Page 41 of Stepping Into Tomorrow

Isabella nodded. “I never intended this to blow up like it did.”

“Welcome to the Emerson family, where everything turns into drama and nothing goes according to plan. Sometimes I wonder if we’re cursed.” Nova laughed again, but this time it sounded hollow. She handed Isabella her keys. “Here. You take my truck and get Eli out of here. I’ll get a ride back with Roman or Mom.”

Isabella accepted them. “Thank you, Nova.” She hugged her. “You’ve been a real friend.”

“That’s what Auntie Nova is here for.” She winked.

Isabella gave her one last wave before she headed towards her parents’ picnic blanket. Eli had his head bowed, looking down at his iPad. Her mother was nowhere to be seen, but her father relaxed next to her son on the blue blanket under the tree.

“Hey, sweetie, can you come with me?” she asked Eli, getting his attention by touching his shoulder gently.

He moved his shoulder out of her reach. “I need to finish this video.”

“Everything okay, mija?” Papi asked.

“It will be.” She forced a smile and peeked over Eli’s shoulder to check the time remaining. Twenty minutes. If she wanted to avoid a meltdown, she needed to be creative.

“Eli, there is something important I need to talk to you about. I’d like you to put the tablet away.”

“It’s my screen time. Every day, I get my tablet between two and three. It’s only two thirty-five. I have twenty-five minutes left,” Eli answered in his usual monotone voice.

A few women looked her way over by a food cart before leaning in together and whispering. The downside to small towns was everyone knew everyone else’s business. She crouched beside him. “I’ll make you a deal. If you come with me now, you’ll get thirty extra minutes later today. Deal?”

Eli was silent for a few moments. She was about to give up hope when he tapped the screen to pause the boat tutorial. “Deal.”

“Grab your bag and come on.”

Eli listened, sliding his backpack over both shoulders before saying goodbye to his abuelo and walking beside Isabella. “Where are we going?”

“To one of my favorite places.” She led the way to the truck and climbed in, waiting for him to buckle in before driving through town towards the beach.

She rolled down the windows, letting the warm summer breeze blow over her. She maneuvered through the streets, heading towards a long stretch of highway before pulling off a side road that led to Shattered Cove Beach to the entrance that usually only locals could find. She parked and got out, Eli not too far behind.

She ran her fingers through his blond curls. He shrugged her off. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Let’s sit over there on that driftwood.” She pointed. She didn’t bother telling Eli to take off his shoes. He hated the feel of sand.

He perched on the side, facing the ocean, eyes roaming the waves.

“Can you give me eye contact?” she asked. “I have something really important to tell you.”

Eli turned to face her, his eyes going just above hers. If she hadn’t known what to look for, she wouldn’t have realized he was actually staring at her forehead. Eye contact was difficult for her son, but he’d made such amazing strides from where he started.

“Thank you. I wanted to talk to you. I want you to hear the truth about the baby in my belly’s father.”

“Okay. But it’s not in your belly; it’s in your uterus. Inside that is a placenta.”

She took a shaky breath and let it out. “Right. Sometimes people say belly or stomach to make it sound more appealing I guess.”

“But if the baby was in your stomach it wouldn’t survive. You have stomach acid and—”

“I know, honey. Never mind that.” She needed to steer this back to the topic at hand. “I wanted you to hear from me that the father is Nash. You may hear people say things about it in town or at the marina. But this changes nothing for you and me. Okay? Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

“Are you and Nash getting married?” Eli asked.

Isabella blinked and shook her head. “No. Nash and I are just . . . friends.” Not even that.

“You had sex with a friend?”

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