8. Chapter 8 Choices #2
"I'm twenty-four, Tessa." I blink hard to dispel the moisture in my eyes and lower my head so I can see my sister again. And she can see me. "The men are not lining up at my door to date me."
"If you'd let mom fix you up with some—"
"I can't believe you even said that," I interrupt her. "You talked your husband into finding a job on the other side of the country to get away from our parents' interference."
"But—"
"Stop." I put my hand up. "I never thought I'd have a family unless I made one myself. This thing with Gabriel, it feels too good to be true, but even if it is, I could still have the other half of my dream."
Tessa does nothing to stop her own tears. "Darn it, Jules. It doesn't have to be either, or. If you'd just give people a chance."
"I did. Gabriel."
"You said you think you love him."
There's no room for a panic attack with all the other dramatic emotions in this moment, so I manage to nod without hyperventilating.
"I knew I loved Mark on our third date."
"I remember." The dork stole a long stem rose from someone else's table, thinking they were just part of the club's décor, and gave it to her.
When the woman he stole it from demanded he give it back, Mark wasn't even embarrassed. He just apologized and asked her date where he'd gotten the flower because he wanted one for Juliana.
My sister was caught, hook, line and sinker.
"DeeDee says you and Gabriel have seen each other every day for the past two weeks."
I nod, my throat tight.
"Are you going to see him tonight?"
"He had to go back to Zahriya. He's coming to Santa Fe again next month." Not to see me, I don't think, but for business.
But still he said he wants to see me then.
"He left the day after you made love the first time?" All tears are gone and Tessa is in full pissed off big sister mode.
"He didn't have a choice."
"What exactly did he say about the morning after pill?" And so the interrogation I knew was coming begins.
By the time my sister is done asking questions, I've told her about pretty much every interaction I've had with Gabriel.
"He's a sheikh?"
"Yes."
"As in royalty?"
"Yes. His full name is Prince Gabriel Hassan Al Qadir, Sheikh Jabal al-Dhahab. He runs the mining operation for his family in Zahriya. His mother is related to the royalty in Monaco."
"And you're okay with that?"
"Yes." I have to be because Gabriel is who he is and he is who I want.
"If you marry him, you'll be a princess, or something," Tessa says, sounding even more worried but way less unhinged than she did about me not taking the Plan B.
"Yes." I still can't wrap my head around a future with Gabriel, so it doesn't feel real, but that's it in theory. "I guess all of mom's lessons on deportment and etiquette are actually going to come in handy."
My sister rolls her eyes at that. "He talks like he wants a future with you."
I nod.
"I think you should go to Zahriya."
"What?"
"He invited you, didn't he?"
"Well, yes."
"Then, go." Tessa fixes me with the gimlet stare she used to convince me to wear the form fitting dress she wanted me to as maid-of-honor in her wedding.
"If you want a future with this man, you have to find out if you can deal with what that will look like.
You need to spend time with him in his world. "
"What if I get there and find out it was all just a lot of talk? What if he sees me in his world and realizes how badly I will fit in it?"
"What if you give yourself a chance?" she counters. "What if you give him a chance?"
What if I do? "Maybe Mark could stop looking for a panic flight for Seattle to Santa Fe and start looking for one that will get me to Zahriya. I have a lot to do if I'm going to leave the country for a few days."
"Two weeks," Tessa bosses. "You spent two weeks here with him. Now spend the same amount of time with him there."
"Finding coverage for me for two weeks at the ranch might mean bringing in a temporary trainer and someone with experience in equine-assisted therapy. Volunteers could cover a single week." Probably.
"So, get the coverage. There are always people looking for the experience hours to get their own certification."
"But it's so last minute."
"Sometimes that's the way life works." Says the sister who was ready to fly out to Santa Fe on a moment's notice to protect me from myself.
Shouldn't I be willing to make last minute plans to give the future my heart is clamoring for a chance?
"It's not a family emergency, or anything, though."
"Isn't it? You're talking about having this man's baby, Jules. That's as serious as it gets."
My sister is right.
She often is. Not that I'm ever going to tell her so.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do."
"Good. I still think you should take the birth control. You don't need a pregnancy to deal with before your relationship is even started."
Logically, I know she's right. But my heart is in control right now and it wants the prince's baby.
I've kept it locked down for so long, I'm not sure I can get it to take a backseat now that it's free and feeling things I never thought I'd get the chance to experience.
Love. Passion. Elation.
Even though Gabriel is on his way back to Zahriya, I'm so happy right now, I can barely contain it.
I should be scared. Panicking. Something other than smiling with pure joy.
"That man better be worth that look on your face," my sister says forcefully. "Or, prince, or no prince, I'll cut off his royal appendage."