Chapter 1
1543 Words
“Did that woman just call you babe?” my new girlfriend, Alicia, asks with a ‘what the hell’ tone.
My mouth is too dry to answer her question. I can’t stop staring at “that woman,” aka Lucy, and my thoughts are racing faster than an Indy car.
Before you assume I’m an asshole who cheats on his girlfriend, know I’m not. A year ago, the woman who just called me babe—my wife—walked out on me without any explanation. Now, after I’ve pulled myself from the depths of depression and tried to move on with my life, she approaches me at my brothers’ brewery as though we’re still married. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since she left.
If you want to be technical, she is still my wife. She never sent divorce papers, and it wasn’t until last week that I went to the town lawyer and asked him to start the process of drawing up papers.
Alicia clutches my arm because I still haven’t taken my eyes off of Lucy. My estranged wife is flitting around my family, hugging everyone and conveying how much she’s missed them, pausing at my brother Cade’s new fiancée, Presley. We’re supposed to be celebrating their engagement right now. Good thing Cade’s used to plans never going the way we expect—as often happens with a family as big as ours.
I spot Lucy’s mother, Susan, push through the crowd of gawkers in the brewery. Everyone’s whispering and staring at us. There couldn’t be a worse time for Lucy to show up out of the f*****g blue.
“Susan?” I say because I’m hoping she has an answer as to why Lucy’s acting as if we’re still happily married. She doesn’t answer immediately, her concerned gaze focused solely on her daughter. The look is alarming enough to suggest there’s a missing puzzle piece that makes my stomach clench. “What the hell is going on?”
Susan’s gaze flickers to mine. She scolds me with her narrowed eyes, but her shoulders fall. “She suffered an accident and… she lost her memory, Adam. She has amnesia.”
“So?” I ask.
Alicia’s breast brushes along my bicep as though she’s afraid I’m going to get away.
“She thinks you’re still happily married.”
My stomach clenching turns to full-on nausea. Married we are, but definitely not happily.
“You’re married?” Alicia asks, her arm winding out of mine.
I run a hand through my hair, looking to my father to somehow fix this for me. “Technically, yes.”
“And you failed to ever mention this to me?”
The last person I have time for conflict with right now is Alicia. We’ve barely begun dating. Seeing her has been my first attempt to put myself out there since Lucy left.
“Excuse me.” Lucy comes back over and nudges between Alicia and me. She always was good at making sure people knew I was hers. If I wanted to go down memory lane, I’d remember that it was something I loved. “Who’s this girl?” she whispers in my ear.
“Lucy, we should go.” Susan takes Lucy’s hand and attempts to pull her along.
“Why would I leave? Look, I found Adam.” Just as Lucy’s gesturing toward me, her smile dims and she looks at her mom. “Wait… you mean…”
“You and Adam are no longer together,” Susan says.
A strangled cry leaves Lucy and she removes herself from me. “Oh.”
Lucy looks at Alicia as though she’s the reason we’re not together, causing fury to build in my chest. She should look in the mirror if she’s wants to see who is to blame.
My entire family stands there speechless, a small miracle in itself. I guess it takes a woman with amnesia to silence them. Maybe not the best time for a joke, but I have no idea how to handle this situation. The despair in Lucy’s eyes is killing me. A huge part of me wants to fix it for her, tell her she can have me if she wants. But what would that solve? The damage was done a year ago and there’s no coming back from it.
She points at Alicia. “Are you Adam’s?”
“We need to go. I’m so sorry.” Susan urges Lucy to her side. “Have a good night.”
I open my mouth to say something, though I don’t know what, then shut it, watching them leave. Alicia cuddles up to my side again as though we’re going to carry on with our night as planned. It all feels wrong now.
“I’ll be back,” I say, dislodging myself from Alicia.
“I thought he was just going to stand there.” Cade says it as though that would be the worst thing in the world.
I owe Lucy nothing. She’s the one who broke my heart. So she had an accident and lost her memory. That’s not my business, nor my problem anymore. At least I tell myself that as I wind through the crowd, catching up to Susan and Lucy on the cobblestone road outside the brewery. Susan has her arm around Lucy’s shoulders and they’re whispering as more people try to stop them to say hello.
“Lucy!” I yell.
All the hustle and bustle of the celebratory night before tourist season kicks off halts, leaving a deafening silence blanketing the square.
Lucy slowly turns. I slow my steps and narrow the distance.
Before I reach her, Susan steps between us, putting her hand out to stop me. “Please don’t, Adam. This doesn’t change what happened between the two of you. I’m sorry for interrupting your night, but this isn’t a good idea.”
Lucy wipes tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, and my jaw clenches at seeing her upset even if I wish it didn’t. I lean to the side to get around Susan, but she steps in front of me again.
“She’s my wife,” I say.
Susan gives me a look to say we both know she’s not.
“You can’t expect me to not react to this news,” I grind out.
Lucy’s lip quivers as she takes a deep breath. And other than practically the entire town bearing witness as Susan stands between us, it’s like déjà vu of the night Lucy walked out on me. Her struggling not to cry and me trying to reach her to understand what the hell is going on.
“Please. I only brought her back to Sunrise Bay on her doctor’s suggestion to see if she would remember anything.”
“Susan.” My dad’s deep voice comes from behind us. His large hand clasps me on the shoulder.
“Hank.” The distaste Susan has for our family is clear as f*****g crystal in her voice. She never liked me for her daughter, so there’s no real surprise she’s trying to keep me from her now.
“Let’s find somewhere quiet and talk this out,” Dad suggests. “We can head to the house—”
Susan raises her hand. “I’m taking Lucy back to Idaho tomorrow. I already apologized to Adam for disturbing your night.”
“But—” I start.
My dad steps closer to Susan. “You cannot just expect Adam to go back to his life after this discovery. There are questions he needs the answers to.”
I nod as though I’m that nineteen-year-old standing next to him again while he’s on the phone with Susan and Lloyd Davis telling them to let Lucy and I marry.
“With all due respect, it wasn’t your daughter who came running to you in tears a year ago. Obviously there’s a reason their marriage didn’t work out. If I was a lesser person, I’d say I told you so, Hank Greene.”
“When was her accident?” I ask.
Susan shakes her head as though she’s not going to entertain my questions.
“A little over three months ago,” Lucy says. “First time ever on a horse, or so I’m told, and I got bucked off.”
Susan sighs.
“Let the kids talk,” my dad pleads with Susan.
She runs her hand over her face and inhales deeply. Glancing back, she looks at Lucy, then she steps closer to us, lowering her voice. “We were planning on staying in Anchorage, but I’ll head over to Mandi’s and get a room there for the night, assuming one is available. Lucy’s really upset right now. I never expected her to have a breakthrough so fast, and it took us both by surprise. All the other memories she’s gained have come in bits and pieces, slowly over days. Come by tomorrow morning and we’ll talk once she’s calmed down.”
She can’t be serious, but as I step to go around her again, my dad’s hand lands on my arm to stop me.
“That’s a good plan,” Dad says.
I huff because I want to do this now.
“Let’s say nine,” Susan says, and my dad agrees. She turns around to join Lucy.
I clasp Susan’s arm. “When you say breakthrough…?”
She pats Lucy’s hand and Lucy’s tears fall down her cheeks again.
“She didn’t remember you until she saw you.”
My dad sighs and I’m pretty sure my heart stops for a moment. I tried to strip Lucy out of my mind this past year. To erase her from my memory because it all hurt too much. But I can’t imagine not remembering our history and all the good memories we shared. At the same time, I’m jealous that she doesn’t have to bear the weight of what happened to us.
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” my dad says.
They walk away. My eyes lock with Lucy’s as she looks over her shoulder until the crowd swallows them up.
- Writer
