When the meal ended, and Luca, Ash, and Holly were preparing to leave, Sofia grabbed Isaiah’s arm. “Can we talk?”
Something flashed across his eyes.Fear? Regret?But he nodded and slid out of the booth. “Will, we’ll be right back.”
His sister nodded and smiled at Sofia.
They walked out of the restaurant, through the lobby, and out the front entrance. The smell of flowers hit Sofia immediately, but they didn’t make her inhale deeply like they usually did. Instead, she crossed her arms and looked out toward the town.
“Isaiah, what’s going on?” she asked after a few moments of silence.
“What do you mean?”
“Ever since yesterday, after you told me you got your memories back, we’ve barely spoken. You haven’t even looked at me. I’m sure this is all overwhelming, but I feel like I at least deserve to know what you’re thinking.”
Isaiah took a deep breath and ran a hand through his dark hair. His tall frame cast a large shadow next to her. “You’re right. It was intentional. I just… A lot came flooding back when my memories were restored. At first, it was okay, but… more kept trickling in last night.”
A million thoughts ran through Sofia’s head—a million scenarios, none of them good. Is there another woman after all? Does he realize he isn’t interested in women like me? Has he decided he isn’t truly charmed by this small town?
Sofia’s insecurities flared, her emotions a mix of sympathy for him and a particular anxiety she hadn’t experienced in years. Instead of firing all the questions at him like she wanted to, she forced herself to boil it all down to the bare bones. Only one thing mattered. “Okay. I’m sure that was all really overwhelming. But once you’ve had more time to process… What does that mean for us?”
Time froze as she waited for his answer. She wanted him to scoop her into his arms, take her face in his warm hands, and tell her nothing was changing. But even before he spoke, she knew what was coming. She saw the fall of his shoulders and the tension in his jaw.
“Sof, I…”
She jerked back, taking a step away from him. “So that’s it, then?”
“I’m not the person you thought I was.” His expression was pained, his mouth twisted slightly downward.
The sight made her stomach plummet. She wanted to see a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth again.
“You deserve so much better.”
It was the opposite of what Noah had said to her, but somehow, it cut her just as deeply.
“Shouldn’t I get to be the judge of that?” She was forcing back tears, and her words came out sharp.
“Sof, I’m so sorry.”
He tried to reach for her, but she pulled her arm away and shook her head.
“Don’t.”
She didn’t let him or herself say another word. She turned on her heel and hurried to her car, hurt and furious with herself that things had gone exactly the way she had once expected. She’d only prayed it would be different.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
ISAIAH
The drive to San Francisco was uneventful. Willow had chatted nonstop, sharing memories of the year she’d spent in Emerald Hollow as a child, as if she thought of it as the most enchanting place on earth. She was still in complete disbelief that it was where he’d been all that time.
“That place is exactly as I remember it,” she said as they carried their take-out Chinese food up the outdoor stairs to her third-floor apartment. Willow twisted the key in the lock with one hand and pushed the door open with her hip.
Isaiah wasn’t that excited about returning to San Francisco. When his exit from the military had corresponded with Willow’s current roommate moving out, she’d suggested he rent the room. It had really just been a landing station for his possessions while he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail for a few months and figured out his next steps.
“Main Street maybe has fewer shops, but who knows? I was only eight when I lived there. I do remember this old-fashioned candy store, though. I didn’t see it when I was driving through. Do you know if it’s still there?”
“Huh?” Isaiah asked. His mind had been on one particular person in Emerald Hollow and the look on her face the last timehe’d seen her. He felt nauseated every time he replayed it. He’d vowed never to make her feel like Noah had, and he hoped he hadn’t. He hoped he’d portrayed how much she was worth and that it washewho wasn’t good enough forher, not the other way around.But the look on her face…
“An old-fashioned candy store. I can’t remember the name of it. They had all the classics like bubble gum tape, gummy cheeseburgers, the works.”
