Celia’s ears rang.It was strange.Isaac’s mannerisms and the way he talked reminded her so much of his father all those years ago.
“We were friends in high school,” she said, repeating what Landon had already offered him.
“Yeah, but he’s never mentioned you,” Isaac accused.“Where have you been?”
“I live in Washington, DC,” she said.
“That’s far.”Isaac took another big bite of soup.“Why haven’t we met you before?I mean, people come home for the holidays and stuff, right?That’s what happens on TV.”
Celia smiled nervously.“When I left Bluebell Cove, I promised myself I wouldn’t come back.”
“Why?”Isaac scrunched his nose.“That sounds stupid.”
“It was stupid,” she agreed.
“So you regret it?”
“I don’t know.I think everything happened the way it was supposed to.”
Isaac nodded, his face stoic, sager than it should have been.“That’s what my girlfriend says all the time.That everything happens for a reason.That everything has been foretold.Sometimes she reads my Tarot cards, and it’s like, scary accurate.”
Celia bit her tongue to keep from smiling too big at this, the silliest thing she’d heard in ages.She was glad that Isaac was beginning to trust her.“You have a girlfriend?”
Isaac nodded.“Addison.She’s crazy cool.We dated for a while in middle school but got back together a few months ago.”
“Is it different this time around?”
Isaac considered this for a moment, placing his spoon back in his bowl and drawing his eyes to the window.“We talked about it a lot,” he said.“We both said why we thought it didn’t work out last time.We want to be really open and honest with each other this time around.”
Celia was caught off guard by the maturity of this very young man.Back when she and Landon were scrappy fifteen-year-olds, they weren’t keen on “speaking their truth,” or whatever it was the kids said now.Back then, she wasn’t sure she knew what the truth was.Everything had felt hormonal and strange.
Not long after he finished his soup, Isaac fell asleep.Celia cleaned the kitchen and put the leftover soup away.She wanted to text Landon to see if he was all right, but she had no way to contact him, which felt odd.She sat on the chair beside Isaac and watchedThe Mummyuntil she, too, fell asleep.
It was the most peaceful nap she’d had in years.
When she woke up, it was because Landon touched her shoulder and whispered her name.“Celia?”This time, he didn’t use her nickname.It felt too intimate, maybe.“Celia, we’re back.”
Celia opened her eyes to find that clouds had formed in the sky and cast the May afternoon in grays and teal blues.Mallory slunk down the hallway behind her and disappeared into her bedroom.Landon explained, “She’ll sleep till tomorrow.The doctor gave her something.”
Celia couldn’t find her voice at first.It was too bizarre to wake up like this, warm in Landon Brooks’s place, listening to the soft breathing of his sleeping son.
“What was wrong with her?”she asked, forcing herself to her feet.
“It’s a stomach flu thing,” Landon said, rubbing his forehead.“She’ll be out of school for a few days.How was it with Isaac?”
“He asked me some questions,” Celia said.
“I imagine he did.”Landon chuckled, gazing down at his son with love in his eyes.
“He’s wise beyond his years, though,” Celia said.“Much smarter than we ever were.”
Landon’s smile fell briefly.“He doesn’t show me that side of himself so much,” he said.“But I know it’s there.”
“We always give our parents a hard time.We give them the worst of ourselves, until it’s too late, maybe,” Celia said.She felt a stab of fear, wondering how much of her terrible relationship with her father had been her fault.
It wasn’t the same, she reminded herself, reaching for her jacket and walking to the door.James Harper and Landon Brooks have nothing in common.Landon is good.Landon’s heart was always in the right place.
“I’d better get back to the inn,” she said, although she was suddenly nervous to be alone.
