Chapter 29
The flight lasted for a couple of hours before we landed at another small airstrip.
I had no idea where we were, but the sun felt warmer against my skin, and there was a light breeze that reminded me of the ocean.
It had only been a few weeks since I’d seen the sea last, but I desperately missed it and hoped that maybe we had made our way to the coast somewhere.
Noah was still as ambiguous as ever as he led me over to a waiting car, and once I was comfortable in the passenger seat, he handed me a blindfold.
“Put this on.” He winked as he passed it to me.
“Is this a date, or are you kidnapping me?”
He laughed as he started the car. “You don’t have to wear the blindfold if you don’t want. I just really want to see the look on your face when we get to our destination.”
“Okay, okay.” I pulled the blindfold over my eyes and tied it behind my head. “You’re really building up this surprise, whatever it is.”
“It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
Although I couldn’t see him anymore, I could hear the playful tone in Noah’s voice and imagine the smile on his face.
No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn’t guess where we were.
The plane had landed somewhere quite rural, so I figured we weren’t going to a city.
And from the salty sea air, I was almost certain we were by the coast. Given the way the date had played out so far, Noah was probably taking me to some extravagant restaurant or a luxury beach property his family owned.
I had to wonder if my jeans were really appropriate for either option.
“When you said you wanted to take me on a date, this really wasn’t what I expected,” I said. “And does the school mind that we’ve just flown away on a jet? Like, surely this is the kind of activity that needs parental permission.”
Noah chuckled. “I think the school is used to its students doing what they want, parental permission or not. Especially the seniors. As long as we’re back come Monday, they won’t care.”
“We are going to be back by Monday, right? You haven’t flown me to France or something?”
“No, I can reveal that we’re definitely not in France.”
“I should hope not.”
“We can always go to France next weekend though.”
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
I shook my head. “I don’t even have a passport.”
“I’m sure that could be arranged.”
I frowned. Although we were joking around, I felt the disparity between Noah and I more than ever.
He flew on private jets and popped over to France for the weekend just because he could.
This experience was fun and all, but it wasn’t my life.
I couldn’t imagine it being more than a onetime thing.
I’d been happy enough with the idea of a simple date, and as much as I was enjoying spending time with Noah, it felt like maybe he’d gone a little overboard.
When the car started to slow, my stomach tensed with curiosity and excitement. The date was far too extravagant for me already, but I was still eager to see what surprise Noah had arranged.
“We’re here,” he said as the car pulled to a stop.
I was practically bouncing on my seat as Noah came around to open the door for me, and my hands itched to lower my blindfold. I’d never been surprised this way before, and even though recent events had made me very wary of surprises, I was somewhat enjoying the anticipation.
Noah gently helped me from the car and positioned me so I was facing in a certain direction. He slowly pulled the blindfold from my eyes. “Okay, you can look …”
I blinked my eyes open and gasped. The scene before me was achingly familiar.
Tears started to gather in my eyes when I saw the faded blue-and-white-striped awning and the old Beach Street Café sign.
I thought my heart might explode with the frenzy of emotions that wanted to burst from me as I realized where I was. Noah had brought me home.
“I heard the pecan pie is really good here,” he murmured.
I could barely form words to respond. I was in a total state of shock as I stared at the one place in the world I’d wanted to be these last weeks. “You brought me home?”
“Yeah, is that okay?” He sounded so uncertain, and as I turned to him, I could see a nervous look in his eyes.
“Are you kidding me? This is incredible.” I threw my arms around his neck and buried myself in close to him.
I was overwhelmed by the smell of him, by the feel of his strong body holding me close, and by the fact he’d gone out of his way to make me so happy.
My mind was racing, trying to contemplate how something that seemed so impossible was actually happening.
When I pulled back from him, I quickly brushed my palm across my cheek to wipe away the tears that had escaped my eyes. “We’re really here?”
“Well, I had something else planned, but it sounded like you really missed home this week. I could easily get you here, so why wouldn’t I?”
“You’re kind of amazing. You know that, right?”
He gave me a warm smile in response. “I think that’s the first time someone’s told me that and I’ve wanted to believe them.”
“Well, believe it because you are officially my favorite person.”
“Cress will be bummed.”
“Probably.” I laughed. “Come on.”
I grabbed Noah by the hand and pulled him through the front door and into the café.
It was mid-morning, so the restaurant was quiet.
The breakfast rush was over, and lunch hadn’t begun.
The familiar sound of the doorbell chimed overhead as we entered, and Norma looked up from where she was cleaning one of the tables.
“Oh, Isobel, sugar, you’re home!” She dropped her cleaning cloth on the table and rushed over to give me a hug. The slight scent of cigarettes clung to her clothes, and the familiar smell was enough to make my eyes tear up again. I’d missed this so much.
“What are you doing here?” Norma asked as we separated. “And who’s the hunk?”
“Oh.” I laughed as she gave Noah a thorough once-over. “Norma, this is Noah. One of my friends from school.”
“Oh, honey, no girl can just be friends with a boy like that.”
“Norma!”
“What? It’s true. If I were fifty years younger …”
I smacked her on the arm, but Noah chuckled in response. At least he found this whole thing amusing.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Noah said, holding out a hand in greeting.
A small smile formed on Norma’s lips as she ignored his hand and pulled him in for a hug too.
“Norma,” I groaned.
Noah laughed, and from the smile on his face, I could tell he didn’t mind that she was a little overly affectionate.
“Is Mom around?” I asked before Norma could embarrass me further. Knowing my luck, she was going to continue talking about what she’d do to Noah if she were fifty years younger, and I really didn’t want to hang around to find out.
“She’s out back in the office. She didn’t tell me you were coming today.”
“She doesn’t know. It’s a surprise.”
“Well, I couldn’t think of more perfect timing. She’s missed you.”
“I’ve missed her too.” I actually hadn’t realized you could miss a person as much as I’d missed my mom.
I took Noah by the hand once more and led him through the kitchen to the office. It was so comforting to hear the clatter of pans in the kitchen and inhale the rich scent of fresh waffles. No matter how long I spent at Weybridge Academy, this would always be my home.
When I reached the office, I knocked on the door even though it was slightly ajar. My mom was at her desk, her head bowed over her keyboard. She slowly looked up, and her eyes widened with surprise when she saw me standing there.
“Isobel?” It took her a moment to overcome her obvious shock, but she barely missed a beat before she jumped from her desk and ran over to me.
She gathered me in her arms, and as she held me tightly to her, I felt like I was truly home. The scent of her lavender perfume enveloped me as much as the warmth of her arms. We must have stood there for five minutes before she finally let me go.
“What are you doing here?” she gasped. “You’re supposed to be in school!” I couldn’t quite tell whether she was excited, happy, angry, concerned, or all of the above, and I realized she was probably worried that I’d run away.
“Don’t worry, Mom, I haven’t skipped any classes. My friend has a plane, and he brought me down on it this morning.”
Mom’s brow clenched with confusion as she noticed the boy standing behind me. He was kind of impossible to miss, given his size and those bright green eyes.
“Mom, this is Noah.”
“The friend …” Mom sounded thoroughly unconvinced. I mean, given that he looked like a supermodel, I wasn’t surprised she had similar doubts about my friendship with Noah as Norma did.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Grace,” Noah said.
She gave him a cautious smile. “You too.”
I somewhat understood why mom was acting so wary. After the way Levi had treated me, she was as untrustworthy of guys as I was supposed to be. I hoped she’d relax a little though. Did she really need to act so cold toward him?
“Noah, why don’t you head back out to the restaurant so I can have a quick catch-up with my daughter. Order anything you like from the menu. Norma will help you out.”
“Sure, thank you.” He smiled politely at my mom before glancing at me.
“I’ll catch you out there in a minute.”
He nodded and quickly disappeared back the way we’d come.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Isobel, you left school without asking me and got on a plane with some boy you’ve just met. I don’t even know how I’m supposed to react to that.”
“Mom, it’s okay, seriously.”
“I know you miss home, but you can’t just leave school and fly around the country without letting me know where you are.”
I was a little shocked by the way she was reacting. I’d missed her so much, and when I’d discovered I was home, I hadn’t thought about anything else apart from the fact I’d get to see her.