“Of course.”
Sofia laughed in delight and indignation when he effortlessly got the kite off the ground. She quickly grabbed hers and followed him to the open grassy field.
Together, they ran back and forth across the spacious green lawn, their kites flying high above them, bending and whooping in perfect unison. A few other park-goers gathered around to watch, and Sofia was reminded of the days when she put on a show for her mom at the beach.
After about fifteen minutes of running, laughing, and trying to avoid tangling her kite with Isaiah’s, the wind suddenly changed, and the kites began to dive as if of their own free will. The kites came swooping down around them, and before either of them knew what was happening, the kite strings had tied them together, the kites somehow still flying a few feet above them.
Sofia let out a sharp laugh, in disbelief at their situation. She gripped Isaiah’s arms so that she wouldn’t fall over from the tight string around her ankles. Then she held her breath as sherealized what she was doing—how close they were—but Isaiah merely slipped a hand around her waist to steady her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
She was surprised that he didn’t immediately try to untangle himself, and they stood there for a few seconds, staring at each other. A whistle came from the small crowd, and they both began to laugh, the strange energy of the moment breaking. Then the wind died completely, and as the kites fluttered to the ground, they carefully pulled apart. It took a minute to untangle themselves from the kite strings.
“I’d say I won that competition,” Isaiah said as they finally broke free of their strings and the crowd around them dispersed.
“No way. Mine got way more altitude.”
“I wonder where that wind came from,” Isaiah said, still a little breathless from their laughter as he carefully rolled the string onto the spool of his kite.
“I don’t know. It appeared as if by magic.” A little spark ran up and down her arms then evaporated. She glanced around, wondering where the feeling had come from, then shook it off and began to spool her string as well.
Isaiah tucked both of their kites under his arm, and Sofia led him to a little bridge where they paused to watch the water flow underneath them.
“This is the last thing I wanted to show you before we go check out the rental,” she said. Though the little bridge usually brought her a sense of peace, her heart rate was still erratic from the few moments they’d been tangled in the kite strings.
The moment with the kites had sent her mind straight to the kiss they’d shared after karaoke. Both moments had seemed to be fueled by an inexplicable driving force that Sofia had never experienced before.
“So, about last night…” Isaiah began, and Sofia knew that his mind was exactly where hers was. She wondered if his pulse was anywhere near the same range as hers.
When he turned to look at her, his eyes were blazing, and Sofia thought she had her answer. With a cough, she averted her eyes and looked across the park in the last remaining sunlight, where two people were setting up instruments.
She’d been wondering when the kiss was going to come up. It had been lingering between them all day, and she’d contemplated letting it remain unspoken forever. She certainly wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up. Since he had, though, her chest tightened. The kite strings had wrapped them up like a Christmas present and literally forced them together, and they couldn’t avoid the subject any longer.
“What about it? We’d had too many Love Potions, right? Those drinks were well named.” A nervous flutter formed in her chest. The kiss had meant something to her, but maybe it had just been a Love Potion-induced accident for him.
“I only had one Love Potion early in the night. Turns out I’m more of a beer guy,” Isaiah said. His gaze was on her, and her cheeks warmed. “But I may have been a little high on the post-karaoke buzz. Is that what rock stars feel like after every show?”
Sofia laughed, grateful for the break in the tension that was boiling between them. “Rock star, huh? Someone is mighty confident in their performance.”
“Maybe that’s my real identity. I’m a rock star who was sent off to rehab and somehow escaped but bumped my head in the woods. That’s why no one’s looking for me. They think I’m still at the ranch.”
“The ranch?”
“You know. The rich-people code word for rehab.”
Sofia nodded solemnly. “Ah. That must be it. I think you’ve solved the mystery.” She paused then voiced what had beenbothering her. “You really only had one Love Potion and no other drinks?”
“Just the one, hours before we kissed.” He was standing close to her—a heartbeat away—and his presence was like dew in the air early in the morning, effortlessly clinging to everything.
Tension was sizzling between them. Unexplainable tingles stretched over every inch of her skin. She wanted to put her hands on his chest, grab his shirt, and pull his lips to hers again.
But all her internal protestations were still there, even though they’d softened over time. They still didn’t know who Isaiah was, where he had come from, or why he had ended up in Emerald Hollow.
On the other hand, her affection for and attraction to him were getting beyond her ability to deny. The few minutes of flying the kites with him and what had happened after had filled her with a sense of real-life magic that she’d long since thought she could never experience again. For that brief slice of time, she’d been the main character in a fairy tale.
She could let herself give in, just for a fraction of a second, just to see if it was as magical the second time, when she didn’t have a few love potions in her system.
“So, if you weren’t just having a rock-star moment…” She met his eyes, which were smoldering.
“I must have really wanted to?—”
