Chapter Ten
Three minutes later the noise of his truck’s engine revving to life yanked Hussein out of his stupor. He dashed out of the room and down the stairs. He met Jessica and her guests at the door.
“I thought I just heard you drive away,” Jessica said.
“That was Kimberly. I have to go after her.”
“Wait,” Jessica blocked his path. “What is going on?”
“There is no time to explain. I have to find her first.”
“I’ll come with you,” Jessica said. To Ladipole and Emma she said, “you don’t know the land well so please stay back and call us if she returns.”
“That is not –”
“Do not argue with me, Hussein,” Jessica said, effectively ending any argument. And then she was out of the door and heading for the house barn. Hussein followed her. “The workers took all the spare truck to town today and have not returned. The horses will have to do.”
“Fine,” Hussein said. He did not want to argue either. Finding Kimberly was more important. “You take the west ridge. I’ll comb the northern and the north-east plains. Call me if you find her.”
“And you should be ready with an explanation of what on earth happened here.” Jessica rode off on her chestnut.
Hussein mounted his horse and took off at breakneck speed. He was still baffled by Kimberly’s reaction. When she had kissed him, he had been so sure that she would say yes. Or had he read her wrongly again?
Why was it so difficult to understand the woman he had fallen in love with? One minute she was kissing him and the next she was running from him. All these mixed signals were driving him crazy. As his confusion mounted, so did his speed. He had to find her. He needed answers. Help me, God, he prayed silently. Help me find the right answers.
At quarter to eleven, Hussein returned to the Big House. He met Jessica at the door.
“Did you find —?” they started together. Then they both shook their heads.
“I have to go back. I have to find her before something happens to her. “This is all my fault.”
“Wait. How is it your fault? Tell me what happened.”
“I –I asked her to marry me.”
“You what?” Jessica looked as if she had been slapped.
“I didn’t –”
The doors burst open and Emma stepped out. “I was just about to call you,” he said. “Kimberly returned some minutes ago. She is in her room now.”
Hussein charged in. “I am going to see her.”
Emma overtook him and blocked his path. “I’d rather you didn’t go in to see her,” he said.
“What do you mean by that? Get out of my way.” He looked ready to push Emma aside.
Emma did not budge from his position. “It’s what she asked for and I ask you to respect her wish.”
“I only want to see if she is okay.”
“She is or will be if you stay away from her like she has asked.” Hussein stopped and glared at him. “Look,” Emma continued, “I don’t know what happened between you two, but Kimberly is like a sister to me and I’m not going to let you upset her further.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry for upsetting her.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve never seen her as upset as she was when she came in. She made some calls so that she can leave early tomorrow morning. I will be leaving with her.”
“Tomorrow morning?” Jessica asked.
“Yes,” Ladipole replied as he emerged from Kimberly’s room. “Kimberly wants to return home as soon as possible. She wouldn’t tell me why, though.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, she fell asleep right away.” He added, “I know I said that I wanted to stay for the festivals but I think it is best if I return with Kimberly and Emma. There is pending business waiting for me.”
“I understand,” Jessica said.
“Well, goodnight.” Ladipole continued to his room and Emma followed.
When the two men were both in their respective rooms, Jessica asked Hussein, “are you okay?”
For a moment he looked disoriented. “No,” he said, “I don’t understand what is going on. I was so sure she would say yes. I am such a fool.”
“Is that something you both agreed to call yourselves?” Jessica retorted. “Like I told her, and I’m going to tell you, you are not a fool. Get that out of your thick skull.”
“Thank you for the wisdom nugget”, Hussein replied sarcastically.
“Don’t be sarcastic with me, Mubarak. You are the one who did not know how to propose to a girl.”
“You are right,” Hussein responded dejectedly. “I messed up big time.”
“No, you didn’t. I’m sorry for what I said. All you did was propose to the woman you have fallen in love with. It’s not your fault that things did not end up as you expected. Things happen at their right time.”
“And when will be the right time. She said she would never come back. This is not one of your romance novels where people end up with the ones they love.”
“No, it’s not but I understand the situation better than you do. For Kimberly, it will take more than love, and greater patience to get her to say yes to your will you marry me and even that might not work. There simply may never be a right time with her.”
“Well then explain to me the situation because I am going out of my mind trying to figure out what went wrong.”
“Now that we have all the time in the world, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
