Page 77 of My Turkish Fling
I cringed at my own joke, which made laughing a little difficult.
Aria didn’t laugh either. Instead, her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, I can’t help picturing it, and it’s beautiful.” She dabbed her eyes with a paper napkin. “But don’t mind me. I’m just terrified to move to Istanbul where I don’t know anyone and can’t speak the language… so I guess I’m clutching onto straws, hoping you’ll love him so much you’ll follow him there and I won’t be alone.”
“You’ll be with Cem!”
“You know what I mean. He’ll be working and I’ll be sitting in his giant house, hiding from his parents, trying to learn Turkish.”
“You’ll learn quickly! And I’ll miss you,” I said quietly. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t make any promises.
“And I honestly think I misjudged Emir. Yesterday, it felt like we were seeing behind the curtain, the way he looks at you... how he’s helping. I saw him vacuuming!”
“I know!” I shook my head, smiling at the memory.
“There’s nothing hotter a man can possibly do.”
“He’s also cleaned my kitchen and cooked for me.”
Aria looked like she’d seen a ghost. “Seriously? You’ve tamed the dragon. Okay, I’ll stop now. I promise.”
“It’s okay. I don’t feel like I’ve done anything, though. I feel like that’s who he is. He’s hellbent on doing the right thing, beinghelpful… maybe that’s why he’s talking about marriage. Because it’s the proper thing to do and it’d be disrespectful to not offer that level of commitment. Turkish men are more conservative.”
“Well, Cem doesn’t think like that. And that’s a good thing. I don’t want him to propose to me because he’s worried about my reputation.”
“He’s a celebrity, though. It’s a weird space of its own, even in the cultural context. A bit of a la la land, where people can get away with not following the rules.”
“Maybe… I’m just saying that he’s Turkish and wants to marry for love and not out of responsibility.”
“Of course! I’m sorry,” I said, seeing the hurt in her eyes. “I’m not implying anything like that. I can see he loves you. Truly.”
Her jaw jutted forward, and eyebrows lifted. “I saw Emir looking at you like that, too. I wasn’t sure if you liked him too or if he was just pining for you, but it was clear as day.”
My chest washed with warmth, and I expelled a breath. I couldn’t explain away Emir’s words or feelings, but did I want to?
“Do you know when Cem’s parents are coming back to town?”
“You mean Emir’s parents?” Aria gave me a knowing smile. “They’ll be back tomorrow. Why?”
“I’m thinking of taking a bit of time off this week. Work is quiet right now. The house is in good shape so we should be ready for the party. I’ll just fire off some emails today and I’ll be contactable—”
“Of course! Go, spend time with Emir. And your son! How is he?”
“He’s not happy in Auckland and wants to move here. Which means I have to deal with his father.” My lungs deflated with adeep sigh. “The timing couldn’t be worse.”
“Or maybe it’s good? You can do a test run of living under the same roof with them both.” She gave me a cheeky smile.
“Oh, dear.” My heart squeezed and I fought to keep the emotion contained. I couldn’t let myself dream that far. It’d hurt so much more.
I got up. “We better get to work.”
Aria followed me. Once we made it to the sidewalk, I stopped, turning to face her. “Thank you for listening to me.”
“Any time.”
We hugged so tight my lungs flattened. I was a little jealous of her easy happiness, her freedom to travel and plan her life with Cem, yet I was so lucky to have someone to talk to who understood. I wouldn’t let us drift apart.
I spent a couple of hours in the office, returning phone calls and emails. Around lunchtime, I drove back home. Turning on my driveway, I saw Josh outside the stables, brushing Molly. Relief flooded my body as I stopped the car and lowered the window. “You found her!”
He waved at me, shouting back across the gooseberry bushes. “She was eating cabbage in Mr. Pattison’s garden. But he doesn’t know. Emir distracted him and I snuck her out.”
