Wrapped Up in Christmas Love (Wrapped Up in Christmas #4)

Chapter Twelve

“T hey’re going to kill each other, aren’t they?” Zach whispered ten minutes later.

Although he still wasn’t crazy about how the guy made googly eyes at Isabelle, he felt sorry for the music director as the Butterflies argued over which three would be his wise men.

“Doubtful since they haven’t after all these years.” Meeting his gaze, Isabelle smiled impishly. “To be honest, when I went over there, I didn’t think the guys would jump on board with my invitation.”

Zach looked at her with admiration. “You knew they’d say no and that the Butterflies would step up?”

“I wasn’t sure if they’d fill in or just find willing volunteers, but I knew I could count on them. I never doubt that they’ll be there in a pinch.”

“Probably with binoculars and cupid’s arrows.”

“Funny, but wrong holiday,” Isabelle corrected, still smiling. “The Butterflies are all about Christmas. Dangling mistletoe, they lasso their victims together with garland and promises of happy-ever-afters dancing in their heads.”

Zach chuckled.

“Fine. Let these old biddies be wise men.” Rosie gestured toward her friends, then fluffed her neon-blue hair. “People taking me for an old man is a far stretch, even with as great an actress as I am.”

Maybelle snorted. Ruby grunted. Claudia shook her head. Zach and Isabelle exchanged looks.

“Y’all can make me the twinkling star that men follow—wise men, that is,” she added with a so-there look at her friends.

“Ms. Hudson, we already have a star,” the music teacher pointed to a large star that had been embellished with Christmas lights.

“You’d choose that over me?” Rosie’s hands went to her hips.

“Yep. He would,” Maybelle assured. “It’s not like they have a crane readily available to hoist you above the stage so you can twinkle.”

“Huh,” Rosie huffed.

“I’m sure I can find you something, Ms. Hudson,” Trevor attempted to appease.

“Poor guy,” Zach mused. “He likes you, by the way.”

Isabelle turned toward Zach. “What makes you say that?”

“My eyes.” The surge of testosterone every time the guy looked her way. “He’s definitely besotted.”

Isabelle’s gaze shifted to where the music teacher still refereed the Butterflies. “You think I should go for it?”

“No.” As soon as he said it, guilt hit. “At least, not until after I find your dad.”

Isabelle’s gaze cut to him. “You really think you’re going to find him before Sophie’s wedding?”

“We know that at some point after leaving Clarksville, he went to Florida, then on to Texas.”

“Where he had a job working on a ranch. Great, we know that for a while he wasn’t living at an inpatient facility or in a homeless shelter anymore, but that was still over fifteen years ago. He could be anywhere.”

“True.” Cliff Davis’s Social Security number hadn’t been used since he’d worked on the ranch.

Zach had talked with the owner in detail. The man hadn’t known where Isabelle’s dad had gone when he’d left the Bar T but had mentioned he’d become friends with some migrant workers and had left around the same time.

“I’ll find him.”

Failure wasn’t an option. Neither was the man eyeing them. Zach slid his arm around Isabelle’s waist.

Glancing up, her eyes widened. “Tell me you’re acting.”

“I’m Joseph, and you’re my pregnant virgin wife. He shouldn’t be looking at you that way.”

Isabelle’s cheeks turned a bright red. “You should come to church and let Pastor Smith educate you on the rest of the good book.”

Zach wasn’t religious, but he could recount Jesus’s birth. “Is that an invitation to come to church with you?”

Her mouth opened, then she grimaced. “You have me there, don’t you? I can’t really in good conscience say no to you going to church with me.”

He eyed how her cheeks flushed, how her breath had quickened, how she was twisting the hem of her sweater. “But you want to?”

“I don’t think I’d pay much attention to what was being taught if you were there.”

“Because?”

Sighing and not meeting his gaze, she spoke so softly that he barely heard. “You distract me.”

Not allowing himself to analyze why her admission made him happy, Zach touched the tip of her nose. “You distract me, too, wifey.”

*

Isabelle’s heart thundered at Zach’s teasing. He didn’t mean a thing by it, and yet… and yet, his comment had her spinning. Or maybe it was how complicated her relationship with him was. They were a pretend couple pretending to be a married couple. No wonder she felt off-kilter.

“I am not a sit-on-the-sidelines-while-these-three-are-on-stage kind of woman,” Rosie informed the music teacher.

“I hate to break it to you”—Maybelle’s tone said she relished every word—“but you’ve been sitting on the sidelines of our lives for years.”

Rosie stamped her foot. “Ooooh, you take that back, Maybelle Kirby.”

“Nope. Facts are facts.”

“There is another part.” Trevor looked uncertain of what he was going to say. “I’d thought to have the performance without recasting that role, but if you were willing… It’s a speaking part.”

“Speaking?” Rosie perked up. “I’ll take it. Whatever it is, I’m sure I’m perfect.”

Ten minutes later and wearing her Mary costume, Isabelle slapped her hand over her mouth. She fought looking at Zach as his chest convulsed a little from suppressed laughter in response to in-costume Rosie stepping out from behind the changing area.

“Oh my.” Isabelle wished she could pull the blue cloth covering her head over her face. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold in her laughter.

“Yep.” Zach’s hand covered his mouth as if his half-strangled chuckle were actually a coughing spell.

Three Butterfly wise men’s jaws dropped.

Isabelle wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Maybelle double over with laughter before, but she cackled to the point her ribs were sure to be sore the next day. Ruby and Aunt Claudia were right there with her.

Maybelle hit her thighs. “That’s priceless.”

“The greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” Ruby howled, grabbing hold of Claudia’s arm as if she thought she might topple over from her amusement.

“Legendary.” Aunt Claudia reached for her phone.

“Do not, and I mean do not, take a photo of me in this”—Rosie’s nose curled as she glanced down at her fuzzy gray attire—“this ridiculous get-up.”

“Now, Rosie, you’re going to be in the spotlight for an entire song that’s dedicated to you.” Isabelle did her best to keep a straight face. “You look adorable.”

She did, although not in her usual fashion. “Well, of course I do, dear. That’s a no-brainer. But even with me tucked inside, this suit leaves a lot to be desired.” Rosie lifted her chin, causing an ear to flop over.

Three Butterflies roared with laughter again.

“Who knew the concert was a comedy?”

“Sure has me laughing,” Aunt Claudia agreed, with her and Ruby still clutching each other’s arms in their merriment. “You think anyone will try to pin a tail on her?”

Isabelle pressed her lips tightly together, determined not to laugh. Next to her, Zach turned his head away from the women in an effort to contain his own mirth.

“Or better yet…” Maybelle’s eyes twinkled. “They may think she’s a pi?ata and give her a good whack.”

Huffing, Rosie scowled. “Oh, go be wise somewhere else, you old hags.”

“Okay. You’re right. We need to take our places.” Maybelle feigned remorse for half a second, then, practically giggling, went, “ Eeee-onk .”

Ruby and Aunt Claudia looked at each other, then, tears running down their faces, barely able to breathe, collapsed into hysterics.

*

If someone had bet Zach that he’d be playing Joseph in a high school Christmas concert, Zach would have lost. Why had he tossed out that he would conditionally fill in? It wasn’t as if he’d expected Isabelle to say no. Whether she wanted to do something or not, she’d say yes if it meant helping someone she loved.

He liked that about her. How loyal and dependable she was.

An unfamiliar twinge seized his insides, making him swallow. Glancing at where she knelt next to a manger in the middle of the stage, he admitted that he liked a lot about his pretend girlfriend, who was currently his pretend wife.

Particularly her bent-over belly laughs at the Butterflies and again during Rosie’s stellar performance. Prancing about during a rendition of a song about a Christmas donkey that shouldn’t have been funny, Rosie had worked the stage with her usual gusto and earned her and the talented choir a standing ovation. Isabelle letting loose and laughing the way she had filled Zach with a happiness he couldn’t explain.

Well, he could, but he shouldn’t. Falling for Isabelle would be pure craziness.

“Ahem.” She softly cleared her throat, drawing his attention to the fact that he was to have joined her in kneeling next to the manger beneath the bright stage lights.

Zach did so, but rather than look at the swaddled doll, he stared at Isabelle. Only her face was visible beneath her Mary costume, and he put her features to memory. He never wanted to forget a single thing about her.

Glancing up, her gaze connected with his, and he could see the question in her eyes as to why Joseph wasn’t pretending awe at their newborn child. What would his Mary say if he told her the truth? That he was in awe of her? And that, not for the first time, he wondered what it would be like if they were real?

*

“Y’all were wonderful!” Annabelle rushed over and hugged Isabelle when she and Zach entered Lou’s, where everyone had gathered for an after-party. Between the cast, friends, and family, the diner was rocking.

“You are who was wonderful. Your solo of ‘Mary, Did You Know?’ gave me goosebumps.”

“Thanks.” Annabelle glanced around the diner. “Is Sophie coming?”

“Sophie, Morgan, Andrew, and Greyson went to spend time at the firehall with Ben and Cole. If it’s not too late when they finish, and Greyson’s not too tuckered out, they’ll be by.”

Jeff joined them and handed Annabelle a drink. “Here’s your soda.” Turning to Isabelle, he smiled proudly. “Wasn’t she amazing?”

“Absolutely.” Isabelle returned his smile. Carrie’s son always had been a good kid and had been the single mom’s pride and joy and reason for working so hard. “Jeff, this is my friend, Zach.”

Jeff immediately stuck his hand out and the two men exchanged pleasantries. Isabelle and Zach stood watching when the younger couple moved on to join friends.

“She really does resemble Sophie, especially tonight when she’s so bubbly.”

“I’ve always thought they should have been sisters,” Isabelle admitted.

“Sophie wouldn’t trade you for anyone in the world.”

Smiling, Isabelle glanced toward him. “That’s a nice thing to say.”

“It’s an honest thing to say.” He gestured toward a particularly loud group. “Speaking of nice things to say, we should tell Rosie how great she was.”

“Not that she doesn’t already know,” Isabelle teased.

Zach grinned. “Yep. But since she and Lou are throwing the party, it’s only polite.”

“And you’re always polite?”

“Not always.”

She eyed him curiously. “Other than your teasing, I’ve never seen that side of you.”

“I hope you never do.”

An hour later, party in full swing, Zach eyed the teens belting out the Christmas song along with the karaoke machine. “You’d think they’d have gotten enough singing earlier.”

“They appear to be enjoying this more,” Isabelle mused, sipping her drink.

Leaning back in his chair, Zach nodded. “It’ll be a long time before I enjoy a performance more than I did Rosie’s.”

Isabelle snorted. “She was something else with how she sashayed around the stage, twirling her tail, wasn’t she?”

Zach had never encountered anything quite like the Butterflies, particularly Rosie. “The choir was great, but my money is on her being the reason that number got a standing ovation.”

Tracing her fingertip over the rim of her glass, Isabelle smiled. “She was eating it up.”

“Even Maybelle was clapping,” he pointed out.

After the way they’d practically been at each other’s throats, he’d been surprised by how genuinely proud the older woman had appeared.

Isabelle nodded. “Don’t let their bickering fool you. They’re the best of friends and have been longer than we’ve been alive. It’s just what they do. How they express their affection for one another, I guess.”

“They’re definitely entertaining.”

“Always.” Isabelle smiled, then nudged him with her elbow. “Thank you for helping tonight.”

Liking the softness to her face and the happiness that shone in her eyes, Zach shrugged. “You didn’t give me much choice.”

She arched her brow. “You shouldn’t have tossed out your condition if you weren’t serious.”

“I was serious.”

Smiling, she poked her finger at his chest. “Then quit your whining, Joseph.”

Starting at where her finger touched him and spreading, shock waves rumbled through Zach. “I wasn’t whining, Mary.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “Blondie, Cinderella, Mary… what will you be calling me next?”

Mine . No, he’d never call Isabelle that. At least, not accurately. Feeling antsy, he took her hand. “Let’s sing.”

Isabelle’s eyes widened. “Um, no.”

He laced his fingers with hers. “Pretty sure if I was in a high school choir concert for you, then you can sing one karaoke song with me.”

“Fine. One song.” Frowning, Isabelle allowed him to lead her to where the karaoke had been set up in a corner of Lou’s.

“Pick a song.”

She shook her head. “This was your brilliant idea. You pick.”

Zach skimmed the selection, then punched in a number. “Remember that I gave you the option of choosing and you declined.”

She glanced down at what he’d chosen and rolled her eyes. “The guy who never wears a coat picks a song about being cold? Seriously.”

“You wanted to know what I was going to call you next. Now you know.”

“I’m not the kind of girl who appreciates being called baby, and I’ve never liked this song.”

“Work with me here, Blondie.”

“Fine.” She sighed. “Let’s get this over with, since half the room is watching us.”

“Don’t do it because of them. Have fun, Isabelle. Channel your inner Rosie.”

She snorted, grimace-smiled, then fluffed her hair in a fair imitation of the real Rosie. “Who do you think taught her all she knows?”

Tickled at her show of sass, Zach laughed. “There you go.”

The music started. Taking a deep breath, Isabelle picked up one of the microphones and half said, half sang the first line of Frank Loesser’s classic about it being cold outside.

Grinning, Zach sang his line.

*

Keeping her gaze locked with his, Isabelle jumped into the song the same way she tackled most things, by giving her all. And, if she were truthful, with a desire to throw Zach off-kilter by letting him know once and for all that she was no fuddy-duddy.

Zach took her hands. “They’re like ice,” he sang.

Any nervousness she’d had at singing in front of her friends and family was replaced with an intense awareness of where his fingers held hers. He was so big and strong, capable of allowing her to lean on him the way she had at the shelter, capable of pushing her outside her comfort zone, such as their current predicament.

When it came to the line about her father, she tweaked the verse to say her sister instead.

She doubted most noticed the change, but the flicker in Zach’s eyes said he had. Without missing a beat, he continued the tune, though.

When they finished, clapping filled the restaurant.

Zach wrapped his arms around her, lifted her off her feet, and spun her around. “You’re amazing.”

Heart pounding from being in his arms, she fluffed her hair in another Rosie move. “I know.”

He laughed, then put her down. “For the record, I’ve never really paid attention to those lyrics. Next time, I’ll choose better. That song isn’t who I am.”

She knew that. It’s why she’d agreed to sing it with him. Zach was too honorable to ply a woman with alcohol and originally, the song had been written to encourage guests to leave a house party rather than with any nefarious intent. “Next time?”

He shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe our number will come up again.”

*

“Admit it. You had fun tonight.” Zach said later that night as Isabelle drove him home.

Tiny flecks of snow had started to fall and were hitting the windshield. The temperature had done a rapid nosedive from earlier that day, and the car’s heater blew warm, thanks to his having gone outside to start it prior to their leaving Lou’s. He’d offered to drive as his thirty days had finally expired without another incident, but Isabelle had declined.

“Tonight wasn’t bad.” She didn’t take her eyes off the road. “You make a good pretend boyfriend.”

Zach winced. She sure knew how to pop his euphoria bubble.

“And someday you’re going to make someone a great real boyfriend.”

“Probably not,” he admitted. “I doubt I’ve ever qualified as even a mediocre boyfriend. Relationships aren’t my thing.”

“Mine, either.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Her gaze briefly cut his way, so he clarified. “You’re surrounded by people who you share strong bonds with.”

A soft laugh escaped her lips. “I thought you meant romantic relationships.”

“There was the guy in Nashville.”

“He was always staying there, and I was always coming home.”

“You wouldn’t leave Pine Hill for love?”

Rather than answer, she asked, “Would you stay in Pine Hill for love?”

Despite how her question tightened his throat, Zach chuckled. “One of the many things I admire about you is that quick mind of yours. You sure turned my question back on me.”

“I wasn’t trying to be contrary.”

“For once?”

Her lips twitched. “Is that what you think of me? That I purposely cause you angst?”

She did. On purpose, not on purpose. Isabelle twisted his insides. “I meant what I said earlier.”

“Which time?”

“When I said I think you’re amazing.” The most amazing woman he’d ever met.

“Thank you.” Isabelle drove the car into Hamilton House’s drive and put it into park but didn’t kill the ignition. “Thanks again for filling in at Annabelle’s concert.”

“No problem.” He should tell her good night and get out of the car. He should, but he didn’t want the night to end. “Sarah has cookies and cocoa inside.”

“It’s late and I should get home.”

He grinned. “Seems like I’ve heard that before.”

Her eyes crinkling with her amusement, Isabelle laughed. “It would seem so. You should get inside before you get chilly.”

“Walk me to the door?”

“You afraid the abdo-abominal snowman might grab you?”

“Maybe.” He eyed her, noting how her thumb tapped on the steering wheel. “Would you protect me?”

She laughed again. “I wouldn’t be of much help if something grabs you that you need protecting from.”

“Never underestimate yourself. A sharp mind is a powerful thing.”

“That it is. I’ll make you a deal,” she offered, glancing his way. “I won’t drive off until you’re safely inside and if an abominable snowman tries to snatch you, I’ll gun the gas and take him out.”

“You do that.” Grinning, he leaned across the console separating them and kissed her cheek. “Good night, Blondie.”

*

“That is the most beautiful wedding dress I’ve ever seen.” Isabelle stared in awe at her smiling sister and mentally checked wedding dress off Sophie’s wedding checklist.

Four Butterflies beamed.

“It is quite lovely,” Ruby said.

“Perfection,” Aunt Claudia agreed.

Rosie glanced down at her Christmas-manicured nails. “Almost as perfect as mine.”

Maybelle shook her head at her friend, then smiled at Sophie. “You are truly an exquisite bride-to-be.”

“And just look at my gorgeous sister.” Sophie smiled at Isabelle. “I’m so thrilled she’s going to be standing by my side at my wedding next week.”

“I’ll always be by your side,” Isabelle assured, but wasn’t nearly as positive about how gorgeous she felt in her formfitting bridesmaid dress. “Any time you need me.”

And with that, Sophie burst into tears, causing the Butterflies and Isabelle to rush to her.

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 spent much 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.

“Why do I let him upset me this way?” Her voice was muffled by his jacket. “After all these years, he shouldn’t have any power over me.”

Glad his gloves were still poked in his jacket pocket, he stroked where her hair spilled from beneath her hat. “Because you care.”

“I don’t want to care. Make it stop.”

Holding her close, breathing in her apple-pie scent, caring way more than he should about her, about this Christmas-crazy little town, and about his own family woes, he sighed. “If only it was that easy.”

*

“It’s really him?” Isabelle’s fingers tightened their hold on her cellphone. When Zach had taken off for Louisiana three days before Sophie’s wedding, she’d known he might soon be coming face-to-face with her father. But that didn’t prevent the nausea washing over her to the point she rested her head on her desk. “You’re sure?”

“It’s him, but he’s not coming back to Pine Hill for Sophie’s wedding.”

Disappointment, anger, frustration, and emotions she had no label for had her rolling her head back and forth against the desk’s cool surface. Of course, he’d said no. Why would he say anything else when he’d chosen to stay gone for over two decades?

“Make him, Zach.” The request that had sounded much more like an order surprised Isabelle, but it suddenly felt imperative that he do so. “For Sophie. Please.”

“You want me to tie him up and haul him back on the plane with me? I’m not sure the FAA will allow that, Blondie.”

Would he think her crazy if she said yes?

“Surely you have military buddies who can pull strings to get him here? Maybe on a private plane? Something?”

There was a brief silence, then Zach’s heartfelt sigh sounded in her ear. “Because kidnapping your father and forcing him back to Pine Hill will convince him to walk Sophie down the aisle two days from now?”

Isabelle counted to ten, then swallowed. “I wanted this for Sophie.”

“I wanted it for you. You need to make peace with the past.”

Heart shattering that they were so close and yet were going to fail, Isabelle’s hand shook as it clenched her phone. “Says the man who walked away from his own family and never looked back.”

“My family is different.”

“Really?” The emotions she’d been trying to choke back erupted. “How are you any different from my father, Zach? You just walked away from them, too, didn’t you?”

“My situation is nothing like your father’s.”

“Right,” she snapped, knowing he was right, but lashing out even when he wasn’t to blame for her father’s shortcomings. “Go back inside, Zach. Please. Video call to where I can see him. I need to see him. I have to convince him to do this for Sophie.”

The line was silent long enough that for a moment Isabelle thought they’d lost their connection.

Finally, he asked, “You’re sure? He doesn’t look the same as when you last saw him. He’s older, rougher, thin.”

Stop , she wanted to scream. Stop trying to make me empathetic to him .

“No, but I have to do this.” She did, didn’t she? “For Sophie.”

“I’ll go back in. For you.”

Isabelle could barely breathe as she waited for Zach’s call. She straightened the papers on her desk, pulled up her hair, untied the ribbon and let it fall back to her shoulders, put on lipstick, then wiped it off. What was she doing? What did it matter what she looked like? It wasn’t as if she expected her father to see her and suddenly want to come home for Sophie’s wedding.

“What is taking so long?”

Then, her phone rang with the video icon lit. Isabelle’s breath caught. Her stomach clenched. Tossing the phone across the room tempted. Recalling Sophie’s tears, Isabelle knew she had to at least try. If she didn’t, she’d always wonder if she could have said or done something that would have convinced her father to do this one thing. Hand shaking, she slid her finger across the screen, not quite sure what she was going to see.

Cliff Davis was there.

An older version, of course, but she’d know those blue eyes anywhere. They were the same ones that reflected back at her in a mirror. Tears prickled. Anger burned. Words failed and she just stared at the phone. The man on the other side of the screen did the same, obviously uncomfortable and not knowing what to say.

“Isabelle?” Zach asked from next to her father.

She couldn’t see him, but the concern in his voice was palpable. No wonder. Her vocal cords refused to function.

“This was a mistake.” Her father’s voice, sounding the same as she remembered, tore into her resolve and had her agreeing. This had been a horrible mistake. He attempted to stand, but Zach’s hand settling on his shoulder stayed him.

“You’re not going anywhere until Isabelle has her say. You owe her that and a lot more.”

Zach’s voice, knowing he was there, that he’d gone to Louisiana for her, eased her rattled nerves enough to free her tongue.

“Sophie wants you to walk her down the aisle,” she began. Her father’s eyes closed. “Her wedding is this weekend. Zach will bring you to Pine Hill. Walk Sophie down the aisle and give her the wedding she wants. I’ll foot your travel expenses.”

“I’m not coming back to Pine Hill.”

It was the first thing he’d said directly to her in over twenty years. Goosebumps prickled her skin as the brevity of the moment hit. She was talking with her father.

“It’s what Sophie wants.”

His blue gaze stared at her from the screen. “Is it what you want, Isabelle?”

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her dry mouth. She swallowed. “It doesn’t matter what I want. Sophie wants you to walk her down the aisle.”

“That’s not going to happen.” He looked up at Zach. “You shouldn’t have found me. Doing so was a waste of your time. I have nothing else to say.”

There was a moment of silence, then Zach glanced toward the phone, his expression tight and the golden flecks in his hazel eyes glowing almost as if they were on fire. “Isabelle, is there anything else you want to say?”

Yes. No . Panic filled her. Twenty-plus years’ worth of things she wanted to say flooded her. Angry things. Pleading for him to come home things. Sad things. Happy things. Now was her moment, probably the only moment she’d ever have to say any of them, and words failed her yet again.

When she still didn’t speak, Cliff attempted to stand again, but Zach yet again stayed him with a pointed look that said he wasn’t going anywhere until Isabelle gave the okay.

Grimacing, he repeated, “This was a mistake.”

Heart beating so hard it might explode, Isabelle found her voice. “Yes, it obviously was a mistake. Because you’re too selfish to do this one thing for the most amazing daughter, who, despite you abandoning her, is still heartbroken that you aren’t there to walk her down the aisle.” Oh, saying that felt good. Her shoulders lifted, as did her chin. “If you have one ounce of decency, if you ever loved any of us even the slightest bit, then you’ll be at Sophie’s wedding and give her this one thing. You owe her that and so much more.”

Isabelle disconnected the call. Her bravado wilted the moment the connection ended. Her entire body sagging, she burst into full-blown sobs.