Life with Isabel
Soft sunbeams filter throughout the blinds, covering us in warm golden light. Isabel begins to stir in my arms. She constantly rubs her cheek across my chest, causing my heart to beat heavily. Her dark eyelashes flutter under my chin and tickle me there. I have to bite my bottom lip hard to stifle my laughter as I smile into her nest of black silkily hair.
My arm tightens around her and I give her forehead a kiss. “Morning, baby.”
She kisses my throat then whispers, “Morning.”
“You want breakfast?”
Isabel snuggles more into me. “Mm.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
She throws her arms around me and squeezes. “Hunter Knight.”
“Isabel gets what she wants. Always.”
“Just hold me. Please.”
I envelop my arms around her and hold her so close to me it’s a miracle we aren’t fused into one.
We lie in bed tangled with sheets and each other, bathed in heavenly sunlight. I stroke her back, drawing shapes on her exposed skin with my fingertips. She presses her face in my throat. I wonder what she’s thinking.
“I love my Isabel,” I whisper in her ear.
“I love my Hunter,” she says though a lazy smile.
We settle into each other and gradually fall into sleep as if we never woke at all.
***
The sky is dark and streaked with thick blue velvet clouds when we finally leave bed to eat Lucky Charms down by the stream. After watching ropes of silver water pass over smooth rocks, I look at Isabel as she takes spoonfuls of her marshmallows and gazes at the glittering stars. She seems at ease with me. We’re surrounded by glowing flyer flies in the last August night. It’s peaceful, and I hope it never changes between us once our bubble of safety pops. There are more people against us than for us. I hope to God Isabel knows how much I love her, because only love can cure and heal our relationship.
She fidgets with the digital camera around her neck.
I set my bowl down and flick her camera. “What’s this?”
“Pictures.”
“Pictures of what?”
Isabel scoops up another spoonful of marshmallows before answering, “Of the places I visited. I want you to see.” She removes the camera from around her neck and presses a button to power it on. Vivid shots of Caribbean blue seas with colorful coral and tropical fish fills the screen. The second shot is Isabel standing in front of the ancient pyramids. The next one is Isabel dressed in bulky winter gear surrounded by snowy mountains. There are also shots of the lavish hotels and resorts she stayed at. The last shot is Isabel dressed from head to toe in kaki like she’s ready for an African safari ride. She’s smiling down at a lion cub she swaddles in her arms in this shot.
“Did you have fun?” I ask from a constricted throat. She could have been enjoying herself along. But I took that from her when I held her captive.
She nods and leans her head against my shoulder as I flip through the pictures again. “I traveled the world, Hunter. There’s still so much more to see.”
“Isabel, do you truly forgive me?” I ask, abruptly changing the topic. My mind is racing with thoughts that make our happily after seem nothing more than a childish fairy tale, a fleeting chance of happiness that I want to hold onto forever. “I need to know.”
She gazes into my eyes for long moment that has my breath coiled low in my stomach. “I know who you are, Hunter. I’ve known who you were most of my life. I accept who you are. So when you ask me if I forgive you, the answer is yes. I forgive you. I’ll take the worst Hunter if that’s all you have to offer. We’ve fought so hard for this, for you and me. And I don’t want anything to ruin our future together. Whatever future that may be. I don’t care what kind of future I have as long as it’s with you.”
I run my hand up and down her spine. “I promise to give you nothing but the best of me, Isabel.”
We sincerely smile at one another, but I sense something in the wind.
It smells like tragedy.