Maybe she really was ready to let go at last—not just saying the words to win his support and his money.
And if so...hopefully what he had planned for the night would help her make that leap.
* * *
The Library of Celsus might just be her favourite part of Ephesus, Sadie decided as she ran her fingers along the delicately carved stonework. It never ceased to amaze her, just imagining all the learning and history the place must have held once. One of the later buildings, from the Roman period, its magnificence had only lasted one hundred and forty-two years before an earthquake and ensuing fire had destroyed it, leaving only the façade—and even that had perished a couple of hundred years later, in another earthquake.
Strange to think that the beauty she stared at now had been rebuilt by modern hands; that they’d found a way to bring some life back to a pile of rubble. But they had. Maybe she could, too.
Turning, she saw Dylan standing at the bottom of the library steps, staring up at the columns and statues. Smiling, she trotted over to join him. She’d known that Ephesus would be just the distraction they needed—especially after that morning. No business, nothing personal—just ancient history.
‘It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?’ Sadie moved to stand beside him, looking back at the façade again.
‘It’s certainly impressive,’ Dylan agreed.
‘So much history... A whole different world really.’ Just where she wanted to be today.
Dylan turned to her, eyes obscured by his sunglasses. ‘You know, I don’t remember you being so much of a history buff when we were younger.’
Sadie shrugged. ‘Maybe I wasn’t, back when the history around me was so familiar. But here...the history here blows me away. I want to know all of it.’
‘Why?’ Dylan asked, and she frowned at him. She should have known Mr Next Big Thing wouldn’t get the appeal of bygone days. ‘No, seriously, I’m curious. Why does it matter so much to you?’
‘I guess because...well, it shows us where we came from. Where we’ve been and how far there still is to go. There’s a lot of lessons in history.’
‘Perhaps.’ Dylan looked away, back at the library again. ‘But I’m not so sure it can tell us what happens next.’
‘You’ve never heard of history repeating itself?’ she asked.
‘Of course. But I like to think that we’re more than just the sum of what has happened to us.’
Sadie followed his gaze back to the library façade. Suddenly she could see the cracks, the places it had been repaired, and where parts were still missing, in a way she never had before.
She was also pretty sure they weren’t talking about the Ancient Greeks and Romans any more.
Was he right? Were they more than their history?
How could he say that when everything he’d told her that morning—about his dad, his family—had so clearly formed him into exactly the sort of man he was? Of course he didn’t believe he could do commitment, coming from a family like that. It had even explained to her why he was so desperate not to miss chances—how many opportunities must he have given up to look after his mother and sister? It was a miracle he’d ever made it to university to meet Adem in the first place.
‘Come on,’ Dylan said, tugging on her arm. ‘Let’s keep going or we’ll never see everything.’
Side by side, they climbed the paved hill through more terraces and temples and half-reassembled mosaics through the rest of the town.
‘I mean, look at the people who lived here,’ Dylan said suddenly, and Sadie frowned, trying to cast her mind back to the conversation they’d been having.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, they built this fantastic city, survived invasions and slaughters, were Greek, Roman, Byzantine...then the river silted up, the earthquakes hit, and the place started falling apart. And I bet you they never saw it coming—even though it had all happened before—however well they knew their own history.’
‘I guess there are always twists and turns we can’t predict,’ Sadie admitted. ‘And maybe sometimes we just choose to hope for the best instead.’ Like she had, hoping for a long, happy life with her husband.
‘You know that better than most, huh?’ He gave her an apologetic half-smile, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, not really. She just wasn’t meant to live happily ever after, it seemed. Not his fault. ‘It’s just kind of sad to think of all those people watching the harbour silt up, losing their access to the Aegean—the only thing that made this place matter—and realising there was nothing to stay for any more.’
Nothing to stay for... The words pricked at her mind, and she knew she’d been right, back at the library, to think they weren’t really talking history any more.
‘Is this some convoluted way of telling me that you think my harbour is silting up?’ she asked sharply, stopping in the middle of the path and not even caring about the tourists behind who had to swerve suddenly. The anger bubbling up as she reran his words in her head mattered more.
Dylan glanced back at her and stopped walking himself. ‘Your harbour?’ he asked, voice laced with confusion.
‘The Azure,’ Sadie snapped. As if he didn’t know what she was talking about. ‘Look, just lose the metaphor. If you think there’s no future for my hotel, that it can’t be saved, tell me now.’
‘You’re wrong.’ Dylan shook his head.
‘Am I really?’ Folding her arms across her chest, Sadie tapped one foot against the ancient stones and waited for him to deny it again.
If he dared.
* * *
Had the woman actually lost her mind this time?
Dylan grabbed Sadie’s arm and pulled her away from the middle of the path into the shade of a gnarled old tree beside a tumbledown wall. Maybe the heat was getting to her. He fished in his bag for a bottle of water and handed it to her.
‘Drink some of this,’ he said, sighing when she managed to do so without breaking her glare at him. ‘Look, I believe the Azure can be saved, okay? I’m just not sure that you’re the person to do it.’
She lowered the bottle from her lips, her expression crestfallen. ‘You don’t think I can do it.’
He bit back a curse. That was not what he’d meant. God, how many ways could he mess this up? ‘I’m very sure that you can. But I’m still not convinced that you really want to.’
‘We’re back to this?’ She shoved the bottle back into his hands and cool droplets dribbled out onto his fingers. ‘I’ve given you a million reasons—’
‘And none of them are “because it’s the work I know I was born to do”.’
‘Who has that? No one, Dylan. No one else expects that from their job.’
‘You should.’ He took a long drink of water. ‘The difference between you and most people is that this isn’t your only option. And obligation isn’t passion, Sadie.’
‘Fine.’ She shook her head, stepping away from him. The extra distance felt like miles instead of inches. ‘If this is too big a project for you, too big a commitment, just say so. I’ll find some other way to save the Azure.’
She would too, he knew. Sighing, he rubbed a fist across his tired eyes. How had a simple sightseeing trip grown so complicated?
‘I know things have been weird between us this week.’ Her tone was softer now, and it only made him more nervous. ‘But I swear I’m not asking for anything beyond your business and financial support, if that’s what you’re worried about. I... I think that maybe there could be something between us, yes. But I’m not trying to tie you down, or drag you away from your other opportunities.’
Something between us... Wasn’t that the understatement of the year?
‘I never thought you were.’ At least he hadn’t. Until she’d said that.
‘Well...good.’ She shifte
d awkwardly from one foot to the other, and he was pretty sure the faint pink flush on her cheeks wasn’t just to do with the sun. ‘So. Are you in, or not?’
She wanted an answer now. After days of dancing around everything between them—history, business, attraction—suddenly she needed to know. Of course she did.
‘Can we discuss this at dinner?’ he asked. If he’d read things right, tonight would be the perfect time to present his whole proposal in one go. A chance for them to maybe think about the future for once, instead of the past.
And he reckoned the odds on her saying yes were much better there than here at the side of the road through an abandoned city.
But Sadie stood her ground. ‘No. I need to know now. Will you recommend investing in the Azure to your board?’
When had she got so stubborn? Or had she always been this way? Was it one of the things Adem had loved about her? He could hardly remember. The Sadie that had been had almost entirely given way to the new one, the one he’d spent the last week falling for.
He took a deep breath and dived in.
‘I have a proposal for you,’ he said, wishing his heart wasn’t beating so loudly.
‘Another one?’