Page 179 of Distant Shores
I shoved my glasses back on and frowned down at her. There was no way she was serious. Not right now.
Her expression was open and warm as she shrugged. “One day you’ll see it.”
I shook my head, dropping my gaze from hers.
Not right now.
Not after that.
I gripped the back of my neck, squeezing hard.
Ireland kept walking, and I followed her, my mind spinning.
“If you hadn’t been there, I’m not sure what I would’ve done,” I said quietly.
It led to a lot of what-ifs. What if Pops had masked his symptoms from us even more instead of reaching out to Jillie? What if I’d failed him then, like I’d done just now?
Ireland’s expressive eyes swam with understanding when I finally came out of my head and looked up.
I’d never understand how anyone thought she was cold.
She didn’t say anything, but the tiniest furrow between her eyebrows turned her expression from thoughtful to calculating.
“What is it?”
Her gaze roamed down my face, to my chest, and over my arms. I felt every inch of it, but this time, I had to fight the urge to shrink. To cave in on myself until I felt worthy of being looked at.
“I didn’t dance for months after we came here to Live Oak,” she said matter-of-factly. “Outside of demonstrating in classes.”
“You dance almost every day now,” I said, surprised by that.
She lifted an eyebrow at me. “Keeping tabs?”
“Yes.” No use denying it.
She drifted toward a patch of blooming flowers that were tall enough to reach my chest.
“Why was that?” I asked, wheeling to her side.
She took a few photos of some hydrangeas with her phone, though I couldn’t confidently say their exact color. I didn’t really think about my colorblindness often, especially with how mild my type was compared to others. But right now… it felt like a loss to not see the flowers how she did.
“Because I didn’t want to risk thinking too much,” she said, pocketing her phone and stroking her finger along a leaf. “About what I left behind. The mistakes I made. The ones I might still make.”
A gentle breeze blew Ireland’s hair away from her face, and I let out a disbelieving laugh.
She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
I shook my head. “You just read my mind, is all.”
Cole had been right. Irelandwasscary, but not for the reasons he thought. It was those indigo blue eyes that saw right through you. That mouth that frowned often but told the truth, even when it was hard.
Her heart that felt deeply for others, that ached so easily that she did her best to hide it from harm.
She picked up a torn hydrangea petal from the ground and rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger, then frowned at her hand. “Cole said you used to work out together almost every day.”
“Cole says a lot of things.”
She huffed. “True.”
