Sheikh Surgeon Claims His Bride by Josie Metcalfe

Author:Josie Metcalfe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

AS EMILY led the way out to her car a few minutes later, Zayed was still marvelling at the elderly woman’s strength and determination, even though her body was failing her.

In those first few seconds when he’d stepped into the room it had felt very much like the times when he’d been called to stand under the eagle eye of his own grandmother, and he’d felt the same crazy conviction that she could read his mind and the same boyish need to fidget.

Then she’d silently nodded and smiled at him, and it had almost felt like some sort of blessing.

He was glad that he hadn’t been tempted to underestimate the woman’s intelligence, especially when the conversation had turned to his home country. Who would have thought that an elderly woman dying of cancer in the depths of Cornwall would have such accurate recall of the potentially catastrophic happenings in Xandar, a country so many thousands of miles away? And who would have believed that she would have so accurately connected those events with his own life?

He was only grateful that she hadn’t questioned him about those dark times in front of Emily. It was some sort of relief to be working with someone who didn’t know all the details and wouldn’t be tempted to pity him for all he’d lost. Pity was one emotion that he couldn’t bear, not when he didn’t deserve it.

If it hadn’t been for him…

‘If you’d rather I didn’t go to your house, just say so,’ Emily said suddenly. ‘Beabea did rather Shanghai you into making the invitation.’

By that time they had made their way around the curve of Penhally harbour wall and the row of shops, cafés and hotels that faced the tightly enclosed bay. They were approaching the turning for the car park by the lifeboat station by the time she finally broke the silence in her little car.

‘Do you not want to see where the children go when they leave the hospital?’ He was suddenly disappointed that she might not want the guided tour he’d been looking forward to. There was something about her sheer enthusiasm for everything she did that seemed to lift the spirits of everyone around her, and he certainly wasn’t immune.

‘Of course I want to see it!’ she exclaimed impatiently, and he had to suppress a satisfied smile at the thought that he was coming to know her so well. ‘Apart from anything else,’ she continued as she pulled neatly to the kerb, ‘Beabea would never forgive me if I didn’t come back to her with all the details.’

‘Why do you call her Beabea?’ He’d been curious ever since he’d heard the name. ‘Is it the Cornish word for grandmother?’

‘No.’ She chuckled, a delightful sound that wrapped intimately around him in the semi-darkness of her car. ‘If I remember rightly, grandmother is henvamm or henvammow.’

‘So, why Beabea?’ he persisted.

‘Because her name is Beatrice,’ Emily said simply, then decided to give him the full explanation. ‘At the time I

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.