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His brows go up.
“My mom always told Brannigan and me that if we wanted to make God laugh, all we had to do was tell him our plans,” I explain.
He nods as he takes a pull from his mug and then continues, “That’s so true. We scrimped and saved every dime and stayed with her folks until Cobie came. Then, we rented a two-bedroom apartment closer to the hospital.”
“Still not your dream?”
He shakes his head. “Cobie had me wrapped around her finger from the moment she took her first breath, and all I wanted was to give my girls the world. So, whenEpic Odysseysoffered me a hefty contract, I jumped at the chance. It was my dream job, and it was going to afford me the ability to provide for us in the way I wanted. Cobie was two at the time, and I knew I’d have to travel, but I don’t think Lonnie or I realized how spending large chucks of time away from each other would affect us. We grew apart. She was content working and living around the corner from where she had grown up. She became a homebody, and I became addicted to the thrill of wanderlust.”
“That’s sad,” I mutter.
“A little, but we split before we began to resent one another, and that allowed us to stay friends. She met Greg, an oncologist, two years ago, and they married last summer. He’s a good guy, and he treats Cobie well. That’s all I could ask for,” he asserts.
“What about you? No new woman in your life?”
Why did I ask that?
His lips lift in a half-smile. “No one special. How about you?”
“Nope. Norah signed me up for a dating app last week, and it’s made some matches, but I haven’t had the courage to respond yet.”
“I bet you’ve had a flood of messages,” he muses, and my stomach does a little flip.
“I did have a boyfriend back in Boise, but we broke it off before graduation. He intended to stay in the city, and I couldn’t wait to get back to Lake Mistletoe.” I continue ignoring the electric pulse in the air.
“So, you’re a homebody as well,” he notes.
“Not really. I mean, I obviously love it here, but I’m not content working and sitting at home, twiddling my thumbs. I want to go everywhere. I want to see the places that I’ve only read about in books or seen in movies. To taste exotic foods and experience new cultures, dip my toes in the Mediterranean Sea, sunbathe on the deck of a yacht in the South of France. All of those things, but when I lay my head down at home, I want it to be here. Home is where your people are. It’s where you find peace and solace. It’s the soft place you land after spreading your wings.”
He takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way about a place. I’m an Army brat, so we moved around a lot when I was a kid, never putting any roots down. San Antonio is Lonnie’s hometown, and it’s where Cobie is. Being with her is the closest thing I have to solace. Even if it’s only a day or two spent in my ex-wife’s pool house between assignments.”
The look of sadness on his face causes me to reach across the table and place my hand over his.
His eyes flicker from mine to where our hands rest as Joe appears.
I quickly pull my arm back to my side as Joe places the ticket on the table.
“You two look like you’re having a deep conversation,” Joe muses.
“She’s pulling all of my secrets out of me,” Isaac says.
Joe chuckles. “A pretty woman can do that. You’d better be careful.”
Joe winks at me as he takes my empty plate.
“Can I get you guys anything else?” he asks.
“I’m stuffed, and we have a lot to see,” I answer.
I pull a twenty from my wallet and lay it on top of the ticket as I stand. Joe gives me a peck on the cheek as I tug my coat back on. Then, he shakes Isaac’s hand.
“Remember what I said. Watch out for that one.”
“Yes, sir,” Isaac replies.
I roll my eyes as he opens the door, and we continue our adventure.
Isaac
