ISAIAH
Golden Gate Park was lively by day, but a few hours after sunset, the normally busy fields were nearly empty, the cars that lined the streets on weekends all gone. The chilly overcast evening weather, the dark, wispy trees… Isaiah thought all of it matched his mood.
He hated how he’d left things with Sofia. But as his memories had continued to come back over the course of the night after the tulip festival, too much had come flooding in—the reason he’d left the military and why he’d wanted to hike the PCT. He’d done all that to forget, and oddly enough, some strange mishap in the woods outside of Emerald Hollow had temporarily made himliterallyforget it all.
Isaiah rounded the corner, and his heart rate increased as he felt something icy touch his face.Is it… snowing?He reached toward a falling white flake, and a pinprick of cold met his finger. He was not a native to the area, but even he knew that wasn’t typical.
He found a bench and took a seat as the snow began to fall in earnest. Though he pulled up the hood on his jacket, he didn’t feel the need to keep moving. The snow and the woods reminded him of the trail where he’d first met Sofia, and he didn’t want herimage to disappear. He wondered if she would ever go hiking on that trail again.If I did the right thing by leaving her, why do I feel so wrong?
He stuck his hands in the pockets of the jacket he’d slipped on for the walk and felt a thin round object there. He pulled it out and realized he had forgotten all about the coin he’d found while geocaching in Emerald Hollow. He read the inscription again. “Not all who wander are lost.” Something constricted in his chest, and he let out a deep breath, oblivious to the cold.
And there he sat on a bench in Golden Gate Park as the first snow in San Francisco in more than fifty years fell around him.
Chapter Sixty-One
SOFIA
Sofia slunk into her usual bistro chair next to Holly in the Emerald House Café. With the sudden snow, the fireplace was roaring, and the café was crowded with locals and guests escaping from the cold.
Holly had her hands wrapped around a white mug, and she passed a second one to Sofia.Good gracious, Holly’s still drinking hot chocolate in March.Sofia wanted to laugh, but her friend was so endearing that she simply couldn’t.
Just because she was miserable didn’t mean she wanted everyone else to be. That was another thing that had changed since her first heartbreak. Besides, ithadsnowed that morning. Maybe Holly had the right idea. She took the mug and gave it a little sip, instantly feeling warmer.
“Yours is spiked with a little rum. Ash thought you might want it. Sofia, I just feel so bad about all of this.”
“What? Why? It’s not your fault.”
An expression somewhere between guilt and despair passed over Holly’s face, but Sofia didn’t linger on it. Holly experienced things deeply, and she could only hope that it would pass.
“It’s just that, well, things have been a little different around here since I arrived, and I can’t help but wonder if I’ve set the town… off-kilter?”
Sofia was so surprised by the comment that she let out a genuine laugh despite her mood. “Off-kilter? If you have, it’s in a good way. Ever since you arrived, we’ve had the best harvest fest and Christmas Faire the town has ever seen. The tulips have seemed to bloom like Mary Poppins is in town, and…” She grabbed Holly’s hand. “My best friend Ash is the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”
Holly blushed, and Sofia smiled before it slipped off her face. “So there you have it. You’re the best thing that’s happened to this town in a while.”
“But what about Isaiah? How does he factor in? You two seemed sogoodtogether.”
Sofia sighed and took another long drink of her hot chocolate. “We really were, weren’t we?” A spark passed through her at the words. Theyhadbeen good.So why doesn’t he see that?Maybe I truly am the problem, just like Noah said.
She turned toward Holly again. “Holly, you’re a big-city girl, right? Traveling all over the world for work? Was it hard to settle down here in Emerald Hollow?”
Holly paused, seeming to know where Sofia was going with the question. “When I got here, it wasn’t long before this place started to feel like… well, like home.”
“So it wasn’t totally off-putting and boring to someone like you?”
“Quite the opposite. I found Emerald Hollow to be charming and full of life. Because of the people here. People like you. You’re the life of every party, Sof. Don’t let that dim.”
Sofia sniffed and clinked her mug against Holly’s, both of which were nearly empty. The rum was taking effect, and she was a little more relaxed than she had been when she’d walkedin. “You know what? You’re right. Iamthe life of the party. Thank you for noticing.”
Holly laughed. “It’s hard not to.”
Sofia’s phone dinged, and she opened the social media app where she did most of her business advertising. As she registered what was on the screen, she let out a gasp.
“Is everything okay?” Holly asked, concern clouding her huge green eyes.
Sofia looked back down at her phone and sighed heavily. “I recently took down my new WanderLost collection, and people are not happy about it.”
“Why’d you take it down? Oh…”
