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He laughed. “Guilty. But the doctor did tell me I could use it as long as the pain doesn’t get worse. All I have to do is change the bandage regularly, and soon I’ll need to go back there to get the stitches out.” He pretended to shudder.
“Speaking of the doctor,” Olivia said, drawing the words out. “Were you able to warm Gwen up a little?”
“Maybe a little bit,” he said. “She made a joke or two. She still seems pretty reserved though.”
“Was she all business, or did you get a chance to talk to her a little?”
“I did, while she was putting these stitches in.” He remembered sitting in Gwen’s office, and the careful, dexterous way in which she’d worked on his cut. For a moment, it was as if he could feel her hand on his again. “I found out a bit more about what brought her to Blueberry Bay.”
There was a short pause, and then Marsha prompted, “What was it?”
“She’s looking for a fresh start after a relationship ended.” Isaiah hesitated, wondering how much he should share. “Sounds like the guy was a total fool—he broke up with her.”
“Oh?” Olivia asked, raising her eyebrows. “That makes him a total fool, huh?”
Isaiah threw his napkin at her, and she caught it.
“But honestly, I’m sorry to hear that,” Olivia said, handing him back his napkin calmly. “It must have been a rough breakup if she felt the need to move somewhere new.”
“That’s hard,” Marsha said sympathetically. “I hope she finds healing here. Blueberry Bay is a great place to get a fresh start.”
“True,” Olivia said. Her eyes danced with something mischievous as she pointedly added, “Hopefully she can forget all about her ex here.”
“I think her ex must have been an idiot,” Isaiah said. “She seems to be kind of insecure about herself because of what he said to her when he was breaking up with her.”
He thought about what he’d told her during their conversation at the clinic—that her ex was a fool for breaking up with her. He’d meant it. She might be a bit rigid sometimes—even coming off as prickly now and again—but even though he didn’t know her well yet, he could tell that she was also smart and funny, and that she had an innate empathy and kindness. He got the sense that she was a great person, and she tried hard to do things a certain way because she cared about them being done well, not because she was self-centered.
“Knowing that she came here because she’s trying to get over heartbreak makes me more determined to help her loosen up and enjoy the town,” he said, feeling excited about the prospect.
“I love that idea,” Marsha said. “You can help her find healing by showing her all the things Blueberry Bay has to offer. And who knows? Maybe she has a new romance in her future. Maybe you do too.”
He felt himself blushing a little, and he shook his head, laughing. “I know what you’re getting at. Olivia has already been teasing me about that. I think Gwen is a great person, and I hope she has a great time here, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”
“Doesn’t mean you’re not going to find it,” Marsha said gently, smiling at him affectionately. “I found love when I was least expecting it. I wasn’t looking for it at all. And yet here I am, and I couldn’t be happier.”
“I wasn’t looking for love either,” Olivia said. “But then Corey appeared in my life, and I knew there could be something really special between us. I think you might be experiencing that same thing right now.”
“Or it could just be that my darling aunt and sister want me to find romantic love, so they’re trying to turn a nonromantic situation into a romance,” he said, shaking his head at them and smiling.
Their food arrived, and soon their conversation turned toward other topics. Their meals were delicious, and Isaiah savored the rich flavor of his food. He listened to his aunt and sister talk as he ate, thinking to himself that it was the best clam chowder that he’d ever tasted.
As he sat there eating, his mind wandered back to Gwen, and what Olivia and his aunt Marsha had said about finding unexpected love. He kept telling himself that nothing of that sort was going to happen, but he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to find love like that. A surprising kind of love—the kind you weren’t looking for. He had a feeling it would be a very exciting experience.
CHAPTER TEN
Caitlin glanced up at her daughter Pearl and pressed her lips together. Caitlin was sitting at the dining room table, catching up on bills, and she had a clear view of her daughter, who was curled up on the couch propped up by pillows, watching one of her favorite movies. Pearl was giggling and happily drinking the smoothie that Caitlin had made for her.
Caitlin smiled to herself and went back to looking at the bills. Her mother radar was going off—it had been a couple of days since Pearl had been to the doctor, and she seemed to be doing much better. Caitlin was beginning to suspect that her daughter was just milking her time on the couch, since being sick meant that she got to have more screen time than usual. Pearl had clearly been enjoying her time resting and being a couch potato, and Caitlin had a feeling that she was going to feel as right as rain as soon as something interesting happened.
As if to confirm Caitlin’s suspicions, at that moment, someone knocked on the front door.
“What’s that?” Pearl asked, sitting up and looking perky. “Is it a package?”
“We’ll have to see,” Caitlin said as she stood up and started toward the front door. Through the front windows, she could see a delivery man walking back toward his truck.
She opened the front door and saw a cardboard box resting on the doormat. She saw the name of the online dress company that they’d ordered Pearl’s flower girl dress from printed on the side of the package, and she grinned.
She picked up the box and brought it back inside the house.
