NURA

Chapter 19

Nura

Feb. 2014, Montana

"Morning," Nate whispered into her ear, making a big smile spread through her face once she realized that yesterday was, in fact, not a dream. She turned around in Nate's arms to face him, her eyes falling on the man's smiling ones.

"Morning, habib albi," she said, and Nate groaned as he pulled her closer to him so that their bodies were slotted against each other like two pieces of a puzzle.

"Don't say that. It gets me more excited than I care to admit, and we don't have time for those things now unless we want to perform a show for my mother, who will be here soon to wake us up for breakfast."

Nura scrunched her nose up at that thought and snorted.

"I honestly don't think she would mind since she is the one who got us back together," she said, making Nate laugh aloud.

"Well, of course, she wouldn't mind. She is even crazier than you are, but I would."

"Fine, have it your way, you prude," Nura said and jumped out of the bed before Nate could get her, giggling at the man's put-out expression, feeling amazed at her audacity.

She made her way to the bathroom, and once there, she took all her clothes off and jumped into the shower.

The warm water did wonders for her definitely sore body. She felt happier than ever, and it was all Nate's doing. The past two months were a rollercoaster of emotions, most unpleasant. So, finally, being happy and back with the infuriating man made her feel invincible.

She wasn't sure if she had made the right decision in getting back together with Nate, but there was one thing that she did know, and that was that she didn't care. She had spent too much of her life feeling scared or uncertain and didn't want to do that anymore.

So, she had decided to just enjoy life, and if this thing with Nate didn't work out, then fine, but if it did, Nura would not regret a second of their time together, not even the bad parts.

~

"Morning, sleepy heads!" Hope chirped as soon as they walked into the kitchen, a gigantic smile spreading over her lips at the sight of their joint hands.

"Hi, Mrs. Hope, Jeri," Nura said and sat down, her cheeks probably the color of a tomato. Nate just chuckled and sat beside her, throwing his hand around the back of Nura's chair like he was staking his claim over her, which made her want to roll her eyes, but she managed not to.

"Did you sleep well?" Hope asked as Jeri snorted into his coffee.

"I think we all know how good they slept," he said, Nura's eyes going wide as soon as she caught the meaning as Nate laughed out loud. Hope immediately swatted the man behind his head with a rolled-up newspaper.

"Jeremiah!"

"What? It was a joke!"

"Oh my God," Nura murmured, her whole body now probably resembling the color of a tomato she was trying to eat from how hard she was blushing.

Thankfully, her phone chose to ring at that moment, and she thanked Allah for small mercies as she excused herself and ran out of the room.

"Hello." she chirped, seeing as Ben was the one who was calling her, feeling happy to finally hear from her friend after days of no contact.

"Nura, are you okay? Are you still with Nate?" she heard Ben's frantic voice from the other side of the line, which immediately set her on edge since the Ben she knew always kept his cool, even in the most dire situations.

"Yes, yes. I am fine, still in Montana."

"Oh, thank God," he whispered, and the uneasy feeling in Nura's gut grew stronger.

"What's going on, Ben? Did something happen?"

She waited for a few moments, the silence stretching between them and making her think that Ben must have not heard her before she heard him whisper,

"It's John, Nura. John is missing, and wecan't find him."