Authors: Brooke St. James

Dreams of Us (12 page)

BOOK: Dreams of Us

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Isabel Holiday stepped foot into The Big Heavy coffee shop feeling as though she'd been there before despite the fact that it was her first time. She smiled as she looked around. She could picture exactly where everything had happened—the counter where Reid had been standing when he spilled the beans about the wedding, the table by the window where Bailey watched Jordan approach when they first reconnected. Everything. It even smelled like she expected.

"Hey lady," she heard from behind her.

She turned to find Bailey and Jordan both standing there. She hugged them both. "Thank you so much for meeting me here," she said. "I just had to see it!"

"Is it what you expected?" Bailey asked.

"Exactly."

Jordan reached out and nudged Bailey's side causing her to glance up at him. "I'll grab the drinks if you two want to go ahead and get started," he said.

She looked at Isabel with a questioning expression. "Sound good?"

Isabel nodded. "I'll have a caramel latte if you don't mind." She started to dig in her purse, but Jordan stopped her, saying he'd take care of it.

"You know what I want?" Bailey asked.

He smiled and nodded at her before making his way to the counter.

The women went to find a table.

"Which one did you sit at the night you found out about the wedding?" Isabel asked. "The one where you sat on his lap."

Bailey giggled as she pointed. "That one," she said, pointing toward the right at a small table near the wall. "It's open if you want to sit there."

Isabel smiled and nodded, and they headed in that direction. "Is Reid here?" Isabel asked as they sat.

Bailey glanced behind the counter and smiled. Isabel knew by her smile that he was, indeed, there.

Bailey pointed. "Jordan's talking to him."

"I knew that was him!" Isabel said with a huge grin. "He's so handsome. What ever happened with him and Lexie?"

"They're together," Bailey said. "He came to the wedding, and they've been dating since then."

"Is it serious?" Isabel asked, feeling like she needed the scoop even though it didn't pertain to Bailey's story.

Bailey nodded. "I think so. They're not talking marriage or anything, but they're together all the time. He's crazy about her. He's probably talking to Jordan about her right now."

Isabel smiled as she looked at the two handsome men, imagining what they could be saying. "How about Hank and April? Do you guys still see them?"

"They had us over for dinner the other night."

"Huh," Isabel grunted as if surprised.

"What?"

"I just wasn't sure if you guys would be prone to hang out with them after the boat thing."

"They're good people," Bailey said. "And Hank hired me to update their company logo, so he wanted to talk about that."

Isabel opened her shoulder bag and took out a legal pad, the same pad she had taken notes on every time they met. She stared down at it, and then dug for a pencil before regarding Bailey again.

"Are you happy?" she asked.

Bailey gave her a dubious glance. "Are you kidding?"

"I just wanted to ask so I could get your reaction."

"Are you gonna write that I said
'are you kidding'
?"

"Of course, and I'm gonna explain the dubious expression you gave me before you said it."

"I'm not even sure I know what dubious means," Bailey said giggling.

"It means doubtful."

"Like I was doubting you were serious?" Bailey asked.

"I might consider another word. I'll have to think about it. Cynical maybe."

"I think I'd rather be doubtful than a cynic."

"I'll use dubious, then."

The two women were laughing about that when Jordan brought the drinks to the table. "I told Reid he's in the book," Jordan said. He looked at Isabel. "He is in there, isn't he?"

She nodded. "And I love seeing him in person. I'll probably need to say 'hi' to him before we go."

"You can thank him for your coffee," Jordan said. "Oh, and he said he'd take his shirt off and model for the cover if you need him to."

Isabel laughed. "I'll have to tell him it's not that kind of romance." She took the coffee from Jordan and sipped it cautiously. "It's hilarious that he said that," she said, still beaming as she glanced in Reid's direction. "I love that he was here and he bought my coffee, too. This makes my day."

Jordan sat next to Bailey, and they smiled at each other before focusing on Isabel.

"I'm not going to keep you," Isabel said. "I just wanted to meet with you one last time to tell you what a privilege it's been telling your story. I also wanted to ask if there's anything you want to say specifically—any point that you explicitly want to get across to the reader."

Bailey looked at Jordan for several long seconds before turning to face Isabel. She sighed. "I guess I just want to say that God's mercies are new every morning, you know?" She glanced at Jordan with tears welling in her eyes, and he put an arm around her. Again, she looked at Isabel. "I feel loved and forgiven," she said. "There's no sin or personal temptation that's too big for God to help you overcome if you let Him. If you truly lean on Him for your every move, He'll be there to show you the way." She glanced at Jordan, and he leaned in to kiss her head before she once again looked at Isabel with a smile. "And His way is always really good."

Jordan turned to Isabel, and she smiled inwardly imagining him as a pirate. "She's amazing, isn't she?" he said.

Isabel smiled. "I love her. I love both of you. You're just wonderful."

He smiled. "I can't wait to read the book."

The End