Page 124 of Authentically, Izzy
Chapter24
“Wow,” was Penelope’s only response as she sat across from Izzy in the waiting room of the hospital.
Luke only stared, dark brows high and arms folded across his chest.
“Yeah.” Izzy sighed and leaned back into the waiting-room chair, rubbing her tired eyes. She’d spent the past fifteen minutes apprising her cousins of her horrible last scene at the Sutherlands’ before heading to the airport. The flight home had been miserable. She’d practically curled up in the fetal position in her seat and wept until she’d fallen asleep. When she’d finally arrived home, it was too late to visit Josephine, so here she sat, first thing in the morning in the waiting room with her cousins, trying to hold herself together to see those twins and the new parents.
“Just... wow,” Penelope repeated, tugging at a strand of her strawberry-blonde hair, her bottom lip puckering into a pout.
“Places really offer money to have people move to their country?” This from Luke, who’d remained quieter than usual during the entire recap, while Penelope gasped, sighed, and commented on random aspects of the story such as,“Oh, what a sweet thing for Brodie to say.”
Which didn’t help Izzy’s much-needed feelings of self-justification.
“I’ve been researching it during layovers. The government is trying to find an incentive to increase the population since younger people seem to be moving away from Skymar for more corporate jobs in bigger cities.”
“So the incentive is for a good reason,” Penelope stated, and somehow the sentence made Izzy feel even worse. Everything seemed wrong. Off. Broken. Izzy’s tired eyes fluttered closed.
“Not good enough to use an innocent person to gain it, unknowingly.”
Luke’s statement sank through her,resurrecting a little of her ire. But not enough. She felt sick.
Silence fell upon the conversation again. Izzy pressed her palm into her stomach. She wanted to go home, curl up with Samwise in her bed, and cry for another hour... or twenty.
“So you just left the house without telling anyone?”
She opened her eyes at Luke’s question. “I left a note and got a taxi to the airport.”
“Well, if you feel that Brodie is the sort of guy who would do something like this, then I think you’re completely right in the way you responded.” Penelope leaned forward, her hazel eyes rounded, sad. “He just seemed so nice and real. I mean he did have a book war with Eli over you, and he fought for your ideas with his family.”
Izzy groaned and sent a glance to Luke, but he didn’t say anything, just sat there like a frowning, bearded gnome, giving her no indication about what was going on inside his head. Maybe she didn’t want to know.
“And he wore Yoda ears and made horrible puns,” Penelope added. “That isn’t the usual way people try to trick women into romance.”
“Hey, guys.”
They all looked up to find Patrick standing nearby, his hands in his pockets, and though his dusty-blond hair stood in all directions, his broad smile stretched wide. He looked a whole lot better than Izzy did after not having slept in the last twenty-four hours. “Come meet the kids.”
The trio followed Patrick down the hallway and entered a room bright with morning light and dozens of flowers, no doubt due to Patrick’s ready indulgence of his wife. On the bed sat Josephine, her dark hair perfectly arranged, her makeup almost hiding the purple smudges under her eyes, and a little bundle in each arm. One blue. One pink.
“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” Penelope ran forward, her smile so big Izzy wondered if it would outsize her face. “Oh, oh, may I?”
Josephine offered a tired smile and nodded toward the bundle nearest Penelope. Blue. “Meet Noah Riley Martin.”
Penelope brought the wiggling bundle into her arms. “Look, he’s so round.” She rushed over to Luke. “And he has Josephine’s dark hair too.”
The cherub face scrunched and he puckered his lips, before releasing a massive yawn that had everyone in the room... well, every woman in the room... oohing over him.
“And here is Ember Greer Martin.” Patrick took the pink bundle and placed it into Izzy’s open arms.
Luke edged close, peering over her shoulder, his lips gentled into a smile.
“You’re an uncle,” Izzy whispered, as the round blue eyes looked from Izzy to Luke.
“Yeah,” he murmured, touching Ember’s little hand until the tiny fingers wrapped around his large one. “I am.”
No one else was close enough to hear it, but Luke’s rasped reply crumbled with emotion. Izzy looked over at him and smiled. “Want to hold her?”
His eyes widened and he stepped back, rubbing his palms against his jeans. That was a yes, maybe.
