Page 38

“Get your head out of the gutter, Anna.”

“What? I may not be a psychic, but Norma was definitely alluding to a future of hot, steamy—"

“Uh, what do you think she meant with your prediction, Isobel?” Cress quickly asked, raising her voice as she cut Anna off. She was suddenly desperate to get off the subject of her and Kaden.

“I’m not really sure you could call mine a prediction.”

Anna shook her head. “No, it totally means something.”

It sounded to me like the kind of advice you found in a fortune cookie, but I didn’t say that to the girls because they both seemed very excited by Norma’s “abilities.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I let out a sigh. Whether Norma had been giving me a so-called psychic prediction or just honest advice, I wasn’t quite sure I was capable of following it. My heart had already led me astray multiple times before and proven itself thoroughly untrustworthy. “Anyway, we should be talking less and eating more,” I said. “The waffles are going to get cold.”

I started to dig into the food before us, and the girls begrudgingly followed suit. I could tell they wanted to keep chatting about our predictions, but I was worried they were getting their hopes up. Norma wasn’t exactly a reliable psychic.

As we were eating, the little bell above the entrance to the café chimed, and the front door swung open. My heart skipped a beat as I realized it was Matthew. I almost hadn’t recognized him. For once, my father wasn’t dressed in one of his fine suits, and instead, he was wearing a pair of casual chinos and a pale blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It was strange to see him looking so relaxed.

I hadn’t seen him since Halloween, but we’d talked briefly on the phone once since then. That night at the carnival had brought out a side of Matthew I didn’t know existed. He had been emotional. Angry and aggressive toward Noah and William but defensive and protective of me when he felt I was being threatened. It was a stark contrast to the calm and composed man I’d first met in the office of his Weybridge mansion.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a crack in his stoic personality though. He’d let the mask fall and been honest and vulnerable at the White Ball when he revealed the truth about why he’d been missing from my life all these years. And again in New York when he’d explained his history with the Hastings family and opened up about the death of his sister. Today though, there was a hint of a smile on his face and a lightness to his steps that suggested those serious issues were far from his mind. One of the only times I’d seen this side of Matthew was when he was strolling through the Halloween carnival with my mom next to him.

When he caught my gaze across the room, his smile broadened, and he walked over to our table. “Hello, Isobel,” he said.

I had thought I’d never get used to my father’s polished English accent, but it was actually starting to feel familiar to me.

“Hey, Matthew,” I said. “How are you? I’m glad to see your eye is looking better.”

The last time I saw my father, his eye was starting to swell and his cheek was bruised, thanks to Noah’s fist. There was no sign of the injury now, but I still felt like the damage Noah had done when he punched Matthew was a wound that would never heal.

“Yes, me too,” Matthew replied. “It was all rather unpleasant.”

Unpleasant felt like a bit of an understatement, but I didn’t feel the need to go into any more detail. It seemed like my father was just as relieved as I was to be in Rapid Bay, far away from memories of that night.

“You remember my friends, Cress and Anna?”

“Of course.” He turned his attention to my friends. “It’s lovely to see you both again.”

Cress and Anna both had their mouths full, so their responses were muffled, but it sounded like they said something along the lines of “You too.”

“Thanks for organizing the flight here for us,” I said. “The plane was really too much.”

“It was no problem at all,” he replied. “It’s just nice that we could all be here.”

I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Do you want to sit and have some breakfast with us?” I gestured toward the free seat at my side.

Matthew shook his head and straightened his back slightly as he glanced around the café. “Thank you, but I ate on my trip here. I should go and say hello to your mother. Is she here?” He didn’t look at me as he spoke, his eyes instead still scanning the café as though he was eager to catch sight of her.

“Yep, she’s in the kitchen.”

“Excellent. Maybe I’ll see if I can do anything to help prepare for lunch.”

“You can ask, but Mom takes her hosting duties on Thanksgiving very seriously, and she’s a bit of a perfectionist. She doesn’t even ask me for help.”

Another smile formed on his face as he glanced down at me. “Well, I’ll try my best not to get in the way.”

I grinned back at him and gestured to the swing door that led to the kitchen. “It’s through there. Good luck.”

Matthew nodded before turning to head toward the kitchen.