Chapter 29
29
Sadie woke late the next morning. It seemed so strange that it was Christmas Day and she had nothing she needed to be doing. No last-minute push-around of the hoover, no double-checking the turkey was properly defrosted, no sprouts to peel and pare, no hunting in the fridge behind a mountain of cheese for that jar of horseradish she knew she’d bought but that had somehow disappeared. She lay there for a moment waiting for the feeling that she was somehow missing out to arrive. When it didn’t show up, she smiled to herself, made a cup of tea and climbed back into bed to read. Dylan and the kids had invited her to join them but she’d turned them down. After last night at the church, it was important to re-establish some boundaries. She couldn’t deny how special it had been to sit amongst the family and feel part of such a wonderful community, but deep down she’d known she didn’t belong there. Couldn’t belong there even if she wanted to because it was simply too impractical apart from anything else. It might have been different if he’d lived here at Juniper Meadows. If that were the case then she might have allowed herself to think about a future where they might explore the idea of a relationship over a series of long weekends, but Florida might as well be the moon.
Not wanting to dwell on what she couldn’t change, Sadie finished her tea and treated herself to a long soak in the bath before making calls to first Jake and then Katie to wish them a merry Christmas. ‘Look at what you’re missing,’ Katie said, wincing as another piercing scream filled the air.
A frazzled-looking Liam appeared in the shot, a red-faced and very unhappy Isla under one arm, a dolly with a missing arm in the other. ‘Hi, Sadie,’ he called out over his daughter’s screams. ‘Katie, love, any idea where the superglue is?’
Sadie covered her mouth to hide a smile. ‘Oh dear. Look, my darlings, I am going to leave you to it. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Lots of love and merry Christmas.’
‘Merry Christmas, Mum, love you, sorry!’ The screen turned black and Sadie set her phone aside with a smile and a shake of her head. No, she was absolutely not missing out on anything.
She’d just finished dressing and was fiddling with her hair in front of the mirror when there was a knock on her door. Pulling it open, she was confronted with a smiling Avery holding a little package wrapped in silver paper, Theo and Dylan standing just behind her. ‘Happy Christmas!’ Avery declared, thrusting the present at her.
Accepting the gift with a smile, Sadie stepped back. ‘Thank you. Would you like to come in for a minute?’
Avery walked past her, eyes looking everywhere as she checked out the room. ‘It’s a lot different from ours.’ She made a beeline for the window. ‘Oh, you have a lovely view over the gardens!’
‘Hey, Sadie,’ Theo said as he passed her.
‘Hello, darling, merry Christmas.’ The endearment slipped out and she blamed it on the fact she’d been speaking to her own children earlier. He didn’t seem to mind, giving her a shy smile before heading over to where his sister was still looking out of the window.
‘Avery wanted to bring you something she picked up at the market the other day,’ Dylan said by way of explanation after she rose up on tiptoe to accept a kiss from him.
‘It’s fine.’ She closed the door and turned back to him. ‘It’s more than fine, it’s lovely. I’ve got something for each of you,’ she said, pointing towards the coffee table. ‘I was going to bring them down later but this is probably a better idea.’
They settled on the sofa and chairs, Avery’s eyes gleaming when Sadie offered her a flat parcel wrapped in shiny red paper. ‘What is it?’
‘Open it and find out,’ Sadie said with a laugh. Avery ripped the paper open, letting out a squeal of delight at the set of liquid eyeliner pens. ‘I texted Charlie for her advice and she said these are the same as the ones she used when she did your make-up for the murder-mystery night.’
‘I love them, thank you!’ Avery jumped out of her seat to throw her arms around Sadie’s neck.
Sadie accepted the enthusiastic hug, her heart full of affection for this sweet, open-hearted girl. ‘Your turn,’ she said, handing a slightly larger package to Theo once Avery had abandoned her to go and play with the eyeliner in front of the mirror.
‘Thank you, you didn’t have to.’ He was much more careful with the wrapping, peeling back the Sellotape from each end before folding the halves of the paper back. ‘Oh, wow.’
‘I hope it’s the right size,’ Sadie said as Theo lifted out a Peaky Blinders-style cap. ‘I remembered you said you wanted to get one. The stall owner said you can exchange it if it’s not right.’
Theo put it on, pulling the brim down on one side so it covered one eye. ‘What do you reckon?’
‘Looks good,’ Dylan said. ‘What do you say?’
‘Thanks, Sadie!’ Theo leaned across and pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. ‘You’re the best.’
‘Is that for me?’ Dylan pointed at the small box she was holding in her hands.
She stared down at it for a second. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now she was worried she might have overstepped. Well, it was too late to change her mind. ‘There you go,’ she said, thrusting it into his hands.
He turned the box around with a quizzical smile then slipped the ribbon off and opened the lid. ‘Christ, Sadie.’
She closed her eyes for a second as heat blazed in her cheeks. She’d got it wrong, stuck her nose into business that wasn’t hers. ‘I’m sorry, it’s too much, isn’t it?’ In a panic she tried to snatch the box back.
Dylan lifted it out of reach, shaking his head. ‘No, no, don’t you dare apologise.’ He sounded choked and his eyes were glistening as he lifted out one of the delicate silver cufflinks she’d had Carrie-Ann engrave with the Travers family crest. ‘How did you know?’
She shrugged, feeling a little tearful herself. ‘I asked Tasha for a copy of the design. I just wanted you to have something to mark your visit home.’
‘They’re perfect.’ Their eyes met. You’re perfect, he mouthed silently.
Sadie pressed a hand over her galloping heart. Oh, goodness, what was the man doing to her? What were all of them doing to her?
Avery bounced over, two exaggerated wings of eyeliner stretching on either side of her lids. ‘You look like an Egyptian goddess!’ Sadie said with a laugh.
‘That’s coming off before we go downstairs for lunch,’ Dylan said, making his daughter roll her eyes in disgust.
‘You don’t get it, Dad.’
‘Oh, I get it all right and the answer’s still no.’
Avery pouted and Sadie leaned towards her. ‘We’ll wash it off in a minute and I’ll help you do it again.’
Avery brightened in an instant. ‘Now it’s your turn to open your present.’ She snatched the package Sadie had set down and thrust it into her hands.
Sadie unfastened the paper and found herself staring at the back of a silver-edged photo frame. Turning it over with shaky hands, she gasped at the photo. It was of the four of them framed under a glittering arch of white fairy lights. Sadie was standing next to Dylan, his arm around her waist, his other arm around Theo’s shoulders. Avery was on Sadie’s other side, their arms linked together. Rowena had taken it the night they’d walked around the illuminated trail. ‘We wanted to give you something to remember us by,’ Avery said in a quiet voice.
‘As if I could forget you,’ Sadie replied, reaching out to cup the girl’s cheek. ‘Thank you, I’ll treasure it always.’
‘You should come back to Florida with us,’ Avery burst out.
‘Avie!’ Dylan sounded as shocked as Sadie felt and she knew this was the first he’d heard anything about it.
Avery spun to face her father. ‘What? I’m just saying that it’s clear you two really like each other and Theo and I really like Sadie too. Why can’t she come back and visit with us?’
‘We’ll talk about this later.’ Dylan blew out a breath. ‘Sadie, I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair to put you on the spot like that.’
‘I didn’t mean to upset anyone.’
Avery’s face had gone red and Sadie felt sorry for her. She held out a hand. ‘It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m not upset. You just took me by surprise, that’s all. And if things were different then it would be lovely to spend more time with you all, but I’ve got my own family and I need to go back to them.’
‘But you and Daddy really like each other?—’
‘Enough, Avery.’ Dylan stood. ‘Come on, let’s go and wash your face and put our presents away.’ He put an arm around Avery’s slumped shoulders and steered her towards the door. ‘We’ll see you downstairs in a bit, okay?’ he said to Sadie as he urged the kids out in front of him.
‘Okay.’ Sadie reached out and placed a hand on his chest. ‘Don’t give her a hard time. It’s not her fault we’ve given her the wrong idea. We should’ve been more careful.’
Dylan stared at her for a long moment before he nodded once and turned away. Sadie closed the door and once again found herself needing the support of the wall to hold herself up. Oh God, how had they managed to make such a mess of things?