“Really?” Isabelle asks me, while I glare at my sister.
“They help people who need it.” I practically snap the words out. Now is not the time to talk about August. It’s never the right time to talk about him.
“My mum was in an abusive relationship. Life Vine had resources that helped her get back on her feet, starting over as a single parent, finding her confidence as a person again,” she says, and all I can do is blink in shock.
Isabelle shrugs with a smile. “They helped her find hope, and then she found Joe, the guy I’m actually happy to call Dad. I’ll get you a fairy floss, Beth.” Isabelle pulls her charged gaze away from me as she steps back to the gazebo. A woman with golden hair, much like her own, stands beside her. They have a similar angelic appeal to them. This must be one of her sisters. I wonder how many she has. I wonder a lot of things about her. I should probably stop. But after that last confession, I only crave to know more. She knows of darkness, of pain. How does she stand there with such fierce bravery every day? Such confidence that light is waiting behind every corner. Or does she make her own?
“You think you could rein in the grump with Isabelle? She hasn’t learnt how to handle you yet,” Beth hisses.
“Maybe I was just surprised to see her here. Unlike you.”
“Yeah, well, Caleb’s not the only one with questionable behaviour around a woman lately.” Beth looks up at me with a calculated gleam in her eyes.
“We just fell asleep on the plane. I don’t know how we ended up that close, but it’s not how we started.”
“And the carrying of her bags all weekend, that possessive move when you wouldn’t let Jackson shake her hand—what the fuck was that, by the way?—and don’t think I didn’t notice you two flirting when we went out drinking that second night. I was pretty drunk, but only towards the end when all those shots caught up with me. God, that whiskey was brutal.”
My body clams up with every piece of evidence Beth drops that proves I have been acting differently around Isabelle. Maybe Caleb caught something contagious. I never lose my head around women—that stupid sap infected me. Unlike him, however, I know not to cross lines. And with Isabelle working so closely with Smoke and Barrel, the first thing that feels like it’s connecting me to August in a way that’s healing, that is a line I won’t blur.
I haven’t felt complete since the day I lost my best friend. At first, I felt like a hollow shell. Over the years, I started to feel more like the patchwork of Isabelle’s skirt—different pieces stitched together to resemble something whole, but the scars were still evident.
What I know about Isabelle is that she is too good to be sharing her light with the darkness of my guilt. She needs someone to help her shine brighter. Even if I only wanted her for one night, just to get the curiosity out of my system, I don’t think she could handle that. I would need her in a way that swallows me whole. A desperate ravishing. Nothing sweet and soft like she’s probably used to. Although with every new piece of her I get, she shatters my assumptions. Beautifully unexpected. That’s the wayshe described life. Maybe I’m starting to understand what she meant.
Fuck. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Nella Notte. Maybe I just need to expel some of this built-up tension.
“Here you go, Beth. I made you one with all the colours.” Isabelle comes over with a giant stick covered in pink, blue, and yellow sugared fluff. My mouth goes dry as her tongue peeks out, running over the pad of her thumb, perhaps catching some leftover sugar.
“Thanks, girl. We’re going to keep walking around, but I’ll text you during the week,” Beth says with a kiss to Isabelle’s cheek.
“Sure thing.” Isabelle smiles as Beth leads me away, but I keep looking at Isabelle until the last second.
“Bye, Gage,” she says, and there’s no way fucking her out of my system is going to work. Even when I close my eyes, I see her. I wouldn’t insult her, or any other woman, by picturing Isabelle if I didn’t have the real thing.
Looks like I’ll be going on some very long runs and taking some very cold showers.
Chapter eleven
I’m still watching Beth pull Gage through the crowd, at him glancing over his shoulder every few seconds, when Maddie comes up beside me.
“Okay, who is that?”
With a sigh, I turn on my heel, taking my place behind the table again. “That’s Beth, Caleb’s sister.”
“No.” Maddie shakes her head. “The big, tattooed guy.”
“Ohh, what big, tattooed guy?” Chelsea asks from the next table, where she’s pouring pink and gold sprinkles into a dish for the kids making fairy bread.
“A little less enthusiasm wouldn’t go astray, love,” Evan says dryly, sweeping a long stick around the barrel as he makes yet another lopsided fairy floss.
I join my brother-in-law, picking up a stick of my own and pouring a scoop of pink sugar into the drum. “That was Gage. Their brother.”
Maddie makes an elaborate slide around the table, pressing against my side, and leaning her head against my shoulder. A burst of laughter escapes me as I look at her. Lashes fluttering, a goofy grin on her face.
“Is there anything more going on there? I sensed some—” She sucks in a breath and then whispers, “tension.”
“Does he have anything to do with your text messages the other week?” Chelsea asks.
“Oh, I spoke to Mark,” Evan says excitedly, handing a blue fairy floss to a sweet little girl who clings to her father’s chest in front of us. “He’s single. His last relationship was almost a year ago, so he’s looking to date again.” Evan nudges his elbow against my arm. “And he’s not a doctor. Chels said you didn’t want that. He goes to my weekly quiz nights.”
