His Other Life

Chapter 26

TWENTY-SIX

ISLA

Present day

Sunday was their last day in Bend, so they made the most of it, splitting up four ways to talk to anyone and everyone they encountered in town. Unfortunately, Isla’s fears were confirmed and not a single person could say with certainty that they remembered either Isla or Jonah, or someone named Gemma for that matter. Halfway through the afternoon, Isla had started including her in her line of questions out of sheer desperation.

“Now will you do the palm reading?” Louise asked when they met up by the car with all avenues exhausted. “It can’t hurt.”

Isla looked toward the crystal shop. “I don’t know. What could she possibly tell me about Jonah from the lines in my hand?”

“It’s not about that. It’s about perspective and new ways of seeing things.”

Isla hedged. On the one hand, Nana had told her to look around, and Isla supposed that could be interpreted as not closing down any lines of inquiry, no matter how farfetched. On the other, she couldn’t say she believed that her palms hid any deep truths about her other than how much manual labor she might have done and the quality of her moisturizer.

“Please.” Louise pulled at Isla’s arm. “I’ve always wanted to see a reading, and remember—she said it was free.”

Isla caved. “Fine. For you. Because I’m grateful you’re here, okay?”

Louise clapped her hands together. “Yay.”

“I think I’ll sit this one out,” Rowan said. “Mav and I will be across the street when you’re ready.”

“What are you on about?” Mav asked. “I want to see the palm reading.”

The two men stared at each other, then Rowan put his palms forward. “Okay then. I will be across the street. You guys enjoy.”

“Such a skeptic that one,” Mav said as they entered the shop.

It was warm inside, the air infused with the herbal smoke of burning incense.

The woman at the counter lit up when she saw them. “I knew you’d be back,” she said. “Any luck with your search?”

“Not really,” Isla responded.

“Will you still do a reading for her?” Louise asked. “Like you offered yesterday?”

“Of course.” The woman pulled her sleeves up and with them several charm bracelets. “And who is this?” She faced Mav. “You, sir, have an unusually vivid aura, if you don’t mind my saying so.”

Mav’s eyes widened with amusement. He extended a hand, and the woman took it. “Maverick Zuft at your service.”

“Very interesting,” she said. “Is that an Unalome on your cheek?”

“Good eye. It certainly is.”

She flipped his hand over and let a finger trail his palm briefly before she released him. “Like I thought,” she said. Then she turned to Isla. “Right through here, my dear. We’ll go in the back. Your friends can come too.”

They trailed her into a kitchenette where a small round table sat centered on a hand-woven rug.

“You two can sit over there.” She pointed to a bench along the wall and waited until Mav and Louise were settled. “Now.” She waved Isla forward. “That chair is for you. Get comfortable. I’m going to light the candles.”

“Do they help with the reading?” Louise asked.

“No, they just smell good,” the palm reader said. “Let’s get started.”

There was something about the space that removed whatever qualms Isla had felt walking in, and to her surprise, she didn’t hesitate before presenting her hands to the woman.

“I take it it’s your first time?” the woman asked. Her grip was steady and warm.

Isla glanced at Louise then back. “Yes.”

“And you wouldn’t have except your sister made you.”

Isla startled. “My sister?”

The woman looked up from Isla’s hands. “Not sisters?” she asked, toward where Louise and Mav sat. “Huh… But there is a bond there. Good friends then. You’re lucky.” She returned her attention to Isla, tracing one of the lines in her palm. “Makes sense. You have strong lines of influence. People who care about you very much and whose advice you trust.”

Clearly, Isla thought. Two of them were in the room right now.

The woman extended Isla’s fingers. “Long fingers suggest you approach life with careful thought, and this here—the mount of Venus—indicates a love for beauty and the arts. Do you paint perhaps?”

“I’m an art history professor.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

Isla fought the urge to roll her eyes. So far this wasn’t exactly blowing her away.

“But you haven’t worked in a while,” the woman said, and Isla’s thought was cut short. “See here. Your fate line.” She pointed. “See where it fades and almost disappears. A loss of purpose, floundering. When there’s a small breach with one line ending and another taking over, I usually see a career change or a move, but this is different to me. The good news is it picks up right here.” She touched a pink nail to the middle of Isla’s palm. “And then it gets stronger again. You’ll find your way back to your path.”

Isla met Louise’s gaze and mimed, “Did you tell her that?” Maybe Louise had let Isla’s situation slip the day before when they were canvassing.

Louise shook her head.

“Your life line is also broken in several places,” the woman continued. “That can mean a rich life, full of experiences and adventures, but also one ripe with challenges. I do find it interesting that…” She paused to examine both of Isla’s palms.

“What?” Isla leaned in closer.

“This overlap is unusual. It’s an abrupt cut-off, but when you examine it closely, the continued line seems knotted to the broken one.” She spun around in her chair. “Mr. Zuft was it? May I see your right hand again?”

Mav extended his arm to her. “Go right ahead.”

“Yes,” the woman said. “See, the same overlap. Tell me, Mr. Zuft—you’ve been to the other side, have you not?”

Mav hesitated, but then he nodded.

The woman let go of him. “Yes, I could tell as soon as you walked into the store. I wonder…” She spun back to Isla. Traced the life line again. “You as well?” she asked. “A second chance?” She let out a small laugh before Isla could respond. “I’ve read about this, but I’ve never actually come across it in a reading before. And now, in two of you, life so persistent that a new one knots itself to an ending old one.”

Isla swallowed. All this was in her palm?

The palm reader gripped Isla’s hand tighter. “But your new beginning hasn’t been free of challenge. These small intersecting lines—little stumbles if you will.”

“I lost my husband,” Isla said, her voice more solid than she felt inside.

“I’m very sorry.” The woman folded Isla’s hand closed and set it down on the table. “But a straighter path is ahead. You will move forward, and the fork in the heart line means so will your heart.” She watched Isla with soft eyes. “Just pay attention to the world. Look around. We’re all connected, and you never know who’ll cross your path.”

Isla flinched, not sure she’d heard right. “What did you say?”

“To pay attention? Don’t let the past prevent you from seeing the present.”

“No, the other thing.” Isla looked at Mav. “You heard it too, right?”

He inclined his head “Yes, but…”

“You said to ‘look around,’” Isla told the woman, her heart going from trot to gallop inside her chest. “That’s what my grandmother said to me when I was flatlining. Do you connect with the other side? Did she tell you to say it?”

“Um…” The palm reader’s gaze skated from Isla to Mav and Louise and back. “It was just a recommendation. I don’t…”

“Isla.” Mav had risen and approached the table. He gave her a discreet shake of the head. “Let’s wrap up and get going. Rowan will be waiting.”

“But I—” Isla paused, taking in the expressions on the other faces in the room. Kindness and sympathy tinted by concern. Isla deflated. “Okay. Sorry.” She thanked the woman and allowed Mav to escort her back to the store.

“She was only giving you advice,” he said under his breath. “She doesn’t know your grandmother.”

“But it feels like she might,” she whispered back.

“Because you want it to be so.”

Isla stopped. “No. And don’t tell me you suddenly believe that would be impossible when you’re the one who assured me my experience was real and mattered.”

“Guys.” Louise touched Isla’s arm.

“That’s not what I meant,” Mav said. “Only that it’s a common phrase and this lovely lady here”—he nodded at the woman—“is a palm reader, not a medium.”

“I read energies though,” the woman said. “And I once dreamed that my aunt was in pain, and when I woke up, I found out she’d gone into labor.”

“Not helping,” Mav muttered.

The feeling of something more being at play still lingered for Isla as they left the store, but embraced by the sobering evening chill, she let go of the weird hunch. As an academic, she knew better than to rely on feelings—fleeting and ripe for misinterpretation—over facts when drawing conclusions. With that in mind, it made logical sense that the woman had only offered generic advice. She wasn’t making claims to communicate with the dead—she was trying to be helpful.

“How was it?” Rowan asked when he joined them soon after. He brought with him a whiff of ground coffee beans and cinnamon. “All questions answered?”

“Don’t be rude,” Mav said.

“It’s fine.” Isla pulled Jonah’s jacket tighter around her. There was a damp wind coming off the river this evening. “Pretty much a waste of time.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Louise was bouncing in place and blowing into her hands. “She was optimistic about your future—the possibility of falling in love again, moving on. Right?”

Isla chuckled. “She can hardly tell people the opposite. Not many return customers that way.”

Rowan smiled. “Someone’s joined me in the skeptic corner, I hear.”

“I’m a realist,” Isla corrected. “And can we please go somewhere? I’m freezing.”

They ended up at a sports bar in the middle of town known for their burgers and brews, but they’d only just ordered when Isla’s phone rang. It was a Bellingham area code, so she picked up, thinking it might be someone she knew.

She covered her other ear with her hand and hunched down in the booth. “Hello?”

“Um yes, hello. I’m calling for Isla Gallagher.”

The female voice wasn’t familiar, but Isla still responded. “This is she.”

“Oh hi. My name is Kim Campbell. You met my husband Nathan a few days ago. We’re the ones who bought your grandparents’ house in Yelm.”

“Oh. Right. Hi. Hold on one second.” Isla gestured to the others that she was going to take the call in the foyer and wiggled out of the seat. “What can I do for you?” she asked when she reached a quieter spot.

“I was sad I missed you when you stopped by. Your grandparents were such lovely people, and Nathan said you shared some stories about the house. I find that stuff so fascinating, so I finally said to myself, give her a call .”

“Yes, he told us you were interested in its history.”

“Very much so.”

Isla glanced into the restaurant, and her stomach growled. “I’d love to answer all your questions, but it might have to be at a different time. I was about to have dinner.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“I should be back home in a few days. Could I give you a call?”

“Of course, but there’s one more thing. I’m renovating one of the rooms upstairs right now and—do you remember the hatch on the wall in the gable room by chance?”

“Sure. I used to make my dad put a chair in front of it so no monsters could come in.”

“Well, it’s a ventilation hatch from what I understand, but when I took down the drywall that blocks off that tiny crawlspace a couple of months ago, I found an old shoebox inside. At first, I thought it belonged to my son since it was his room, but after looking inside, I think it must have been your grandma’s.”

“Really?” Isla turned her back on the busy restaurant and paced to the window overlooking the parking lot. “What’s inside?”

“From what I can tell, mostly knick-knacks, souvenirs, a few photographs, things like that. I didn’t dig any deeper—it’s not my place. I haven’t had it in me to get rid of it, and now it makes sense why. Maybe you’d like to have it?”

A time capsule , Isla thought. Nana’s treasures . A thrill of excitement coursed through her. “Oh definitely. That’s so cool.”

“I’m happy to ship it to you if you give me your address.”

She could do one better. “No need. We’ll start driving back north tomorrow so I can stop by in a couple of days if that’s okay. That way I can answer any questions you might have about the house too.”

“You’d do that?” Kim’s voice tilted up.

They wrapped up the call while Isla tried to imagine what treasures Nana might have stowed away. She pictured dried flowers, ticket stubs, photos of Nana and Pop-Pop in their youth. Nana had always said it was a whirlwind courtship, which Isla had thought sounded like the epitome of romance when she was a teenager.

“You guys will never guess who just called,” she said when she returned to the table. She relayed Kim’s message and watched the others’ jaws drop.

“Ooh, that’s so exciting!” Louise said. “I wish I could come along.”

“I buried a time capsule at every house I lived in growing up,” Rowan said. “I still wonder if anyone’s found them.”

“Then there’s also the possibility that she didn’t mean for it to be found,” Mav said, his tone more restrained. “I’m an old man with a long story. If you peek in my drawers, you’ll see hints of the plot, but only hints. I would hope when I’m gone, no one except the people who knew me well in life fashions themselves qualified to tell the tale.”

“But Isla was close with her grandma,” Louise said.

“Mm.” Mav nodded once then reached for his water glass.

A small laugh bubbled up Isla’s throat. “How odd would it be if that’s what Nana wanted me to ‘look around’ for all along. What if it had nothing at all to do with Jonah?”

As soon as her husband’s name crossed her smiling lips, Isla was knocked back in her seat by the impossibility of the moment. She stared at her hand, with its golden band, then at the motley crew around the table.

“What is it?” Louise asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Isla shook her head. “No, it’s just… I don’t think I’ve said his name like that before.”

Rowan cocked his head across from her. “How?”

“Like there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Mav supplied. “No pun intended.”

“Yeah.”

Isla lowered her chin and intertwined her fingers on the table as she sat with that. She wasn’t done yet, but maybe at the end of this journey, there was hope for her after all. While she still didn’t have answers, she did know more now than she had a week ago. Jonah had acted a little off in Portland on their drive down, possibly even further back around Christmas. He hadn’t been as happy as usual, and he’d been uncharacteristically drunk the night of the accident, which had made Isla the driver by necessity.

Then of course there was the call from Gemma and the bracelet. Something had been bothering Jonah, that was for certain, but he’d also been the one to book the weekend away for their anniversary, so he must have wanted to celebrate. That’s why an affair made no sense. And other than to explain why Isla had been driving, none of these discoveries shed any light on the accident as such. If anything, new questions had been added to the pile of old ones. It was all so confusing.

When they were done eating, they said goodnight to Louise and got in Rowan’s car to head back to the hotel for one more night. In the morning, Isla had several important phone calls to make to Jonah’s job and the places he’d stayed when traveling. Hopefully they’d get some leads before returning to Portland.

They’d been on the road for ten minutes when Rowan read a road sign out loud and hit the brakes.

“What is it?” Isla asked.

“Is there a golf club on the way to the hotel?”

Isla scanned their dark surroundings as if that would tell her anything. “Not sure.”

Rowan pulled out his phone to consult the map. “It was the third roundabout,” he said. “I should have taken the first exit, not the second.”

“Or used the map to begin with,” Mav said from the backseat.

“No harm done,” Rowan said as he did a U-turn on the empty stretch of road. “Just a few more minutes in your uplifting company.” He rolled his eyes so only Isla could see.

Soon they were on the right track again, and as they pulled into the hotel parking lot, Rowan cracked a joke about the evening’s sightseeing being complete. Isla undid her seatbelt and got out to help Mav out of the low car, but as he was unbuckling and gathering his hat and gloves, he suddenly paused and looked up at her, his face a muddy yellow in the streetlight above.

“Didn’t you say you don’t know how you ended up south of town in the opposite direction of the hotel that night?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Isla extended a hand for him to take.

The very next moment, she realized what he was insinuating and that she now had another discovery to add to her list.

She pulled him out of the car as they said in chorus, “The roundabouts.”