Continental Divide (5 page)

Well, Tanya wasn’t after putting the gleam
in a man’s eyes. Sure it would be nice to have a man look at her
the way Hamid was always looking at Heaven. Heck it would be super
fantastic to have a man look at her the way the two men were
looking at the baby. But since Heaven had told all of them that
Hamid had some equally fine unmarried brothers Tanya had made plans
to snag one of them. She looked again at the two men and the baby
and sighed.
But finding love would also be nice.

“Hey, Hamid, what’s the deal? Why did you
give Tasukam to Imran to hold and I had to wrestle him from you?”
Before Hamid could answer, Imran turned with the baby in his arms
toward her.

“Perhaps he allows me to hold his son
because I can properly say his name. The baby’s name is not
‘Tasukam’ it’s ‘Tsukama.’ A name is important to us, Tanya,
learning it and saying it correctly is a sign of respect. I’m sure
when you begin to show Heaven’s and Hamid’s baby the proper amount
of respect, they will allow you to hold him.”

Tanya actually had no words to say, no come
back. She was speechless. She looked to Heaven for help but she
merely shrugged. She then glanced toward Hamid who grinned like a
fool.

So this was how her friends were going to
play it huh? “I can say the baby’s name,” she said, defending
herself.

“So you deliberately mispronounced his
name?” Imran tsked and tilted his head to peer at her. “And you
called me rude.” Then he turned his back to her and continued
cooing to the baby. Imran had to turn quickly from Tanya. There was
something about the woman that made him unsettled, had him wanting
to kiss her full lips, to wrap her in his arms, to make love to
her. He’d had to shake the image away. He was nothing like his
cousin. He was not about to allow this American woman to steal his
heart. But he could swear when he looked into her eyes, his heart
was definitely what was in danger.

What the heck was wrong with him? No one had
ever had this effect on him. He’d never been this rude to anyone
and he knew it wasn’t all in defense of his cousins. They were
adults well able to take care of themselves. If he were honest, and
he had no choice but to be honest with himself, he’d have to admit
that it had something to do with Tanya. From the moment he’d
entered the house and she’d walked up to him, his heart had beaten
a little faster. If she’d not been so obvious in her greeting that
it was one of his cousins that her warmth was for, he’d more than
likely be trying to figure out a way to ask her for a date. But she
had wanted the cousins and Imran wasn’t anyone’s second choice. He
could never compete with his cousins on a financial level—at least
not yet. He had yet to make his own fortune and he was still
hopeful that he would. No, if Tanya was to notice something
different about him that set him apart from the millionaire
brothers it was this. He’d seen it in her eyes. She enjoyed the
verbal repartee and he had every intention of seeing that she
continued to enjoy it. He gave her a smirk and smiled down at
Tsukama.

Tanya saw Imran’s smirk. Round three had now
been lost and the man had turned his back on her. She had to be
tired. That was it. Her game wasn’t as sharp as it should be. She
put her hands on her hips and gave a deep neck roll before
realizing with his back turned to her Imran was missing it all. She
wasn’t wasting her annoyance on Heaven who was almost laughing at
her. Marching up to Imran she was determined to put him in his
place. When she stood in front of him she held out her arms. “Give
me the baby.”

“He’s not yours,” Imran said.

“He’s not yours either.”

"You don’t show him the proper respect.”

“He’s a baby,” Tanya fumed

“Precisely. Show him that respect and show
him the respect of being Hamid’s son.”

“Well, he’s Heaven’s son also,” Tanya
bragged and pointed toward Heaven, hoping to have Heaven back her
up. But all she got was Heaven bending over with laughter. “Give me
my friend’s baby.”

“The baby belongs to my cousin. I am the
child’s blood. I have more right than you to hold him. Besides, you
don’t look as if you’ve ever held a baby. Perhaps, you don’t like
children. What if you allow him to fall?”

Don’t like children! Don’t know how to hold
a baby. Tanya was getting angry for real now. The entire reason,
well, almost the entire reason she was in Pakistan was because she
did love children. She did know how to hold a baby. Jo Jo could
vouch for that. Her hands went immediately to her hips and she was
sputtering trying to get her words out. The man had her practically
speechless for the second time, something that never happened to
her.

“Time out,” Heaven said moving to stand
between the two of them. She took her son from Imran. “My son is
not in this fight. He’s too young for your squabbling.” Laughing at
the two of them she and Hamid disappeared toward their bedroom with
Fatima following and laughing loudly.

“Why are you judging me?” Tanya asked. “I’ve
been in this country just a few hours and both, you and Fatima have
treated me rudely.”

Imran frowned at her. “From my vantage point
it is you who have been rude since arriving. You are in my country
yet you have been rude to my country, to my cousin Fatima, to
Heaven and Hamid, to the baby and even to me. I have not attempted
to judge you, but if you see something of your bad behavior
reflected in my own and wish to make a change then I am happy to
have been of service.”

“You’re an arrogant piece of work aren’t
you? How do you know that I did all of that?”

“Fatima called me.”

Ahhh now Tanya knew why he’d behaved the way
he had when he’d come into the room. “So Fatima told you what I
said about wanting to meet one of her brothers?”

“Wanting to marry one of them.”

“Okay, so what? I said it. What’s wrong with
that?”

“That’s not the way we do things.”

“You use matchmakers here. Heaven told
me.”

“You’re not a matchmaker. Besides, you can
not make a match for yourself.”

“Who said? Are there rules?”

Imran didn’t want to but he was finding that
he liked the verbal fighting with the American. He liked American
women. He looked at Tanya and grinned. And he really loved
beautiful American women. That Tanya was without a doubt. But she
was still a greedy American woman who didn’t like babies all that
much and didn’t think before she spoke. It would be rather nice to
teach this American a lesson in manners. Maybe he’d find the
location of one of the many minefields being planted and take her
there and not bring her out until she could correctly pronounce the
baby’s name. Though he had to admit she’d almost gotten it
correctly that last time she’d tried.

“There are rules in everything,” Imran said
at last. “There are rules in the way a man takes a wife. Rule one:
A woman does not come and stake a claim.”

“Look, I have no plans to hit your cousins
over the head and take them back to America. It worked for Heaven
and Hamid,” she shrugged. “Why can’t fate be on my side?”

“But you’re trying to navigate fate. You
have no idea if you will even approve of my cousins. You want to
marry them because they are wealthy. They are much older than
Hamid. They are wise and will not be fooled by you or your antics.
Besides that, Fatima will warn them. How do you plan to accomplish
getting one of them to want to marry you?”

“They can come and live in America.”

Imran burst out laughing. “Are you offering
citizenship in exchange for millions? They don’t need you, Tanya.
We can come to America and live legally. What else do you
have?”

“I’m a woman.” Tanya glared at him and tried
her best not to flinch while Imran took a couple of steps back and
appraised her, smiling and frowning when he looked at her chest.
She took it until his frown deepened.

“Why are you frowning at me?”

“How old are you?”

Tanya coughed as her eyes widened in
surprise. “Excuse me?”

“Your age. How old are you?”

“Why?”

“You are getting on in years. Your breasts
appear to be firm. That indicates you’ve not yet suckled a child.
Is that why you do not know babies should be respected?”

“My breasts? Babies?” She was muttering.
“You’re crazy, Imran, and I’m too tired to fight with you right
now.”

“Would you like for me to return tomorrow
and continue this?”

There was a twinkle in his eyes, but he
wasn’t smiling. Tanya wondered if he was serious. If he was she was
definitely going to take him up on this. She hadn’t expected the
fight to go more than three rounds. Now it looked like it would be
at least a ten round match. So far she’d not won a single round and
that wasn’t going to continue. But right now, she needed some
rest.

“You know what, Imran? I would love for you
to come back tomorrow." She stretched and faked a yawn. "I'm too
tired to fight at the moment. I have to take a long bubble bath,”
she said slowly and gave him a look watching as he swallowed.
Bingo
, she thought. Score one point for the American. “Let’s
continue this tomorrow.” She walked quickly toward the room that
would be hers for the remainder of her stay. She almost ran not
wanting Imran to take a parting shot and take away her small
victory.

Imran laughed and shook his head. “Then
tomorrow it shall be.” Once again the flutter filled his chest and
he looked downward, then at Tanya’s retreating back. He liked
her.

***

Imran turned from clearing away the dishes
as Hamid and Heaven came back into the room. “Your friend went to
bed,” he said.

“Who won?” Heaven asked.

Imran smiled but didn’t answer for a moment.
Then he said, “There was no contest.”

“Ha. You two sounded like it to us,” Heaven
pointed out. “Could it be fate is once again working in the Ahmed
family?”

“I have no such belief in fate and I have no
intention of doing anything to get your friend to notice me.
Besides, your friend is here looking for a millionaire. That I am
not. Could you please tell me why that would matter so much to
her?”

“Tanya’s not as bad as she appears. She’s
rough around the edges but she’s a good person. She’s a social
worker and she always wants to find a way to take care of the
children she works with. She’s always saying if she had the money
she would build homes and put loving parents in them to take care
of the children. She’s even working with a private organization in
one of the Chicago suburbs to do just that. They have actually
already purchased land for a village and they’ve built one home.
They’re trying to raise money to build and fund the other homes and
to take care of the families.

“So, she’s not a gold digger?”

“No, she’s not. She doesn’t want the money
for herself. From the moment she found out Hamid has money she’s
been hitting us up for donations for some of the children in foster
care.”

“But she doesn’t even like children. She
doesn’t like your son.”

“Please, she’s fronting.” Heaven flicked her
hand in a dismissive fashion.

“Pardon?”

“Acting, pretending,” Heaven explained. “She
loves kids. She just has to play it hard, you know. She doesn’t
remain in the lives of the kids she helps. So she can’t become
attached. As for my baby, I know all of my friends were a little
hurt that I didn’t name one of them as godparent. We haven’t talked
about it yet. But I’m sure she’s trying to pay me back for
that.”

“Are you sure she really likes your
son?”

“I’m sure.” Heaven paused and tilted her
head to peer at Imran. “Why are you so worried that Tanya likes
kids? Is fate talking to you?”

Imran looked over Heaven’s head─a very easy
thing to do and grinned at Hamid. “Don’t play matchmaker, Heaven.
Your friend is not my type and for that matter neither is she my
cousins’ type. She will go home disappointed, I’m afraid.”

“But at least she can have a nice time while
in Pakistan. She loves to party and frankly you’re the party
animal. Hamid and I rarely leave the house so we’re a little out of
touch.” Heaven gave Hamid a sly glance then turned all of her charm
on Imran. “I just thought of a great idea. This would be perfect.
Imran, would you do me the biggest favor, please? I’ll be indebted
to you. Would you help us entertain Tanya? She really wants to
learn about the culture. You would be the perfect person to
accompany here while she’s here.”

“She didn’t come to visit me, Heaven.”

“No, but she came to visit your country.
You’re a part of the country. Don’t you want her to think well of
the people of Pakistan?”

“I’m not an ambassador for Pakistan,” Imran
laughed.

“But you could be an ambassador for the
family,” Heaven insisted as she turned pleading eyes on Imran.

“Hamid said you were lonely for your
American friends, that you wanted the company. Now it seems as if
you’re not so happy to see her. Is that it,” he teased. “Your
friend has already worn out her welcome and now you want to throw
her to me?”

An indignant grunt came out of Heaven and
she glared at Imran. “Of course I’m not tired of Tanya. I just want
her to have some fun while she’s here and I know just hanging
around us,” she pointed her finger at Hamid then herself, “is not
going to be all that much fun.” She shrugged. “If you don’t want to
help me…”

Imran wasn’t fooled by Heaven’s act of
having hurt feelings. He was very much aware of her scheme to set
him up with her friend and truthfully he wasn’t averse to spending
time with Tanya while she was in Pakistan. There was just one
little problem. Well, not so little, the problem was 5’ 9” and had
a mind of her own and her mind wanted a rich man. Sighing Imran
leaned back into the chair and cradled the back of his head in his
hands.