Settle down, Kate, breathe—but before she could obey this sensible order, another thought struck her.

‘This isn’t like some old Chinese proverb where, if you save a person’s life you’re responsible for them for ever, is it? I’m a doctor, it’s my job—and think of all the doctors in the world who’d be burdened down with all those responsibilities. No, Ibrahim, it’s impossible.’

Ibrahim regarded her, his face grave.

‘I would not put responsibility for a life on anyone,’ he said. ‘In my position, I am only too aware of the burden of responsibility. I understand, as a doctor, you did what you had to do and as a result Fareed is alive. But this is a separate issue.’

He paused, looking out over the home paddock to the river, his face troubled by thoughts Kate couldn’t guess at.

Not that she wanted to guess at anything—she was too busy trying to order her own thoughts.

Marry a man to save her family?

It was medieval!

But if she did it …

Ibrahim was talking again, and she forced herself to listen.

‘I have been seeking a suitable wife for him for some time,’ he said. ‘He is thirty-seven and it is time he was married. It struck me yesterday that you would be a perfect match for him. You are strong, and resourceful, and caring of your family—this last is important to me because family is who we are.’

‘But that’s just it—family! My family!’ Kate pointed out. ‘I’ve come home to help Mum here at the stud, I can’t go off and leave her now. She’ll have more work than ever.’

Besides which she’d kill me if she thought I’d agree to such a stupid bargain for her sake.

Or Billy’s …?

Ibrahim was talking again and Kate tried to concentrate, although the confusion in her mind was making it near impossible.

‘I will provide the best available help for your mother,’ he said firmly. ‘An overseer, stable hands, new vehicles, whatever she will need.’

No confusion now! Kate closed her eyes and saw exactly how the stables could be—the way her mother had always dreamed they’d be, although somehow her father had always managed to lose whatever money they’d had before the dream could be realised.

Her mother would be in heaven.

And Billy would have Tippy.

But her mother would be horrified at the ‘bargain’.

Not if she didn’t know …

That last sneaky thought hit Kate like a sharp slap.

Was she actually considering Ibrahim’s mad idea? Could she really deceive her mother?

She looked at the man who sat quietly beside her, gazing out at the green fields and river gums. Not the courtly gentleman she’d met the day before but someone older, more tired, somehow.

She dragged her mind back from the man to the question.

‘But surely your nephew should marry someone from your own country. Someone who would know how—well, how to behave,’ she offered desperately.

Ibrahim shook his head, but now he smiled.

‘I have thought hard on it, and you would be my choice. Fareed is the son of my older brother so he is also my heir, and although he will be a wise and just ruler, he has ghosts in his life, ghosts I fear will stop him reaching his full potential.’

‘So I’m not only supposed to marry this man but banish his demons, as well?’ Kate demanded. ‘Shouldn’t you be calling an exorcist?’

She knew she was being flippant, but right now flippant was all she could manage. The turmoil inside her—the feeling of being torn in two—was just too much!

Ibrahim offered her a slight smile but obviously wasn’t diverted from his course.

‘I would not put such a burden on you, although I believe you could be the person to help him out of the past. It is why I have chosen you. And, as I said, I would not hold you to the marriage—divorce is simple in my country and should that happen, provided I believe you have behaved honourably, I will honour my agreement with your mother. That would be our bargain.’

Bargain!

The word brought her right back to where this bizarre conversation had started. Ibrahim would buy Tippy, have her mother train him, provide an overseer and stable help and the stables would not only survive but would undoubtedly thrive.

As would Billy!

And all she, Kate, had to do, was …

Marry the man with the disdainful yet seductively attractive face?

The words roared in her head, while a tremor of what she hoped was fear and not desire stirred inside her.

She tried desperately to pull herself together—to come up with some sensible, solid, irrefutable reasoning against this ridiculous idea.

All she came up with was a question.

‘I can work while I’m there?’

‘Of course,’ Ibrahim replied. ‘We would really appreciate it if you did.’

‘So you need doctors—or a doctor?’

He shook his head.

‘Doctors we can buy.’

‘And you can’t buy wives?’ The words were out before she’d thought them through, and as soon as they were hanging there, in the bright morning air, she realised her mistake.

‘But, of course, that’s what you’re doing.’

Ibrahim studied her for a moment.

‘We are traders back as far as our people go. Trade is give and take. It is bartering and making bargains, that is how we do things. You talk of buying as if it is a bribe, but if you could see it our way, maybe it would not look so ugly to you.’

‘And Fareed? What does he think of this?’

Ibrahim’s smile turned him back into the man she’d first met—the charming man her mother had introduced in the stables.

‘He has no need to know who—it is enough that he knows he is to marry a woman I have chosen. He will meet you on his wedding night.’

‘Wedding night?’

Kate’s voice was back to squeaky—squeaky with disbelief.

‘Our weddings are different. You will be married with the woman supporting you, and he with the men, so you will not meet until after the ceremony and feasting is over.’

It isn’t that part of the ‘wedding night’ phrase that worries me , Kate wanted to say, but somehow it didn’t seem appropriate.

Not that any of this conversation had been particularly appropriate …

CHAPTER THREE

FAREED WAS PUZZLED when the limousine sent to collect him from the hospital didn’t contain his uncle, and even more surprised when the driver announced they were going straight to the airport.

‘The sultan is staying on for a few days but knows you wish to get back to work,’ the driver informed him. ‘His plane will take you home and return for him.’

Fareed wasn’t entirely surprised. After his uncle had dropped his bombshell at the hospital, the evening after his allergic reaction to the bee, Ibrahim had avoided opportunities for further conversation—opportunities he couldn’t have escaped if they’d flown home together.

That conversation had been startling, to say the least—shocking, in fact. He had known for some time that his days as a bachelor were numbered. Knew also that his uncle would be choosing his bride. After all, as Ibrahim had pointed out, he’d had plenty of time to find one for himself. And it was in keeping with the tradition of the family, and their people, so there was little point in arguing about it.

But the last thing Fareed had expected his uncle to announce on his hospital visit was a date for his wedding—a date within a fortnight of their return to Amberach.

Even more disturbing was his uncle’s refusal to tell him the name of his bride-to-be. It would almost certainly be some distant cousin, someone Ibrahim had been secretly grooming—or having groomed—for the job. Because that’s what it was—a job, a duty, preordained almost …

No, it was perfectly understandable that Ibrahim would be avoiding him!