I woke the next morning still hugging the pillow as if it were some kind of surrogate boyfriend. Was this destined to be my life?

Get out of bed, Callie.

My joints creaked as I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom. The headache I'd had for the last five days hadn't shifted, and my mouth tasted like the bottom of a birdcage. Or at least, what I imagined the bottom of a birdcage would taste like. I hadn't exactly checked.

I flicked on the bathroom light and groaned when I saw myself in the mirror—mascara was smeared across my face as a result of my crying jag, and my hair, normally a shiny chocolate waterfall that fell to the middle of my back, more closely resembled a bird's nest. Plus I was still wearing yesterday's clothes.

Where was my toiletry bag? I rummaged through my suitcase, and after brushing my teeth and detangling my hair, I felt a little more like a human being again.

A human being who just wanted to crawl back into bed, pull the covers up over my head, and hide from the world.

Hold on. What was stopping me? Nothing. Kat wasn't coming until six, so I had—I checked my watch—nine hours in which to hibernate. That seemed like a fantastic plan for the day.

I walked back towards the bedroom, but on the way, I made the mistake of glancing out of the terrace doors. And stopped.

As if of their own accord, my feet walked me outside into the open air. The view, quite literally, took my breath away. When I remembered to inhale again, I took in a big gulp of sea air tinged with the delicious aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Stretched out in front of me was the sparkling azure sea with small, white-crested waves twinkling in the morning sun. Across the Gulf of Aqaba, through a thin shroud of mist, I could just make out the rocky shore of what was, if my rusty memories of GCSE Geography served me correctly, Saudi Arabia.

I looked to either side. Golden sand stretched out in both directions, gently curving around a sheltered lagoon. More hotels lay along the shore, and behind them, mottled reddish mountains rose to kiss the sky. On the beach, the first windsurfers were making their way out onto the water, their colourful sails bobbing gently in the breeze.

What. A. View.

All thoughts of going back to bed flew from my mind. I wanted to be outside! The sun's warming rays were intoxicating, and I couldn't wait to bask under them.

I sifted through my clothing until I found a one-piece swimsuit that covered my worst bits, teamed it with a pink cotton cover-up, and hopped into my flip-flops. I was out of the door without even a thought for breakfast.

What bliss... I whiled away the first couple of hours just lying on a sunlounger, watching the activities out on the lagoon. As well as the windsurfers, a few swimmers stroked lazily through the water, and half a dozen people holding onto small parachutes with boards strapped to their feet skimmed along the surface. From what Kat had told me, I guessed that was kitesurfing.

Occasionally, a powerful motorboat zipped up and down, towing someone on a wakeboard or water skis. When I squinted, I could make out a dark-skinned figure at the wheel. Was that Mo?

It was only when waiters appeared carrying the first of the lunchtime meals that I realised the entire morning had passed, and I hadn't thought about Bryce once. That of course made my eyes start leaking again, and I had to shoot back to the villa. Better to run than have to explain to a group of strangers that I had grit in my eyes.

Kat phoned to check up on me at just the right moment. Or the wrong moment, depending on how one looked at it.

"Just making sure you're not in your villa blubbing."

"No, of course not. I just stepped inside for...more sunscreen."

"Sunscreen?" She paused for a second. "Are you sure?"

I tried to inject some cheer I didn't feel into my voice. "Of course I'm sure. Oh, look, here's the bottle."

"Good. Now get back outside and find a nice man to rub it in for you."

"Kat, can we take this one step at a time?"

"Why? Life's too short for sitting around and moping over an asshole. Particularly one like Bryce."

"Look, I'm on my way out to the beach again. That'll do for now, right?"

I made a big show of slamming the door and slapping my feet on the ground as I trotted down the path.

"Fine, but you'd better still be out there when I come by later."

The sun had risen higher, so I switched to a shadier spot. No point in turning into a lobster on my first day. My new sunlounger was a stone's throw from the beach bar and came with an umbrella made from palm fronds. I'd only been there five minutes when an Egyptian man dressed in the white uniform of a hotel employee came over to me.

"Can I get you something to drink, Miss?"

How sweet of him to ask. Actually, I was quite thirsty. "Do you have fruit juice?"

"Certainly. We have mango, strawberry, kiwi, guava, orange and lemon. All fresh. We also have karkade."

"What's karkade?"

"Tea made from hibiscus flowers."

Karkade sounded interesting, but I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous that day.

"Can I have orange juice, please?"

"Of course. It would be my pleasure."

I thought he'd walk away, but instead he asked, "Are you Miss Callie?"

"Uh, yes?"

"I am very sorry to hear about your husband."

I was going to shoot my mother when I got back.

"The lady who phoned," he continued, "she say you look for new husband. We have many men here in Egypt. I can introduce you to some of my friends."

No, actually, shooting was too good for her. I was going to do something slower and more painful. At that moment, I couldn't think of exactly what, but it would come to me.

"No, really..." I squinted at his name badge. "...Islam. I don't need a husband. I'm absolutely fine."

His brow crinkled. "But every woman needs a husband."

"Nope, not me. I'm quite happy on my own, honestly. I'd just love some orange juice."

He shook his head, bemused, as he wandered off to get my drink. Damn my meddling mother. Was this what the whole holiday would be like?

Yes, appeared to be the answer.

A few hours later, after I'd eaten a delicious tuna sandwich for lunch and started a new book, a shadow darkened page thirty-seven. I looked up to find a blond-haired man in the teensiest swimming trunks I'd ever seen leaning over me. Good grief—if he made any sudden moves, he'd get arrested for indecent exposure.

"You are Callie?" he asked in a thick German accent.

"Uh, yes? Do I know you?"

He held out his hand, and I shook it automatically. Yeuch—it was all greasy, and worse, he hung on to it. Fingers crossed that was sunscreen and not something worse.

"I am Hans. I was told that you are looking for a man to talk to."

I tried not to groan as I tugged my hand free. "Who told you that? The man at the beach bar?"

"No, the boy who cleaned my room this morning. The man at the beach bar just pointed out where you were."

The cleaner? Had they all been discussing me? What had my mother done?

And more to the point, how could I get rid of Hans without appearing rude? I racked my brain, but inspiration was taking a nap. Talking... He'd said it was just talking, right? Okay, I could do this.

I took a deep breath. "Right, er, Hans. Uh, have you visited Egypt before?"

"No."

"Are you enjoying it so far?"

"Not very much. It is too hot."

Hmm... I might not have known a lot about Egypt, but one thing that had immediately sprung to mind when Kat first mentioned it was that the whole country was flipping hot. It was famous for it. If Hans didn't like sunshine, why had he booked a holiday there?

"Oh dear. I guess that's a bit of a shame. Apart from it being too warm, what do you think of the place?"

"The food is terrible here in the hotel."

I'd only had one meal there, but it had seemed perfectly nice to me. "What's wrong with it?"

"This morning, at the breakfast buffet, there was no watermelon."

"No watermelon? Is that it?"

"That isn't bad enough?"

"I suppose if you really like watermelon then not having any might be a problem." Although there were a hundred other dishes to choose from. "How about the rest of the hotel? It's nice, huh?"

"It's okay," he admitted grudgingly. "Except the staff aren't very friendly."

"In what way?"

"When I had a cocktail last night, the barman forgot to put the little umbrella in it. And when I pointed out his mistake, he only apologised halfheartedly."

This guy obviously had more issues than Vogue. "Sounds shocking."

"I know! And this morning, when I got up at six to reserve my sunlounger, the towel boy was not yet awake. Laziness, that's what it is."

"That's awful!"

He didn't pick up on my sarcasm. Please, just go away.

"And there is nothing to do here. No museums, no concerts, no art galleries."

No, nothing to do whatsoever. All those people out on the lagoon were clearly not enjoying themselves.

"Sounds dull."

"And no theatre. Imagine not having a theatre."

At the mention of theatre, I thought of Bryce again. My heart plummeted. Without him, was this the sort of man I was destined to end up with?

Hans looked at his watch. "So, do you want to get dinner? I can spare exactly two hours."

Not even if he was the last man on earth and my sacrifice was mankind's only hope at salvation.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't. I'm meeting a friend in a little while."

He huffed, already turning away. "Suit yourself."

No doubt tomorrow he'd be telling some other poor lady about the ungrateful English woman and her flimsy excuses.

With the sun dropping, I gathered up my things and headed back to the villa. I had enough time for a shower before Kat was due to get there. She was fifteen minutes late, and when she arrived, she apologised for running on Egyptian time.

"Nobody around here ever does anything when they're supposed to. You're lucky if it gets done on the same day. I think it's part of the reason everybody's so laid back. Lateness is just accepted."

Bryce had been a stickler for timekeeping. His foot had started tapping if someone was so much as a second late. He insisted on being early for everything, sometimes ridiculously so. One particularly cringeworthy moment had come when we'd been invited for dinner at the home of a colleague. Bryce had got us there an hour early. A whole freaking hour. Alison had opened the door after he'd hammered on it for the third time, red in the face and flustered with her shirt buttons done up wrong. Her boyfriend was beside her, and he looked as if he wanted to take a swing at Bryce and possibly me as well. I hadn't been able to face Alison for weeks afterwards.

Egyptian time would suit me just fine.

"What are you thinking about?" Kat asked.

I told her, and she gave me a happy grin.

"Well, that's great! At least if you're feeling pissed at Bryce, you're not moping about him."

The aching pit in my chest told me otherwise. "I'll admit he wasn't perfect, but I still miss him so much."

"Then I'll have to distract you. Come on, find your party clothes. We're going out."

"Out where?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh, only to a restaurant. I thought we'd go to The Oasis. The food's great there." She adjusted the strap on her floaty red dress before adding quietly, "And maybe a bar afterwards."

Quiet or not, her suggestion didn't escape my attention. "No, no bar. Just dinner."

She smiled a little too sweetly. "Whatever you say."

We caught a taxi into the main part of town, which was a five-minute car ride away. The Oasis was beside the sea, with the front of the seating area overhanging the water itself. Due to the climate, the place didn't have a proper roof, just a series of umbrellas interspersed with the occasional palm tree, and the stars glittered overhead.

The maître d' greeted Kat by name and led us to a table where four comfortable looking seats adorned with colourful cushions awaited us.

Four seats.

"Kat, why is this table set up for four people?"

"Oh," she said, acting all innocent. "Mo's going to join us. Did I forget to mention it?"

She knew full well that she had. "That's three. And the fourth chair?"

"He might be bringing a friend."

"Kat! Why won't you and Mum stop meddling? I can't simply forget Bryce, you know. I'm not even sure I want to. I was in love with him for six years, and I can't simply turn that off."

"I'm sorry." She was contrite for about two seconds, and then she just couldn't help herself. "But he didn't deserve you. You can do so much better than him."

"Kat!"

She was already turning away from me. "Oh, look, here they are."

Two men walked through the doorway. While the one in front wasn't what I'd call classically good-looking, he was attractive in a swarthy sort of way. Was this my "date?"

He smiled, and it was clear that his happiness was genuine. I couldn't help grinning back. Then he walked right past me and gave Kat a sweet kiss on the cheek. She actually blushed, something I'd never seen her do before.

That must be Mo, then.

Which left me with his shorter friend. Five feet four at a guess, both high and wide. He stopped almost on my toes and looked up at me, then stuck out his hand and accidentally jabbed me in the ribs.

"I'm Eid."

"Oh, er, pleased to meet you, Eid. I'm Callie."

"I drive the banana."

Good thing I wasn't drinking anything fizzy. I turned my snort into a cough. "I'm sorry?"

"The banana."

Mo cut in. "He means he drives the boat that pulls the inflatable banana around the bay. The one people ride on."

"This is Mohammed. Mo." Kat got formalities out of the way. "Mo, this is Callie."

Mo leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek too, European style. I knew at that moment why Kat blushed because he had that effect on me as well.

Eid then decided that he should do the same. He turned his head one way, I turned mine the same direction, and he got me on the lips by mistake. We both leapt back, him with a happy grin on his face and me wondering if I had any hand sanitiser in my bag so I could rub it all over my face.

Mo wiped a hand down his face. "Shall we sit?"

He pulled out Kat's chair before taking his own seat next to her. On the other side of the table, Eid leapt for the chair nearest the sea and plonked himself down on it. I shrugged and took the other one, surreptitiously inching it away from him as far as I dared.

Before we even got the menus open, Eid said, "I hear you're looking for a husband."

"Not exactly."

"But your boyfriend left you just before your wedding, no?"

"Well, yes. But I'm not in a hurry to get married."

A brief look of disappointment flitted across his face. "Maybe the right man can change your mind?"

"Well, I guess."

Eid grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

Over dinner, he didn't stop talking. Not once, even for a second. The rest of us ate our food, but Eid's remained almost untouched as he educated us on delights such as the history of Fidda Hilal, Egyptian traditions, and his favourite subject: himself.

"See, I could easily have got married already, but I thought it was important to finish my education first. I have a degree in communications, you know. From Cairo university. So anyway, now my mother is nagging me every day to find myself a wife. She wants grandchildren. Do you want kids, Callie?"

"I haven't really thought about it," I managed to get out.

Except I had, incessantly. Bryce and I would have had a boy and a girl. The boy first so he could do the "big brother" bit at school. I'd pictured them over and over in my daydreams, in between doodling my wedding dress and practising signing my name as "Callie Featherstone." Or sometimes "Callista Featherstone" because Bryce preferred the longer version.

Eid patted my hand, leaving his resting on top. "Don't worry, I'm sure there will still be time for you to pop a few out before your biological clock stops ticking."

"Excuse me, I just need to visit the ladies room."

I had to stop myself from sprinting across the restaurant.

In the restroom, I locked myself in a cubicle and sat down on the closed toilet, my head in my hands. What had I done to deserve this? Was losing Bryce not enough? Why did the universe have to carry on punishing me?

After a minute or two, I heard the door click.

"Callie?"

"I'm not speaking to you."

"I'm so, so sorry. Eid's our boss's son. Mo asked one of the other guys to come tonight, but he couldn't make it. Eid overheard the conversation and invited himself along instead."

"Why can't you just stop meddling? You and Mum are as bad as each other. Did you know she's asked the hotel to set me up with a man? I had to endure a serial complainer called Hans this afternoon, talking at me while I was trying to relax."

"I'm sorry. If that's what you want, then I promise I'll stop. I only want you to be happy the way I am with Mo."

I'd seen the glances they'd been giving each other all evening, filled with love and longing. Kat had dated many men before, and over the years, I'd had to pick up the pieces after a waiter from Vietnam, a hairdresser from Thailand, and an Australian surfer among others. But Mo seemed different. Like his world revolved around my best friend.

Like he was everything Bryce wasn't.

I choked back tears, but Kat misinterpreted my strangled sobs.

"Don't worry, Eid's gone home. I told him you had a funny tummy."

"Great, so now he thinks I'm stuck on the toilet with the runs? What an impression I must have made."

"He was too busy bragging about the size of his wallet to pay much attention."

"Comforting."

"Look, I said I'm sorry. No more men. How about tomorrow we do girls' night?"

"Do you promise?"

"Cross my heart."