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I closed the visor and turned to stare at Isaac. "This is too much. You shouldn't spend this much money."
"But you just said how much you loved it."
"I do love it, but I also hate that you spent this much."
"Don't talk about the money," he said. His matter-of-fact tone had my heart racing. "I told you I would spend way more than that if I needed to. Those were the ones I liked, and the lady thought they were good, too, so…"
"Well, thank you, and I'm so happy. I love them both. I really do."
"Do we have any more work to do on the candy canes?"
I shook my head. "I don't want to worry about work tonight. I'm tired. I want to get some food and relax."
"Let's go back to the store, and I'll get some supplies and cook for you at your place."
I nodded contently because I couldn't have thought of a better plan myself.
Chapter 19
Roughly six weeks later
Isaac's departure after Thanksgiving was eye-opening for me. After getting a taste of having him around, I found it extremely difficult, almost impossible, to go back to not having him around. Being apart from him was horrible.
December seemed like it took forever and I was also so busy that it went by in a flash. I missed Isaac like crazy, but before I knew it, January arrived and I took my previously planned trip to Seattle.
I was currently still on the trip. I had been there for two days, and I had only seen my friend, Sabrina, once for coffee. She understood since she knew the whole story. I changed plans and decided to stay in an extra room at Isaac's parents' house so that he and I could spend as much time together as possible.
Isaac had an apartment downtown and their house was fifteen minutes away, but for the last two nights, he crashed at their place, too. He didn't plan to spend the night, but he stayed so late that he wound up falling asleep. They had plenty of bedrooms, and unlike in Savannah, we were sleeping on opposite sides of the house.
Isaac had to work at the restaurant until two o'clock today, but he had off for the next two days, so I would get to spend the remainder of my trip with him. I was so excited. I wished I could slam on the grand breaks of life and live in this window of time, these next two days, forever. How I wished they could last forever. I was close to my own family, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would leave Georgia and relocate to Washington the minute Isaac asked me to.
I was currently sitting on his parents' back porch swing with Jill Phillips. She had come over for dinner and we had just finished a cup of after-dinner coffee.
Jill was a little emotional seeing Isaac and me together. She knew she had something to do with it, and every time we did something sweet, I could see her tearing up. The dinner with her had been surreal for all of us. Jill was down to earth, but I couldn’t help but be a little nervous.
Isaac's mom had cooked a gorgeous meal. They had one of those wood-burning ovens and she made gourmet pizzas. It was something she had practiced, and they were delicious. Claire and Ryan were both at the house for dinner, and they had each brought one other person. Jill had brought her husband and their fourteen-year-old daughter. Jill's family was playing a game of horseshoes with Samuel and Emily while Jill sat on the porch swing with me.
I had told her a few funny things about the book versus how we connected in real life, but we talked book stuff earlier, and by now we were onto other things. She had just asked me if I had any plans to move to Seattle. I told her that I had no immediate plans but that I assumed it would happen eventually. She could tell Isaac and I loved each other, and I could tell it made her happy.
Isaac had been in the house making a phone call to a friend of his who was having a hard time. "I'm sorry," he said, coming back outside with us.
"It's fine," I said.
"Yeah, we had time to talk some more," Jill added.
"Oh, well, am I interrupting?" Isaac asked, stopping in his tracks.
"No," I said, reaching for him.
"Yeah, Isaac, actually, I need to get up. We need to get going. I'll let you have my spot." She stood up and gestured at the yard. "They're finishing up out there."
"Did someone say you're leaving?" Claire asked as she came around the corner.
She and the other guys had been in the driveway looking at Ryan's friend's car, which was something more exotic and expensive than the Tesla. I stayed on the porch to wait for Isaac, but it worked out since it gave me time to talk to Jill.
"We're leaving, too," Claire added coming closer to us with the guys trailing behind her.
Isaac gave his sister a questioning glance, and she shrugged.
