“I realize it’s February, but this is ridiculous,” Sadie muttered to herself as she picked her way through the frozen, blackened snow blocking the crosswalk.

She’d returned from the island four weeks ago and, much like her mood, winter in D.C. had turned desolate. Just off an event, Sadie would typically be relieved to have several uninterrupted weeks in the city. But no sooner had she stepped off the plane than the temperatures had fallen firmly into the frigid category and the region had been hit by one freak winter storm after the next. It wasn’t unheard of, two feet of snow blanketing the city over night. But multiple storms in a matter of weeks was more than she – or the overtaxed snowplows – could handle.

The last blizzard had hit on February 14^th – tremendously appropriate, Sadie thought, given how frozen she felt – and one week later snowplows were still clearing mountains of snow from sidewalks and street corners while dump trucks were unloading them in a stadium parking lot on the edge of the city. And as Sadie carefully made her way to the coffee shop, she thought the only thing more gross than the salt stains crawling up her boots were the frozen piles of gasoline-darkened snow that would sit abandoned and unyielding in that otherwise barren parking lot long after the first weeks of spring had arrived.

But despite every inclination to do so, the hazards of icy sidewalks included, Sadie couldn’t bail on a client meeting. Which was why she was standing in the middle of a downtown coffee shop, steam escaping as she unwound her scarf, scanning the over-wrapped bodies for the face of Mark Donovan.

“Sadie, a pleasure to see you again.”

Sadie turned in the direction of Mark’s warm greeting. She wondered if she should ask him to call her Ms. Carter, but given that the last time he’d seen her she was standing outside his best friend’s villa wearing nothing but a towel and a death glare, she figured it would be hard to go back to formalities. Regardless of how much she really, really wanted to. 

“Mark. Great seeing you.” Sadie took a seat at the little table and flashed him a friendly smile as he sat down across from her.

“Thanks for taking the time. And for braving the streets to meet me here.”

“Not a problem. Though I promise our office coffee isn’t so bad.” Mark raised a brow in a silent question and Sadie pointed at the cup in front of him. “I just mean, if your meeting requirements include a good cup of coffee, I’d happily provide that at my office. Not to mention more comfortable chairs. Just for future reference.” Sadie was smiling at him but Mark’s face stayed oddly blank.

“Ah, anyway…what can I do for you? I brought my files for your upcoming events,” Sadie opened up a folder on her iPad and slid it towards Mark, “but usually I handle this stuff with Connor and your Marketing team. Is there something specific you wanted to talk about?”

Mark scrubbed a hand across the stubble dusting his jaw and glanced down at his untouched coffee. “Yes. Actually…,” leaning forward he pinned Sadie with a soft but steady gaze. “I’m not here to talk about business. I’m here to talk about Jack.”

Sadie jerked back so quickly that she almost tipped the table over. Mark’s coffee cup wobbled and deposited some of its contents dangerously close to her tablet. Without looking at him, Sadie swiped it off the table and began scrubbing the surface with a napkin Mark pressed into her hand.

“I see,” Sadie managed to get out. “Well, if that’s the case, I’m afraid I have to get back to the office.” Standing, Sadie began to tug on her coat when Mark captured one of her hands in his.

“Stay for just a minute. Please. He didn’t send me. He doesn’t know I’m here. I just want…,” Mark sighed. “I just want to see if I can help. And not just him, but you too. That’s it. So if you hear me out and you still don’t want anything to do with him – or me – I promise I won’t bring it up again. And I’ll leave all the event conversations to our team at D&A International.” Mark lifted a little two-fingered salute. “Scout’s honor.”

Sadie gave him an appraising look, his blue eyes clear and guileless. “Were you really a boy scout?”

“No” Mark grinned. “But I’ve always wanted to see if that would work.”

“Hmmm.”

“Well, did it?”

Sadie dropped herself back into the chair with a huff. “Why don’t you get me a latte and we’ll find out.”

“Deal.” With another mega-watt smile, Mark headed to the counter and returned a few moments later with a large mug topped with pillows of foam.

“Thanks.” Sadie took a quick sip then leaned back in her chair, waiting for him to begin.

“Okay. Right.” Mark rubbed his hands up and down his thighs before propping himself on his elbows and leaning across the table. His voice was low, as if he was sharing a terrible secret. “Here’s the thing. He’s miserable.”

Sadie couldn’t help it. She laughed. A sad, sharp snicker that dropped onto the table with a thud. “He’s miserable? Yes, well, I suppose he is. But so am I, Mark. So am I.”

Mark nodded but continued. “Yes. I know. I mean, I’m not one-hundred-percent clear on everything that happened between you two. But from what I can gather, Jack is to blame. He screwed up royally and now you both are paying the price.”

 Sadie stayed silent but when she didn’t leave the table, Mark continued.

“After you left Nevis, things got pretty dark. Jack wouldn’t leave the villa. Refused to step foot out of it. You know how once a guest has checked into a room a hotel cannot physically force them out, even if their check-out date has come and gone? Well, Jack wouldn’t go, and the hotel couldn’t kick him out. He stayed holed up in that place for a week. By the time I convinced him to let me in both he and the room were unrecognizable.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t just get a key, let yourself in.” Sadie made no effort to hide her judgment.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry about that. I didn’t realize that him showing up in your room was going to make that day so much worse.” Mark looked away in embarrassment before continuing. “Anyway, I tried. But Jack must have learned from your experience, because all of the bolts and guard latches were firmly in place. Barring kicking the doors in, we couldn’t get in until Jack let us in himself.

“And, Sadie, I’ve never seen him like that. I’ve known Jack a long time. Almost twenty years. I’ve seen him deal with some rough shit. Hell, we’ve dealt with some rough shit together. But not once has he ever looked as desolate as he did in that villa. Christ, for a second I thought he’d contracted some sort of disease, he was so pale and stiff. But then I realized that his problem was more serious than that.”

Sadie brought her coffee cup up to her lips and hoped Mark missed how her hands shook. And how she had to swallow several times before she was able to force the hot liquid down her throat.

“I was there, Sadie, when his marriage to Christina fell apart. And it was rough, I won’t lie. Jack was torn up. Angry, hurt, betrayed. But this, the way he was after you left. I’ve never seen him like that. He was…,” Mark’s voice trailed off as he looked for the right word. “Broken,” he finally murmured. “Whatever happened between you two, Sadie, it broke something in him. And I honestly don’t know if it can be fixed – if he can be fixed – without you.”

Sadie let her eyes wander around the café, across the student with her face buried in her laptop, to the two men in obligatory blue suits shouting down their cellphones, to the barista trying to get the attention of a tourist who’d wandered off without his coffee. She had to look anywhere other than at Mark because if she saw the truth of the words in his eyes she wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it out of the café in one piece.

Jack wasn’t the only broken one. Nothing had been the same for Sadie since she’d returned from the island. She kept telling herself it shouldn’t have made a difference. One week. That’s all it had been. She should be able to forget it, blink it away, erase the memories that filled her sleep and mute the longing that shook her every time she heard his name. But nothing about their time together was simple, easily washed away or forgotten. No matter how hard she tried, Sadie could not purge Jack from her body. His touch was a constant whisper on her flesh. His deep chuckle an echo in her ear. His reverence the cadence to every thought. His love a relentless pull on her heart. And as many times as Sadie cursed Jack for not telling her about Christina, that heart of hers reminded her that though it kept beating the rhythm would always be off-tempo without him.

Sadie jumped when Mark touched her arm, his fingers falling away quickly as he looked at her with a mixture of concern and hope.

“Will you consider talking to him, Sadie? It doesn’t have to be for long. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be in person. Just give him a chance to explain, one last time? I’m not looking for a miracle. Just the possibility that maybe talking to you will help Jack dig himself out of this hole he’s fallen into.”

Ignoring Mark’s questions, Sadie cleared her throat to ask some of her own. “Did you know?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you know she – Christina – was there? At the hotel? That she was coming?”

“No,” Mark shook his head emphatically. “I had no clue she was going to show up. Didn’t even know she’d stepped on the island until Grace told me.”

Confused, Sadie looked at him more closely. “Grace told you that Jack’s wife was on the island?” It could have been a burn lingering from the freezing winter wind, but Sadie was pretty sure that she saw Mark Donovan, Co-Founder and CEO of D&A International, blush. 

“Yes,” Mark pushed back his shoulders, almost squirming in his chair. “She was with me when she got the call from the front desk.” When Sadie just stared at him, he continued awkwardly. “She was in my room, ah, I mean, at my villa, helping me with something. When she got the call. I could even hear Christina shouting in the background. Grace tried Jack’s phone several times but when he didn’t answer she went down to the front desk to deal with it. And I ran up to Jack’s villa to see if he was there. Wanted to give him a head’s up before Christina came crashing in.”

Sadie remembered the moment Mark came bursting out on the terrace. Given what was happening at the time, she doubted she’d ever forget it. But now, having heard his side of the story, certain details stood out. His wrinkled clothes, his messy hair. His mismatched sandals. Oh, he’d run over to Jack’s all right. But Sadie was suddenly more curious about what he’d been doing just before that would have left him in a state of such uncharacteristic disarray. Despite the heavy emotions rocking through her, Sadie’s lips curled into a small smile. She definitely owed Grace a call.

But as quickly as the smile came, it vanished, Mark’s words sinking in. “You wanted to give him a head’s up…. You were there to warn him.” Sadie’s tone was laced with accusation, but Mark looked unconcerned.

“Not because I thought he’d done anything wrong, Sadie. But because I didn’t want him – or you – to be caught off guard when Christina started pounding on the door. Besides, I thought he’d told you. The night before. He said he was going to tell you everything.”

“Yeah, well. He didn’t.”

“Yup, gathered that.”

“It was excruciating, Mark. The whole thing. But especially finding out about his wife. That way. From…Jasper.”

“I know, Sadie. Jack behaved like a real shit. No doubt. But I also don’t doubt that he never meant to hurt you. Not Jack. Regardless of everything else, he’s just not built that way.”

“What do you mean, everything else?”

“Oh, well. I mean, Jack might have behaved like an ass. But he was – and is – crazy in love with you. That much is blatantly obvious.”

“Oh.” Sadie felt her cheeks flare with a blush and tried to hide it behind her coffee cup.

“And, I’d wager my sizable business acumen that you are in love with him.”

“Oh, you would, would you?”

“Absolutely. I’d even go so far as to say that you, Sadie Carter, are crazy in love with him too.”

“Crazy,” Sadie muttered. “That’s one word for it.”

“So you’ll talk to him?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, I suppose that’s better than a no. But try not to think too long, Sadie. Please.”

“I’ll take that into consideration.”

“Gee, thanks,” Mark gave her a glimpse of a grin before sliding a slip of paper across the table. “Jack’s cell phone number. In case you erased it from your phone. I know he wants to talk to you, Sadie. And if you’d be willing to meet in person, that would be, well, amazing. But,” Mark dodged the glare she was giving him, “I won’t push my luck.”

“Good. Because I’m hardly going to fly out to California to have this conversation. Or demand that he come here.”

“Oh,” Mark tensed. “So you don’t know?”

Suddenly Sadie could feel every nerve in her body flickering. “Know what?”

“I suppose you wouldn’t. Well, Jack isn’t in San Francisco any more. He’s here.”

“Here?” Sadie’s voice came out on a rasp.

“Yes, here. In D.C. After I finally convinced him to leave Nevis, he flew home, packed a bag, and came straight here. He’s been in the city for the past few weeks. Holed up at the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown.”

“Of course he is,” Sadie groaned. “And he thinks I’m stubborn.”

“Like recognizes like, Sadie.” Mark gave her a sympathetic smile before standing up. “Like I said. Try not to think about it for too long. For your sake, and his. Not to mention the Ritz’s supply of whisky.”

Sadie rose and was startled when Mark dropped a light kiss on her cheek. “I can’t say I ever pictured myself having a conversation with you, Mark Donovan, about my love life.”

He laughed, a deep, rich sound, “I can’t say I did either. But I also never expected to be so relieved to hear you call it that.”

“What?”

“Your love life.”

“Yes, well…,” Sadie let the thought drift away before gathering up her things. “Thanks, Mark. Really. I appreciate it.”

“Me too, Sadie. Me too.”