“Not your daughter?”
“My dear wife is convinced that men are arrogant, but women are merely assertive.”
Both men shared a laugh at that.
If Asad’s was filled a bit with gallows humor, Hakim did not mention it. Blinded by his pride and stubbornness, Asad had ejected the woman he loved from his life—and paid for that choice every day since.
It was all well and good for Hakim to say Asad should tell Iris of his love, but what if she no longer loved him?
She hadn’t said the words since coming to Kadar, not once. No matter how amazing their lovemaking. She had opened up to him in the past weeks, but remained adamant he not call her beloved.
Iris never hesitated to spend time with Nawar, but she changed the topic of conversation every time his daughter, or he, brought up the possibility of him marrying again and giving his daughter a mother.
Iris was close to being finished with her survey. And then she would leave Kadar. She never spoke in a way that indicated she planned anything else.
Her joy in her job was apparent, and from what the man who looked and acted more like a brother than an assistant said, Iris was very good at it. What right did Asad have to ask her to give it up?
If he did not, what kind of mother would she make for Nawar and their future children, gone so many months out of the year? Asad had been looking into other options for her that would give Iris the opportunity to use her education, but would not take her so frequently from his side.
What if none of them appealed to her?
What did he have to offer? His daughter, his family, his tribe…if she did not love them as he did, it would not be enough.
Had his grandfather felt this fear when asking for his grandmother’s hand?
To ask a woman not of their people to share their world was no simple matter. After his experience with Badra especially, Asad had realized his grandmother was the exception, not the rule.
But then that should give him hope, because Iris was a special and unique woman in every way, as well.
*
Iris finished one of the final tests that would confirm the presence of a semi-precious metal in the area near where she and Asad had made love outdoors. The thought of mining happening in the pristine environment made her stomach twist.
That was the least of her findings, though. Preliminary tests, measurements and observations indicated the existence of rhodium, a rare and very precious metal. It also demonstrated the probable existence of aluminum oxide with chromium—or rubies, in lay terms—buried in the mountains of Kadar.
She said as much to Russell and he frowned. “Your boyfriend is not going to be happy to hear that.”
“Why? Do you think he was hoping for diamonds?” There were some indicators for the stone, but not as strongly as for corundum.
“I think he was hoping for no strong indicators at all. Haven’t you two talked about this?” Russell asked, sounding a lot more concerned than she thought he should be.
“No.” They’d talked about his work and her career, but not the work she was doing now. “I’ve avoided discussing my findings because first reports should be made through proper channels to Sheikh Hakim.”
“How very professional of you.”
She frowned and tossed her half-finger leather gloves in a wadded ball at him. “Don’t make fun. It’s harder managing a professional and personal relationship together than I ever imagined.”
“But you spend every night with him and his family. None of them have mentioned the way Asad feels about mining to you?” Russell asked, sounding like he found that very suspicious, and not a little upsetting.
“The topic has never come up.”
“But you do talk about your job?”
“About my career as a geologist, yes. Just not this particular survey.” She’d never asked Asad what his stance on mining was. She’d assumed it was favorable, since he’d been the one to convince Hakim to bring her in as geologist.
“Sheikh Asad is one of the Middle East’s leading conservationist advocates. He is adamantly opposed to overmining, or mining at all when it’s done invasively to the ecosystem.”
“What? Are you serious?” Asad was an advocate for conservation? A leading advocate?
“Absolutely. He’s a spokesperson for preserving the desert habitat and with it the Bedouin way of life.”
“But how would mining in the mountains impact that?”
“You really think if a mining company comes in, they’re going to be okay with a city of tents as the base of their operations?”
“They’ll need workers.”
“Not Bedouins who are fiercely opposed to changing the landscape. Besides, do you really think Sheikh Asad wants his tribe working in mines? His whole tourist business is based on the Bedouin lifestyle mystique. He’s not going to give up his weavers and shepherds to the mines.”
Russell’s words made sense, but Asad’s behavior didn’t. Why hadn’t he told her he was so opposed to mining?
And if he was opposed, why agree to be the geologist’s liaison?
“You don’t think…” Russell let his voice trail off. “No, if he doesn’t talk about your reports, it can’t be that. It wouldn’t make sense.”
“What?”
Russell shook his head. “A stray thought and a bad one.”
“Tell me.”
“I was just thinking that if he was opposed to mining, he might get involved with the geologist responsible for preliminary reports that could influence his cousin to go forward with a more in-depth survey, or leave off the idea of mining altogether.” Russell looked very uncomfortable with his own thoughts.
Iris didn’t find them particularly palatable herself. Would Asad be that sneaky? Her heart said no, but her brain reminded her that he could be ruthless when pursuing a goal.
They needed to talk.
*
They were bathing together in Asad’s family’s private spring later that night, after putting Nawar to bed, when he said, “You will be finished here soon.”
“Yes, there is one final site we need to take samples and do our measurements.”
“I know. The remote location would make traveling to it daily untenable.”
“Mmm-hmm,” she agreed, her mind still preoccupied by her earlier conversation with Russell.
“Nawar should probably stay behind in the encampment.”
That made Iris’s attention snap back to the present and what Asad was saying. “But the fieldwork could take a week, or more.”
“She will be content with her grandparents.”
“She’ll miss you.”
“You, as well.”
Iris certainly hoped so. She would miss Nawar with a terrible ache in her heart. “Why can’t she come? We could bring Fadwa to help keep an eye on her.”
“Taking a child into the mountains is no simple task. Despite the way others view us, our encampment has many modern amenities we will not have access to in a primitive camp.”
“Don’t tell me a Bedouin sheikh is afraid of camping with his daughter, no matter how basic the amenities?”
“I simply do not want you overwhelmed with the consequences of having Nawar along. She will not be content to be ignored.”
“Of course not.” And Iris would never do so to the little girl. “She has a right to expect our attention.”
“But your job…”
“Will get done. It may take an extra day, or two, but isn’t that better than going without her?”
“For me? Definitely. But you have made noises about leaving Kadar, I thought perhaps you tired of us.”
“I didn’t come here to live, Asad. I came here for a job.” And she would stay only if it meant being a permanent part of his life, not a temporary bed partner.
“Perhaps you did come here to live, but did not realize it at the time.”
Her eyes narrowed. He was making implications she could not ignore. Iris needed it all spelled out though, not l
eft to hopes and assumptions.
Starting with his role as a spokesman for conservation and his very public antimining stance. “You never mentioned that you spearheaded Our Desert Home.”
She’d spent her limited time with access to the internet well that afternoon. ODH was a nonprofit conservation organization started by Asad and his grandfather shortly after Nawar’s birth. They weren’t militant or extremist by any stretch, but Russell had been absolutely right. Their stance on mining was minimal impact, or no mining at all.
“I did not think it would interest you.”
“Really?” She wasn’t buying it. “I’d think I made my interest in everything about you pretty apparent lately.”
He shrugged, looking as if the topic was of little importance right then. That’s not the impression she got from his “Message from the Founder” on the website.
He took a deep breath and then met her gaze, his expression stoic. “There are other things I would discuss with you tonight.”
If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was nervous.
“First, we talk about this. Did you convince Sheikh Hakim to request me as the geologist on this survey in hopes of influencing what I say in my reports?” she asked baldly.
For a moment Asad simply stared at her in uncomprehending silence, but then the storm came. His eyes flashing, his jaw hewn from granite. “You believe I would attempt to get you to lie?”
“No.” She hadn’t really, no matter how ruthless he could be, but she’d felt the need to ask.
She wanted to hear his denial from his lips. She needed the words, just like she needed other words to change her life.