Chapter 40: Approval
After Jasmine left, Isabella sat with her father and Michelle in one of the sitting rooms. Butler Jones lit the fire, and once her father had his final glass of red wine in his hands, their butler retired for the night.
“Michelle, why don’t you get your short story so your sister and I can read it?” her father suggested from his favorite maroon chair by the fire.
Michelle blushed. “Okay...but you guys have to promise not to laugh. Remember, it’s supposed to be creative, and it’s about time traveling, so don’t expect the writing to be all academic or anything...”
“I’m sure it’s very well written,” Gareth said, causing a shy grin to bloom across Michelle’s face.
Isabella’s heart warmed as she watched their interaction. It seemed that Jasmine’s arrival hadn’t just helped boost Michelle’s grades. Ever since Jasmine came, her dad and Michelle seemed to be growing slowly closer each day.
After they read the story, both of them praising her captivating writing, Michelle went to her room.
Isabella stayed in the room with her father, trying to concentrate on the book she had just started. But her eyes kept straying to her phone in her lap. When she talked to Elliot earlier, he had promised to call her when her dinner ended. She had texted him right after Jasmine went home.
But now, an hour and a half later, her phone remained silent. Elliot texted thirty minutes ago, a short message telling Isabella he was busy, but she was a little hurt because her fiancé always kept his promises.
There was a voice in the back of her head that was telling her something wasn’t quite right with Elliot. Isabella had written it off as pre-wedding jitters, but she’d been noticing that her future husband seemed to always be busy. And whenever she asked what he was so occupied with, his answers were pretty vague. Since their wedding was drawing closer, this made her stomach knot with anxiety.