“Humph. That had nothing to do with Sophie and everything to do with you,” she assured, marveling at how he stayed perfectly in step with her increased speed, keeping her face shadowed. Once they crossed the street, heading down Main, she abruptly slowed, just to see if he’d match suit. Without missing a step, he did.
His lips twitched. “Why is that?”
“Because you’re so annoying. Surely someone has pointed out that to you in the past?”
He snorted. “Only my brother.”
“You have a brother?” The serious, almost sad way he answered had Isabelle wishing she could take her question back.
She didn’t want to think of him as human, either. Then again, he wasn’t human. Humans didn’t anticipate pace changes the way he had.
“Hard to believe I didn’t just crawl from the fiery recesses of the earth, eh?”
That his demeanor had instantly gone back to teasing relieved her in ways she would tear apart later, when she wasn’t with him. She needed all her brain cells to stay on task for the here and now.
“Well, I didn’t quite buy that a stork dropped you off at your parents’ doorstep.”
“No stork,” he assured, chuckling. “Although, in this town, you probably believe that it’s flying reindeer who drop off babies.”
Isabelle bit back a smile. “There are those in town who could be convinced of that.”
“But you’re not one of them?”
“I’m a realist,” she admitted, suspecting he was the same. “Do you have other siblings?”
Zach shook his head. “No, Brett and I are it.”
“Are you close?”
He shrugged. “Not particularly. He never understood my career choice.”
“He didn’t want you to join the military?” Why was she asking personal questions?
She didn’t need to know any of this for him to find her father. The less she knew about Zach, the better.
“That was just the start.” Zach shrugged. “Even before my military career ended, he thought I’d made a mess of my life and should have followed in his and my dad’s footsteps.”
Curiosity almost got the better of her, but Isabelle forced herself not to pry. Possibly because of how his shoulders had lifted, almost defensively. Zach seemed so together on the surface, so easygoing, but maybe that wasn’t really the case.
“I can’t imagine not being close to Sophie,” she admitted as they made their way along the sidewalk toward the city park.
Why would his brother think he’d made a mess of his life? If he had, was that why he was staying at Hamilton House? Had Bodie and Sarah put him in the Beds for Vets suite for reasons other than that the room had been open? Sarah had mentioned injuries. Was there something wrong with Zach? Something that couldn’t be seen?Not your business, Isabelle.
“Do you think that closeness will change after she and Cole get married?” Zach stayed in step beside her, even though they’d made it beyond the storefronts and were heading down a shady street that led to the park entrance.
“Even when I lived in Nashville, we talked most days.” Plus, she and Sophie would still see each other frequently between the shop and church. “I’ve no doubt we’ll always be close.”
“You lived in Nashville?”
She cut her eyes toward him. “Why sound so surprised?”
“I got the impression no one ever left Pine Hill.”
She gave a low laugh that really didn’t have much humor to it. “Shocking that some of us do, isn’t it? No worries, though. We always seem to find our way back.”
His expression grew thoughtful. “Is Sophie why you came back?”
Glad to see the park wasn’t that busy, Isabelle headed toward the concrete greenway that began on the opposite end of the parking lot and ran along the river.
