Page 6

CASE

I’m seeing things. I must be. Because sitting on a barstool chatting with my soon-to-be future-sister-in-law is my one that got away. My beautiful stranger. And she’s more breathtaking than I remember.

My feet seem to go out from under me and I almost trip over them. Thankfully, my brothers are all walking ahead of me and don’t witness my sudden clumsiness.

She looks just as shocked as I am but quickly recovers, shooting me a half-curious, half-shocked stare before turning back to Birdie.

As for me, I’m already moving on autopilot, following behind my brothers and coming to a stop in front of the women.

“Hey, City Boy,” Birdie says, leaning over the bar to meet Will in the middle for a quick hello kiss.

Once she’s standing straight again, she looks around the rest of us.

“Case, Sutt, Jude. Fancy seein’ you here.

Don’t worry, I already pre-warned the kitchen that y’all were comin’ and you’d be starvin’. ”

“We’re pretty much here every Saturday, Birdie,” Jude teases.

“Indeed.” Will grins as he turns to the other woman. “Hey, Isla. Great to see you again.” Isla. Now I know her name. Wait…

My head jerks to Will. “Again?”

Will’s brows bunch. “ Yeah…” he says slowly. “Isla’s Birdie’s best friend. They’ve been as thick as thieves since they were born. I forget you two kept missin’ each other.”

“He’s been too busy with his baby trees, that’s why,” Jude turns to me. “You haven’t been to the Grill with us when she’s been there,” he explains before lifting his chin Isla’s way. “Nice to see you again, Iz.”

“You too, Jude,” she says warmly, matching the feeling that spreads through my chest just from hearing her voice again.

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” Birdie says. “I better introduce y’all. Iz, these are the only two Cooper brothers you haven’t met yet.”

Sutton gasps and clutches his chest, grabbing onto my arm dramatically as if holding himself up. “And here was I thinkin’ we were family now, Birdie. I’m hurt. How ‘bout you, Case? Are you as wounded as I am?”

I open my mouth to answer but close it again, my tongue feeling ten times too big. Instead, I just shake my head.

Birdie rolls her eyes. “Oh shush, you two. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about Iz before. She works at the restaurant with me. She’s the one that told Will to come find me here all those months ago when you made him hunt me down.”

Will smirks. “I wasn’t huntin’. I was simply on a mission to find the woman I knew was meant to be mine. There’s a difference.”

“You were pretty determined,” Isla adds, her lips twitching and drawing my gaze to them. Get it together, Case.

“Yeah, yeah,” Will says, grinning my way. “I also remember a text sayin’ somethin’ about me bein’ hot. Remember that , Iz?”

Her cheeks burn pink as she laughs at my big brother.

I remember that sound. It’s been one of the many soundtracks in my dreams for months now.

She winks at him. “I admit nothin’.” And there’s that spark that drew me in like a moth to a flame.

It’s like no one else exists for me and I can’t bring myself to tear my gaze away from her in case she’s a product of my imagination. I can feel Sutton’s frown beside me but still, I don’t look away while everyone else chats away.

After kicking myself for not getting her phone number or even an email, the woman who made me feel alive for the first time in years is sitting right in front of me, seemingly been here in Timber Falls all along.

How is this possible?

Birdie's offer to take our drinks order pulls me back to reality,

Unlike me, Isla manages to compose herself and turns her attention back to her best friend to order the same drink she did that night we spent together.

“Case? Drink?” Birdie asks, startling me.

“Oh yeah. Um sure. I?—”

Sutton speaks up. “He’ll have a beer, same as me. Thanks, Birdie.” I’ve never been more thankful to be a twin as I am right now.

Jude seems oblivious to whatever is going on with me and moves to stand on the other side of Isla, chatting to her while Birdie gets our drinks. Will has gone quiet though, his concerned eyes locking with mine. “You good, Case?” I nod but don’t say anything else.

“OK…” he says, not sounding convinced. “How about y’all go grab us a table then?”

Sutton nudges me with his elbow. “You comin’?” I nod, unable to tear my eyes away from my beautiful stranger. Isla . For all I know, I fell over without realizing it and now I’m hallucinating.

“Yeah.”

Then my twin loops his arm with mine and with one last look at my beautiful stranger–for now anyway–before he drags me off in search of a table.

The strange thing is, I feel Isla’s eyes on me as we walk away. And it’s that feeling that finally brings a smile to my face.

“You goin’ to tell me what’s up?” Sutton says as soon as we’re out of earshot.

“It’s her.”

He looks around the table at our brothers before arching a brow my way. “Yes…. She’s a her. Though most people would say a woman,” he says slowly.

I shake my head. “No, Sutt. It’s her . My beautiful stranger. The one from Anchorage.”

He frowns. “How? I mean… “ He now looks as shocked as I felt when I first laid eyes on her again. “Nope, I was right the first time. How?”

“Are you sure?” Jude looks over my shoulder before turning to Will. “Birdie’s a Timber Falls’s lifer, right?”

“Sure is. Isla was too before livin’ in Anchorage. She moved back home after her mom was diagnosed with MS last year. She works as a nurse at the hospital and as a hostess and server at the restaurant.” Will’s gaze shifts to meet mine. “Are you sure it was her, Case?”

“As sure as I’m sittin’ here next to you. That’s her. I didn’t…” I shake my head. “I never thought I’d see her again.”

“One night stand regret?” Jude asks.

I swear my head has never jerked so fast. “It wasn’t a one-night stand!

” I say with a growl, suddenly overwhelmed with the need to defend Isla’s honor.

“We spent the night together.” His brows lift.

“ Talkin’ , Jude. Eating at a diner then havin’ a drink at a bar, but just talkin’.

When I woke up the next morning, she was gone. ”

“But she left a note,” Sutton says.

“Yeah, but it didn’t have any contact information.”

“Not even her name?” Will asks.

I shake my head. “Nope. She called me Curious, and she was my beautiful stranger.”

“Why didn’t she know your name? Why didn’t she make the connection when Birdie was talkin’ about all of us?” Will presses.

“We didn’t share names. Maybe that was why we were so comfortable with one another. Two strangers searchin’ for somethin’ and findin’ it in each other that night.”

“You didn’t do anythin ’?” Jude clarifies.

“Other than hold hands, no.”

All three of my brothers sit back in their seats. Will sighs, Jude whistles through his teeth, and Sutton whispers a quiet “wow.”

That’s how Birdie finds us when she delivers our drinks. She hands them out around the table before placing mine down last and shooting me a curious look. "You okay, Case?"

“Yeah.”

“You want to tell me what that was all about over there? I thought it was Sutton who had the anxiety. You’re usually the social, friendly one.”

Will wraps his arm around his girlfriend’s waist and pulls her into him. “I’ll give you the rundown later, but it appears Isla and Case may have met before.”

Birdie’s eyes widen and snap to mine. “ Really ? How? Where?”

“Anchorage,” I reply, searching for any recognition in her eyes. Is it wrong to hope that Isla talked to her best friend about me?

“Wait…” she starts to say before stopping herself. “Nope. That’s impossible. Iz came back to town in late August, and you didn’t get here till January, right?”

Will chuckles. “Honey, we were in Anchorage at that time for the readin’ of Gramps’s will. …” He lets that hang there and we all watch as the penny drops.

Her head slowly swivels over to the bar where Isla is watching us before turning back. “No way ,” she whispers. “That means you’re her?—”

I give her a sheepish smile. "Yeah.”

“What are the odds? I mean, it was her last night in Anchorage, and you were there for what, two days? And you just happened to meet and share this big, profound thing that neither one of you have forgotten about since?”

When you think about it like that…

Wait. “She said it was a big, profound thing?” I ask. Birdie’s answer is now my sole reason for being right now.

Will’s soulmate studies me and I don’t miss how there’s a lot working behind her eyes. She goes to open her mouth before slamming it shut, realizing she might’ve revealed too much. “Oh, would you look at the time. Better get back to the bar. Customers to serve, drinks to pour, and all that.”

“Birdie Walker!” I say to her now retreating back. Will chuckles, Jude grins, and Sutt just shakes his head with a giant smirk on his face.

“She’s like Timber Falls’s own little Houdini,” Will muses.

I glare at him. “I have half a mind to go tell her you’re about to propose or somethin’. Just to get her to tell me what she doesn’t want to say.”

“Cayson Cooper, take that back,” Will says, all amusement gone. “I’ve managed to keep it a secret this long. You’re not goin’ to ruin it for me now.”

“Of course not!” I shoot back. “I’m just–” I sigh. “I’m a little thrown right now, that’s all. But no, I’d never ruin tonight for you.”

“Speakin’ of that, when exactly are you poppin’ the question,” Jude asks, waving his phone in front of us. “Because I need to let Wyatt know when to meet me at the back door so I can let everyone else in.”

I put my need for answers about my beautiful stranger– Isla –on the back burner. Tonight’s about Will and Birdie and their future together. My questions can wait. It’s time to celebrate the Call, and my brother finding his One.