Chapter 25
25
There were many times over the next couple of days when Sadie found herself questioning her sanity. She felt giddy as a schoolgirl, unable to resist whenever Dylan persuaded her into a quiet corner so he could kiss her and hold her against the firm strong length of his body. Sensations long dormant shifted and stirred inside her until she didn’t know what to do with herself. Not that she was a passive partner in what was developing between them, not at all. Whenever they were together, Sadie found an excuse to touch him and more than once she caught herself scanning for a nook they could duck into and steal a private moment together. She knew she needed to be careful, to simply enjoy the moment and not let herself get carried away with fantastical thoughts of the future, but, oh, it was hard. Harder still to send him on his way when he walked her to her bedroom door every night.
As strong as the urge to be with him was, Sadie was also conscious of not monopolising all of his time with the kids. When they invited her on the treasure hunt to find the six golden goose eggs hidden around the hall, she demurred, saying she wanted to visit the Christmas market instead. It wasn’t an excuse and she spent a lovely couple of hours wandering the stalls and picking up little gifts for Dylan and the kids. At the workshops she found some beautiful jewellery for Katie and Rachel handmade by Carrie-Ann the silversmith, a new wallet for Liam at the leather workshop next door and a selection of flavoured gin miniatures, which she knew would be well appreciated by Jake.
The entertainment the following evening was an ice-skating show on the temporary rink with a Swan Lake -inspired theme. Sadie allowed herself to be persuaded to join Dylan and the kids and she enjoyed both their company and the show, though she drew the line at joining in when the rink opened back up for casual skating. Theo refused as well, opting to fetch hot chocolate for both himself and Sadie. Which left poor Dylan to accompany Avery onto the ice. Even with the penguin-shaped skating aids that were supposed to help with balance, they both took more than one tumble, and by the time Dylan had wobbled his way around half a dozen times with zero signs of improvement, it was clear he’d had enough. ‘I’ll be black and blue for a week,’ he grumbled as Sadie helped him over to the bench where he could remove his skates.
‘Well, at least Avery is enjoying herself,’ Sadie said, glancing over his shoulder to keep an eye on her, and she was rewarded with a cheery wave as the teen swooped past as if she’d been skating all her life, not less than half an hour. Oh, for the fearlessness of youth! ‘Here, Theo’s got something that will make you feel better.’ She’d despatched him back to the drinks stall to collect the cup of spiced apple warmer she’d already paid for. There was a hot chocolate waiting for Avery when she’d finished too.
By the time they’d walked back to the hall they were all cold and tired and ready for an early night. Dylan was limping noticeably as they ascended the stairs, but he insisted it was fine as he escorted Sadie along the corridor to her room. ‘I can find my own way,’ she protested. ‘You should go and have a hot shower.’
‘There’s a shower in your room,’ Dylan said with a wicked grin as they reached her door. ‘You could help me massage the stiffness away.’
‘Dylan Travers!’
‘What?’ The look he gave her was all wide-eyed innocence apart from a telltale gleam in his eye. ‘I was talking about my sore leg.’
‘Of course you were.’ She put a hand on his chest and gave him a gentle push. ‘It’s time for bed.’
‘No massage?’
She laughed. ‘’Fraid not. You’ll have to settle for a kiss instead.’ In the end he settled for a dozen kisses, leaving her breathless and more than a little weak at the knees. ‘Will you be all right for tomorrow?’ There would be more than eight maids a-milking as the family had arranged a visit to the estate farm for those who were interested. Sadie could’ve taken or left it, but the kids had begged her to come with them and she was finding it harder to stick to her resolution of not intruding on their family time. It wasn’t just the chance to be with Dylan, either – she was growing increasingly fond of Theo and Avery and she would miss them as much as she missed their father.
The time had flown past so quickly and there was less than a week before they’d all be going their separate ways. While it had done her the world of good to get out of her sad little bubble and into the world again, the extravagant décor and warm welcome she’d received at the hall were going to make her little house seem even more pokey and depressing. She pushed the thought away. Her time at Juniper Meadows was all about living in the moment. No need to spoil what was left of it by worrying about what would happen once she was back home again.
The visit to the farm was much more fun than she’d anticipated. Tara and Jon had spoken to Stevie and arranged permission for their son-in-law, daughter and grandchildren to join them on the visit and the little ones had a whale of a time. Rhys was a fountain of knowledge. His passion for his project to use the farm to preserve rare breeds shone through, as did his dedication to his animals. Theo had a go at milking a cow, while Avery preferred to spend time helping Hope groom her horses.
The younger ones helped where they could, putting out fresh straw for bedding and helping to fill water troughs with little buckets. ‘This takes me back years to when I used to take my children to a local farm park when they were this age. They used to spend hours petting the rabbits and guinea pigs,’ Sadie said to Rhys as they watched the children spill more water than they managed to get in the troughs.
‘We try to discourage rabbits on the farm, not give them homes,’ Rhys said, wryly.
‘Oh, not that kind of rabbits, these were specialist breeds with big lop-ears. There was a whole barn dedicated to child-friendly animals.’ A memory came back to her and she laughed. ‘Well, the miniature goat that butted my ex-husband in the bottom wasn’t that friendly.’
‘An animal with good instincts,’ Dylan said with a laugh as he came to join them. ‘Can I borrow you a minute? There’s something I wanted to show you.’
Sadie excused herself from Rhys, who barely acknowledged their departure, his attention on the children and a deep frown creasing his brow. Dylan led her by the hand into a stall in the far corner of the barn and closed the half-door behind them. ‘What did you want to show—?’ The rest of her question was cut off by his mouth. With a sigh, Sadie sank into the now familiar warmth of him. How was it possible she’d grown so used to this in just a few short days? They emerged some time later to find the visit almost over. As they hurried to join the others out in the yard, Sadie reached out and hastily brushed away some straw that had stuck to the back of Dylan’s fleecy jacket.
They found the kids standing with Alice, who was looking festive in a bright red jumper over a pair of jeans. ‘We were just coming to look for you,’ Avery said. ‘Grandma has invited us to stay for lunch. Can we?’
‘Of course,’ Dylan agreed.
‘You’re very welcome to join us, Sadie,’ Alice offered with a smile.
Sadie shook her head. ‘I have things to do this afternoon, but thank you.’ Spending time with Dylan and the kids was one thing, but she knew how fragile this burgeoning relationship he had with his mother was and it was important for them to strengthen those bonds.
‘Another time, then,’ Alice said with a smile as she reached up and pulled something from Sadie’s hair.
She stared at the long stalk of straw for a moment, feeling the heat rise on her cheeks. ‘Yes, another time.’
Dylan reached for her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’
In the end they didn’t get the chance to catch up. Lunch with his mother rolled on into dinner with the rest of the family. Dylan sent her a text to apologise but she assured him there was no need. Sadie spent a quiet afternoon catching up on her much-neglected reading and enjoyed a lovely FaceTime chat with Robbie and Zac, who had reached a level of excitement about Father Christmas coming to visit that Sadie was quietly thankful her kids had sent her to Juniper Meadows. Robbie in particular was worried about how Santa would know where to find her because she wasn’t going to be at home and she had to reassure him that she’d sent her Christmas letter off with the correct address in time for the elves to update their database. Reassured, he ended the call blowing her so many kisses she felt almost tearful by the time they ended the call. After a good talking-to, Sadie joined Tara, Jon and Marcus for a light supper before returning to her room for a long, indulgent soak in the roll-topped bath. She fell asleep that night with a smile on her face as her mind replayed a montage of Dylan’s kisses from earlier.