“The worst.”
I laughed.
“Wait. So we’re both from Delaware. We fell in love with older men. And were tortured by Isabellas.” Penny shook her head. “It’s like we’re the same person.”
I laughed. “I know, right?” It was good to be laughing again. And seriously…she was right. We were so similar.
“Penny, I’m home!” said a deep voice.
“In the kitchen!” Penny called back as she slid off her stool. She practically ran across the floor to greet her husband.
Just like I used to do when Miller came home.
He appeared in the doorway and I swear I stopped breathing.
He leaned down and kissed his wife, cradling her face in his hands. And then he leaned down farther to give his son a kiss on the forehead. He looked back up at his wife’s face with all the adoration in the world.
I recognized the look.
I was pretty sure he’d given it to me once.
“I have a friend over,” Penny said. “She’s the mother of the little boy Scarlett met at the zoo.” Penny turned around. “Oh, I’m so sorry, but I don’t think I ever caught your name. James this is…”
She was waiting for me to fill in the blank.
But James’ eyes met mine.
I’d still never met anyone that had stared as intensely as James Hunter.
My past collided with my present.
“Brooklyn,” James said, filling in my name for me. “You’re alive.” He said it like he didn’t truly believe the words coming out of his mouth.
“Brooklyn?” Penny asked. “Matt’s Brooklyn?”
James didn’t respond. He just walked over to me.
I was frozen.
“Brooklyn,” he whispered. He put his hands on the side of my face just like he’d done with his wife. But not in adoration. It was like he was taking me in. Like he couldn’t believe I was real. Like he had to touch me to know for sure. “You’re alive,” he said again.
“James.” My voice cracked. I stood up and I hugged him.
And suddenly everything made sense. Why Scarlett’s eyes looked familiar. The dark brown intense stare. Why Scarlett had someone in her life she called Uncle Matt. Why Penny’s Isabella sounded just as crazy as my Isabella.
I did know this family.
I buried my face in James’ chest.
Once upon a time, James had tortured me. And for just a short while, I think maybe he had feelings for me. I remembered him sitting with me in the shower as I cried. I remembered that stupid kiss during homecoming. I remembered him as a boy. All I’d known about his future was that he’d married Isabella. I’d been worried about him. Furious at him. But most of all I just missed him.
“This isn’t real,” he whispered. “You’re dead. You died.”
I was sobbing all over again as I pulled back and looked up at him. I shook my head. “You went to Delaware.” I’d told him once that the people there were nicer. And he’d gone. Penny said most of the guys she knew married women from Delaware. Who was she referring to? Mason? Rob?
James took a step back from me. “Where the fuck have you been?”
His shock had turned to anger rather quickly. Just like the boy I used to know.
