“Don’t you dare fall in love with that place and forget to come home,” Harper had whispered against her ear, but there’d been affection beneath the warning.
“I promise I’ll be back in a few weeks,” Isla had replied, though something deep in her chest had whispered that promises were fragile things when destiny came calling.
Now, thirty thousand feet above the Pacific, Isla found herself relaxing into the plush first-class seat that Gerri had somehow arranged at the last second. The older woman hadshed her pink blazer hours ago, revealing a silk tank that complemented her designer pants, her white bob still perfectly styled despite the long day of travel.
“You know,” Isla said, accepting the glass of champagne the flight attendant offered, “I haven’t talked this much about myself in... well, years.”
There was something about Gerri that invited confession, a warmth that made secrets feel safe to share. Perhaps it was the way her eyes seemed to hold genuine interest, or how she listened without judgment, but Isla found herself opening doors in her heart that had been locked since her parents’ deaths.
“Your parents sound like they had something truly special,” Gerri said, her voice gentle as Isla finished describing Jonathan and Eleanor Quinn’s love story—how they’d met at a bookstore much like hers, how her father had courted her mother with handwritten poems tucked between the pages of classic novels, how they’d weathered his long battle with cancer together until the very end.
“They did. It was the kind of love that made you believe in fairy tales.” Isla’s fingers traced the rim of her champagne flute, the bubbles catching the afternoon light streaming through the airplane window. “My mother used to say that when you find your person, you just know. Like the universe rearranges itself around that certainty.”
But the universe can also take it all away.
The thought came unbidden, carrying with it the familiar ache of loss. Her mother had indeed known—had loved so completely that when Jonathan died, Eleanor had simply... faded. As if her heart had forgotten how to beat without its other half.
“So, speaking of finding your person, I was actually planning to ask you yesterday at the bookstore—after you mentioned being a matchmaker—if you might consider taking me on as aclient.” Isla laughed, but it came out shakier than intended. “My dating history reads like a cautionary tale. There was Mark, who turned out to be married. Then David, who was decent enough until he started borrowing money. And Chad...”
Her voice caught on the name, the wound still tender even two years later.
“Chad was different. Or I thought he was. Handsome, successful, attentive. He made me feel like I was the center of his world.” The champagne had loosened her tongue, or perhaps it was the safety of being miles above the earth, suspended between her old life and whatever waited ahead. “Until Harper caught him at a restaurant with another woman. Apparently, I wasn’t the only center of his universe.”
Gerri’s expression shifted, something flickering across her features that Isla couldn’t quite identify—surprise mixed with what looked almost like resignation.
“Well, dear,” Gerri said slowly, setting down her own glass with deliberate care, “I suppose there’s something I should tell you.”
The change in Gerri’s tone sent a flutter of unease through Isla’s stomach. “That sounds ominous.”
“Not ominous. Just... orchestrated.” Gerri’s smile held secrets and starlight. “I didn’t exactly find you by accident yesterday at your bookstore.”
Isla blinked, her mind struggling to process this revelation. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Oh, I was there for Jasmine’s signing, that part was true. But I might have specifically requested that she hold her event at your store so I’d have a reason to meet you.” Gerri’s eyes began to gleam with that peculiar golden light Isla had noticed yesterday. “You see, the woman you’ll be helping with her bookstore—Evelina—she’s the sweetest soul you’ll ever meet. But she came to me with a rather stubborn problem.”
The airplane seemed to shrink around them, the hum of engines fading as Isla focused entirely on Gerri’s words.
“She has a nephew. Damon. A good man, but one who’s been running from love for far too long. Evelina asked me to find his match, to give him what she called ‘a nudge in the right direction.’” Gerri reached over and patted Isla’s hand with maternal affection. “That match, darling, is you.”
The champagne glass trembled in Isla’s grip. “Me? But how could you possibly know that? We’ve barely met?—”
“A matchmaker never reveals all her methods,” Gerri interrupted with a wink that somehow managed to be both mysterious and reassuring. “But I will say this—I’ve never had an unsuccessful match. Not once in all my many years of bringing fated pairs together.”
Fated pairs?
The words sent a shiver down Isla’s spine.
“This is...” Isla struggled for words, feeling simultaneously blindsided and intrigued. “It seems like quite a coincidence that his aunt happens to be opening a bookstore, and I happen to own one.”
“Coincidence?” Gerri’s laugh was like silver bells. “Oh, honey, there’s no such thing. The universe has a way of aligning things just so. But sometimes it just needs a little help from someone who knows how to read the signs like me.”
Isla stared out the airplane window at the endless expanse of blue ocean below. Everything felt too convenient, too perfectly arranged, like stepping into one of the romance novels she loved so much. But wasn’t that exactly what she’d always dreamed of? The kind of destined love her parents had found?
So why does this feel more terrifying than exciting right now?
“There’s more to this story, isn’t there?” she asked, turning back to Gerri. “More that you’re not telling me.”
Gerri’s smile held depths that seemed to contain centuries of secrets. “There’s always more to every story, darling. But some chapters have to be discovered rather than explained.”
