“Are you two doing the Dutch dance?” Ash asked after Sofia had had a few bites of her salad. “Starts in thirty minutes.”
Sofia turned and raised an eyebrow at Isaiah, who shrugged.
“We’re in,” she said.
They ate the remainder of their dinner then rested their legs in the camp chairs, chatting with Ash and Holly, until the Dutch dance was announced.
“So, who’s leading this thing?” Isaiah asked as the four of them gathered with the rest of a large crowd of all ages near the stage.
“This will probably come as a surprise to no one, but Holly has been to the tulip festival in Holland and apparently learned some dance steps while she was there,” Ash said.
“I saw those dancers when I attended years ago. That’s so funny. I wonder if we could have been there at the same time. Do you know what year you were there?” Sofia asked.
Something that Sofia couldn’t interpret flickered across Holly’s face before she said, “I’ve been a few times. Can’t place the years exactly. Did you learn the steps? Do you want to help me lead?”
Sofia laughed loudly. “No way. I don’t remember them at all. Lead the way, Flower Queen.”
Thirty minutes later,the whole crowd was performing some simple movements and trotting arm-in-arm with their partners then moving in a large circle together and executing perfect klompen kicks. Sofia wasn’t sure how Holly was doing it, but the crowd was picking up on her instruction the first time around, and everyone from kids to adults was moving like pros in no time.
As Sofia and Isaiah coupled up once more, moving from side to side with his arm on her back and hers on his shoulder, Sofia nearly imperceptibly broke pattern and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. In the crowd, someone whistled.
“What was that for?” Isaiah asked as the song finally came to an end and everyone began to clap then slowly disperse. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
Her cheeks were flushed from the dance, and she smiled coyly. “I didn’t know the next time I’d have the opportunity to kiss you during a Dutch dance, so…”
Sofia’s heart melted at Isaiah’s smile. Behind him, the sun was rapidly setting, and the swaths of orange and red were a perfect imitation of the massive field of tulips around them. Then she thought about the next activity, and her stomach tightened.
“Are you going back to the Emerald House now, or do you want to come to the lantern release?”
Isaiah pulled back slightly and studied her face. “Do you want me to come to the lantern release?”
“I just wasn’t sure if it would be weird for you. Some people will place a wish in their lantern…”
“And you think I don’t have a wish because I don’t have any memories?”
“It’s not that,” Sofia said, struggling to put her feelings into words. The memory specialist was coming the next day, which she should feel hopeful about. Instead, what she was experiencing was a lot more like guilt.
Isaiah didn’t make her finish her thoughts. His eyes softened. “Some people place a wish in the lantern, but for others, it’s a memorial, right?”
She looked up at him, her eyes wide.
“Ash told me about what you were doing on the day you found me. I’m sorry I interrupted that.”
Sofia pulled back ever so slightly, but she didn’t let go of his hands. “Yeah, well, this lantern thing… I think my mom would have liked it.”
“Then I like it too. Let’s go.”
They followed the group of people who were beginning to exit the clearing and walk toward the river. It was about half a mile away, and those who weren’t participating headed back to their cars or to the Emerald House.
A not-unpleasant shiver ran across Sofia’s arms in the cooling night air as she walked hand in hand with Isaiah to the small, calm river. She didn’t have to do it alone.
Chapter Fifty
SOFIA
Sofia scanned the scene at the river as if she were seeing a fairy-tale setting come to life. The lanterns Holly and Ash had crafted were made of colorful paper and fashioned into the shape of bright, open flowers like tulips.
Sofia placed her candle in a pink tulip, said a silent prayer, then placed the lantern on the flower boat and laid it gently on the water. She watched as it mixed with dozens of others and didn’t take her eyes off of it until it passed so far down the river that she could no longer identify it.
