“What day? When I left New York?”
I nodded. “When I was at the airport, I called Joel. I was upset that you had to leave and didn’t know what to do, so he told me to come over to his place. Shortly after I arrived at his apartment, he had a visit from the police. His parents had been in a car accident and didn’t make it. It was two days before Christmas.”
Isaac stared at me, and I wished I could read his mind because his face was giving nothing away. He didn’t know losing Joel’s parents was akin to losing my own. Hell, losing my own parents wouldn’t have been as hard on me. He didn’t know I had planned to come to Portugal to see him, either, but that didn’t matter since I’d been unable to do much in the aftermath of Gary and Sílvia’s deaths than be with Joel.
I hoped at least Isaac understood why I had made no contact initially.
Isaac looked at the dance floor toward Joel and David like he was trying to find answers.
I was about to ask why he hadn’t used the email address I’d given him when a tall, blond-haired guy approached us and sat next to Isaac.
He looked me up and down as if he was assessing me. A small smile teased his lips. His eyes were probably a regular shade of brown, but in the dark light of the club, they looked too dark, assessing, and most definitely defiant.
I tried to say something to let him know Isaac and I were talking, but he turned to Isaac, putting even less space between them.
My hackles rose, but Isaac didn’t flinch. It was a sign of familiarity I wasn’t comfortable with but also didn’t have the right to question.
Maybe the guy was a friend who was looking out for Isaac, or maybe he had other intentions. Either way, I didn’t like my train of thought.
The guy whispered something in Isaac’s ear, which he seemed to agree to because he got up from the table.
“Isaac.” My face must have shown my confusion.
He stopped for a second before he looked at me with regret and said, “I’ve got to go.”
And with that, I was left once again staring at his back as he walked away from me.
