‘Lots. CJ and Phoebe are here with Auntie Rachel. We’ve been playing in the garden, and next we’re going to build the biggest Lego fort in the world ever!’ Finn’s eyes brightened with excitement, and Sadie felt a wave of love rush over her, the way she always did when she saw him happy. Whatever else seemed crazy in her life at the moment, Finn at least was as wonderful, perfect and precious as always.
‘Sounds fun.’ She was just about to ask him something else when the sound of two high-pitched voices yelling Finn’s name cut her off.
‘Sorry, Mum. Gotta go. CJ needs me for the fort. Otherwise Phoebe will make it a pink princess castle again.’ Finn’s words came out in a rush as he moved further away from the screen. ‘Bye, Mum!’
‘Love you,’ Sadie called after him, but all she could see was the back of his head, disappearing through the door to the other room. Well. Who was she to try and compete with a Lego fort, anyway?
Before she could end the call her sister Rachel appeared on the screen, settling into the chair Finn had just vacated. ‘Sorry. They’re just having so much fun together. It’s lovely.’
‘That’s okay,’ Sadie said with a smile. ‘I’m just glad he’s not missing me.’
‘Liar.’ Rachel grinned back. ‘At least part of you wishes he was pining away without you. Go on, admit it.’
‘Maybe a very small part.’
Rachel nodded. ‘You wouldn’t be human otherwise.’ She squinted at the screen, and Sadie tried not to duck away under her sister’s scrutiny. ‘He’s right, though. You do look pretty. What’s going on there worth dolling up for?’
She groaned inwardly. She should have called before she’d got ready. She couldn’t lie to Rachel—she’d tried often enough over the years, but her sister always saw through it. But how to tell the truth?
‘I’ve got a potential investor visiting,’ she said in the end. ‘He wants to see the Kusadasi nightlife. Does this look okay for bar-hopping? It’s been so long I can’t remember.’
‘Stand up and give me a twirl,’ Rachel instructed, and Sadie did as she was told. ‘It’s perfect. So...this potential investor. Is he cute?’
Sadie sat back down with a bump. Cute wasn’t exactly the word she’d use to describe Dylan. Heartstoppingly gorgeous but totally untouchable? Closer to the mark. Still, she wasn’t saying that to Rachel.
‘I suppose so,’ she said, as neutrally as she could.
‘And is there...dare I risk to hope it? Is there fizz?’
Fizz. The word they’d used as teenagers to describe that intangible connection, that feeling that you just had to touch that other person, be close to them, feel their smile on your face or you’d just bubble over and explode. Did Dylan have fizz? Silly question. He’d always had fizz. That was the problem. And when he’d placed that scarf around her neck and his fingers had brushed her skin...
‘There is fizz!’ Rachel announced gleefully. ‘Don’t try and deny it. I can tell these things. Psychic sister skills.’
Sadie shook her head. ‘It doesn’t matter if there is or isn’t fizz. The investor...it’s Dylan. You remember Adem’s best man? He’s just here because he wants to help out with the Azure, but he needs to convince his stakeholders we’re a good investment so I’m trying to give him enough plus points to present a great proposal to them.’
‘Dylan? Of course I remember Dylan. If I hadn’t been already married at your wedding...’
‘Then you could have lined up behind the other bridesmaids for a shot at him.’
‘He was more than cute, Sadie,’ Rachel pointed out. As if she hadn’t noticed.
‘He’s an old friend.’
‘So? There’s fizz.’
‘He’s Adem’s old friend,’ Sadie stressed, hoping her sister would just figure it out without her having to spell it out.
‘Which means Adem trusted this guy,’ Rachel countered. ‘Which means you can too.’
‘With my hotel, maybe. Not with any fizz.’ Even if she was ready to throw herself back into romance with a one-night stand or something, Dylan Jacobs would not be a good choice. And if she was even thinking about anything longer term, he’d be the worst choice in the world. He’d said it himself, he didn’t do commitment. And she couldn’t be in the market for anything less. She had her son to think of.
But Rachel clearly didn’t get that. ‘Why not?’
‘Rachel...’
Her sister sighed, the sound huffing across the computer speakers. ‘It’s been two years, Sadie. Adem wouldn’t want you sitting out there all alone, you know that. He’d understand.’
‘Maybe,’ Sadie allowed. Her husband had been loving, generous and wonderful. He probably would want her to be happy again with someone else. On the other hand... ‘But I’m sure he wouldn’t want me with Dylan Jacobs either.’ He’d want her settled and stable—not things on offer from Dylan, even if he was interested.
‘Why on earth not?’
‘He’s not that sort of guy, Rach. Besides...’ She trailed off, not wanting to put the thought into words.
‘Now we’re getting to it. Tell me.’
Sadie took a deep breath, and confessed. ‘If I admit to feeling...fizz with Dylan now, isn’t that the same as admitting I felt it when Adem was alive, too?’
‘Oh, Sadie.’ Sympathy oozed out of Rachel’s words and expression. ‘Fizz, attraction...it’s just that. We all feel it from time to time, with all sorts of people. It’s what we do with it that counts. Sometimes we ignore it, and sometimes we act on it and see what happens next.’ She paused. ‘You didn’t, right? Act on it with Dylan, I mean, before?’
‘No!’ An easy truth. But it didn’t stop the niggling guilt reminding her that she’d thought about it.
‘Then don’t beat yourself up about it. Go out with the guy tonight. Relax. Enjoy a little fizz...’
Sadie groaned. ‘I’m going to pretend you’re talking about prosecco.’
‘Ha! Whatever helps you loosen up a bit.’
‘I’d better go.’ Sadie checked her watch to be sure. ‘Tell Finn I love him. And that I’ll call tomorrow.’
‘Will do,’ Rachel said with a nod. ‘Now, go and have fun.’
With a weak smile Sadie clicked the ‘end call’ button. A whole evening watching Dylan flirt with barmaids and blondes. She had a feeling that fun was the last thing she should expect tonight to be. Maybe more some sort of weird torture technique devised purely to drive her insane.
‘And yet I’m going anyway,’ she murmured to herself as she gathered up her light jacket and handbag. ‘The things I do for this hotel...’
* * *
Tipping his chair back against the wall behind him, Dylan watched Sadie’s slim form as she made her way across the bar from the bathrooms, wondering if she’d notice he’d replenished their drinks in her absence. Operation Drunk Conversation was now officially two drinks in, and he still felt a little uneasy about it. Apparently Bar Street was the place to go and get drunk in Kusadasi, although with its range of Irish and British bars, as well as some Turkish ones, Dylan wasn’t sure this was necessarily the local colour he’d be trying to sell to the stakeholders. On the other hand, it clearly brought in plenty of tourists—and money. It almost reminded him of their student days.
She looked younger in jeans and heels, he decided. Almost like she had back in London as a twenty-something. She’d filled out a little since then, he supposed, but only in the best ways. Her slender curves enticed him as she swerved through the crowds to reach him. His head filled with music, the way it had the first time he’d ever met her—the Beatles’ ‘Sexy Sadie’ playing on a loop through his mind.
‘You’re still alone. I’m amazed.’ Sadie slipped into her seat and took a sip of her wine without commenting on the level in the glass.
‘Why amazed?’
‘Well, five minutes always used to be more than enough time for you to find a girl to flirt with when we used to go out.’ There was no bitterness or censure in her voice, more amusement, but Dylan felt the words like paper cuts all the same. Probably because they were true.