our daughter not simply to help her but also to protect her. We were unsure what she was getting herself into,” Tahsin said.
Naveed turned to Rob. “I am sorry to have deceived you all. The truth is, we have never, not once, celebrated Christmas. I’m sure you could not tell, but I wanted to be honest.”
Rob cleared his throat and, with a glance at his wife, accepted Naveed’s apology. “Quite all right. The chocolate cross might have given you away, delicious though it was.”
“Perhaps you can visit us in Atlanta sometime,” Tahsin offered. “We celebrate Eid again in the fall.”
“The hungry one or the other one?” Tom asked with a smile for Sameera, a callback to their first conversation. Had it really been less than two weeks ago?
“The hungry one,” Tahsin answered, confusion on her face. “Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan. We would love to host you all.”
“I’ll be sure to bring a chocolate-covered star and crescent,” Rob said. And then there was nothing more to do but walk toward the security line. The family group moved ahead of Tom and Sameera, giving them a chance to say a private goodbye.
“You’ve got everything you need?” Tom asked, his voice gruff. He was playing with the edge of her sweater.
No, she resisted the urge to say. Because I don’t have you. Because you didn’t ask me to wait for you. The moment heated as their eyes locked, but Tom didn’t make a move, and she had a flight to catch, a job and a life to return to. Sameera turned to go.
“Wait,” Tom said.
“Yes?”
He stared at her as if memorizing every atom on her face. “Have a safe trip.”
With a tight nod, she returned to her family. At the security gate, Esa stopped abruptly, brow furrowed. “I forgot something!” he announced.
Sameera tugged on his arm. “It’s too late, buddy. We’ve got a plane to catch.”
Esa didn’t budge. “I really need to go back for this one thing,” he said.
“Beta, we will miss our flight,” Naveed said gently. “Whatever it is you forgot, we can ask Rob to mail it, okay?”
Esa shook his head, his mouth in a mutinous, stubborn line. “It’s not something you can mail. We can drive back and return in time for the flight. You know Mom always lies about the departure time so we’re five hours early.”
They all looked at Tahsin, who shrugged. “If I told you when our flights really left, we would always be late.”
Back at the house, Esa jumped out of the truck and ran inside. Mystified, Sameera and Nadiya hurried to catch up.
Inside, Esa handed the Elf on a Shelf to Calvin, who had stayed home. “This is for you,” Esa said. “Keep our Christmas pranking tradition alive, all right?”
Calvin nodded, and the boys solemnly dapped each other.
“This is what you forgot?” Tahsin asked, exasperated, but Esa shook his head.
“Nope. I forgot this,” he said, and walked over to Atlas. Reaching down, he hugged the big dog, who only yawned in response, displaying all her teeth. Esa stood up. “Okay, now we can go.”
Shaking her head, Tahsin turned to apologize to Rob, only to find him deep in conversation with her husband.
“Actually, Tahsin, maybe we can stay a bit longer,” Naveed said, looking at his wife. Sameera recognized the gleam in his eyes. He got the same expression on his face when he unboxed a new Gundam robot. “Rob and I might have a solution to both of our problems.”
Sameera, Nadiya, and Tom exchanged baffled glances, but judging from the smug look on Esa’s face, he had some inkling of what was going on.
“Spill it, squirt,” Sameera said, but her brother only danced away.
“I suggest you all get comfortable. I have a feeling we’re not going anywhere today. It’s a Christmas miracle!” Esa proclaimed.
“Not our holiday,” Nadiya reminded him.
Tahsin and Barb had joined the discussion by now, leaving the younger set to watch their parents, perplexed.
“What could they possibly be talking about now?” Sameera asked. Her sister was surprisingly nonchalant about the delay. She plopped down into the armchair Andy had favored and shrugged out of her jacket.
“Dad and Rob were talking on the way to the airport about a business thing,” she said. “They were going to talk more over the phone, but I guess now is as good a time as ever.”
Sameera traded an exasperated glance with Tom, but he seemed thoughtful. “Coffee?” he suggested, and they retired to the kitchen, where Tom did something complicated with the espresso machine, his back to her.
“If we leave in the next twenty minutes, we should be okay,” Sameera started, cutting the tension between them.
Her heart started to beat fast, as it tended to do whenever they were alone together.
“Don’t worry, you won’t have to put up with my family—or me—for another night.
” Her laugh sounded artificial to her own ears, and when Tom turned to look at her, his face was set.
“I want to put up with you,” he said, biting off the words as if they were painful. “I could barely manage to say goodbye at the airport. I don’t know if I can let you go a second time.”
Sameera stared at him. “But you didn’t even hug me goodbye!” she protested.
Tom’s hands were fists at his sides. Now he crowded her against the kitchen island. He leaned close, eyes dark with hunger. “I didn’t want to hug you,” he growled. “I knew if I touched you, there was no way you were getting on that plane, Sameera Malik.”
This kiss wasn’t chaste, or tender, or a friendly brush of his lips against hers. His kiss said I want you and I need you and don’t go, all at once, the force of his passion making her lean back against the countertop, until she regained her senses and pushed back.
“You didn’t even ask me to stay,” she said accusingly, one finger poking into his chest. He pulled her roughly to him again.
“You have a life in Atlanta,” he gasped when they finally came up for air. “I didn’t want to make this harder on you.”
A deep sense of contentment filled her, and she nudged him with her hips, still firmly held against his. “I think you’re hard enough,” she teased.
“I didn’t want you to feel obliged, like you owed me anything,” he started again. “I can’t make any promises because I don’t know how long I’ll be here. But if—”
“When,” Sameera corrected him, kissing him softly once. “When you return, and after you make me a batch of samosas, and after you’ve kissed me senseless.”
His chuckle was warm caramel along her spine, and his arms tightened around her waist. “After all that,” he agreed. “Then what?”
“Then we figure it out together,” Sameera said. “I’m not going anywhere. Are you?”
He shook his head, and they kissed some more before making coffee for everyone. Their parents were still in deep discussion, but her sister quirked an eyebrow at Sameera before indicating that Tom had something on his cheek.
“That shade of pink looks good on you,” she joked, and Tom swiped Sameera’s lipstick from his face without a trace of embarrassment.
“Get used to it,” he said, handing out the coffee.
Naveed waited until everyone had taken a seat before speaking. “Rob and I didn’t want to say anything before, until we had a chance to really talk. Esa provided a reason to keep our conversation going.”
“Conversation about what?” Sameera asked. Tom sat beside her, and beneath the table, his hand gripped her knee in a familiar gesture, as if it belonged there.
“I’ve been retired for over two years,” Naveed started. “And your mother joined me last year. We’ve taken cruises and fixed up the house, and I’ve built a dozen Gundam robots.”
Sameera exchanged a baffled glance with Nadiya. They knew all this. What was her father getting at?
“I’m bored,” Naveed announced. “I’ve been bored silly for about six months.” He glanced at his wife, and Tahsin nodded. “What we both need is a new adventure. Something different. Something exciting. Something like starting a business, right here in Wolf Run.”
Sameera gaped at her father. What was he talking about? It was true Naveed had been at loose ends lately, but this sounded as if he’d been looking for something new.
“Your father and I are going into business together,” Rob announced.
“Andy had the right idea, you know. Wolf Run needs a shot of new life, but not a massive transformation. Between the two of us, we have the contacts, cash, and interest to turn this place into a ski resort. A small one,” he hastened to add.
“Exclusive,” Tahsin chimed in. “Aimed at retirees, families, people looking for a bit of skiing in a quaint small town. Wolf Run is perfect.”
This time Sameera’s confusion was shared by her sister. “But you don’t even ski. Are you moving to Alaska?”
Naveed shook his head, then, thinking it over, shrugged. “Not at first, no. But your mother and I will be spending a lot of time here to help get the business up and running.” He glanced between Sameera and Tom, who had grown still beside her. “Now you and Tom will both have a reason to return.”
Sameera turned to look at Tom, and the happiness she saw in his eyes made her answer easy. “We can’t wait,” she said.