When Jacqui woke up almost two hours later, Khizar sat in another chair, where he typed quietly on his laptop. He looked up as she lifted her head off the pillow.

“Hey, did you have a good nap?”

Jacqui rubbed her eyes and stretched.

“I did, thank you. Did you get some work done?”

He nodded. “I did.”

“How long do we have until dinner?”

“Just under thirty minutes.”

Jacqui was sure she hadn’t heard him right at first, but the look on his face showed that he wasn’t kidding.

She jumped up from the couch. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“You looked too adorable sleeping to wake you up.” He shrugged. “Also, I tried, and you pushed me away.”

He wasn’t kidding about that either; Jacqui could tell. She must have been more tired that she thought.

“Sorry,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

He chuckled. “It’s fine. You needed the sleep. And the restaurant is just around the corner.”

Jacqui started moving for the bathroom.

“Give me ten minutes to make myself presentable.”

“You have plenty of time,” he called after her, his tone somehow teasing and irresistible all at once.

* * *

Jacqui and Khizar walked into the restaurant right on time. She’d rushed to get ready, glad that at least her hurry distracted her from most of her nervousness. It wasn’t until they got into the car that Jacqui had a few minutes to think, and to get anxious.

She hadn’t done the whole ‘meeting parents’ thing since, well, high school. And all those meetings had generally been before a dance or homecoming, some occasion that she looked back on now and realized just how easy those encounters had been.

Now, Jacqui was meeting her future in-laws, who also happened to be royalty. The combination was more than a bit intimidating.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they were shown to a table in the best part of the dining room, a large curved booth with a view of a park across the street. As they approached, Jacqui saw an older couple sitting at the table, who she assumed were Khizar’s parents.

When the man and woman stood up and greeted Khizar with warm hugs, she knew she was correct. Khizar hugged each of them and then turned to hold a hand out to Jacqui.

“Mother, Father, I’d like you to meet Jacqueline Bauer. Jacqui, these are my parents, Adil and Sonja Jamshidi.”

Khizar’s mother held out her arms to Jacqui, who found herself enveloped in a hug as Sonja said, “Jacqui, it’s a pleasure to meet you. We’re delighted that you’re here.”

Jacqui hugged her back.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too. I’m so happy to be here.”

Adil shook her hand and ushered them all back into the booth, Jacqui and Khizar sitting on one end of the half-circle and Sonja and Adil on the other.

“Did you enjoy seeing the city today?” Sonja asked Jacqui, as their server poured sparkling water in each of their glasses.

“I did. Al Nud is such a lovely city,” Jacqui replied.

“We were a bit surprised when Khizar arranged dinner,” Adil added. “Not that we’re not happy to see him, but he’s been a bit preoccupied lately. I guess I can see why, now!”

Jacqui smiled. She wasn’t sure how much Khizar had told his parents about her great-uncle, so she kept her response somewhat vague.

“Our visit was a bit of an impulse, I know. I’m so glad you were able to have dinner with us.”

Khizar squeezed her hand under the table and Jacqui looked at him. He raised his eyebrows, then looked down at her ring, asking her silently if he could share the news. Jacqui nodded and Khizar cleared his throat.

“Actually, we have some news we’d like to share,” Khizar said. He picked Jacqui’s left hand up and rested it on the table, keeping her hand covered with his.

“I know this will come as a surprise, but I couldn’t want to wait any longer to tell you. I’ve asked Jacqui to be my wife, and she said yes. We’re getting married!”

Jacqui watched Khizar’s parents closely for their reaction, and although they were certainly stunned, she could tell they were also genuinely pleased.

“Oh, my dear boy, that’s wonderful!” Sonja exclaimed, and leaned over to hug Jacqui.

Adil reached across the table to shake his son’s hand.

“We’d hoped it was something like that. Congratulations to the both of you.”

Adil called the server over and ordered something sparkling to toast the new couple with. Sonja admired Jacqui’s ring, and Adil nodded approvingly at Khizar when he got a chance to inspect it as well.

“So, when is the wedding?” Sonja asked.

Khizar laughed. “We don’t have any of the details yet, Mother.”

Jacqui added, “We have a few details to work out, still.”

Khizar gave her a puzzled look, but nodded.

“We do, so as soon as we know, we’ll tell you.”

Sonja patted Jacqui’s arm.

“I’m so pleased, Jacqui. Khizar has always been a bit hard to pin down, and you appear to have focused his mind on the important things.”

Adil chuckled and pointed as his son.

“I can’t wait to tell your uncle. He despaired of you ever settling down; said you were going to be attending wild parties when you were fifty.”

It was Jacqui’s turn to give Khizar a puzzled look, which his parents missed. He didn’t though, and just shook his head at her. Jacqui wasn’t quite sure what to make of their teasing Khizar. It sounded affectionate, but she wasn’t sure.

Once again, it occurred to Jacqui that she didn’t really know anything about Khizar’s history.

Sonja patted Jacqui’s hand again.

“I told him when he met the right girl, he’d know it, and he’d know it was time to get serious about his own family. Of course, it happened quickly. Love so often does, when it’s right.”

The server brought glasses of champagne and Jacqui barely tasted it as his parents toasted them. Just how many women had Khizar dated? Was she one in a long line, and if so, why had he chosen her?

The four of them ordered dinner, and as Khizar’s parents chatted away, Jacqui thought she did a decent job of holding up her end of the conversation, but she didn’t remember any of what was said. She nodded and smiled and laughed when appropriate.

She was sure even Khizar didn’t realize anything was wrong. He touched her arm, or laid his hand on hers, talking animatedly with his parents. He and his father talked business, more than Jacqui had ever heard from him. At one point in their conversation, Jacqui must have looked lost, because Sonja leaned over to her.

“Don’t worry about all the focus on work. It’s something they both love, and it brings them together. But Adil taught Khizar the important things in life, and once you are married, Khizar will be happy to spend as much time out of the office as he spends in it.”

Jacqui nodded at Sonja, who patted her hand reassuringly this time. If she understood Khizar’s mother correctly, he was distant because of work. And really, they hadn’t had time to share things like dating histories. It was something she hoped they could talk about over the next few days.

Jacqui sighed silently. She was making quite a list of things they needed to talk about. It might have been better if she hadn’t accepted his proposal until they’d talked about all those things.

Khizar looked up at her, grinning. Jacqui’s heart skipped a beat because he looked so happy. She’d never seen him be this open with anyone, even her. He was usually kind and generous, even friendly, but still reserved. Jacqui had thought that was just his way, but she saw that with his family, he was less detached.

Oddly enough, that made her feel both better and worse. Better, because she liked this side of him, a lot. It was attractive, even more so than fun, free-wheeling Khizar. But it was also worse, because if she was going to be his family, shouldn’t he be that way with her, too?

Jacqui made it through the meal, her mind spinning. She wanted a few hours alone to think, to figure out what she needed to do. But Khizar’s parents were so nice. She didn’t want to upset them, so she waited. After dinner, she could take some time to think, and then she and Khizar could have a long talk before they went out to find Bill Bauer’s mine.

Laying her napkin on the seat and picking up her handbag, she excused herself. Khizar stood and offered a hand to her while she slid out of the booth. He fingers lingered on hers for just a moment, and then she pulled away.

Jacqui took a few minutes to splash some water on her face, not caring if she messed up her makeup a bit. They were almost done with dinner, anyway.

She made her way back to the table, but when she rounded the corner closest to their booth, she dropped her bag and the contents spilled out. Fortunately, she was out of the way of foot traffic. As she knelt down to pick everything up, she realized she could hear Khizar and his parents talking.

“Son, she’s a lovely girl. We’re just a little surprised, that’s all. It seems rather fast. How did you two even meet?”

“She’s Bill Bauer’s niece. Well, great-niece.”

“Really? That’s news. I heard he left his entire fortune to charity, except for the mine. Must have been quite a surprise to her to inherit that.”

Jacqui could hear Khizar’s sigh from her hidden spot around the corner.

He said, “Bill was estranged from his brother, and wasn’t aware that his brother’s son had a child—Jacqui—until after her parents died. Though he met her once, he didn’t establish a relationship with her. Jacqui has no idea who Bill is.”

Jacqui was confused. The way Khizar talked, it was almost as if he knew her great-uncle more personally than he’d suggested.

“Well, it must be nice for her then that you can share stories about him. Are you still planning on buying the mine from her? Or asking for it as a wedding gift?” Adil chuckled at his own joke.

Jacqui wasn’t sure what they meant. Khizar was buying the Bauer mine?

“I’ve learned, actually, that the mine is tapped out. Bauer must have known that, which is why he wouldn’t sell it before. I’m not sure why he even proposed selling it to me right before he died.”

“At least it brought the two of you together.”

Sonja sounded happy, but Jacqui wasn’t sure what she meant. Khizar hadn’t known there was any connection between her and William Bauer when he walked into her bakery.

Jacqui wasn’t sure what expression was on Khizar’s face, but it must have been strong enough to prompt his father to ask a more specific question.

“You did go to Milwaukee in order to talk to her about the mine, right?”

She heard another sigh, almost a sound of defeat.

“No. I went to see what she knew about the Bauer Diamond.”

Khizar’s father laughed.

“Bill’s legendary find? That hasn’t been seen in decades. If she didn’t know him, how would she know about it?”

“I wasn’t aware that she didn’t know him. I arranged to meet her at her bakery, and made an effort to get to know her. I thought if she trusted me, she’d open up about Bill and the diamond.”

Jacqui gasped, her sudden intake of breath choking on the beginning of tears as Khizar continued.

“I thought that the best way to get her to trust me was to date her and then propose. Once we were engaged, she’d tell me about her inheritance of the diamond. I was going to buy it from her, and make sure she had enough money to support her business and have financial security.”

Jacqui was frozen in place, even as tears poured down her cheeks.

It was all a lie. He’d known more about her than she knew about herself, and he’d always known it. The fake surprise at finding out they knew someone in common, the willingness to help her find out more about her great-uncle. It all made sense now. He was only looking for the diamond; he didn’t want Jacqui at all.

Jacqui’s face flushed pale and then red. She was so embarrassed. And scared. She was halfway around the world from anything or anyone she really knew, and she wasn’t sure how she would get back home. And right then, all she wanted was to go home.

She didn’t care about the diamond or about her great-uncle or finding anything else out. Jacqui just wanted to go home and crawl into bed and come out again sometime next year.

Khizar was still talking, however.

“I needed that diamond. The value of the jewel would cause the net worth of Jamshidi & Company to skyrocket, yes, but the prestige alone would be worth it. The Bauer Diamond is the stuff of legend, and if it became our legend, the company would be set for decades to come.”

“And what about Jacqui?”

“She’s a lovely girl. I didn’t know just how much I would enjoy spending time with her. But my proposal was entirely about the diamond.”

Hearing that she had accepted a proposal from someone who cared nothing for her was the final straw. Jacqui couldn’t hide the great gulping sobs that racked her body, and so, she pushed away from the wall and ran.

She almost tripped over a server, who just barely avoided her, calling after her as she made it to the door.

Jacqui didn’t pay attention to where she was going. All she wanted was to get away from the restaurant and away from Khizar. She dashed across the street to put some distance between them, walking as fast as she could.

She couldn’t stop crying, prompting more than a few strange looks from people on the sidewalk. Not wanting to cause a scene, she ducked down a side alley and through a stone archway. It looked like a small park; the path was lit with bright hanging lanterns and Jacqui could see a small pond up ahead.

There were benches, too, and so she collapsed onto one of them. Then, she put her head in her hands and cried.