Page 53 of A Future in the Bay

“What’s that?” she asked, realizing that an incredible savory smell was coming out of the bag.

“I went ahead and got us some dinner from The Crab,” he said, grinning at her. “I figured we’ve earned it, with how hard we’ve worked today.”

“That sounds incredible,” she said. “I’m starving.”

They laid a blanket down on the floor of the room and set their food out on it. They ate the food hungrily, and she felt that food hadn’t tasted that good to her in a long time.

“Thanks for that,” she said, when they finished eating. She let out a long, contented sigh. “I owe you one.”

“Are you kidding?” he said, lying down on the blanket and looking at the ceiling, grinning. “I owe you. You’ve done all this work. It’s incredible.”

As she glanced down at him, she suddenly got an idea. Outside, the sun was setting, and they’d turned the lights on in the classroom so that it wouldn’t be too dark. She got up and scampered over to the light switch, turning it off. Over their heads, a miniature galaxy of glow-in-the-dark stars glowed against a navy-painted ceiling.

“Oh, that’s nice,” he said, grinning at her as she came back and flopped down on the blanket beside him. “We really did a nice job with those stars.”

“We sure did,” she said, looking up and feeling a pleasant sense of peace wash over her. “It feels so good to accomplish something like this. It was fun, but there’s so much satisfaction in knowing that it’s all done.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a thought struck her. She glanced over at Isaiah, suddenly feeling sad.

“What’s going to happen now?” she asked softly.

“What do you mean?” he asked, turning toward her with a smile that disappeared as soon as he saw her serious expression.

“I mean,” she said slowly, “now that you’re all done with the school, what happens with us? Aren’t you going to go back home?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” he said, rolling onto his side so he could look into her eyes without turning his head. “And I’m thinking that I’d like to stay here in Blueberry Bay.”

“You would?” she asked, her heart beating faster.

“Not just because of our relationship,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel that kind of pressure. I really love this town, and I’ve got family here. But I would be lying if I told you that our relationship wasn’t a major part of why I want to stay. I really want to see where things go with us.”

She didn’t know what to say. Her heart was thumping in her chest, and she felt filled with a mixture of relief, peace, and excitement. The news that he was wanting to stay made her heart feel like it was doing cartwheels.

“Is that okay?” he asked softly, seeming to misinterpret her silence.

She beamed at him, making sure he could see on her face how truly excited she was.

“It’s more than okay. That makes me so happy, Isaiah. Really, truly happy. I want to see where our relationship goes too.”

For a moment, they smiled at each other, and then he moved his head toward hers. He kissed her, and a lightness like she’d never known before filled her heart.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Isaiah leaned against the side of the Little Clams’ gymnasium with his hands in his pockets and grinned. Around him was a huge crowd of parents and grandparents and kids, all taking part in the Kids’ Fest activities. Since he’d worked on the renovations for the school, he’d been invited to the event, and he’d been having the time of his life getting to see how excited the kids were for all of the new additions to their school.

He’d wandered the halls for a while, visiting all of the remodeled classrooms and enjoying seeing the kids’ reactions. He’d also spent some time out by the new playground, and all of his pals had come running up to tell him how much they loved it. His heart felt full—not just with the satisfaction of a job well done, but with the happiness that came from helping other people.

Eventually he’d found himself in the gym, which was where most of the activities and presentations were being held. There were arts and crafts tables in one corner, games in another—and at that moment a bunch of kids in costumes were lining up for a costume contest. He noticed Pearl Lewis wearing an incredible butterfly costume and he waved at her.

The whole school was buzzing with noise and energy, and it made him feel great, knowing that he’d been a part of making it all possible. He knew that everyone wasn’t just excited about Kids’ Fest, they were also excited about the renovations—the little school had been transformed into a better place thanks to all the work that he and Olivia and Gwen had put into it.

He noticed Corey Easton and his kids, Max and Haley, standing by the arts and crafts tables and he grinned and made his way over to them.

“Hey, guys,” he said, giving Max and Haley each a high-five. He and Corey exchanged a friendly smile. “How are you all liking Kids’ Fest so far?”

“It’s awesome,” Max said, putting his hands in his pockets as if he wanted to imitate Isaiah.

“I’ve been making all kinds of art projects,” Haley said, her eyes shining.

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