Her jaw dropped, and he stood up and said simply, “See you in the morning.”
As he walked away, he could faintly hear the Oregon master gardener talking about the unprecedented tulip bloom in Emerald Hollow, but the words barely registered.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
SOFIA
Sofia screamed into her pillow. She barely noticed the sunlight that streamed through the thin blinds the next morning.What have I done?She’d basically told Isaiah to back off, and he’d given her exactly what she’d asked for.But it wasn’t what I actually wanted.She questioned that thought as soon as it went through her head, and she let out another small, smothered scream.
She emerged from her room uncharacteristically early, having been unable to go back to sleep. She’d dressed and done her makeup with extra care, preparing to slip out to a coffee shop alone, when she spotted Isaiah at the dining room table, a coffee in his hand and another on the table.
She let out a laugh. “Should have known you were an early riser. I’m surrounded by them.”
“How’d you sleep?” he asked, his teasing tone telling her he suspected the answer.
“Like an angel,” she said primly, taking the second cup from the table and giving the coffee a sip. Her eyes widened when she realized he’d ordered her favorite drink.Did he pick up on it at the Emerald House?“Thanks for this. I’m a zombie in the morning without coffee.”
“What are friends for?” Isaiah asked.
She thought he’d put a little too much emphasis on the wordfriendsand was torn between wanting to wipe the smirk off his face with a retort and pulling him up into a kiss.Why is being around him suddenly irresistible?
Sofia decided on neither, letting out a quick breath and turning away from where he sat looking far too attractive in a new athletic shirt and jeans. Sofia had long suspected he worked out regularly in his real life.
She caught herself as she thought the words.Does it bother him when I refer to his life outside of Emerald Hollow as his “real life”? But if that isn’t what it is, what is it?Her head began to ache. She’d been through someone living a double life before, and it had nearly destroyed her.
She took a big drink of her coffee and closed her eyes as she took in the familiar taste.Perfect. That’s enough of that. It was too early in the morning, and she hadn’t had enough caffeine to be having those kinds of philosophical conversations with herself.
“So, are we ready to head back to Emerald Hollow?”
“You’re the boss,” he said, his voice low and exaggeratedly sweet.
Her stomach did a little flip in response as a tiny but vocal part of her wondered if maybe, just maybe, things could be different with Isaiah. If only they could get his memories back.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
ASH
Ash hadn’t been surprised when Holly told him she was heading to Finland for a few days to see her friend and the oldest elf, Lumi Kringle. She hadn’t said why she was going, but she was still getting used to the new routine of living in Emerald Hollow and not traveling around the world all the time. If going to visit a friend in Finland now and then helped with that adjustment, then he was all for it.
He paused in his living room near the small framed photo he had of himself, his dad, and his mom when he was a child. His parents were each holding one of his hands as he jumped in the air, and the smile on his mom’s face was radiant. There was no indication from the photo that she would leave her family in the not-too-distant future.
Ash thought he had resolved his issues with his mom leaving, but since Holly had been in his life, he experienced an ache that the two would never know each other. He had found a truly magical woman he knew his mom would adore, and it was another aspect of his life that she would miss out on entirely.
He extricated himself from his wandering thoughts and left the apartment. His best friend also had a mom missing from her life, though in an entirely different way, and he wanted tosee how she was doing. He didn’t want her to feel like he was abandoning her since he had Holly, though it hadn’t escaped his notice that she’d been spending a lot of time with Isaiah lately.
He pulled Sofia aside toward the end of her shift, just as they were getting ready to close the restaurant for the night. He hadn’t seen her since Valentine’s Day a few days ago, and he wanted to ask her about her weekend trip.
“Hey, Sof. That was some impressive singing at karaoke. I think you and Isaiah might have a shot at Broadway.”
Sofia punched him lightly in the chest. “Ha ha. Where’s Holly? I didn’t see her today.”
“She’s traveling again,” Ash said, following Holly’s philosophy of keeping things close to the truth. The North Pole tradition was that Clauses could tell their partners who they really were, but beyond that, it had to be kept secret. They both hated keeping something from Sofia, but they didn’t have another choice. Some secrets were too sacred to share, no matter who it meant keeping in the dark.
“She’s such a boss.” Sofia waved at the last customer on their way out then began to close out the till.
“How was Ashland?” he asked, wondering why she hadn’t already filled him in on every detail, as she normally would have.
Sofia’s face twisted into a weird expression, and she let out a heavy sigh. “It was fine.”
