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CHAPTER 15
Isabella
Istepped outside and the morning breeze hit me. Pausing to take it in, I inhaled the fresh ocean air deeply. This was the first day I’d woken up without the V-word hanging over my head. Last night, I checked number three, Have Sex, off my list. I’d always wondered what I’d feel after I was no longer a virgin, and I now I knew: giddy.
My first time was better than I’d ever imagined it could be, and I’d imagined it a lot of ways. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Not only was the physical aspect mind-blowing; the emotional aspect was just as, if not more, fulfilling.
A small smile spread across my face as I thought about what Jimmy said when he dropped me off at Mrs. B’s last night.
“It’ll be better next time. I promise.”
I didn’t know if I could survive better. I was barely holding it together. As it was, I had to stop myself from skipping down the path to the coffee shop. I needed to get my game face on. Cheyenne didn’t need to be subjected to the morning-afterglow of someone who’d been with her brother.
Although, with Jimmy’s free ticket to the buffet, she probably had been in the past. I didn’t think he spent many nights alone. It was strange. I knew that I wasn’t even close to being the only person he’d ever been with, but while we were having sex, that’s what I’d felt—like I was the only person that had ever existed to him. Logically, I knew that I was just projecting, but that didn’t make it feel any less real.
I was still grinning like an idiot when I walked into the Dreamy Bean Coffee & Book Café.
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting to see, but the interior surprised me. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have thought I was in Tribeca. The counter was distressed wood and above it were three oversized, industrial, pendant lights.
The back wall was exposed brick and there was a massive, floor-to-ceiling bookcase on the right. The dining area had adorable black iron tables with mosaic tile patterns on the tops, and they were surrounded by wrought-iron chairs with colorful cushions.
“Isabella.”
I heard my name and turned to see that Cheyenne was already seated.
“This place is adorable!” I enthused as I joined her.
“I know, right? It reminds me of the Village.”
“Yeah, I was thinking I was in Tribeca.” I didn’t see any drinks or food, so I asked, “Did you order?”
“Yep. You can do it all from the table.” She handed me a tablet that was surprisingly easy to navigate, and within a couple of minutes, my order was sent.
As soon as I set the tablet down, Cheyenne spoke. “I’m sorry about the other day at the meeting with my brothers. I honestly didn’t think that it was going to be anything like that. And I’m sorry that I sent my little brother out after you to get your number, I just didn’t want to take a chance of you leaving without me getting it.”
“Don’t worry about me.” I waved away her apology, glad she couldn’t read my mind, because then she’d know that meeting led to her brother asking me out…which then led to him deflowering me. Which would definitely fall under the heading of Uncomfortable Things to Know About Your Brother. I decided to change the subject. “How are you doing now? With everything?”
“Um, I don’t know.” She bit the inside of her cheek.
“If you want to talk about it, I’m here,” I offered. I didn’t want to pry, but I was curious about what was going on. I hadn’t felt it was my place to ask Jimmy about it.
“It’s sort of complicated.”
“What isn’t?” I said sincerely.
She chuckled. I wasn’t joking, but I was happy I’d made her smile.
Her eyes scanned the area before she leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice. “Well, I came back to Firefly after my father—or the man I thought was my father, at least—passed away. But before I left, I overheard my grandparents saying that James Comfort’s demon seeds would never get a dime of my mother’s money. I assumed when I went to the will reading that there’d be some mention of a trust, but there wasn’t. So I asked Reagan—”
“The one that’s with Billy?”
“That’s right.” She pointed at me. “I asked her to look into it. Well, it turns out that there is a trust that my brothers and I are entitled to, but there is a clause that says none of us get anything if there is any foul play suspected in my mother’s death.”
“Oh, God. Is there?” I thought I remembered Cheyenne telling me that her mother had died in a car crash.
“We don’t know. That’s what Billy and Reagan are trying to find out. The police report is missing information. All the newspaper articles say it was an accident. They went through my mother’s journals to see if they could get any clues. Then Reagan found some private letters that were addressed to her boss at work and recognized my mother’s writing from the journals. It’s looking like my mother and Reagan’s boss were having an affair, and, well…I might be the result of it.”
“Wow.” And I’d thought my family dynamics were complicated. “Is that… are you upset about that?”
