Rosa pulls the candles out of the cake, shaking her head in dismay. She had been so sure he would be back by now. She’d cast the leaves, more than once. There is no mistaking it. Something must have happened, something must have happened to stop him from coming. She had seen the way he had looked at Isabel before he had left. There’s no doubt in Rosa’s mind that if he were able to come back to her, he would have.

Today is supposed to be that day. He is supposed to be back for Isabel’s birthday; that is what the leaves had told her. Rosa has never been wrong before, not about something like this. It is a new experience and not one she is in any hurry to repeat. She is grateful, at least, that she hasn’t said anything to Isabel. Rosa had wanted to let her have the surprise, to see her eyes light up as she had seen him appear at the door of the boarding house.

Rosa remembers that feeling. It was the way she felt when Mario had come to her house to call for her. She shakes her head at herself. Thoughts of a man she hasn’t seen in decades are never very far from her. She knows better than anyone that it is no way to live. There is a part of the story she hadn’t told Isabel, a part she, herself, tried to forget.

Rosa had tried to find Mario after she moved to the States. She had wanted to know if he had ever gone back for her, if he had loved her enough for that. What she had found out had made her wish that she had never started looking for him. He had been killed in a gun battle in the streets of Sicily only a few days after she had sent him away. She has never forgiven herself and she has never forgotten him.

Please don’t let it happen again. Please don’t let it happen to Isabel, not after everything she’s been through. Rosa makes the sign of the cross and looks up to the sky, hoping her words will have some effect this time. They hadn’t saved Mario; she can only hope they will save another man, very much like him. Isabel deserves to be happy; it’s her turn.

“What are you looking so sad about? I thought I was supposed to be the one who was moody about getting another year older.” Isabel playfully nudges Rosa as the other woman tidies away the candles and starts slicing the cake.

“I not sad.” Rosa shakes her head, concentrating on not looking at Isabel. The girl is far too perceptive for her own good and she doesn’t want to give any of her concerns away, not today. “I just think about your mother, how she would want to be here.” It’s not a lie; it’s just not the whole truth.

Isabel’s smile turns sad and she bites her lip the way the she does when she’s trying to keep her emotions in check. “I know; I miss her, too.” She sighs deeply, dipping her finger into the icing of one of the cakes Rosa has cut and licking it off, thoughtfully. “It’s my first birthday without her. It’s weird. I never thought there would be a time when she wouldn’t be around to celebrate with me.” Isabel shakes her head, knowing she sounds naïve. Everyone knows that, sooner or later, people die. She just wishes she’d been more prepared for her mother’s passing. She wonders if there’s ever any way to prepare for something like that, though. Losing someone you love is just one of those things that blindsides you.

Purposefully, Isabel pushes the thought of Wesley away. It has been over two weeks now and still no sign of him. Rosa keeps giving her sneaky sidelong glances and Isabel knows she is worried about her. Isabel has been doing her best to go about her day-to-day routine, her life as normal, pretending that she wasn’t thinking about Wesley, that he didn’t seem to consume the major part of her thoughts. It turns out she’s not much of an actress.

She and Rosa sit together, each eating their slice of Rosa’s homemade chocolate cake and a weighty silence settles over them. Rosa seems to sense it and tries to fill it with chatter, but Isabel finds it almost impossible to get caught up in any kind of conversation at the moment. She knows she’s not the most fun to be around but she’s not really in the celebrating spirit.

“What did you wish for?” Rosa nudges Isabel with her elbow when she sees the younger woman has stopped eating. “When you blow candles out, what did you wish for?”

Isabel smiles at her. “I guess I should probably say world peace.” She shakes her head at her own greediness. Her wish was nothing as magnanimous or expansive as that. It was something much less selfless than that. “But you and I both know that would be a lie.”

Rosa opens her mouth and then closes it again, as if she’s working up to saying something.

“What?” Isabel gives her a pointed look. “You’ve never been one to keep your thoughts to yourself.”

Instead of replying, Rosa just takes a larger than average piece of cake and fills up her mouth, making it impossible for her to speak.

Isabel is about to ask her if something’s wrong as the older woman is acting even weirder than normal when the sound of the doorbell silences her. Both women look at each other, their eyes wide, neither wanting to preempt the arrival of the man they’re both waiting for. They sit there for a few moments in silence, as if they’ve both forgotten what you’re supposed to do when someone rings at the door.

“Go on, girl!” Rosa virtually pushes Isabel out of her chair, ushering her towards the front door, excitement in her eyes.

Isabel heads to the front door as if in a dream. It has to be him; it has to be. There isn’t any other possibility. She takes a deep breath, trying to tell her beating heart to calm itself before it jumps out of her chest. Her fingers fumble with the bolt on the door in her haste to get it open and as it swings on its hinges arms are flung around her and she almost goes toppling to the floor.

“Happy birthday!” Jamie’s voice is shrill in Isabel’s ear as her friend gives her the tightest hug imaginable.

Isabel’s arms go around her best friend automatically and she hugs her back, fighting the tears that, unbidden, have started to take up residence just behind her eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment.

As if she senses something’s up, Jamie pulls back a little and looks at her friend in the face. “Oh, honey! I should have called first, shouldn’t I?” Jamie winces as she realizes what the expression on Isabel’s face means. “I thought I’d go for the whole surprise element, but now I’m starting to massively regret that decision.”

Isabel shakes herself. Get a grip, Bishop. “Don’t be silly!” She throws her arm over her best friend’s shoulders. “I can’t believe you’re here!” She musters a smile as she guides Jamie through to the kitchen where Jamie receives a welcoming embrace from Rosa along with a hefty slice of cake.

“I thought you couldn’t get away?” Isabel recovers her equanimity enough to at least pretend to eat the chocolate goodness sitting on her plate.

Jamie waves her fork around, her mouth too full to talk. “A shoot got cancelled; one of the models had to be checked in to rehab.” Jamie shrugs as if this is a common occurrence. It isn’t much of a stretch to believe that it is. “When I got the call I figured what better way to spend Independence Day weekend than with my best girl?” She bumps Isabel with her shoulder, grinning at her.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Isabel bumps her friend back. Although she hadn’t expected to see Jamie, she’s more than grateful she’s here. There is something about having Jamie close by that makes everything seem a little better.

“So how’s your birthday been so far?” Jamie looks around at the immaculate kitchen. “Looks like a party!” She snorts as Isabel nudges her in the ribs.

“Don’t be cheeky, Miss Jamie,” Rosa threatens with her fork. “We have busy day; all rooms full for the holiday weekend.” Rosa preens like a peacock and Isabel can’t help but smile at how invested the other woman is in the boarding house. She has already started to think about her future, what she is going to do with the house and Rosa is going to feature prominently in those plans. “Well, almost all the rooms.” Rosa looks meaningfully at Jamie and rolls her eyes as if to say ‘I don’t know what to do; see if you can talk to her.’

“You’ve kept his room free?” Jamie asks the question in a low voice. There’s no need for her to identify who the mystery ‘he’ is. There’s only one person it can possibly be.

“Thanks, Rosa. Remind me never to confess any of my deepest and darkest secrets to you. They’ll end up published in the paper the next day!” Isabel shakes her head but smiles good-naturedly at the other woman.

“It’s late. I let you ladies talk.” Rosa beats a hasty retreat, only pausing to cut herself another slice of cake before disappearing.

“I’ve never seen her move so fast.” Jamie’s eyes are wide as she looks towards where the other woman disappeared.

“I think she’s hoping you’ll talk some sense into me.” Isabel gives up on pushing the chocolate cake around her plate and puts her fork down.

“And since when have I ever been able to do that?” Jamie raises an eyebrow.

“I think we’re both as stubborn as each other, J, so you’re not going to win that argument.” Isabel laughs as her friend empties the remnants of her cake onto her own plate and starts inhaling what Isabel has left.

Jamie shrugs, moving on from that particular impasse. “So tomorrow, birthday BBQ?”

“Sounds great.” Isabel nods, enjoying the fact that she’ll have something to focus on other than how much she misses Wesley.

“Great. Well, it’s late and we know that mommy dearest will be pissed if she knows I’m back in town and I haven’t swung by to see her.” Jamie rolls her eyes, though she’s not fooling anyone. Jamie and her mom have grown closer since she moved to New York and there’s no doubt in Isabel’s mind her best friend is loving every minute of her mother’s overbearing nature, something she had never exercised when they were in high school.

Isabel walks Jamie to the door and Jamie chucks her playfully under the chin. “You better be careful. If the wind changes, your face is going to stay like that, you know.” She glances meaningfully at her friend before slipping out of the door.

“Always good to know I can depend on you not to do the comforting, ‘everything’s going to be all right’ speech.” Isabel rolls her eyes at Jamie.

“You know that’s why you love me.” She waves and blows her a kiss before skipping down the steps of the front porch and hurrying off into the night.

Isabel stands by the door, looking out for a few moments before she goes through the ritual of locking up for the night. She takes the plates to the sink and runs the water, her actions becoming automatic as she washes up. Her body is there but her mind is somewhere else entirely, with someone else. She just wishes she knew where that was.

Tiny slivers of doubt are beginning to creep into her mind and though she tries to push them away as soon as they surface, it is getting harder and harder to do. He has been gone for longer than she imagined, longer she’s sure than he planned. And there has been no message, nothing at all. She has no way of knowing if he was all right or if... No, she won’t let herself go down that road. That way lies madness, she reminds herself. It’s going to be hard enough to get to sleep tonight with all the memories swirling around her head; she doesn’t need that thought playing over and over again just to make things even more interesting.

As she dries her hands on the dishtowel, she hears a noise. She freezes, her ears straining hard in the dark. Barely breathing she waits to hear it again. What feels like minutes go by before she hears it again. It sounds like a scratching or a scuffling sort of noise. Her whole body is on high alert, wondering if the Dogs are planning on keeping their word to Wesley, after all. He told her it would just be this one last job, but, perhaps, they have other ideas.

Isabel grabs the baseball bat she started keeping near her after her encounter with the Devil Dogs and heads towards the back porch, the source of the noise. She creeps through the house, rationally knowing that she’s doing something really stupid but she doesn’t stop her progress. With one hand still on her bat, she unlocks the door and steps outside, keeping as silent as she can.

She listens for the noise and hears it again. Her eyes strain to make out anything at all in the thick blackness of the night. There’s a sliver of moon and the air is completely still. It would be a beautiful night if she weren’t so terrified. A sudden pressure against her leg makes her jump and let out a very good impression of a squeal. It’s only when her feet have landed back on solid ground and her brain becomes capable of rational though again that she realizes what it is and she lays the bat on the floor.

“Hey, Jeffrey.” She scoops the black and white cat up into her arms. “It’s been a while. Where have you been, huh?” She strokes the cat, letting him nuzzle her as he purrs so loudly he sounds like a rocket launcher. “I thought you’d left me, too.” There’s a catch in her throat as she says the words but she squeezes her eyes shut against them.

“No chance of that.” The deep voice behind her makes her freeze. “That little guy loves you. You can believe that. There’s no way he’d leave you.”

Isabel keeps hold of the cat, turning around slowly, afraid that she’s conjured him up with her imagination, afraid that he could disappear again at any time.

“Wesley?” Her voice is quiet and full of skepticism, as if she’s expecting to be corrected, expecting to be disappointed.

“I’m here, Bel.” He takes a step towards her and, in the half-light of the moon, Isabel catches her breath, drinking in the sight of him as if she has been without water for days.

Her feet move before her brain has gone into gear and they propel her towards him, launching her at him and nearly knocking him off his feet as she holds onto him tight. There’s a strangled meow and Isabel pulls back a touch, realizing she’s in danger of squashing Jeffrey. She lays him back on the ground and jumps on Wesley again, wrapping her legs around him and covering his face with kisses. He holds onto her tight, laughing at the abandon with which she holds onto him.

“You came back.” She says the words as if she can’t really believe them, as if she thinks she may be dreaming.

“I told you I would.” He brushes a stray hair away from her face and that’s when Isabel sees the bandage covering his hand.

“You’re hurt.” She takes his hand in hers, looking worriedly up at him.

Wesley shrugs it off. “I’ve had a lot worse.”

“So you’re all right?” Isabel can barely get her words out around the lump in her throat. She feels so happy it’s a wonder she can say anything at all.

“I am now.” He looks at her with so much love in his eyes.

“I thought...When I didn’t hear from you...I was afraid that...” She lets the words trail off; they both know what she’s been feeling since he walked out the door.

“I told you I’d come back.” He wipes the tear that has made its way down her cheek away, pulling her even closer to him. “Nothing could keep me away from you, Bel. Nothing.” He leans down, covering his mouth with hers and Isabel opens herself up to him, as desperate as he is to taste, to feel his closeness.

“So, it’s over?” She looks up at him, holding her breath, barely daring to hope they actually have a shot at a normal life together, a normal relationship without having to worry about him turning up bloody and beaten or worse every night.

“It’s over.” He says the words with as much relief as Isabel feels.

Isabel bites her bottom lip. “So you’re not going anywhere for a little while?”

Wesley smiles at her warmly, reading her mind. “I’m not going anywhere for a good long while, Bel.” He looks at her speculatively. “If that’s okay with you?”

She laughs, her eyes bright, feeling happier than she has in a very long time, maybe ever. “I think I can work with that.” She rests her head on his chest, his arms tightening around her as she listens to his heartbeat, feeling like she’s finally come home.