Then Sofia jumped out of the car, a large canvas bag slung over her shoulder. “All right, I’ll wait with him. It’s my day off, and it’s not like I have anything better to do.” Isaiah could hear the playful sarcasm in her voice. She jaunted between Ash and Holly and swiped the library key. “But you two are going to have to walk back to the House.”
Ash nodded. “Okay, call if you need anything,” he said to Sofia then turned to Isaiah. “Good luck.”
Holly gave Isaiah a sweet smile, then the two linked hands and started to walk up the road, Comet swishing his tail as he followed them.
“Ready to do this?” Sofia asked, not waiting for his response as she strode to the library door and unlocked it.
“Are you sure?” He suddenly felt bad about teasing her earlier. It was possible he owed his life to her—he had no idea what would have happened if she hadn’t stopped to check on him when he was unconscious on the trail—and she was giving up even more time on her day off to help him.
Sofia rolled her eyes. “Did you think you were the only one with business at the library? You’re lucky this was already on my agenda for the week.” She pushed the door to the cottage open with her hip and nodded toward the inside.
With a grin he didn’t bother to suppress, he joined her.
Chapter Fifteen
SOFIA
Sofia kept one eye on Isaiah as he sat down at a computer and followed the guest log-in instructions. Once he’d managed to get on the internet, she went into another room, navigated to the business aisle, and scanned the shelves slowly.
The library was a converted old house, which had been marked as a historical landmark by the city because of its classic English village style. From the outside, it looked like a quaint cottage, and inside, each room was lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
Different rooms had different themes, and Sofia stood in what used to be the kitchen but functioned as the nonfiction section. Isaiah and the computers were in the old sitting room.
Sofia was looking for books on developing a business plan. She wanted something motivational but not too preachy, something that would give her a clear outline but that wasn’t too structured either. Her hazy dream from Christmas Eve that had inspired her to take her business to the next level hadn’t left her.
While Sofia knew it would be easy to keep going along as she had been for the past few years, working at the Emerald House and doing her jewelry business in her limited free time,something urged her to do things differently. She wasn’t sure whether it was the dream that had been the catalyst for her motivation, or if it had something to do with Isaiah’s arrival and the shock of someone being so completely lost.
Isaiah was physically lost, as were his memories, but Sofia wondered if she’d been lost in a different way—lost in the ease of time passing in a comfortable manner and not wanting to rock the boat. The events of the past few days had made her realize that if she wasn’t deliberate, her business would never be what she’d once hoped it might become.
Is that something I could live with ten years down the road? Twenty? And what would my mom think? She always encouraged me to follow my dreams.
Ten minutes later, she let out a sigh, as she hadn’t found exactly what she felt she was looking for. She circled back to a few books she’d eyed earlier and snagged them then set them on the large kitchen island and reached into her bag for her notebook. “Make your own magic” was emblazoned across the front in gold foil lettering, and she smiled a little. That was exactly what she was trying to do.And this is going to be my year to do it.
For the next forty-five minutes, Sofia worked in near silence on a barstool at the kitchen island, occasionally murmuring ayeporhmm. Her big vision goal was to vastly increase the online sales of her jewelry and expand into new products. Small-town festivals made up the bulk of her sales, but she didn’t want to be completely reliant on those.
As much as she appreciated Ash’s giving her the job at the Emerald House when her mom was sick, it was her dream to be a business owner. She craved the creative independence it could give her, but she’d also seen how Ash tended to work twenty-four seven, on the verge of burning himself out all the time. At least, he had until Holly arrived.
Sofia wanted to have a sustainable business plan. She wanted something that wasjust enough.
After an hour in the library, she’d fleshed out four pages of notes. She had three clearly defined next steps to act on for the online leg of her business, and she scheduled those tasks on her calendar for her next day off.
At the sound of a frustrated sigh, Sofia looked up. She’d nearly forgotten Isaiah was in the library, too, just a room away. She quickly closed her notebook and stood.
“Having any luck?” Sofia called, poking her head around the corner to the sitting room.
Isaiah turned toward her then stood and stretched. He shook his head. “I couldn’t find anything about a missing man named Isaiah recently.”
Sofia’s brow furrowed. “Maybe it’s like in the TV shows. People can’t report you missing for at least forty-eight hours.”
Isaiah was looking past her, his gaze unfocused, and something unclenched in her chest. She worried she’d come off a little harsh by being so suspicious of him at first. Clearly, the situation was harder on him than anyone else.
“Yeah, that could be it,” he murmured, his voice quieter than she was used to.
“So, it’s really only been twenty-four hours. Or even less. If someone thought you were out hiking, they might not have expected you back for hours. We can try again tomorrow and the next day.”
Watching the little spark of hope in his eyes, Sofia was glad she’d tried to reassure him. If this was all a ruse, he was playing his part like an Oscar-worthy actor.
“Maybe we should go back to the House and have some lunch. I could use a break,” she suggested, gathering the books she’d been looking through.
