Page 75 of Earned Husband
As they argued, Nanna narrowed her eyes but then suddenly let out a sigh. Deja smiled victoriously as she turned toward me. “Would you look at that? I won.”
“What’s the prize?” I asked, not really sure I wanted an answer, but Nanna took my arm and hauled me up again.
“A tour,” Deja said as Nanna marched me out of the kitchen.
Together, the three of us headed back into the maze that was the house, but when we emerged into the back garden, I was once again surprised. It wasn’t really a garden at all, more like a collection of gardens stitched together by winding stone paths and shaded patios overlooking the Red Sea.
Palm trees swayed and roses climbed over whitewashed walls. Citrus trees stood beside beds overflowing with vegetables and herbs. I blinked rapidly as Nanna showed me around, clearly proud, but rightfully so.
It was incredible out here. Truly impressive.
She kept her arm hooked around mine as she led us from one area to another, snapping a sprig of mint from one planter and shoving it under my nose. When I inhaled obediently, she nodded, moving along to basil, rosemary, and thyme.
A sprig of each was pinched off and presented to me to smell, taste, or rub between my fingers. She even gave me a tomato to try. The juice hit my tongue and my eyes widened at the burst of flavor. She seemed incredibly pleased.
Deja wandered alongside us, laughing every time her grandmother thrust another vegetable into my hands. “I think she likes you.”
“This is liking?”
“She wouldn’t be feeding you at all otherwise.”
Nanna suddenly stopped beside an enormous bed of flowers, hundreds of white blossoms that she gestured toward. Knowing at this point what was expected of me, I started bending over to smell them, but Deja’s smile vanished.
“Nanna, no,” she said quickly. “He’s?—”
The warning came a second too late. I’d already gotten too close, and as soon as the beautiful, familiar fragrance hit my nostrils, I sneezed three times in rapid, violent succession.Nanna recoiled like I’d insulted her, launching into another stream of Arabic as she pointed an accusing finger at me.
Deja intervened immediately, but while I’d been picking up some common Arabic and could understand and speak a few basic phrases, I couldn’t make out anything they were saying. It was all a little overwhelming, but not in a bad way.
It was just a lot, being carted from offices and factories in Cairo, to parties, dinners, and events, and then being thrust into their family’s inner circle with Nanna. It really had been a crazy ride so far, but I was enjoying it.
After the two of them had gone back and forth for few full minutes, Nanna finally huffed and disappeared back into the house. Deja waited until her grandmother was safely inside before collapsing into the chair under a shaded pergola draped in flowering vines.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her head shaking as she glanced in the direction Nanna had gone. “She’s a real handful.”
I laughed. “She is, but I don’t think you really are sorry. I also don’t think you need to be.”
“I’m alittlesorry,” she said, leaning back in the chair and exhaling like she hadn’t been able to breathe for an hour.
I couldn’t blame her, though. With the Red Sea glittering beyond the low stone wall and the family inside for a moment, it was peaceful out here.
“What was that all about?” I asked, taking the weathered chair across from her at the little concrete table.
“With Nanna?” she asked. “She really does like you, but she’ll bully you relentlessly until you prove yourself. Especially now that she knows about your allergies.”
I felt my eyebrows hike up a little. “Prove myself? How am I supposed to do that?”
She started counting on her fingers. “You’ll have to out-eat my brothers.”
“I don’t think that’s physically possible.”
“It isn’t, but you’re going to have to try anyway,” she said, then moved onto the next finger. “Carrying heavy things will also help.”
“I can probably manage that.”
She glanced at me, smiling as her gaze caught mine. “I’m sure, but there’s more.”
“Okay. Like what?”
