by SJ McCoy
“Are you settled in at the house?”
“We are.”
“That’s good. I’m happy for you. And dare I ask where it goes from here?”
“It’s going where you hoped it would. In fact, what are you doing this afternoon?”
“Whatever you tell me I’m doing.”
“Then I’m picking you up at three-thirty, and you’re coming over to Four Mile with me.”
“Are we meeting the girls?”
“No. We’re going shopping.”
“For?”
“I’ll tell you when I get there.”
“You can tell me now if it’s what I think it is.”
“What do you think it is?”
“Are we going shopping at the store where Maria works?”
Diego had to laugh. “Yes, we are.”
“That’s awesome, Diego. I’m so happy for you.”
“Perhaps you should save the congratulations until Sunday?”
“What, you have doubts? That’s not like you.”
“No. I don’t really doubt. But Lady Luck has been so good to me, I don’t want to take anything for granted.”
“I don’t think you need to worry.”
“Neither do I, but I’ll still be happier on Sunday once I know for sure.”
“Okay. I won’t say anything else.” Ted laughed. “Other than tell you I can’t wait to go shopping with you. I never thought I’d see the day I’d say that. But I can’t wait to see what you pick. I know you; I know your taste.”
Diego grinned. “I need to find something special.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“Okay. Enough of that. Back to work, mi amigo. How have things been going while I’ve been slacking?”
~ ~ ~
Izzy smiled when she passed Diego’s office and heard him laughing. He’d said he was going to get back into his routine this morning. And part of his routine was talking to Ted at seven each day. She loved that they had such a good friendship. It made her want to talk to Audrey. But they wouldn’t do that until a little later.
She went into the kitchen and found a note sticking out from under the coffee pot.
Sorry I had to get started before you came down.
I made you pancakes. They’re in the warmer.
I love you. Oxoxoxo
Her heart felt as though it melted a little bit as she read it. How did such a big, macho guy get to be so damned sweet?
She didn’t need to know how; she was just grateful that he was. And she was fully aware of how lucky she was, that she was the woman he’d fallen in love with.
She poured herself some coffee and went to get the pancakes from the warmer drawer. She sat at the counter to eat them and watched the rain fall. It wasn’t heavy; it spotted the lake as the drops landed in the water.
The rain had always made her feel sad, but not this morning. This morning she didn’t think there was anything that could dampen the happiness she felt.
“Good morning, mi amor.”
She turned and smiled when he came into the kitchen. “Hey. I thought you were talking to Ted.”
“I did. We’re good for now. I’m going to see him this afternoon.”
“Oh, okay.”
“What are you doing today?”
She smiled. “Right now, I’m just watching the rain fall.”
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
She laughed. “You think everything’s beautiful.”
He grinned. “I do. Because it is. The whole world is beautiful when you’re in love.”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”
He gave her a sheepish look. “Too much?”
She nodded. “I mean, it’s lovely that you’re so enthusiastic, but you might be going just a touch overboard.”
He straightened up and looked all serious. “Very well. I shall behave in a manner more befitting my age.”
She laughed. “Don’t do that. I love you just the way you are.”
He came and closed his arms around her. “And I love you, Miss Isobel. I’m just so happy.”
“I am, too.”
“You didn’t look completely happy when I came in here.”
“I was. I was thinking about the rain. It usually makes me feel sad for some reason.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “It does?”
“Yeah, but not today.” She downed the last of her coffee. “Today, I have too much to do to sit around being sad. I’m going to go to the grocery store. Do you want anything?”
“We can go together?”
“No. You have to work. And besides, I don’t plan to let you do everything around here.” She smiled at him. “You keep saying this is our house, and if it is, then I want to be able to shop and cook as well.”
He smiled. “Whatever you want. We’re going to figure out how we want this to work, how we want to work together.”
“We are. And what I want today is to go grocery shopping and to make you dinner tonight.”
“Thank you. I’m going to see Ted this afternoon, but I should be back by five-thirty. Six at the latest.”
She laughed. “I want to make you dinner, not turn into a nag. You’ll be here when you get here. That’ll be fine whenever it is.”
“It’s not about nagging, Miss Isobel, it’s about becoming a team. Teams need to communicate if they’re going to work well together.”
“You’re right. Don’t mind me. I think I’m just a little bit nervous about getting this right.”
He tucked his fingers under her chin and tilted it so she looked up into his eyes. “Don’t be nervous, mi amor, we’ll get it right … together.”
It was ten o’clock by the time she made it to the grocery store. Diego had hung around and had coffee with her, then Audrey had called because she’d lost track of one of the client files.
Izzy smiled as she got out of the car. This felt like real life. Doing everyday stuff like this here at Summer Lake was what it was going to take to make her feel like this wasn’t just some happy little interlude, some extended vacation that would end soon and send her back to Ventura.
She took a cart and made her way to the produce aisle. A little girl came to stand beside her while she was looking at the bananas.
“They’re good for you. Did you know that? They have ‘tassium, and your body needs ‘tassium.”
Izzy smiled at her. She was a cute little thing with a blonde ponytail. “I knew they were good for you, but I didn’t know why. Do you like them?”
The girl nodded. “I never used to. My mom used to say that fruits are too expensive, and they don’t taste good enough. But Cassie says when you do the math, fruits are cheaper than candy, and they’re better for you. I still like candy, though.”
Izzy laughed. “I’ll bet you do.” She looked around, wondering what this little chatterbox was doing here by herself. “Is your mom here?”
“No. She dumped me when she left town.”
Izzy’s heart started to race. What had she walked into?
She relaxed a little when the girl smiled. “I live with Cassie and Colt now. They’re my new mom and dad.”
She knew who Colt and Cassie were. They’d been at the Boathouse with everyone last weekend. Colt was the sheriff’s deputy. “Are they your foster parents?” At least the kid had lucked out being placed with a deputy and a doctor. She’d fared much better than Izzy had.
“No. Kelly said I was going to end up in the system, but Cassie and Colt didn’t want that, so they adopted me.”
“Wow.”
The girl grinned at her. “I know. I’m lucky, right?”
Izzy had to laugh. The kid was quite a character. “You are. And I bet Cassie and Colt think they’re lucky, too.”
“They tell me that all the time.”
“Sophie!”
They both turned to see Cassie hurrying toward them. “How many times do I have to tell you not to wander off?”
“Sorry.” She smiled at Izzy. “I made
a new friend.”
Cassie shot Izzy an apologetic look. Then she recognized her. “Oh, hi. It’s Izzy, isn’t it?”
“That’s right, and you’re Cassie. Sorry, I kept Sophie. We got to talking.”
Sophie shot her a grateful smile.
“That’s okay. But we really need to get going. Come on, Sophie.”
The kid smiled at Izzy. “Do you want to be my friend?”
Izzy nodded. “Sure.”
“Sophie!”
She could tell that Cassie didn’t want the kid to be rude, but Izzy felt a kinship with her, and it seemed that it was mutual. “It’s okay.” She smiled at Cassie, hoping she might understand, even though she wasn’t sure she understood it herself. “Sophie and I just realized we have some things in common.”
Cassie came back a few steps. “You do?”
“Yeah. Our background.” She gave her a meaningful look and was relieved when understanding dawned on her face.
“Oh. I see.”
Sophie looked up at her. “You were adopted, too?”
“No. I never got that lucky.”
“Can I come to your house one day?”
Cassie gave Izzy an apologetic look. “You don’t just invite yourself over like that, Sophie.”
Izzy smiled. “It’s okay.” She looked at Sophie. “You have to ask Cassie. But if she ever needs someone to watch you for a while, you’re welcome to come over.”
Sophie grinned at Cassie. “Can I?”
Cassie smiled. “We’ll see. It’s very kind of you.”
“I mean it. I just moved here, and I don’t know many people yet. I know you know Diego, so it’s not like I’m just some strange woman you met at the store.”
Cassie laughed. “Far from it. I do know Diego, and I’ve gotten to know Audrey, too. Zack and Maria think you’re wonderful. It seems like the whole town has been waiting for you to get here. I feel honored that you’d let Sophie come over. Don’t think you have to, though.”
“Like I said. We have something in common. We might be good for each other.”
“Thanks.” Cassie nodded. “I might need to take you up on the offer to watch her next week. If you really don’t mind.”
“I’d love it. I’ll give you my number.”
After Cassie had taken her number, Sophie came and took hold of her hand. “Can I call you Aunt Izzy?”
Izzy had to swallow around the lump in her throat. She nodded.
“Thanks, Aunt Izzy. I don’t have any family left here. You can be mine.” With that, she smiled and skipped away.
Cassie watched her go. “Sorry about that. She had it rough. She’s finding her feet now, but until she said that, I had no idea how she felt about family.”
Izzy’s throat burned when she spoke. “It’s okay. I totally understand how she feels. I’ll look forward to getting to know her … and to being her Aunt Izzy.”
Cassie smiled. “You should probably get used to it. It seems like everyone is family around here, in one way or another.”
~ ~ ~
Diego felt like a kid who was excited for Christmas to come. He and Ted had done their shopping. Maria had assured him that he’d made the right choice. He kept taking it out to look at it. It was beautiful.
He shoved it back into his pocket quickly when he heard Izzy come in from the deck. She’d been on the phone with Audrey.
She’d seemed a little subdued when he got home. She’d made dinner for them—pasta, and it smelled wonderful. She’d gone out to talk to Audrey while he got changed.
He went to her and closed his arms around her. “How was your day?”
“It was good, thanks. How about you? How did you get on with Ted?”
He grinned. “It went very well.” For a moment, he considered asking her right now, so that he could show her just how well he and Ted had done. But no. He had to wait until Sunday. He’d talked to everyone, and they were all going to come over. Now all he had to do was figure out how he could get them here without her figuring out what was going on.
He realized that she wasn’t relaxing against him like she normally did when he held her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Well …”
He leaned back so he could see her face. “What?”
“It’s nothing. It’s good, if anything.”
He took her hand and went to sit on one of the chairs at the dining table. He patted his lap. “Tell me?”
She smiled and sat on his knee, looping her arms around his neck. “You have every reason to be full of yourself, don’t you? You’re such a good guy.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you finally understand me. But tell me what’s bothering you?”
“You know Cassie and Colt?”
“I do.”
“Well, did you know that they adopted a little girl, Sophie?”
“I did. Zack told me all about it. She’s a sweet little thing. I met her once.” He smiled as he remembered. “She has a sailor’s mouth, but I suppose that’s to be expected, given her background.”
“What do you know about her background?”
“That her mother left town with a boyfriend—a boyfriend who …” He looked at her. “Why are you asking?”
“Because I met her and Cassie in the store today. She took a shine to me. I don’t know, it felt like I recognized something in her, or maybe she recognized something in me.” She smiled. “She asked if I want to be her Aunt Izzy and if she could come over and visit sometime.”
He smiled. “I hope you said, yes?”
“I did. I wasn’t sure what you’d think, though.”
“I love the idea. Colt and Cassie love her like their own, but I don’t think she has any other family.”
“She doesn’t. She told me that. That’s why she wanted to call me Aunt Izzy.”
“It sounds like she wants you to be her Aunt Izzy, not just to call you that.”
She nodded.
“Are you unhappy about it somehow?”
“No! God no! I love the idea. I guess I’m just struggling with the whole family thing myself.”
“What’s to struggle with, Miss Isobel?”
She looked down into his eyes, and he felt his heart fill up with love for her.
“Nothing. There’s nothing left to struggle with, is there? If I can just lean into it. If I can accept how lucky I am to have found you. How lucky I am that you love me the way you do. Then there’s no struggle left.”
He smiled. “And yet, you’re struggling to believe it?”
She shrugged.
“What would it take for you to relax and accept it?”
“I don’t know. Probably just time.”
He nodded. He hoped that what he planned to do on Sunday would help move things along.
Chapter Twenty
Audrey grinned at Izzy. “Have you told Diego about his competition yet?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I have competition?”
She laughed. “As if that would worry you.”
“It might.” He took hold of her hand and brought it up to his lips, brushing them over her wrist.
She shivered as he did it. It got to her every time, and he knew it.
“Tell me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Audrey is teasing me because I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I think Clay McAdam is a good-looking man.”
He smirked. “That’s okay. I agree. I think he’s a good-looking man, too. I’m not going to throw my panties at him, though. And I hope you’re not thinking about doing anything like that.”
She laughed. “In my younger days, maybe. Not anymore, though.”
“I don’t think Marianne would be too impressed if you did,” said Ted. He nodded toward the deck where Marianne and Clay were coming in with Seymour Davenport and his lady, Chris.
Diego waved at them and called them over. Then he raised an eyebrow at her. “I hope I can trust you to be a good girl?”
She laughed. “As long as I c
an trust you to be a good boy.”
“Always.”
“Hey, everyone.” Clay smiled around at them. “How are you doing?”
“Great, thanks. Do you want to join us?” Diego asked.
Izzy hadn’t been expecting that, but she probably should have. They all knew each other. Even Audrey had become friends with Marianne and Chris since she’d moved up here.
Clay looked at Marianne, and she smiled. “I’d love to.”
“So would we,” said Chris.
“I’ll hang with you while I can,” said Clay. “But I’m going to get up with the guys to do a set tonight.”
“We’d heard. In fact, you’re the reason Izzy’s here.”
Clay smiled at her. He really was a good-looking guy. He was no Diego, but still!
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Izzy. I’ve heard so much about you.” He held his hand out, and she shook with him, and then the others.
Seymour smiled her and then at Diego. “I, for one, want to thank you. Now that you’re here, I know that this man will stick around.”
She looked up at Diego, and he dropped a kiss on her lips. He seemed to read her mind as he so often did. “What can I say? They’re my friends. And I can’t help talking about you.”
“All the time,” said Chris with a smile. “I hope you’re going to come out for lunch with me, now that you’re here?”
Izzy nodded. She loved the idea. She knew that Audrey had lunch with the two women sometimes. It seemed that she was closer to Marianne than Chris, but she’d told Izzy several times that she couldn’t wait to get her and Chris together. “I’d love that.”
Clay looked around. “Is Eddie here, Ted? I want to ask him what we’re doing.”
Ted laughed. “You know what they’re like. They’ll play whatever you tell them to. It’s good of you to do this.”
Clay laughed. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s good of them to let me get up with them.”
Izzy watched the conversation go around. It seemed like the four men were good friends. She hadn’t realized they were as close as they seemed to be.
Diego moved his leg against hers, and she looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow, and she nodded. She wasn’t used to being the quiet one in a group, but she was just finding her feet here, with these guys. She loved Diego for noticing and checking in with her.
“Are your kids coming tonight?” Marianne asked Audrey.
