“Tulips.” The answer came without hesitation. “The colors are insane. It’s like a painting when you see a bunch of them together.”
“When do they start blooming?”
“March or April. So still a little while.”
“Well, I hope this tulip season is off the charts. And let’s hope I’ve figured out who I am by then.”
Sofia parked at the Emerald House and killed the engine. “By then? I’m sure we will. By next week, probably.” She thought about mentioning her new WanderLost collection but wasn’t sure how Isaiah would take it.Would he assume that he was the inspiration?He had been, but it was way too personal to admit that aloud. Despite their few afternoons together and the sparring that came so easily between them, he was still essentially a stranger.
“And you said you weren’t an optimist.” He grinned. “I hope you’re right.”
Sofia made a sarcasticha haface, but internally, she was trying to suppress a genuine smile.He doesn’t miss a beat.
“Well, good luck with your forest cleanup,” she said glibly, throwing a glance over her shoulder at him as she yanked open the front door to the Emerald House.
“Good luck with those sandwiches,” he said, holding her gaze a moment too long, the corner of his mouth twitching.
She had a flash to New Year’s Eve, when she’d sidled up way too close to him and reached past him to prepare the sandwich. They’d been within an inch of each other. The moment was frozen in her mind.
So he felt it too.
“I don’t need luck,” Sofia said, letting the door close behind her.
Chapter Twenty
SOFIA
Four weeks went by, and there was still no word on a missing person named Isaiah. Sofia had taken him to the library on her lunch break each day during her work week, but it never amounted to anything. She’d even done a little searching herself at home at night, wondering if his research skills just weren’t up to par, but she’d come up empty-handed too.
They’d called a few local police stations to ask about missing persons, but there were no reports. Sofia pondered the problem as she turned on the lights in her kitchen.What are we supposed to do? Call every police station in Oregon? In the country?They had no idea where Isaiah had come from.
The mystery of it all vexed and perplexed Sofia. Part of her was still slightly suspicious of the circumstances. If Isaiah truly was a missing person, someone should have reported him.What does that say about him?
But lately, as they spent more and more time together on her lunch breaks and occasionally bumped into each other in the Emerald House in the evening—Isaiah had a pesky tendency to sit in her section when she was working—she had to admit that she felt much more concern than suspicion.What would it belike, not knowing who you were for a whole month? And even worse, does Isaiah wonder if he has no one to look for him?
It had crossed Sofia’s mind early on that Isaiah could be married—though he hadn’t been wearing a ring when he was found—or in a serious relationship. But the way he seemed so sure of his likes and dislikes, skills, and weaknesses, she thought he would probably sense if he had a great love on the other side of…Whatever all this is.But she couldn’t know that for certain.
Sofia tried to shake all the thoughts from her mind. It was a new month, and she’d set some big goals for her WanderLost jewelry collection, which was growing steadily. She flipped her motivational-quotes wall calendar to February then started her coffee pot.
When she pulled open the front curtains, she gasped. All the snow had melted overnight.
Sofia shook her head in disbelief. She turned around and walked to get a cup of coffee to clear her mind then returned to the window, staring at the bare ground. The previous night, there had still easily been a foot of snow.
Questions flew through her mind as she scanned the dry ground.Why did it all suddenly melt? Am I free from the snow at last? Are we in for an early spring?
She picked up her phone and called Ash.
“Hey, Sof. What’s up?”
“All the snow is melted at my place!”
“Here too. It just vanished overnight.”
Sofia took another sip of her coffee. “Do you think this means I can put away my snow boots for the season?” She knew what his answer would be but couldn’t resist asking.
“I wouldn’t. Remember that year we got hit with a storm in May?”
Sofia groaned. “Don’t remind me. Is Holly around?”
