Power and Passion (22 page)

Joan nodded. "It is. I never thought of it
that way, but I like it very much."

"Sara, don't be afraid," Maryam added. "To
talk to us
or
to pursue this relationship, if that's what it
turns out to be. Remember what we said? The right man will come
along at the right time, and if that time is now, that's great. If
it's not, that's okay too. But you'll never know if you don't open
your heart at least a little bit to the potential that is out there
for you."

Sara reached out and put her hand on
Maryam's arm. It was so comforting to have friends—both old and
new—to quell her fears.

T
he SUV got off the highway and bounced along
the sands of the Arabian desert, the lights of the city rapidly
receding behind it. Inside it was dark; Sara sat next to Adam with
her arms wrapped around herself, trying not to let the velocity as
they careened around the bumps throw her body into his.

"Sorry," he whispered to her, making a
theatrical grimace and glancing at the driver. "I had no idea it
would be like this."

At that she had to smile. Of course this was
not his fault, and in reality it wasn't all that bad—nothing she
couldn't handle. Her discomfort was more from the unfamiliarity of
it all. The SUV was full of people, but Adam was the only one she
knew, and they were headed off to an area of the desert where she
had never been.

"Really, it's all right," she replied,
smiling at him gently and looking into his eyes for a moment. They
say the eyes are the windows to the soul, she thought, and if that
was true, Adam's soul was bright and welcoming and full of life.
"So have you been to one of these events before?"

He had called her the previous afternoon and
asked if she would like to go on a desert safari. Sara had heard of
these and seen brochures about them in local restaurants and
stores—places the tourists frequented usually. For a fee, a
four-wheel-drive SUV just like this one would come and pick them up
then drive them out into the desert, where a campsite would be set
up with food, drinks, and entertainment. Adam had been invited by
the Grand Creek's guest-services manager, a man named Carlos, an
expat from Spain. The man who owned the company organizing this
event gave Carlos a number of free passes so he could come and
check it out and then hopefully recommend future desert safaris to
the hotel's guests.

"No, I never have, but I've heard they can
be really magnificent. Carlos—" Adam nodded over at him, and Carlos
rolled his eyes and clutched his stomach, indicating the raucous
ride was making him sick.

Adam laughed then went on. "He's been to a
few. Says they're a lot of fun, really something to see when
they're done right." He paused, looking at Sara just as she had
gazed at him a moment earlier. "I thought you might enjoy getting
out of the city for a bit. I hope you do."

She wondered what was on his mind when his
eyes settled on her like that. Was it…affection? No, it had to be
too soon for that. This was only their second date, and Sara could
barely even think of it like that anyway. They weren't dating; they
hardly even knew one another. She did like Adam, but she did not
feel like that about him yet.

Maybe, she thought with a jolt, he felt
sorry for her. She'd told him all about Pierce on their first date.
Maybe that had been too soon, but Sara had never been one to keep
secrets. The breakup still occupied her mind at times, and on that
day it did, as they had gone through so many parts of the city she
had frequented with her former fiancé. Adam had seen the occasional
long expressions on her face and asked what was wrong, and—well,
she'd spilled her heart to him.

Realizing this, Sara was taken aback a
little. She didn't want him to feel that way about her. Maybe she
shouldn't have mentioned Pierce. Wasn't that one of the rules in
some dating book somewhere? Keep your exes to yourself?

Oh, stop worrying,
she told herself
and allowed herself to smile at him again. "Yes, I'm sure I will
enjoy it. I don't get out to the desert enough."

"Oh, me neither," he agreed, his shoulders
relaxing now that she had responded positively. He leaned forward
and peered out the windshield of the bus. The highway stretched out
behind them, but around them was all reddish-gold sand glowing
warmly in the late-afternoon sun. "Looks like we're not far. Should
be there any minute."

Sara said a silent thanks for this news and
watched the others around her gather up their things and prepare to
disembark. Carlos had brought his girlfriend, who was from France
and worked at the hotel in food service. Then there were two of the
daytime front-desk staff, Zhang-Jing and Zhanar. Six people in all.
Carlos had truly shared the wealth with this invitation.

"Here we are," the driver announced
enthusiastically as he slowed the vehicle and then stopped at the
edge of a dune. "Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy your evening,"
he went on, still seated behind the wheel but motioning toward the
doors with his arm. "I will be here at nine-thirty sharp to take
you home."

Everyone got out one by one, saying thank
you to the driver as they passed the front of the SUV. Adam and
Sara, seated toward the back, were last to go; he went down the
short step of the SUV first then offered his hand to help Sara step
down into the sand. It was firm and hot beneath the soles of her
shoes.

"Wow," she said quietly when she got a look
at what was waiting there for them. On one side a few of the guests
sat on camels being led around the campsite by an old Bedouin. On
the other side were a series of tents, just white cloth held up by
long, wooden poles and lit with strings of dim bulbs run off a
generator nearby. Inside one was a small band, three men with drums
and guitars, all seated and playing quietly. In another was a
buffet setup, long tables covered in yellow cloths for later when
the dinner would be served. In another tent, a hookah—a hubble
bubble or a shisha, as they were called there—had been set up with
large pillows all around it to get comfortable on.

Outside the tents there were carpets to sit
down on, arranged in squares or pairs with lots of large cushions.
The rest of the group was making their way over and sitting down,
chattering happily, excited about what the night would bring. Adam
and Sara settled on a carpet across from Carlos and his girlfriend,
joining other groups already seated around a centrally placed,
lit-up fire pit. Then the musicians in the tent began to play in
earnest, the volume rising and the notes drifting off into the
cooling evening air. "So what do you think?" Adam asked, bringing a
pillow up to his side and resting his arm on it. He leaned over a
bit and smiled at Sara, looking like he was completely at ease.

She looked around the campsite once again.
"It's amazing," she said. "So simple but beautiful."

Adam looked around, too, and nodded his
head, but before he could speak again, a server came over with a
tray full of cold, fresh mineral water served in tall glasses. He
and Sara each took one and sipped then settled back again on the
pillows.

And that was how they stayed for most of the
evening, becoming more and more relaxed as the hours passed.

That was all there was to do there: relax,
eat, drink, and be entertained as the sun set and the night came.
There was the music and roaming belly dancers. When one finished
her performance, she invited some of the guests to join her, and
they attempted to mirror her dance movements, which led to lots of
applause and laughter. By the time the barbecue dinner was ready,
Sara had eaten some fresh dates and drank some gahwa
,
Arabic
coffee. She barely had room for anything else. However, when a
server brought over a plate loaded with sizzling, charred meats,
she decided she could eat a little more, and she and Adam dug
in.

Sara did get up at one point to visit a tent
where a henna painter plied her trade then she went back to show
Adam the beautiful, intricate design on her hands. Then he took a
turn at sand skiing, which he said he had never tried.

"Mmm, and not so sure I'll try it again," he
muttered as he dropped himself back onto the carpet afterward, a
hand on his back. He had taken quite a spill down a dune halfway
through.

"Oh, are you hurt?" Sara asked, sitting up
on her knees and leaning over to take a look.

"No, no, I'm all right," he replied, but he
was wincing. "Nothing a little more grilled lamb and maybe some
shisha couldn't fix."

They both laughed, and Adam righted himself
again. Perhaps he wasn't so injured after all. That made Sara feel
better, but it also made her realize how worried she had been about
him when she'd seen him in pain. Was she starting really to care
for this man as more than just a date, as someone she could look at
as a potential partner?

Sara shook her head and sat down again. She
did not want to think that way. But as she listened to Adam talk
jovially about the sand skiing and how Carlos had wiped out even
worse than he had, she found her mind wandering that way again.
Adam was so easy to talk to, so easy to be with. She never felt
self-conscious around him or worried if what she was saying was
boring. He didn't make her feel bad about her career and in fact
took an overwhelming interest in what she did, to the point where
he had already asked if he could go with her to their next track
meet.

Pierce had never gone to one, or to a swim
meet, or to any SO game for that matter. Sara had gone to all his
parties, all his work-related events, and done it with a smile on
her face—ever the good fiancée, supporting her man without
question.

She stared at the fire pit in front of them,
watching the flames dance and curl around the shards of wood. Sara
stretched out her arms to warm her hands, her thoughts a million
miles away.

"You forget how cold it gets out here," Adam
said, bringing her back into the moment. He draped his jacket
across her shoulders. "In the city it's always warm, right? But out
here there are no buildings to block the wind."

Sara just looked at him and the way he
smiled at her so easily. She pulled the lapels of his jacket tight
around her, thankful for the warm covering and truly touched that
he had given it to her without a thought.

No comparisons anymore
, she decided
as images popped in her head again. She pushed them aside, filling
her sight with the good she saw all around her instead.

"Hey, do you like to dance?" Adam said,
wiggling his eyebrows at her in the most comical way.

She couldn't help but laugh. "I do, but I'm
not very good at it."

Adam jumped up again then reached down for
Sara's hand to pull her up as well. "Me neither. Let's go!"

Sara dropped the jacket on the rug, and
together they ran over toward the musicians' tent. The trio played
a lively beat, and several other guests had already gotten up to
dance. Adam pulled Sara right into the crowd and got into it,
jumping and spinning and—well, he was right. He wasn't a very good
dancer. But he was so incredibly happy to be doing it that Sara
couldn't help but join in.

She couldn't remember the last time she had
felt so carefree.

* * *

By ten o'clock the bus arrived back at the
Grand Creek. Sara and Adam said goodbye to the others then each
other, promising to get in touch the next day. On the drive home
she couldn't stop smiling just thinking about what a good time
she'd had—and how much she liked Adam. She had to admit it if only
to herself. She already couldn't wait to see him again.

At home her parents wanted to hear all about
her evening out, and she told them all the wonderful details; the
music, the belly dancers, the food, everything had been so
good.

"And Adam?" her mother asked with an
expectant tone in her voice. Sara looked at her father. His
eyebrows were raised as well.

"He was very nice," she replied. "We had a
good time." Her parents looked very pleased.

Before bed Sara remembered that she hadn't
even checked her phone. She hadn't used it all night; in fact she
had left it in her car instead of taking it out to the dinner in
the desert. She wouldn't need it there, she had figured, and
besides it might get all full of sand. Now she pulled it out of her
purse just to check for messages before turning in for the
night.

There were five. Her heart skipped a beat.
Had something happened? She never got that many calls, not in that
short a time, unless there was an emergency. She swiped her phone
to unlock it then opened up the "missed calls" screen.

The first call was from Pierce. And the
second. And the third. In fact they were all from him in the space
of only an hour and a half.