“Yes, she is,” Bertha countered. “She just sells things in a different way from you. Not everyone wants to deal with a flirt.”
Esther raised her chin and gave a huff. “I find people like my way of doing things.”
“Stop it now!” Addie put her hands on her hips. “I’m locking up in one minute.”
The girls quickly gathered their things and cleared out. Isaac was rather amazed at Addie’s authoritarian nature. She was quite different from the young girl he’d known in Dawson City.
Addie saw a look of surprise cross Isaac’s face when she commanded the girls to stop. He didn’t realize this was pretty much a daily thing with Esther bragging and putting othersdown. When she made sport of their appearance and it became personal like that, Addie really came down hard.
She hoped the interaction between her and the girls helped Isaac realize that she wasn’t the same person he knew back in Dawson City. She and Pearl had discussed this earlier, and Pearl advised Addie to show Isaac how she had changed rather than just tell him. Addie hadn’t been at all certain how she could do that, but this moment with the girls had provided an opportunity. She knew he wouldn’t expect her to raise her voice and take charge in such a way.
“Are you ready to go?” He smiled in his old way and held the door open for her.
“Just about. Honestly though, you don’t need to attend me. As you said, it’s a long trip into town.” She realized she had no idea where he lived. “I’m perfectly fine making the trip. I did this every day before I bought my cottage.”
“You bought a cottage?”
“Yes, it’s on the water not far from here. Two elderly sisters were completely unnerved by the exposition and decided to sell it fully furnished. I had been wanting to buy myself a place on the water, and so it seemed the perfect solution.”
“I had no idea you could afford such a thing. Much less that you enjoyed such a view.”
Addie frowned. “Yes, well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me. I’ve been working hard since leaving the Yukon.” She left it at that.
She turned off the lights and locked the door. The rain had stopped, but she had an umbrella just in case. “If you’re determined to accompany me, you should know that I need to go by my cottage and pick up a few things.”
“You make it sound like that would be an imposition, but I’d enjoy seeing where you live.”
Addie hadn’t thought about how he would now know where to find her. But Isaac would never mean her any harm. She supposed it couldn’t hurt for him to know.
They walked in silence across the expo grounds. People were starting to come out once again, and Addie knew there would be all sorts of activities planned for the evening. There would be a concert and probably fireworks. Someone had mentioned that a group of dancers was going to give a performance at seven.
“Do you ever stick around to enjoy the evening here at the fair?” Isaac asked.
“No, before I bought the cottage, it just took too much time to get home, and I hate to be out after dark. Now that I have the cottage, I just want to be there and enjoy my nice quiet evening. Well, it’s not exactly quiet, but I like it.”
“I like quiet evenings too. Of course, with two little girls running amok in the house, that doesn’t happen too often.”
She smiled. “They certainly seem to love you.”
“They love you too. You would be amazed at the way they have shared my dreams of finding you. They were always asking me when I’d come home from school whether I had any news of you.”
“You really shouldn’t have done that to them. You built up expectations that can never be.”
“Why can’t they be, Addie?”
She cut a path across the grassy park area and tried to choose her words carefully. “Isaac, I know you don’t understand, but things have changed. A lot happened to me in the Yukon—things that I don’t want to talk about, but thingsthat changed me. Some for the worse and some for the better. I just need you to understand that I’m not the same girl you fell in love with.”
“You fell in love with me too, and I’ve changed. Does that mean you don’t love me anymore?”
“Of course not,” she answered without thinking.
“So you do still love me?”
She quickened her step. “That’s not the point.”
“I think it’s a very important point. When two people love each other as we have and continue to do, nothing can come between them. Unless, of course, they allow it to.”
Addie shook her head. Being with Isaac was dangerous. She couldn’t control her feelings, much less her mouth.
