“Don’t thank me at all. I didn’t accomplish much.” She looked at Jenna with deep sadness, then suddenly brightened. “But do you know what, Aunt Jenna? I think it’ll be all right. I think he’ll be back someday. He won’t hate al-Remal like I did—and even I could see that the place has a kind of … strength. And beauty. But he’s no more a Remali than I am. The time will come when he’ll long for home—his real home. And he’ll be wiser, then. He’ll begin to understand why you did what you did. I’m sure of it. I know it. What I’m saying is, don’t give up hope.”

“Laila …” Jenna couldn’t hold back tears. She couldn’t help seeing, in her mind’s eye, the other Laila, that night in al-Masagin. And now it had come full circle.

Laila smiled. “Don’t cry, Aunt Jenna, or I’ll have to send you to a shrink. Listen, here’s the good news: I made Karim promise to stay in touch with me. I’ll call him—I don’t know, as often as he’ll put up with it. That way, it won’t be as if he’s totally disappeared.” She spread her hand on the glass partition for Jenna’s hand to meet. “It’ll work out—you’ll see. But now I have to go.”

“But you just got here!”

“Someone else waiting to see you. Bye. See you soon in better surroundings.” She hurried out, stopping just long enough to smile at Brad as he entered. He sat at the partition and looked long and longingly at Jenna.

“I just talked with Boyle,” he said. “It’s done. You’ll be out on Tuesday. Three more days.” “Good. Thank God.”

“I talked with Laila, too. A remarkable young woman—no surprise, considering her family. Listen, we’re going to have plenty of time for all those trips I’ve been talking about. I finally realized that they might not be what you want right now. Would you settle for a long weekend at Marblehead? We could take it from the top. Maybe I’ll get it right this time.”

“Yes,” said Jenna. “Yes. That sounds good.” It did. It sounded very, very good.

About the Author

About the Author

Soheir Khashoggi was born in Alexandria, Egypt, she comes from one of the most prominent and respected families in Saudi Arabia. Her father Dr. Mohammad Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia's first physician and a pioneer in bringing electricity to the country, moved his wife and children to Alexandria in order to further his children's educations in English schools.

By the age of 14, Soheir was fluent in Arabic, English and French, and was an accomplished artist. Lauded for her literary as well as artistic talent, she continued to win many prizes for her short stories, drawings and paintings during her teen years.