Jack and Isla

SEVEN

Jack browsed the shelves in the library with the small girl trailing him. She was around 6 and had dark brown hair like Jack.

"Uncle Jack, why do we always go to the library now on the way home from dance class?" she looked up at him with her bright little innocent eyes.

Jack felt on the spot, "I like to get a book for my new friend. She likes to read."

"Why can she not get her own books? Is she a princess?"

"She can, Izzy, I just like to get her books, it makes her smile..."

Jack thought about the first time he dared do it. He managed to put the book and tea on the table just as he heard her coming downstairs. He snuck out the back door and watched her through the window. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her stop and smile at the book. She looked around like she was waiting for permission in her own home to look at it, but then curiosity got the better of her and she started reading there and then. He smiled to himself each afternoon, when he saw her there reading the book he brought. She looked so peaceful and happy in her own world of reading and a pride took hold in him that it was him that had done that for her.

"...and she is not a princess, Izzy."

"Is she not pretty?" Jack chuckled at her sweet innocence of people.

"Oh she's pretty alright, she is the most beautiful girl in town," Izzy's face dropped, "...apart from you, of course, my little Izzy-bee." He picked her up for a piggyback, making her giggle again.

"Well then she is a princess like me? What else makes her smile?"

"Well, cooking, she loves cooking, she probably spends most of her day in the kitchen?"

"Princesses must like something other than work?"

"Well for her it's not work, it's something she enjoys doing." Jack thought for a moment, "actually she likes flowers. Her favourite is honeysuckle."

"You should get her some flowers to go with her book next time, to make her smile more. Princesses should always be happy. We could call her Princess Honeysuckle"

Jack was so fond of his niece's kind heart. She always thought of other people and even though the world was not as simple as she imagined it, she always made people happy around her. "Well I will think about it, but for now, we need to get going, I have a project that needs working on."

The next day he snuck in and took the book as he normally did, but this time, he placed a honeysuckle flower inside the book, gently flattening the pale yellow fingers of the flower. Nerves unsettled him a bit. What if this was going too far? She might have just seen the books as a way of welcoming her to town and to keep her entertained while she settled. What was he doing it for though? He knew he felt something for her, she had not left his thoughts since he met her that night on the road. He knew that when their eyes locked there was an invisible thread between them that felt like it was pulling him to her, but he did not want to assume she could feel it too. He stopped doubting himself, but followed his niece's advice and left. He went straight out and started getting stuff ready for when the rest of the lads arrived.

-x-

The afternoon came round and he was getting nervous. Jack has not seen Isla all day and he was starting to panic that she was avoiding him. Was the flower a mistake? He thought he was being subtle with his excuses to go and check in the house, or the sly questions to see if anyone has seen her, but William and Nate exchanged knowing looks as to what had unsettled him.

Just after lunch, Freddie came down the track on his bike. Nate greeted him as he parked his bike and chuckled to himself as Jack, in an attempt to be casual, dropped what he was doing and made his way over to Fred.