Page 55 of See You Next Month

“We don’t want you to trade it. Just open your eyes and your heart to what could be. You haven’t been this interested or liked someone this much… ever,” Dana said.

“You do things with Uncle Joel and Aunt Gabi and I know you’ve been on a few dates,” Emma said.

“How do you know?” Kelsey said, narrowing her gaze.

“I just know, but you’re different when you talk about Isabella,” Emma said.

Kelsey sighed. She wasn’t surprised the girls had noticed how happy she was since meeting Isabella, but it didn’t matter. They had a job to do. Besides, she never had any inklings that Isabella thought of her as anything other than a friend. But there was that kiss at the airport…

“When we go in March, we’ll take you to our favorite bar. The owners are gay and there’s always women there. I’ll open my eyes then. How’s that?” Kelsey asked, trying to placate them.

“Fine,” Emma said.

“But Isabella will be there, too. Your eyes should be looking in her direction,” Dana said.

Kelsey shook her head. “So stubborn,” she mumbled. “Are we going hiking or what?”

Isabella read the email from Carmen with their itinerary for the January trip. She reached for her phone and called Kelsey.

“Hey you,” Kelsey said, answering the phone.

“Hey, Kels,” Isabella replied. “What did you think of Carmen’s email?”

“Hi, Isabella,” a voice said through the phone.

Isabella chuckled. “Is that Dana or Emma?”

“It’s both of them, actually. We just came in from a hike. I’m going to FaceTime you. It’s time for you to meet these brats,” Kelsey said.

“Okay,” Isabella said, punching the button. She grinned when Kelsey’s face appeared. “Hi.” Isabella felt her heart skip a beat. Where did that come from? She talked to Kelsey just about every day, but those were texts. She watched as Kelsey flipped the camera around.

“This is Dana and that’s Emma,” Kelsey said, gesturing to the two young women waving into the camera.

“Hi,” Dana said. “Give me the phone so we can see Isabella.”

A moment later the screen was filled with the girls' faces. “We’ve been meaning to ask you,” Emma began.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Kelsey said in a warning voice.

“We want to know what you did to make our mom so happy. Whatever it is, keep doing it,” Emma said, glancing up at Kelsey.

“You’ll have to ask her because she did the same thing to me. Your mom knows how to have fun!” Isabella said. She wished she could see Kelsey’s face because she imagined her cheeks would be red.

“It’s easy to have fun when you’re with the right person,” Dana said. “We’re looking forward to March.”

“I am, too. I can’t wait to show you the islands,” Isabella said. Just then Wyatt walked into the living room from the hallway. “Hey, come here, Wyatt. I want you to meet someone.”

Wyatt walked over and plopped down next to Isabella. “This is Wyatt. He’s my oldest,” Isabella said into the phone. “This is Dana and that’s Emma.”

“Oh, you’re Kelsey’s daughters. We get to go on a family vacation with you,” Wyatt said.

“That’s what I heard. Do you like to snorkel?” Dana asked.

“I’ve only done it once,” Wyatt said.

“Me too. We can learn together,” Emma said.

Isabella saw a shy smile grow on his face. “Let me get Gus. You can meet him, too.”

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