“What?” Isaiah asked, aghast. “Running around in the dark, speaking at a hundred miles per hour?”
Sofia rolled her eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t mind splitting into teams and exploring a dark abandoned house with you,” she teased.
“You two are terrible,” Ash said, coming up behind Holly and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He nuzzled his face against her ear.
“Oh,we’reterrible? Look at you two canoodling like a Hallmark card.”
Holly reddened a little but smiled, her cherry-red lips forming the perfect bow. Sofia grinned as well, and Isaiah reached out and took her hand. She felt secure with the warmth of his hand encircling hers. As far as trial runs were concerned, they were off to a good start.
“Where to next? The night is still young.” She broke free from Isaiah and did a little twirl.
“Young for those who sleep in until ten every day. I’ve got to be up early tomorrow. We have a shipment coming in with decor for the tulip festival,” Ash said.
“You’re such a buzzkill.” Sofia sighed, but there was no heat behind it. She inclined her head toward Isaiah. “Romeo, take me to my carriage.”
Isaiah laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. He leaned close and whispered into her ear, “As you wish, my lady.”
Sofia’s stomach clenched, butterflies she hadn’t experienced in years filling her entire midsection. She couldn’t help but be cautiously optimistic at how the night had gone. Going on a double date with her best friends was a dream come true. Everything about the evening had felt entirely natural.
And he’s not Noah,she told herself. The part that warned her,You don’t know who he is,was quickly getting quieter.
Like Holly had for Ash, Isaiah seemed to have fallen out of the sky into Emerald Hollow, tailor-made for her.Maybe there doesn’t have to be a catch.She leaned into him a little closer as they walked side by side, praying that it wasn’t all too good to be true.
When they got backto the Emerald House later, Ash and Holly went ahead, prepared to let Comet out and take him for a quick walk. Sofia and Isaiah lingered by her car. She wasn’t ready for the night to end.
The evening had been so perfect, and that scared her as much as thrilled her. She didn’t want to overthink the situation, but she couldn’t help it. If she forced herself to be cautious with her heart, as she had been for so many years, she would miss out on all the fun that, deep in her bones, she knew was something unique to them. But if she wasn’t cautious, they could both get in too deep and be unable to get out when he got his memories back.
Neither route was easy, and she still wasn’t sure that what she was doing was right. But between the hummingbird sign and the night they’d just had, the scales had clearly tipped to one side.
Being with Isaiah was like being at a concert you didn’t want to end. Every new song seemed to be better than the last, to the point that you thought the next moment could never top what you’d just experienced, yet somehow, it did. Maybe their concert didn’t have to end.
“What’s going through your mind? Another plan to keep everyone guessing?” Isaiah interrupted her thoughts, taking her hand and drawing her close.
“Not everyone.”
“Just me?”
“I’m not the one keeping you guessing.”
“Was there anything about my actions tonight that required guessing?” He tucked one of her constantly loose curls behind her ear.
“Oh no, your actions were crystal clear. But maybe you’re an actor on the other side,” she said playfully. She had to press the issue one more time, then she knew she was ready to let it go.
Isaiah let out a sharp laugh. “You’re unbelievable.”
“What I’m saying is… are we really doing this?”
“What’s ‘this’?”
Sofia rolled her eyes, but she didn’t give a teasing retort that time. She wanted a serious answer. “I don’t want to get off the ride yet.”
He gently lifted both hands to the sides of her face, seeming to study every freckle as his gaze worked his way to her eyes. “Then don’t.”
Chapter Forty-Six
HOLLY
“Isaiah and Sof sure seem to be going full steam ahead,” Holly observed as they took Comet for a late-evening walk and stopped to give her reindeer a treat.
