Page 5 of Finding Isaac


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I froze; did I really want to tell him? I mean it wasn’t like it was embarrassing or anything really big. It was just that Isaac was so pissed off he couldn’t calm down enough to talk to me. “Nothing.”

Hudson eased down into one of the chairs and shifted to look past me. “Really?”

I didn’t need to look to know that Isaac and Jack would be there. “Really.”

“Alright then,” Hudson said and focused on the street. “You know he’s probably telling Jack all about it right now. I mean, whateveritis.”

“Remind me again why I wanted to move back here?” I grumbled, making Hudson laugh.

“Can I give you some advice?” he asked.

“Why not?” I glanced at Mr. Atkins, who ignored us and acted like whatever car was driving down the street was far more entertaining than listening to us talk.

“When I first moved back here, I felt like everyone was in a club that I had been kicked out of without anyone telling me. I still treated them all the same, but they didn’t think of me as alocal anymore and that hurt. But then I realized they didn’t know me as an adult, and they didn’t know if I was the same kid they knew back then.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m just saying. When you leave here you forget how the people here work. How they react, and how strong and protective they are. Of the town, their family and friends, and their hearts.”

“So, what do I do? He won’t talk to me,” I whispered.

“Listen. When he’s ready to talk he will. Believe me when I say they make ’em stubborn in Foggy Basin. But they’re also the most loving and fiercely loyal of anyone I’ve ever met,” Hudson said.

“Sounds like you’re talking about Jack,” Mr. Atkins said, making Hudson grin.

“Maybe,” Hudson said just as the door to the hardware store opened and Jack stepped out followed by Isaac.

“Come and see how good the plant display looks,” Jack said and pulled Hudson up.

“See you soon, Tig,” he said before kissing Jack’s cheek and following him back inside.

“Isaac, come sit a spell,” Mr. Atkins said, and without arguing he did just that. After a few minutes of watching cars and a few people on the street Mr. Atkins stood and turned to face us both. “Now, it’s about time you two talk don’tcha think?” he said before shuffling off toward the post office.

Five

Isaac

“Isaac—” Tig started, buthe stopped when I turned away. “I really want to work things out.” His voice was full of hurt and heartache, and I knew it was because of me.

“What happened? I thought things were going great between us. We went to the Christmas party together and all I could think of was how much fun it was to go there with someone I was interested in.”

“I felt the same way, I really like you, Isaac.” He turned to face me and brushed his fingers over my hand.

“Then why—” The words were like sand in my mouth, and I couldn’t force myself to say it.

“Because I don’t want it to just be about sex. We could have fucked and been done with it, but that’s not what I want,” Tig said, and when I was finally brave enough to meet his eyes, I could see how serious he was.

“But why? It’s just sex,” I said. Jack and I had been hooking up for years, and even when he got with Hudson and told me he wouldn’t be doing that anymore, I understood. Mostly because I knew we would never be boyfriends, but we’d always be best friends. There’d been more than a few through the years that Jack didn’t know about, and more since we had stopped.

“Not for me,” Tig murmured. “I want to know you, and date you. I want us to spend so much time together that you’re sick to death of me, but you still don’t want me to leave. I want you, Isaac. I want you so fucking bad it’s all I think about,you’reall I think about. But I don’t want to just hook up with you. You’re too special to me for that.” He reached for my face and cupped my jaw the way he’d done a few times. No one ever touched me the way he did. So much care, and—more.

“I don’t know how to do any of that,” I admitted and expected him to laugh at me. But that wasn’t Tig. He was a good man.

“Then we’ll learn together. I’m thirty-eight years old and I’ve never been in one lasting relationship. Not one person has ignited the feelings in me that you have. That spark you have draws me to you. The way you don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks and your confidence in that decision—I love that aboutyou.” He looked at me like no one had ever looked at me in my life, and my heart did some weird flippy thing that I wasn’t sure if I loved or hated.

“We’re going to be working together,” I said.

“Yeah, about that, I didn’t realize you worked there. If it’s going to be an issue, I can cancel the contract and tell them no thanks.”