“Razeen…” Perhaps she spoke too softly because while Razeen stiffened a little, he didn’t move, merely shook his head as if to clear it of some thought.
She stepped toward him but before she could touch him he turned and she stopped dead in her tracks, arrested by the intensity of his expression. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing emerged. He cleared his throat.
“You didn’t leave then.”
She shook her head and smiled, feeling suddenly uncertain. “No.”
“Did you miss your flight? Going tomorrow instead?”
She shook her head again. “No. Well, I don’t know. I thought that I might, well, stay.” He was silent and she continued, trying to fill the silence with words, any words, anything that might dilute the tension in the air. “I, er, went to the clinic. It was,” she shrugged, blinking, “amazing. They offered me work there. And I thought that I might…” she made the mistake of catching his hot gaze, “stay…”
“Stay…” His lips quirked but eyes were still sad. “You’d stay for the job. That’s good. I’m pleased. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
“Yes,” she nodded, wanting to elaborate, wanting to tell him exactly what happened to her in the clinic, but unable to find the words under his intense gaze. “I, umm…”
“How long will you stay?”
A direct question she could deal with. “I have no plans to move on.”
He took a step toward her. “No plans? What happened to the woman who had to keep moving, keep on running. Where did she go?”
“She stopped running. She found a man who believed in her, made her want to stay.”
He closed his eyes as if in pain and dropped his forehead to hers. “I thought you’d gone. I thought you’d left me.”
“No, I’m here. And, if you want me, I’ll stay here. I love you, Razeen.” He picked up her compass and examined it as if trying to buy himself time. For one long moment she wondered if she’d got it wrong, if he didn’t love her after all. But she had to continue; she had to find out. “Razeen, don’t you understand, the compass is pointing to you.”
“I understand completely. It means, Lucy, you can always find me.”
“Only if you want to be found.”
He smiled and slipped his fingers through her hair and brought her face up to his. His breath was warm on her face, the curl of his lips inviting; but it was in his eyes that she finally found the answer she’d been looking for, the answer confirmed by the whispered word pressed against her lips. “Always.”
Epilogue
Lucy waded through the shallows and onto the still warm sand. It was early evening—her favorite time of day. The violet haze that held the darkness in check would be gone momentarily and the remote Lodge would be a sole beacon of light in the surrounding darkness. She always enjoyed her solitary swim but only because she knew what awaited her.
She ran up the short flight of steps onto the wooden verandah, plucked a towel from a pile and quickly dried herself.
Silently she walked along the dark wooden floorboards and pushed open a door. The twins were fast asleep, the night light showing Taban lying on his front, covers thrown off, his pyjama-clad bottom sticking up in the air, his head covered by a much-loved brontosaurus. She smiled to herself. She imagined Razeen was like their son as a child. On the go from morning until night when he fell asleep in whatever position he was last in. She gently eased him down into the bed, uncovered his head and tucked him in, laying a soft kiss on his cheek. He muttered something incomprehensible and fell straight back to sleep.
Then Lucy turned to Sabuhi. She lay on her side, both hands tidily tucked under her cheek. She was as dark-skinned as her twin was fair; as serious, as her brother was light-hearted. She stroked the thick, luscious hair and tucked a hot strand away from her face and lowered a kiss to her cheek. Sabuhi’s eyes flickered open, she smiled trustingly and reached for Lucy’s hand and brought it to her lips. “Love you, Ommy.”
Lucy brought the joint fists to her own lips, in a nightly routine that always seemed to settle her more highly-strung daughter. “Love you more. Sleep tight, baby.”
She turned at the door and gazed upon her two children, overwhelmed with thankfulness. She jumped as Razeen pulled her hard against his body and slipped his hands around her pregnant stomach in a sweet caress. “So, not twins this time.”
“No, just the one. Shame.”
“Why?”
She pulled the door closed, turned to him and kissed him deeply. “It’ll take us longer to reach the required number.”