Isabelle put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Sophie swiped at her face. “Everything.”
“Please tell me this doesn’t have to do with Dad again.”
Sophie sniffled. “Okay, I won’t tell you.”
“Sophie—”
“You said not to tell you.”
“Honey, your father is here with you in spirit. He always has been.” Maybelle’s tone was so confident that Isabelle glanced her way, and to her surprise, the older woman refused to meet her eye.
Did Maybelle know something about where her father was?
It took a few minutes to console Sophie, but the moment Isabelle was able to pull Maybelle aside, she did.
“I’ve not seen Cliff in over twenty years,” Maybelle denied.
“But you do know where he is?” Isabelle persisted, positive Maybelle wasn’t saying all she knew.
Maybelle shook her head. “I don’t.”
“But you did at one time?” Isabelle stared at the woman. “Was it when he was hospitalized for his mental breakdown or when he lived at the homeless shelter or when he was at the Bar T?”
Maybelle’s eyes widened. “How do you know Cliff was at those places?”
“Because I hired Zach to find him for Sophie’s wedding.” Isabelle took a deep breath. “Hired isn’t really the right term. I bartered with him to find Dad. Sewing lessons in exchange for his services.”
“I see.” Maybelle’s gaze narrowed just enough that Isabelle’s confession was news and not something the woman already knew. “In the process, you’ve fallen in love with him?”
“No. It’s all fake,” she defended, not allowing memories of his kissing her cheek while sitting in Hamilton House’s drive to enter her mind. If she did that, then she might have to explain why she’d dreamed of that kiss. Of why just thinking of it, thinking of Zach, made her breathy. “Every bit of it was to throw Sophie off from what we were doing. We were trying to fool the whole town.”
Maybelle’s brow lifted. “Are you sure you weren’t just fooling yourself instead?”
“You realize that I know what you’re doing? That you’re just trying to put me on the defense rather than the offense?” Isabelle accused. “What do you know about the whereabouts of my father, Maybelle? I need to know everything you know.”
*
Zach hadn’t spentmuch time ice-skating, but back in the day he could tear up a skateboard, so had no issue with giving it a try. Isabelle, on the other hand, seemed content huddled on one of the benches, watching others skate around the man-made rink at Harvey Farm that apparently had originally been built for Rosie and Lou’s wedding. Around dusk, fluffy white snow had begun to fall. The rink lights reflected off the flakes, making them shimmer on their dance to the ground. If not for their conversation, Zach would drag Isabelle out to give it a whirl. But the moment the others had taken off on their skates, she’d leaned close to tell him what she’d learned at Sophie’s dress fitting.
“It’s been over a year since Maybelle last heard from him?”
Tugging her hat further over her ears, Isabelle nodded. “He called her after he saw Sophie and Cole’s engagement announcement online.”
Which once again confirmed that her dad hadn’t walked away and never given his family another thought. “Did she say why?”
“He wanted Maybelle’s take on Cole, to make sure he was worthy of Sophie.” Isabelle’s breath made a smoky cloud in the cold night air. “Can you believe that? His nerve of wondering if Cole would make a good husband when he’d been such a horrible one to Mom? I finally talked to her, told her what Sophie had said, and that I was trying to find Dad. She just sighed, told me that if that was what Sophie wanted and what I wanted to do, then she wished me luck. How could he have just left us, Zach? What kind of man walks away from his family?”
Sophie and Cole skated by and, curious at their serious expressions, Sophie waved. Cole didn’t look super comfortable on the skates, but much as Isabelle, the man lived to make Sophie happy, so skate he did.
Isabelle and Zach both waved back. When they’d passed to where their backs were to them, Zach glanced at Isabelle. The cold had her cheeks rosy, and despite her puffy down jacket and accessories, she shivered.
“Your dad did what he believed he had to do at the time.”
“Please don’t defend him. Not tonight, Zach. I just can’t bear it. I—” She wrung her gloved hands together. “Just don’t, okay?”
Wincing at how uptight she was, he scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her, wanting to offer comfort and to shield her from anyone watching them. He’d expected her to push him away, but instead she leaned into his embrace.
