Page 29 of Ten Kisses

Addie looked inside the box and then hugged Salem with a huge smile. "I am so pumped to get this right now. You just made my night. I am hungry for some cookies, and this is going to be delish." She broke a piece of chocolate off of the top of the box and ate it with a blissful expression. "Mm, you gotta love Molly for this. I'm going to have to tell my husband to make her a piece of furniture, too, so she brings boxes like this to me. I guess I could just buy it from her. Does she deliver?"

"Yes. I think two days a week. And the other days, you can schedule a pickup at her house. It's not far from here—in Grant's Hollow."

"Oh, I know that neighborhood… that's nice. My grease is getting hot, hang on…" Addie trailed off, setting down the box and getting over to the food. She began breading chicken, and within a few seconds, she was going to town and she had flour and egg all over her fingertips.

"Phillip's in the shower, he's been in there for a minute so he should be out soon. Help yourself to something to drink."

"Thank you," Salem said, looking in their cabinet for a glass.

"I didn't know if you heard about Isabel."

Addie's statement was so out-of-the-blue that Salem's head whipped around. She looked up, and he gave her a curious stare.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I hated to be the one to tell you. I didn't know if you still had a thing for her."

"Is she okay?" Salem asked.

"Oh, yeah, she's getting married. I hesitated to ask you about it since I didn't know if you might be sad."

"No, not at all," he said, surprised that it was the truth.

"Good, I felt bad for mentioning it for a second. My sister does her mom's hair, and she was in there today getting it done so she could fly to Maine for Isabel's wedding."

"Maine?" Salem said, if that were the surprising part of the statement. "I don't think many people know about it, even though he's famous. Do you know Bryson Campbell? He is a huge praise and worship guy. I've actually seen him live. He wrote that song… everlasting God, you arrrrre most highhhh… " She sang out, but Salem didn't know the song. He shrugged, and she continued. "Anyway, his name is Bryson Campbell. He's written a lot of big church songs. He's British, but his parents live in Maine, so they're getting married over there. Mrs. Love was telling my sister about it today. I looked it up on social media when my sister told me, but I didn't see anything. I think she's pretty private, and his account looks like a business account. A lot of pictures of him on stage and in the recording studio."

And that moment, as he spoke with Addie, Salem could honestly appreciate how complex the human body was.

He was listening to her words and responding to her, and at the same time he was experiencing and processing his own feelings.

He had to process the amazing, wonderful, outstanding, miraculous news that Isabel was with someone else! She was engaged, and Salem could officially move on. It was the obvious greenlight from God, and Salem was nothing short of elated.

"What are you smiling about?" Phillip asked, coming into the room still damp after his shower.

"I’m glad Isabel's happy. And it's cool that he's famous." That wasn't what was making Salem smile, but he wasn't ready to let them in on all of his thoughts.

"What are you talking about?" Phillip asked in a confused tone.

"I haven't even told you yet. Gretchen did Kathy Love's hair today. Isabel's getting married this weekend to that guy who sings… you and you alone can saaaaatisfy!" She busted out, singing the song as if it was on the tip of her tongue, like she had just been belting it before they came in.

Phillip looked at Salem with a concerned expression, and Salem smiled.

"You good?" Phillip asked his brother. It was a quick question, but it was accompanied with a sincere stare. Phillip knew how long Salem had loved Isabel, and he gave his brother a second to respond. Even if Salem had been hurting, he would have smiled at his brother in the moment. But Salem's smile was genuine.

He didn't want to overdo it and make it obvious that he was thinking about Molly, so he gave his brother an explanation. "It's been over a year since I've talked to Isabel," he said. "I didn't know she had met anyone, but I'm happy for her. I think I know that song Addie's talking about. That's a good match for her. I know her parents are probably pumped."

"Oh, Gretchen said Kathy was so excited."

"That's good. I'm happy for them." Salem meant it, and Phillip stared at him like he couldn't understand.

Addie was preoccupied, cooking chicken. She was turned around and had no idea that Phillip was looking at his brother with a confused expression. Salem shook him off, smirking and shaking his head to tell his brother that he was fine. Phillip looked slightly confused, but dropped it easily enough. "Can I eat a bite of that right now?" Phillip said, gesturing to the chicken that his wife had just taken out of the frying pan. She still had it in a pair of tongs at the moment, and she made a silly face at him like he needed to wait.

"I'm going to use the restroom, I'll be right back," Salem said.

He didn't really have to use the restroom.

He went in there to be alone.

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