Page 31 of Stepping Into Tomorrow

This dinner was sure going to be interesting.

15

ISABELLA

No. This isn’t happening. I am trapped in a nightmare. I’m going to wake any second and this will all be a very bad dream. Isabella squeezed her eyes closed before opening them again. Nope. Nash was still sitting across from her, glowering at her. Her heart raced, and her skin flushed. Why is it so damn hot in here?

“Are you alright, dear?” Renita Emerson—or Mama E, as she’d asked them to call her—asked, her eyes crinkling in concern.

All eyes turned towards Isabella.

“I’m fine. Just a little hot.”

Nova poured her some more iced herbal tea. It was a tad sweeter than Isabella was used to, but it was delicious.

“Thank you.”

James Emerson, the patriarch of the family, nodded to his wife. “Why don’t you start, dear? The food’s getting cold.”

“Of course.” Renita grabbed the dish closest to her, pushing her long brown, purple-tipped locs over her shoulder before scooping food on her plate and passing it around the table.

“So, how do you two know each other?” Nash asked, passing a basket of rolls towards Ricky, who’d been cracking jokes since she’d arrived. He was the same age as Roman and adopted much like Nova.

“Oh! Bella and I went to school together. I was a freshman when she was a senior and she saved me that year from the resident bi—I mean, bullies,” Nova corrected, her gaze roaming over the kids before she continued. “We ran into each other at Turner and Maddy’s wedding and then reconnected once she moved back. She and Eli are my new roomies.”

“At least until I find a house. It’s just temporary,” Isabella said.

“You in the market?” Roman asked, scooping some food onto his daughter’s plate. He was handsome and clearly related to Nash. But where Nash was big and bulky, Roman was lean and trimmed, and shorter than his giant of a brother.

“Yes. I mean, I will be soon.”

“What brought you back to Shattered Cove?” Nash asked.

“She wanted us to be closer to my abuela and abuelo after my dad died,” Eli supplied, reaching for a second dinner roll.

Everyone quieted at the table. Ariel’s hands moved into intricate patterns, using sign language to communicate. She’d seemed so shy when they’d met her earlier. Eli had signed the few things Nova had shown him and then told her all about the different types of boats he was considering buying someday.

Roman cleared his throat, turning to Eli. When he spoke, his voice was thick. “Ariel wants you to know her mom passed on too. She said, maybe your dad and her mom are in the same place, watching over the two of you.”

Eli turned to Ariel, a small smile tilting his lips. “That would be nice. But there is no proof that an afterlife exists. Although there is some research that’s been done on reincarnation—”

“Eli, I think that’s a topic for another time.” Hopefully, Roman didn’t hate her for her son’s bluntness.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Renita added her sympathies.

“Thank you.”

“Well, you have a little brother or sister to look forward to as well, don’t you?” Nova asked Eli, obviously trying to change the subject to something more upbeat.

If only she knew how much worse bringing up her pregnancy was.

Isabella didn’t dare look at Nash. The macaroni and cheese she swallowed sunk in her belly like a rock. Her skin burned with awareness of Nash’s glare.

“Oh? You’re expecting?” Renita asked.

Isabella nodded, forcing a polite smile.

“I’m sure things are difficult right now, but you’ll be so grateful to have another piece of your husband to remember him by,” Renita comforted.

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