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“Don’t you think the two of you need to talk? You loved him,” she reminded her gently. “And you don’t really know what happened.”
“It wasn’t love. It was infatuation. Silly, childish infatuation, and I know exactly what happened,” Kristy said hotly. “I was too naive to realize that I was nothing to him but a temporary bed warmer. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Kristy,” Julia said sadly. “You don’t know that for sure. You’ve been angry for so long that you haven’t even tried to see his side of the story. You need to let your guard down, darling.”
Stiffening her back, Kristy shook her head. “I can’t risk it. I won’t risk him finding out about Arella.”
Julia narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to hide Arella from him? Most women want the father around.”
Kristy’s eyes widened. She had to make her aunt understand. “No,” she hissed. “Aunt Julia, he has money and power. Those are things that I don’t have. Arella might be the illegitimate daughter of royalty, but she’s stillhisdaughter. If he decided to take her away from me, there would be nothing that I could do about it.”
“You don’t really think that he’d do that, do you?”
“I don’t know, but given everything that happened, it’s not a chance that I’m willing to take. I’m not lying to him. I’m simply omitting information until I know for sure that I can trust him.”
Putting her hands on her hips, her aunt stared at her. “And if he point-blank asks you?”
Kristy inhaled sharply and shook her head. “I don’t know. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. He’s always put his country and his family first. What happens when he finds out aboutthisfamily? Will he do the right thing, or will he walk away again and simply have someone send me another check?”
Her aunt sighed and looked at her with pity. “You never were the kind of girl to take risks. I was surprised that you even let Kashif into your life to begin with.”
“I did—and look what happened.”
“Sweetheart, life is not a Harlequin novel. Real life is about putting yourself out there and sometimes taking risks.Nottaking a risk can have just as many consequences. Things will never change unless you open your heart.”
“I love Arella, and that’s enough. It has to be. I won’t risk her happiness,” Kristy said stubbornly. “Besides, Kashif has nothing to do with my love life anymore. Maybe he did in the past, but that’s behind me now.”
“I worry about you, darling. You never show interest in even falling in love again.”
“I never said that I was in love with…not that it matters… You know what, Aunt Julia? That’s not important. What we need to focus on here is keeping Arella safe. Okay?” Kristy grumbled. She didn’t want to have this conversation.
Unfortunately, her aunt didn’t seem to want to let the matter go. “I don’t want you to let an opportunity pass you by because you’re too stubborn to trust someone.”
Kristy felt the familiar ache of loneliness in her heart, but she pushed it away. “One of these days, I will, but right now, all I care about is Arella. When she’s older, maybe I’ll be able to find love. You can be damn sure that it won’t be with Sheikh Kashif. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to try and spread some Christmas cheer!” The last came out through clenched teeth and she paused to release her jaw.
Pasting on a fake smile, she called for Arella and stared at her aunt defiantly. While she loved the woman, they were often at odds with each other. Julia was a completely different woman, always larger than life. She had married Darren a couple of years ago, and although Kristy hated to admit it, Darren was a good husband. She just didn’t like that the man was always nosing into the farm business and constantly dropping ideas into Arella’s head.
“Okay, dear. I’m going to make some hot chocolate for you two when you’re finished,” her aunt called out. Arella jumped up and down with glee, and Kristy shook her head and smiled.
6
Holding the hooks in her mouth, she worked along the railing. The dogs raced around her legs, and she growled in frustration and tried to shoo them away. There was a time when the dogs listened to her every word, but lately, Arella was their master, and she laughed and danced in the middle of everything. How could she be mad when her daughter was having so much fun?
When Arella grabbed the string of lights and yanked them all down, she closed her eyes and shook her head. She was about to ask Arella to play in the yard when the toddler looked at her with big eyes. “I’m sorry, Momma.”
Smiling, she reached down scooped the little girl up. “It’s okay, baby. I’m not mad. Do you want to help me put them back up again?”
Arella nodded, and Kristy sat her down and handed her the wire. “Okay, hold it up for me so I can re-hook them.”
Her daughter obediently did as she was told, and finally the lights were hung. Kristy stood back and nodded her head. “What do you think, baby girl? Pretty?”
“Pretty!” Arella agreed.
“All right. Let’s get the tree inside!”
Unhooking the ties from the top of her car, she grunted as she struggled to pull the tree down. For all she knew, the tree was scratching the top of her car, but she didn’t really care. Arella had picked it out two days ago, declaring it her favorite, and naturally, it was the biggest one in the lot.
It would be a pain in the ass to get it through the front door, but Arella was old enough to retain Christmas memories, and Kristy wanted her to have good ones this year.
