Page 82 of Connected By Souls

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Stirring the pancake mix,I add the fresh blueberries while Noah takes the bacon out of the oven. Skye and Cole just arrived and are making mimosas for everyone.

“I can’t believe you live here, Noah. This house is absolutely gorgeous,” Skye says, looking out the window at the view. Cole nods his head in agreement.

“I know, right? I fell in love with this house the day I moved in, not knowing who lived here,” I tell her.

“Thank you, guys. I really put my heart and soul into this place. I got lucky when this property came up, and I loved that it was a fixer-upper. I got even more lucky when my new neighbor moved in.” Noah says, grinning at me.

“Talk about fate bringing you guys together. This should be your next book, Noah,” Skye says, sipping her drink. Besides his mom and Mimi figuring it out and telling Mav and Bella, we haven’t told anyone else about Noah’s dreams and our connection. It was just something special that we decided to keep between us.

“That’s not a bad idea. The love scenes would be a hit.” He winks at me.

“Don’t you dare.” My face gets warm as I remember what happened in the shower an hour ago.

“Don’t worry, babe, I’ll change the names,” he laughs.

“And how will that help with your family and our friends and neighbors? Hell, the whole town would still know.”

“True, I agree, but it would put all the other love stories to shame.” He goes quiet at the mention of the L word. It’s been this unspoken force around us lately, just lingering around, waiting for the right moment to be spoken. He gauges my reaction.

“Yes, it definitely would,” my voice goes soft as I smile at him. Returning my smile, my heart skips a beat as we hold each other’s gaze.

“Ahem,” I hear Cole clear his throat as he tries to bring us back to the room with them. “You guys need a minute, or can we eat now? I’m starving.”

Skye smacks his arm, “Can’t you see they were having a moment? Way to ruin it,” she says, rolling her eyes.

“What? I don’t want the food getting cold,” he says, rubbing his arm.

“We do need to eat. We’ve got a game to get to, and I’ve got some butt to kick,” Noah says, grinning at Cole.

“In your dreams.” He grabs a plate and loads up on pancakes. Laughing, Noah loads his plate and joins him.

After breakfast, Skye and I drop the boys off at the golf course on the way into town so they can Uber home. Eighteen holes of golf make for a long day of drinking as well. I need to get the ingredients for our Thanksgiving desserts, so we make a quick stop at the grocery store on our way back to Noah’s. I volunteered to make a couple of my mom’s apple pies. I was excited to learn they were Noah’s favorites.

We spend the morning making pies and telling stories about how we would always help my mom in the kitchen the day before Thanksgiving. We loved to help her roll out the dough, and it usually ended in having more flour on us than on the counter. She always made an extra pie for Skye to take home and gave us a slice warm from the oven with some vanilla ice cream melting on top as a treat for helping her. Smiling and feeling her with me, I take the warm pies out of the oven and set them on a rack to cool. I’m so glad I kept her pie dishes and the apron I’m wearing.

“You ready to hit the beach while these cool?” I ask, taking off my mom’s apron and setting it on the counter.

“Absolutely,” Skye says, grinning. “I’ll go change into my swimsuit I brought.”

She grabs her bag and heads into the bathroom. I quickly change into mine before preparing a small cooler for us.

“I threw in some fruit, cheese, crackers, and a bottle of white for us,” I tell Skye. She comes in wearing a tiny blue bikini with her blond hair in waves just above her shoulders. Her blue eyes stand out with her bikini. She looks amazing. Skye and Cole were nicknamed Barbie and Ken during the last two years of high school when they started dating for a good reason. Cole is taller at 6’1 compared to Skye’s 5’4 frame, but they both are blond and beautiful.

“You look gorgeous, Skye. I love the new suit.”

“Thanks! I just got it and can’t wait to show Cole later. I agree with him too. Florida looks great on you, Em. That yellow bikini looks amazing against your tan, and all that yoga is definitely paying off with that sexy body of yours.”

“I’ve kind of become obsessed with it lately,” I laugh. “I go three times a week now and Saturday mornings when I can. I’ve taken up running with Noah on the beach too. I was never a big runner, but early morning runs on the beach are the best. Maybe it’s just the company, but I’ve grown to love it. I’m thinking of getting yoga certified and possibly teaching a class once a week at Sage’s studio,” I admit as we start walking down the stairs to the beach.

“Really! That’s wonderful, Emma. You would be great at teaching your own class,” Skye says excitedly.

“Yoga has been such a huge part of my healing that I really want to be involved with sharing it with others.”

“I think that’s a great idea. I wish we lived closer so we could do this more often,” she sighs. She sits down on the beach chairs we got from under the deck.

“They have teacher and firefighters here, too, you know,” hinting at the idea. “Sophia works as a teacher and could help you out with recommendations, and Noah’s friend is a firefighter who could help Cole. It’s perfect!” I get excited about the idea.

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