Chapter 47
ISAAC
There was a damn parade outside of the Saad estate in Sharm El-Sheikh. Their entire family and most of their closest friends awaited the arrival of my family. When Basel had said we needed to keep the wedding away from Cairo, I’d figured he meant we were going to keep it intimate too.
Instead, at least three hundred people were gathered on the grounds, cars lining the road all the way to the next intersection. Upbeat music played so loudly, I was sure they could hear it all the way down to the beach.
When the convoy of SUVs carrying the Thayers and the Westwoods rolled up, the crowd surged forward, smiles and laughter all around when the doors started opening. I waited right at the front gate, grinning when Ryan emerged first.
“Is all this for us?” he asked, looking slightly alarmed as he shook my hand. “I don’t remember quite so many people when we arrived for Colin’s wedding.”
“That’s because only the men were there,” Colin said as he climbed out after Isaac. “The woman were already at the resort, remember?”
“Fair enough.” Ryan grinned and Colin was almost immediately pulled into the arms of the overenthusiastic aunties, disappearing into a swarm of brightly colored dresses as he laughed and hugged them back.
I was still impressed that he could even remember all their names, let alone know which kid belonged to whom and what they all did for a living. My head shook as I watched him go. One day, I’ll know who they are too.
In my defense, he’d spent a lot of time with them in the process of earning Deja’s hand. Me? I’d met most of them for the first time only yesterday.
Jane, Alex, and their kids appeared out of the next car and Cameron stole my attention away from Colin’s grand entrance almost immediately. Wearing a little suit complete with a bow tie and waistcoat, he looked so damn cute that I laughed, dropping to my haunches. He launched himself at me.
“Isaac!”
“Hey, buddy,” I said, wrapping him up in my arms for a tight hug. “I love the suit.”
“Can I ride a camel now?” he asked, his expression completely serious as he pulled away after hugging me back.
I laughed again. “I’ll make it happen before you leave.”
His blue eyes widened, shining with pure, unbridled delight. “Promise?”
“Of course.”
I caught Jane giving me the side-eye as I said it, but I shrugged at her, pushing back up to my feet to pull her into my arms next. “What? That kid has priorities.”
“He’s my kind of guy,” Ryan said, watching as Cameron raced off to join the rest of the kids running around the courtyard. “He sure doesn’t wait for opportunity to find him, does he?”
Jane glanced between us, sighing as she shook her head. “Don’t encourage him. Where are we even going to find a camel?”
“Everywhere,” I said vaguely, though that wasn’t quite as true as I’d thought before I’d come here. Either way, I’d make it happen. There were definitely camels available for rent in this area.
Alex waved at me and reached back into the car to help my mom out of the backseat. I smiled when I saw her, Nora Thayer, the mother of our merry band of troublemakers.
Back in the day, she’d been the most composed, most elegant woman most people would ever meet, but Dad’s arrest and the public revelation of his indiscretions had nearly broken her.
While she was doing better these days, she was still nowhere near what she had been, seeming so much smaller and more timid as she straightened after climbing out of the car.
Her silvery hair had been swept up into some kind of elegant bun and her dress was a bright purple and yellow creation Deja must’ve arranged for her. I made a show of taking it in as I made my way over. Grinning, I wrapped her up in a hug.
“You look great, Mom,” I murmured against the top of her head. “I have it on good authority that all the friends you made at Colin and Deja’s wedding are dying to see you. Welcome back to Egypt.”
She patted my shoulder and pulled away a little to smile up at me. “Always a charmer. Thank you, baby. It’s good to be back.”
As soon as I let go of her, another gaggle of aunties appeared.
The older ones, this time, and they swept my mother into their collective embrace like they were lifelong friends who’d been separated for much too long.
I chuckled, glancing at Ryan still standing by my side.
Holden and Wyatt had already been kidnapped by the younger Saad brothers before I’d even had a chance to say hi, but Ryan stuck with me as I greeted all the Westwoods too, then waved an arm for everybody to follow me into the house.
Jasmine stood near the front door, part of the official welcoming committee who had to show everyone where to go, but she left her post to come up to me, sliding her arms around my neck without any hesitation whatsoever.
With her long black hair loose and her makeup light, she looked radiant, those eyes blazing with joy as they held mine.
“I promise I’ll make my aunts give your mother back in time for her flight home. ”
“That’s a week from now.”
She shrugged one narrow shoulder, a devilish smile on her lips. “Well, that’s the best I can do. You can always leave her here. Deja says being in Egypt suits her.”
I lowered my face to the top of her head and breathed her in for a moment, grounding myself amid the absolute circus all around us.
“Maybe when I buy that house, we should set up a room just for her. That way, she can come visit whenever she wants and stay in her own space for as long as she chooses.”
Jasmine burrowed into me as she nodded. “That sounds good. She really does seem happy here. I haven’t seen much of her in the States, but when I have seen her, she’s seemed a little different.”
“There’s a lot of trauma there,” I murmured. “Here, she just gets to be herself and I think it gives her a little self-esteem boost before she goes back to a place where everyone knows who her ex-husband is.”
Jasmine sighed. “So much damage from just a few careless actions. It’s hard to believe sometimes.”
“I know, but on the upside, who knows if I ever would’ve come here if it hadn’t happened?” I pressed a kiss to her hair. “Anything that led me to you is worth it as far as I’m concerned.”
She smiled. “You really are an eternal optimist.”
“So sue me.”
“Oh, I have a better idea.” She winked and I very nearly tossed her over my shoulder to carry her back to my bedroom.
But there were a lot of people around, so I needed to behave myself. Tomorrow, we were saying our I-do’s, and as temped as I was to find out about this idea of hers right the hell now, I also knew today was about our families.
I slid my fingers around hers and pulled her farther into the house. As we walked, I smiled when I saw how comfortable everyone already was. It helped that they knew each other from Colin and Deja’s wedding, but they also just got along surprisingly well.
Holden, Wyatt, and Jasmine’s younger brothers were already gone, probably having a round of beers in a secluded corner somewhere.
Colin, Basel, Deja, Layla, and a few of the Westwoods were laughing with Nanna in the kitchen, and my sister was deep in conversation with Ashanti, her friend, who was also married to Jasmine’s brother.
Even Cameron seemed to be having fun, and from the snippets I heard as Jasmine and I walked by, he was negotiating a camel ride with one of the Saad uncles.
Meanwhile, Ryan was somehow already holding court with a group of Jasmine’s cousins, making them all crack up at whatever story he was telling.
He’d always had that ability, though. Ryan could walk into a room full of strangers and leave ten minutes later with everyone convinced they’d known him for years.
Jasmine followed my gaze, smiling when she saw who I was looking at. “That brother of yours is dangerous.”
I frowned. “Ryan? Why? He’s harmless.”
She gave me a look, one eyebrow arched and a knowing smile on her lips. “No, he appears to be harmless. That’s what makes him dangerous. He’s so charismatic that if I had a single sister, I’d be pretty worried right now.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry. As much as he loves Egypt, he’ll be back in New York in no time, wreaking whatever havoc you think he’s capable of there instead of here.”
“He’s still commuting?” She grimaced. “I know he graduated from Columbia, but does that really mean he needs to stay in New York for the rest of his life?”
I nodded solemnly. “Apparently, it was a condition of his degree.”
“Poor guy.” She laughed. “Colin was so happy when Ryan went back to Chicago to fill in for him while he had to be here.”
“Yep. We all thought he was back in the fold for good, but it turned out the move was only temporary. He’s still splitting his time between the two.”
She smirked. “Well, at least I don’t have any single sisters, so it’s not my problem anyhow.”
“Oh, but it is, because by this time tomorrow, he’s going to be your brother-in-law.”
She laughed as she tugged me toward the tables set up in the garden. “Let’s just go find our seats.”
We headed into the late afternoon sunshine, the brutal heat of the day easing ever so slightly as the hours ticked by. Group by group, our families followed, everyone taking their seats for the welcome dinner. Unsurprisingly, even though we were outside, it was still a deafeningly loud affair.
At least four conversations were constantly ongoing at every table, the music was still playing, and the kids were shouting as they ran around on the grass between the walkways.
Caterers brought out enough food to feed several armies and Nanna flitted between tables, admonishing absolutely anyone who wasn’t eating.
I got my own hand smacked a few times, until eventually Jasmine saved me from physically exploding. She’d disappeared a while ago, taking off with a few of her cousins, but she suddenly tapped my shoulder from behind and brought her lips to my ear.
“Come with me,” she murmured quietly.
“Where are we going?” I asked, already standing up. “I mean, it doesn’t really matter. You already know I’ll go anywhere with you, but I’m nosy.”
She nodded toward the sea of people around us. “We’re going anywhere they aren’t. Just for a little while. I need a break.”
I took her hand and nodded my agreement. “I love you.”
“I know.” She laughed, winding her fingers around mine and leading me through the gardens and around the back of the house. “Would you still have loved me if I wasn’t stealing you away for a while?”
“Yes, but maybe a bit less,” I joked.
Jasmine laughed again. We hit the road that led down toward the Old Market and took a deep breath. “God, my ears are ringing so badly. Why are they all so loud?”
I waggled my eyebrows at her. “It’s not that they’re loud. It’s that there’s three hundred people at every get-together.”
She cracked up again and leaned into my side.
I felt like we were both trying to grab hold of our thoughts after what had been a whirlwind day so far.
Wandering through our favorite streets of the Old Market together, we didn’t say much, but I was happy to have some time with her before we were separated tomorrow before the wedding.
The idea of deliberately being apart for even just one day felt ridiculous at this point and I tightened my grip on her hand just thinking about it. She glanced up at me, smiling softly.
“Are you ready?”
I knew what she meant without any explanation necessary. “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.”
She pushed up on her toes to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Good. I feel the same way. Do you think we could get away with watching the sunset on the beach before we go back? I’m just not ready to face that crowd again quite yet.”
“Nanna will keep them busy,” I said confidently.
We walked down to the shore and sank down on the sand.
Without even thinking about it, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my side, my head coming down on top of hers.
Next week, we’d be in Thailand for the first stop of our honeymoon, and after that, our plan was to make our way back up, just traveling to our hearts’ content until we’d come home to here, in Egypt.
In that moment, as we watched the sun disappear, it felt like the whole world was waiting for us beyond the horizon and I honestly couldn’t wait to explore it with her. We just had to survive tomorrow first.