Page 3 of My Turkish Fling
“Yes, of course you are.” Janie’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Like two peas in a pod.”
I furrowed my brow. “We look alike?”
“Yes, we do!” Cem confirmed, assuming a comically deep frown.
I shook my head, chest tight. I wasn’t used to anyone noticing me, especially next to my magnetic brother. I much preferred being invisible behind the camera.
“Emir is in charge of the photos,” Cem told Janie. “That way nobody is frowning in them.”
Janie laughed, playfully slapping my arm. My spine tingled at her sudden touch. “I’m sure he’s not that much of a grump. Wait, are you?”
I turned to look at the house. “So, this is your place? It’s beautiful.”
Janie stepped back, spreading her arms. “Yes! I’m freshly divorced, so I’m still considering titles. I like the sound of countess.”
I tried to detect sadness in her bubbly voice. No one should look and sound that happy right after a divorce. She must have been an actress. I remembered Aria mentioning a TV career. Was she one of those who faked so expertly they ended up believing their own lies? I knew the type.
“I’m sorry to hear about the divorce,” I said.
She met my gaze and her laughter fizzled out. “Don’t be sorry. I got to keep this house. I love it here.” The little wobble in her voice relaxed me. Maybe she wasn’t a complete phony.
I lifted my camera, pointing it away from the house. Rolling hills stretched out to the horizon, dotted by occasional houses, too far to even count the windows. Absolute privacy, far away from civilization. A paragon of peace.
“I’d give you a tour, but I’m on my way to give a horse eyedrops,” Janie flashed us an apologetic smile and pulled a small bottle out of her pocket. “But if you want to have a wee look around, I’ll catch you later?”
“Yeah, sure,” Aria agreed, taking Cem’s hand. “I want to show you the deck. It might be big enough for everyone so we could eat outdoors.”
“Please ignore the broken trellis and ceramic planters. I know it’s weeks since the storm, but I’ve been so busy.” Janie looked away, her cheeks rosy.
“Don’t worry! We have great imagination,” Aria smiled.
As soon as Janie turned around, strolling down the driveway, Cem pulled Aria into his arms, his hands shamelessly roaming down her backside.
“You go ahead. I’ll take a look at the… garden,” I gestured in the opposite direction where there may or may not have been a garden. If my brother and his fiancée were off to dry hump on the verandah, I’d investigate anything else. A compost. A scum pond.
“Catch you later!” Cem pulled Aria with him, disappearing around the corner. They couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
I saw Janie’s slight frame advancing down the tree-lined dirt road, her hair and shirt flapping in the breeze. Something was pulling me towards the stables. It was the horse, I told myself. I wanted to see the horse.
Chapter 2
Janie
I opened the door to the stables, bracing myself for how much Molly’s eye might have deteriorated since the morning. So far, I hadn’t managed to get even a tiny drop of the medicine in it, and couldn’t afford to call the vet back in. I had to do this, or my beloved, moody mare might lose her sight.
Hearing my footsteps, Molly neighed in her corner. I changed her hay and let her out of the stall to take a little walk. She’d be more agreeable this way, I told myself. Not that it seemed to make a difference. What I’d learned about horses so far was that if they didn’t want to do something, they didn’t do it. You couldn’t force them or sway them. Especially if you were 5 foot 3 inches tall with limited equestrian skills.
I’d chosen this life. Maybe I hadn’t expected to run it alone, toobroke to hire help, but I was dealing with the consequences of my actions, so self-pity was not allowed. Things had to be done, and there was nobody else here to do them.
I kept the eyedrops hidden inside the loose sleeve of my linen top and used my other hand to pick up a brush. I patted and brushed Molly, trying to act as usual. As I got closer, I saw the puss draining from the corner of her eye and my chest squeezed. What if she did lose her eyesight? It wasn’t right for her to pay the price for my divorce.
I took a deep breath and swung my arm to her eye level, trying to spray directly into the infected eye. But Molly must have sensed my ruse and reared on her hind legs. The sudden move threw me off balance. I felt eyedrops sprinkling on my face before I stumbled and fell on my bottom.
“Are you okay?”
I heard the Turkish accent over the sound of clanking hooves and before I could answer, Emir appeared, reaching for me with both hands. He helped me up, just in time before my panicked horse trampled us both.
Disoriented and with my ass aching, I tried to grab Molly’s reins to stop her thrashing around, but Emir was faster. I watched, stunned, as he took hold of her, soothing her so quickly I instinctively checked his hands for a needle. Molly didn’t calm down like that, not with me or the vet. Not without a tranquilizer.
