Authentically izzy, p.21
Authentically, Izzy, page 21
“I want to be with you. That’s what I want.”
The declaration reverberated through her, shaking free a few tears. So simple. No games.
“You say that with such certainty.”
And then his lips twitched ever so slightly, a tiny glint resurfacing in those familiar eyes. “Ever since you realized I wasn’t your cousin, I’ve become more and more certain that I’d never meet anyone like you again . . . and I don’t want to. To my mind, you’re more than enough for me. Fairly perfect, actually.”
“But . . . but how can you be sure of that already? We’ve only known each other a few months and just met in person.” Even as she asked, her heart pinched against the doubt. Just looking into his face, realizing his care, well, maybe she knew the answer too.
“We’re not teenagers who are still trying to sort out what we want from a life partner.” He offered a gentle shrug, his grin peeking through just a little more. “Except for your current doubt, you’ve been everything I’ve wanted. How could I have known you’d not only be smart and kind and ridiculously creative, but also beautiful and funny and as much in love with stories as I am. Maybe even more so.”
His words pieced together like the ending of a romantic comedy. She did love him. He was real and authentic and simply wonderful in all the ways she didn’t know she wanted so badly. And the very idea of starting a day without knowing he thought about her somewhere in the world nearly brought her to tears . . . and she was already crying.
She didn’t know how everything would work out between them living on two separate continents, but at the moment she was certain of one thing. It was time to step into the heroine role. Seize the day. Claim her future and her Brodie. And take up her courage.
“I want to be with you too.” She sniffled, wiping at an errant tear. “I never imagined someone like you existed anywhere else but in a book, and then you showed up and I’ve had this fight-or-flight doubt that any of this was really happening. And if it was really happening, I’d envisioned all the ways I’d mess it up, because you’re so much better than any book.”
And then his smile flared wide as he breached the distance between them. “The highest of praise.”
“I mean it in a very nonfiction sort of way.”
“Aye, I believe you do.” Without another hesitation, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. As he closed the distance, her breath caught in anticipation, and then . . . his forehead hit the front of her hat.
Her eyes flew wide. Her shark hat! Had she hobbled down Main Street with a broken heel wearing a shark hat? Heat flooded her face and she opened her mouth to explain, but his knee-weakening grin stole her words.
Without so much as a glance around, Brodie nudged the shark-face, cloth teeth and all, up to perch higher on her head, and with a touch to her chin, he took her lips with his, regardless of the street, the passersby, or even a honking horn here and there.
Every doubt dissipated with his tenderness. Every fear dissolved with his gentle touch. This was what she’d been waiting for her whole life. And in one fluid motion, her foot, the heel-less one, tipped back and then popped up in instant synchrony with the perfection of this man and her heart.
Bring on tomorrow. She was ready for happily ever after.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: May 12
Subject: An unexpected-yet-expected journey
Luke and Penelope,
I just saw Brodie off at the airport and I’m sitting in my car crying like a baby. This is ridiculous. How can I miss someone I’ve just met? And his flight hasn’t even left yet! I’m losing my mind. He’s wonderful. Too wonderful. Ridiculously wonderful. And now he’s gone and I have to figure out what to do with that.
Plus, to add to the dilemma, he asked if I had any “holiday time” coming up in June. When I questioned why, he wondered if I’d be willing to fly to the Skymar Islands so I can MEET HIS FAMILY!!! (Yes, the capitalizations were necessary.) In fact, his exact words were, “I know it’s a great deal to ask, but if I help purchase your ticket, would you come to Skymar for a week or two . . . or, perhaps, forever?” Moments like this are when I wonder if I read too much fiction. Men don’t speak like that in real life, do they? I mean, isn’t that one of the reasons I read fiction?
Do you think Bilbo felt this way when Gandalf showed up at his door and bullied him into an adventure? I mean, Brodie isn’t bullying me, of course. He’s wonderful. But . . . well, I’ve never even been on a plane before. I don’t even know if I can. I mean, I CAN, but . . . can I? And a part of the population of Skymar don’t even speak English. And it’s an island! You all know how I feel about boats, and islands are kind of like land-boats.
But how can I NOT go? I’m bound to him through books and laughter and heart-stories and words I’ve never spoken to anyone. And though I’m not a particular fan of self-absorbed and prickly Edward Rochester, his quote to Jane Eyre about ribs and strings and bleeding inwardly has become painfully poignant at this very moment as I contemplate the thousands of miles between me and Brodie. So I must go! But how can I go?
Besides, I’ve always wanted to travel to some of the places I’ve read about. Always. And people survive flying every day, even if my parents didn’t.
Help!
Irrational Izzy
PS: I really am a grown-up. I promise. And I know exactly what I’m supposed to do. I just need to melt down first.
PPS: He’s real, right? You guys saw him too?
From: Penelope Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: May 12
Subject: Re: An unexpected-yet-expected journey
Izzy,
I really don’t understand your analogy at all. Bilbo is still alive?!? I thought that cat died years ago.
Oh my goodness, Izzy! But what a quote! “Or perhaps forever”???!!! He already wants to marry you! Of course he does. I adore Brodie. He complimented me on my freckles. Any man who can appreciate freckles is worth talking to, you know? And I’m so glad Josephine didn’t scare him away when she started lecturing him on the value of country life. I’d never seen her wield a spatula like that before. I’ve heard that pregnant women can be unpredictable, so just imagine how a pregnant woman with twins could be! It’s a good thing Brodie has fantastic reflexes. Another attribute to add to your list for him. And you didn’t just meet him. You’ve known him since February. I think that meeting him in person only secured your feelings—kind of like smelling the cookie before taking a bite.
As far as traveling? You must go! Then you can tell me all about it so I can prepare for my study abroad next semester. Plus it’s the perfect opportunity for you to show him you care as much as he does. Though I think he cares more for you than you do him, but I’m fine if you want to prove me wrong.
Penelope
PS: From all I remember (and have heard) about your parents, Izzy, I think they would want you to travel because they loved traveling. Seems to be a great way to celebrate something they loved, kind of like you’re taking them with you.
PPS: I refuse to debate you on the virtues of Edward Rochester. Suffice it to say, you are wrong. He may be misunderstood, but he’s incredibly romantic and brooding and a little dangerous. Though he doesn’t seem the sort to wear sweater-vests.
PPPS: Is there a Jane Eyre musical? I bet Rochester would be a bass.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Penelope Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: May 12
Subject: Re: An unexpected-yet-expected journey
Penelope,
Clearly you have not watched the movies I sent to you. Please do so immediately. We cannot keep having these discussions if you have no idea who Bilbo, Gandalf, Samwise, Frodo, Aragorn, or any other Lord of the Rings characters are. We just can’t.
Secondly, Brodie is adorable, and I am hopeful that by the end of the cookout, Josephine had warmed up to him. She stopped calling him Bradley, so that’s definitely a move in the right direction. Patrick took the spatula away after the first two swipes in Brodie’s direction, so I think that helped too. And . . . “smelling the cookie before taking a bite”??? I don’t think I have a response for that.
Thirdly, traveling to Skymar is definitely a way to show Brodie I care about him. If only I can keep from hyperventilating on the plane to such an extent it drops cabin pressure to an all-time low and causes the plane to have to turn around in midflight . . . or crash. Of course, I would die with the memory of Brodie’s kiss so that’s not all bad.
Izzy
PS: You are right about my parents. I’ve never thought of it that way before.
PPS: I refuse to comment about your mild obsession with Rascally Rochester except to say HE WAS ALREADY MARRIED.
PPPS: And he was almost perpetually grumpy. Do you really want a man like that?
Text from Luke to Izzy: I can’t believe I’m typing this, but Penelope does have a point about your parents. They would love seeing you fly. (As usual, the rest is nonsense.)
Luke: How much do you care about Brodie? Answer that, and you’ll have what you need.
Izzy: Enough to take sedatives to fly to Skymar.
Luke: Call cousin Clark. With a pharmacy degree at his disposal, I’m sure he can fix you up the perfect courage cocktail. In the meantime here is a sentimental quote from Lao Tzu that is poignantly true and therefore I am forced beyond my usual texting repartee to share it with you. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you the strength. Loving deeply gives you the courage.” Be brave, Izzy.
Izzy: Thanks, Luke.
Luke: I’m still trying to decide if I’m glad or not that I actually know who Edward Rochester is.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Penelope Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: May 13
Subject: Re: An unexpected-yet-expected journey
Luke and Penelope,
I just sent Brodie an email after speaking to Aunt Louisa about time off. I’ve told him I’ll come the third week of June as he’d suggested because it’s some big festival they have in Skymar during that week, and he thought I’d enjoy seeing the culture.
I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I don’t know how we’re going to make this relationship work, but I do know that he’s worth every fear and insecurity I have, because when I’m with him, somehow I feel like I’m a better version of me. There’s something incredibly special about that kind of . . . love? Dare I even think it?
So I am going. And I am hoping. And whether all this turns out to be the perfect romance or not, somehow I know my heart needs to take this chance . . . to believe in my choices again. Brodie is worth it and so am I.
Izzy
PS: Luke, thank you for being brave enough to step into the world of repartee. Loving someone does give us courage. Sedatives may help a little too.
Part 3
Of Bookshops, Manor Houses & Being Brave
Chapter 17
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Josephine Martin, Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: June 21
Subject: Survived with everything but my pride
I’ve just landed and wanted to send you a quick email—while I have Wi-Fi access—to let you know that I survived the flight. I wasn’t quite sure how my body (or my mind) would handle seven hours on a plane just to get to Dublin and then another two hours to Skymar International Airport, but I slept most of the way and only woke myself up once with my own snore. Now whether that’s a testament to my lack of snoring or the potency of my cocktail, I can’t say, but a few glares from my seatmate makes me wonder. (She had no right for glares . . . See my note below.)
Josephine, though I appreciate your intentions, drinking copious amounts of water while on a flight is not a good idea, despite the benefits of hydration. NO ONE wants to try to avoid doing the pee-pee dance while hundreds of people watch you wait for that teeny-tiny bathroom door to open . . . and then a sudden bout of turbulence hits. Can I just say I don’t think I’ve prayed that hard since Penelope got her head stuck in that pipe under Grandpa Edgewood’s house because she was pretending to be a rabbit. I had no idea firefighters answered calls like that. As a mom who has twins dancing on her bladder on a regular basis, I thought you might be a little more aware about these sorts of things.
Otherwise, besides my seatmate snoring like Luke’s dog when I was actually coherent, the flight offered a beautiful view. I suppose there will be lots of views I’ve never seen before, since I’ve never traveled outside of the United States, but this flight, at night? Wow! The moon glowed down on the tops of the clouds like some magical world. I envisioned a dozen stories before sunrise. It was a great way to pass the time and I could pretend my seatmate was the disgruntled dragon in my make-believe story, until the cocktail took over and I lost consciousness for a while.
Unfortunately, as I wait to disembark my nerves have ramped back up to irrational.
Luke and Penelope, just so you know, if I die in some foreign country and Brodie’s family turn out to be some mafia-like group that use their bookstores as a front, it was all because you forced me to go. Okay, forced might be a really strong description, but saying things like, “If you don’t, you’ll always wonder. You don’t deserve that and neither does the man you choose.” I think Penelope even hinted to me being a coward.
What’s a girl supposed to do about something like that? My future at stake? My courage? How can a woman who is trying to be a heroine turn away from such a challenge? Well, I can assure you, if flying across an ocean with the threat of losing my “water” in front of a hundred strangers doesn’t increase one’s courage, I’m not sure what will! And as I wait to disembark, my courage is sufficiently stretched, despite the mafia possibilities.
Because (thank you, Luke) only my ENTIRE FUTURE hangs in the balance! No stress there!
Well, here I am. And so I will be brave and move forward into the great unknown of Brodie’s family and Skymar—a country where a significant portion of the population do not speak English, so hopefully I’ll never get lost on my own or else I may be putting those expert skills into practice I learned in playing Pictionary with you guys. (As I recall, I usually won, if I didn’t have to draw animals . . . in which case we all know how that turned out. Yes, I do know that cows and monkeys look very different from one another.)
I kept reminding myself how Brodie and dreams were worth all of this and my parents would be smiling down from heaven. That helped. Especially when my thoughts turned to certain heartwarming memories of the lip-on-lip variety.
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to send another email, but if you don’t hear from me in a few days, just assume I’ve suffered the fate of Stevenson’s David Balfour: been struck senseless, kidnapped, and am drifting on the high seas somewhere. (Is the guilt trip working?) Okay, okay, it’s just my nerves, but the flight attendant has announced that it’s time to disembark so . . . here I go.
I love you all.
Heroically,
Izzy
PS: I can’t help but think of one of my favorite quotes at this moment: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
PPS: Let’s hope the “sweeping” isn’t by pirates.
* * *
Izzy hadn’t been certain what it would feel like to see Brodie again. After all, it had only been a little over a month since he left Mt. Airy, but they’d continued their video chats and emails, except with a renewed sprinkle of something rather fairy tale-ish, if she thought about it. I suppose if you add some amazing kisses to any online conversation, the interactions shift into a new area, and boy oh boy, throwing a rockin’ smooch—or dozens—into a budding relationship tipped the temperature into the cozy-sweater range of perfect.
She tugged her backpack onto her shoulder and followed the other passengers through the small airport, grin growing as she read passing signs, most bilingual. Of course she had no idea what the word Karre meant, but it looked lovely in written form—though Brodie speaking it was even lovelier. She’d attempted to google it, but even those answers gave vague definitions like “term of endearment” and “tender affection.” Both of which were nice but ambiguous.
Overhearing his conversations with his mother on the phone when he visited nearly had her swooning from kneecaps to nose. He’d switch back and forth between Caedric and English without a glitch.
She straightened her spine and scanned the waiting area ahead.
Surviving the flight had definitely proven a great start to her very first international adventure. And after making it through customs without any major disasters (she didn’t count the fact of having to ask the airline attendant to repeat herself for every sentence), she’d had time to tame her hair, change her coffee-stained T-shirt, and apply concealer to the moon craters beneath her eyes. All good. Even if jitters the size of drop-scare rides kept swooping inside her stomach, she’d arrived in Skymar . . . on the other side of the world. And Brodie would be here.
Hopefully.
She closed her mind to any more unrealistic imaginings that overreading tended to conjure up during high-stress, life-changing moments.
The crowd dispersed up ahead as various travelers found their waiting people and Izzy slowed her pace, attempting to keep her expression as placid as possible. “Terrified” probably wasn’t the best first impression to make on someone’s mind after not seeing him for a month. Though the fact that one of their last moments ended in her nursing a bleeding ankle while hopping along Main Street shoeless and wearing a shark hat had to help desensitize him to possible future scenes with her.
And then, among the strangers, a familiar pair of eyes met hers. Brodie’s grin slipped from one corner to tip the other, and suddenly the flight, crime families, snoring dragons, and coffee stains didn’t matter. She’d found him. Her whole body relaxed as tension slipped away with a sigh.
