Page 87 of Crazy Spooky Love
Isaac nods. “So do I.” He draws closer to his family. “Don’t cry, Jojo. You have your great-grandma’s pretty blue eyes. I always hated to see her cry too.”
“I know I do,” Jojo says, digging a crumpled tissue out of her shorts pocket. “She used to tell me so.”
“Was she happy?” Isaac’s question is shot through with quiet fear for the only woman he ever loved.
I look toward Richard for an answer.
“I think she was,” he says slowly, concentrating. “She had her share of heartaches, of course. Losing you, and then Dad too. She bore more than her share of sadness, but my memories of her are all good. She was content in her older years I think, although she never remarried or had any other children after my father.” He breaks off and takes a moment. “She was a brilliant gran. She didn’t have other grandkids, so I was kind of her world after my dad died. She stayed close and I spent much of my time in and out of her house.”
Isaac absorbs the details, and I hope hearing that Priscilla lived a rich family life is salve for his bruised, battered heart.
“I want to say sorry,” Isaac says.
Jojo jumps in, fierce, and not for the first time today she remindsme of Marina. “You’ve nothing to apologize for. Leaving must have been the hardest thing you ever had to do, and the bravest.”
Isaac’s smile is tender. “Jojo, I fought my way through the war and being accused of murder yet, still, you’re right. Leaving Priscilla and the chance of a family of my own was the hardest thing I ever had to do.”
Richard stands and holds his hand out to me. “I wish I could shake your hand, Grandad. This is the closest I can think of.”
And that’s the moment when I decide to attempt something I’ve never done before. I’ve seen Gran do it, and my mother on rare occasions, but it’s always felt far too intimate for me. I turn to Isaac and swallow hard before I speak.
“Isaac, step into me.”
He frowns, but I shake my head fast. “I’m sure. Just do it. Trust me, it’s easier for you than it is for me.”
“Will you feel anything?” he asks.
“I don’t think so. I’ve never done it before. Isaac, I just want you to be able to shake hands with your grandson, okay?” Tears thicken my throat and I breathe out heavily, as if preparing to run a race. “Isaac, please. I want to do this for you.”
Isaac falters, and then finally he moves and steps right into me. Oh. My. God. This is beyond freaky. He looks like a solid, living, breathing man to me, yet he’s just walked into my soul and his body is meshed around mine. I can’t feel him, exactly; there is no sensation of weight or suffocation. But I can sense him, and it’s intense, a sensory overload that I can’t even begin to put into words. I’m me, Melody Bittersweet, but for those fleeting moments, I’m a conduit for Isaac Scarborough as well.
“Put your hand over mine, Isaac,” I whisper, and I watch in fascination as his arm moves out and covers mine. It’s a good job none of the others can see this, because we must look like something fromThe Exorcist.
And then I slide my hand into Richard’s and shake it, my eyes locked on his.
“It’s the greatest privilege of my life to meet you, son,” Isaac says,and I can feel him trembling. Tears fall unchecked down my cheeks, because it’s the greatest privilege of my life too, to be able to do this for them.
“The honor is all mine,” Richard replies, his voice grave and rich, and he holds my hand as carefully as if I were a ninety-year-old war veteran in full military uniform rather than a sugar-loving, robust girl in a Captain America T-shirt.
“Jojo,” I say, and nod for her to come across too. Richard lets go of my hand, and Jojo steps forward.
“I’m not much of a handshaker.” Her eyes shimmer with tears as she speaks. “Would it be all right if I hugged you instead?”
Isaac holds his arms out to her before she’s even finished speaking, and I lift mine to join his.
“Of course.”
We’re both shaking when she hugs me hard, and I watch in wonder as Isaac’s arms fold around Jojo’s shoulders alongside mine.
“This is the best thing that’s happened to me in over a hundred years,” he says. I whisper his words to Jojo, and I don’t know if it’s because his heart is directly over mine, but my voice…the words come out as his, not mine. I jolt in utter shock, and Jojo and Richard stare at me, incredulous.
I let go of Jojo and step to the side, and for a moment I feel like I might be sick. It’s almost as if the air around me is rushing to push all of the particles back into the right place at breakneck speed, and I gasp in a few lungs full of air to steady myself. Isaac is beside me again now, wide-eyed and as real to me as he’s always been.
“Did you hear that?” I croak, and he nods. “It was me. I felt it, I’m sure I did.”
Jojo looks me over as if she’s checking I’m all right. “You…that wasn’t you, was it?”
“I’ve never done that before,” I say, laying my hand over my chest. “I didn’t know that would happen.”
