Our eyes meet as he eases out of me. He smiles as he tugs the twisted nightgown back down and covers my body. Laying on his side, he pulls me backward into his arms and holds me close.
“I love you, baby,” he mutters as he drifts off.
“Me too,” I reply.
But I don't sleep for hours.
* * *
There is an odd bustle in the house when I wake up. It’s brighter out than it ought to be and when I check the time, I begin to panic.
“Shit,” I screech as I leap from the bed and try to find something to toss on. “What happened to my alarm?”
The question is rhetorical. There is no one there to answer. But as I hear water running in the bathroom, I realize I’m wrong.
“Morning, baby,” Silas says as he opens the bathroom door. “Did I wake you?”
I begin to ask, but I don’t have time to hear the answer so I shake off my questions and tug on a pair of joggers and a tee shirt from my dresser.
“Whoa, baby. What’s the hurry? You look upset?”
“I have to get Levi to school. We’re already late!”
Holding my shoulders, he turns me to him and laughs.
“Sylvie, my parents left with Levi ten minutes ago. He’s all dressed and fed and his hair and teeth were brushed. Everything is good. I promise.”
Exhaling my relief, I close my eyes and recenter. Everything is under control. Allison and Charles Chambers adore Levi. They’d welcomed us both into their family with open arms and have loved us both like their own flesh and blood. I’m confident that they’ll make sure Levi gets to school safely. Still, I wish I’d had a chance to say good morning to him and give him a kiss. And why hadn’t my alarm woken me?
“Did you turn off my alarm?”
“Yeah, I woke you up late last night, so I wanted you to get some extra sleep this morning. You needed it too. You were snoring, baby.”
It sounds so well-intentioned, and I want to be grateful, but I don’t like the way he’s reorganized my morning without even discussing it with me. But he’s here.
“Why are you home?”
“I took the day off to help you clear out the library.”
“But I told you you didn’t have to do that,” I say, my heart melting as he tugs me closer to him.
“You said that, but then you cleaned the closet and the laundry room, and Paloma said you cleaned out the deep freezer in the garage, also.”
He smiles and strokes my messy morning hair.
“Kinda seems like you do need me. So, Nana Allison and PopPop Charles are picking Levi up from school and taking him to dinner. They’ll bring him back fed, overindulged, and ready for bed.”
Laughing, I let my head fall onto his chest and breathe him in.
“Thank you.”
“That’s why I worked late last night. I wanted to finish up what I was working on so I could be here for you today. Why don’t you get ready and I’ll ask Paloma to make you some breakfast.”
“A smoothie, please. She knows what to put in it.”
“One Paloma special smoothie coming up, baby.”
He slaps my ass and nudges me to the bathroom before he heads out. I take a deep breath and strip off my hastily chosen clothing. Walking into the master bathroom, I pause to stare at myself in the mirror. I hadn’t dreamt of Jeremy in so long. Why now? Was it just the anniversary of his disappearance? Was I feeling lonely and aimless now that Levi was in school? Maybe the pressure to sort through his things had brought him to the front of my mind?
“Get a grip,” I tell my reflection.
She stares back at me, gnawing on the inside of her bottom lip. I want to smack some sense into her as she stares at me. Her wide eyes are filled with sadness and guilt. Her tangled curls bounce as I shake my head. I don’t want to fight with her, so I turn away and step into the shower.
After I’ve steamed, soaped, rinsed, and groomed, I feel more like myself. I place my wedding band back on my finger and open the safe to stow my engagement ring. I don’t wear it when I’m going to be doing a lot with my hands. I ignore the leather box in the far corner today.
Downstairs, Silas is deep in conversation on the phone. Oscar jumps on my legs until I lift him up so he can lick my face. I put him down and he follows at my heels. Paloma hands me my breakfast smoothie with a cheery, “good morning, Mrs. Chambers.”
“How was your appointment?”
“Oh it was canceled, but I’ve been promised that everything will be taken care of next week.”
“Well, great,” I say. I don’t want to pry so I won’t ask what’s being taken care of. But I can’t resist saying a bit more. “Paloma, if you need anything, Silas and I might be able to help.”
“You and Mr. Chambers always take good care of me, Mrs. Chambers. Thank you.”
“But you’d ask if you needed something, if you were in trouble?”
“Yes, Mrs. Chambers. I always ask!”
Her cheery smile puts me at ease and I take my smoothie to the breakfast table. Oscar nestles into the dog pillow in the breakfast nook as I begin planning my day. I’m anxious about digging through Jeremy’s things, but I want to get it done. I’ll put whatever I think Levi might want in storage—for when he’s old enough to understand. Then I’ll offer the rest to Bruce and Sharon. They’ll decline and it will go to charity. The plan is simple. It’s the same one I’ve had for years.
By the time I’ve finished my smoothie, I’m psyched up and ready for the task at hand. I rinse out my cup and march to the library. I waver when I open the door and see Jeremy’s hiking boots again, but this time Silas is there. Both hands on my shoulders, he kisses the top of my head.
“Sorry about the call, baby. I’m all yours now.”
Looking over the sea of boxed memories again, a surge of determination takes hold and I nod.
“It’s time,” I say before I take my first steps into the library and reach for the first box.
Chapter Seven
Waking up in that damn hospital bed again, I try to sit up and find myself strapped down and hooked up to an IV. Again.
“What the… NURSE!” I bellow.
Movement next to the bed draws my attention as Noah rises from the sofa.
“You don’t need to yell,” he says. “I’ll get Angelina to come unstrap you. But only if you promise not to try another stunt like yesterday again.”
I arch a quizzical eyebrow and he scowls.
“You can’t try to leave or ride your bike or do anything crazy until the doctors say it’s okay. You were out for hours yesterday and the doctor said your blood pressure was dangerously low. You barely woke up for Angelina to feed you and then you were out again ’til just now.”
The nervous look in his eyes tells me he was worried. He’s wearing yesterday’s rumpled clothes. The state of his hair and the stubble on his face tell me he likely hasn’t showered. The guilt sets in and I nod.
“I promise,” I tell him sincerely, “but I need to see her.”
“I know. Look I’ve got a driver coming to take you to the rehab facility…”
“What rehab facility? I want to go home.”
Scratching his head, he exhales and looks at me again.
“Jeremy, they were good about the physical therapy here, which is the only reason you can walk. But you’ve been lying in that bed for four years. You need intensive physical and psychological therapy and maybe even occupational therapy and speech therapy if you want to get anything of your old life back and the sooner you start the more likely you are to get things in order.”
“I feel fine.”
“You’re not fine. You threw up half of what you ate yesterday before you passed out again. You’re slurring your words. You can barely walk without almost killing yourself and you’re obviously not thinking straight. Christian came by yesterday and conferred with the doctors here about your best course of recovery. Everyone is optimistic. Bruce and
Sharon found you the best rehab facility on the West Coast and they’ve got a VIP suite waiting for you as soon as the doctors here can transfer your records and get you discharged.”
Tonguing my molars, I consider my future prospects. He’s right. I had a career, a future, and a woman who loved me. If I want any of that back, I’m going to have to fight for it. I nod.
“Have you at least called her to tell her what happened?”
“I couldn’t get ahold of her,” he says. “I left a message and I’ll try again later.”
A wave of nausea washes over me and I nod again.
“Fine. Look, I’m really hungry. Call the nurse. I’ll cooperate.”
He smiles and presses the call button. A few minutes later Angelina brings in a tray of fruit and toast. My mind spins as I consider my options.
“Noah?” I ask as I chew. “What’s his name?”
Swallowing, he smiles tightly.
“Levi. His name is Levi and he looks just like you.”
Whipping out a phone, he swipes a few times.
“Is that the latest version? It doesn’t look so different four years later.”
“The driver is bringing you a new one. It’s already hooked up. You can figure it out in the car. It’s not so different from the version you had. The best thing about it is that it takes really great pictures.”
He smiles and shows me the screen. My eyes well as I reach for the image of Sylvie and a little boy that could not be anyone but our son. He’s got my eyes and hair. The wide smile he’s wearing reminds me of old pictures of my childhood. He’s mine. There’s not a shred of doubt about his paternity.
My eyes fall on the woman holding my son. She’s smiling too. Full pink lips turned up at the corners. A dimple in each cheek. Those captivating dark caramel-colored eyes sparkle every bit as brightly as I remember. Her loose curls fall to her shoulders now, longer than the stylish bob she used to wear. But she is every bit as stunning as she was the last time I saw her.
The image is so clear. I want to trace the curve of her jawline with my fingers and kiss down the smooth skin of her neck. I can still feel her softness under my palms. I can picture the way her tawny flesh contrasted my tan hands as I moved them over her body. I recall every line and every hollow of her form and how she’d given every inch of herself to me so many times.
“She must not have known she was pregnant before…”
Pausing, I realize for the first time I have no idea how I landed in a coma on the side of the road outside the hospital.
“What happened to me, Noah? How’d I end up here?”
Turning toward the window, Noah clears his throat. The lateral motion of his head suggests he doesn’t have any more answers than I do.
“You don’t remember anything?” he asks, turning back to face me. His eyes lock onto mine as he searches for any clue that might arise. The heavy sadness behind his eyes darkens his face and laces it with shame. He feels guilty for the time I’ve lost. He would have looked for me, they all would have.
“The last thing I remember was working on the Q3 fiscal report. One of the accountants found an irregularity the week before and I was trying to straighten it out. I was in my office. I was hoping to finish up early because I was supposed to take Sylvie out of town for the weekend. I was planning to…”
The words catch in my throat and I shake my head.
“We found your Ducati at the office in your parking spot. You were found in your riding clothes.”
“I kept most of my suits at the office. You know I used to ride in and change there, and then change before I went home.”
“Yeah, I remember you practically lived in that office until…”
“Until I met Sylvie,” I smile as the memory floods back. “I had her moved in with me in three months and everything changed.”
* * *
The night before we left for our trip, the night before I disappeared, Sharon heard about what I was planning and she showed up at our apartment. She tried to convince me not to go. She said that Sylvie would only drag me down and that I needed a woman who would fit into my world. She left in a huff when I made it clear that nothing she could do or say would stop me from being with the woman I loved.
Sylvie stood by silently as my mother’s cruelty bombarded her and I tried to protect her from the madness of it all.
“I’m so sorry,” Sylvie whispered as the sound of Sharon’s footfalls faded into the distance.
I turned to face her with fire in my eyes. She looked so small that day. Her slender arms wrapped around her body. My heart ached as I studied the drops of sadness meandering down her high cheekbones and traveling the plane of her face to her delicately pointed chin. She wiped the moisture away, leaving drips on the long dark fringe that lined wide-set, almond-shaped eyes. Pushing back loose curls that had fallen against her brow, she lifted those bewitching chocolaty eyes to meet my gaze.
“Don’t do that, Sylvie. Don’t ever blame yourself for her or for my father. None of this is your fault.”
Her head fell in shame, but I gripped her face and forced her to look at me. Her chin quivered. Her eyes were glassy with tears. Her full rosy lips parted, but released only a whimper.
“Do you hear me?” I growled. “They could not be more wrong about you, about us. They’re poison. Don’t ever listen to them.”
She shook her head, her hands pushed at mine until I let her have the space she needed.
“I hate it that I’m tearing apart your family. I never had a family or a home. I don’t want to be the person to take yours away from you.”
I fought back laughter that yearned to escape as she spoke.
“Sweetheart, you’ve got it all wrong. Those people are my parents, but they aren’t my home. They never were and they never will be.”
I closed the distance between us so she could see my resolve.
“This,” I said, taking her hand and pressing a kiss into her palm. “This is my home.”
She closed her fist quickly with a smile as if she could hold the kiss there. I took her fist and placed it over my heart.
“You’re my home, Sylvie. Anywhere you are is where I want to be. And when we have kids, we’ll do it all differently. We’ll tell them we love them every day. We’ll teach them that kindness and compassion and giving a shit about other people are what matters and not the piles of expensive, designer ticky-tacky that I was raised on. We’ll find a house and fill it with all the warmth and love we have for each other and that will be home. Because home for me is anywhere that you are.”
When I tugged on her arm she came to me. She let me hold her. When she kissed my chest, my tense muscles relaxed.
“Could we have a garden?” she asked.
“I’ll make sure you have the most beautiful garden you can imagine.”
“Can we plant it together?”
I looked down at her. Dark eyes, filled with sweetness, stared back at me. I kissed her nose and grinned.
“Sweetheart, Let me be your home and we can do anything together that your heart desires.”
Her tentative smile broadened to an enchanting grin.
“I love you,” she whispered. “You’re not just my home, Jeremy. You’re my whole world.”
* * *
That was the last night I remember. I had a home. I had a life. I had her.
“I found your ring,” says Noah as if he could see the memory that had just played out in my mind.
“It was in your desk and I knew that Bruce and Sharon’s people were going to catalogue and take possession of everything. So I took it and gave it to her. I knew you would want her to have it. She didn’t even know she was pregnant then. I thought she was just sick with grief.”
The grating of my teeth fills my ears as I imagine her, round with my child, alone. I hate it that I wasn’t there for her, for them.
“I’m glad she knew how much I loved her…” I say as the anguis
h I’m swimming in colors my face.
“But?” Noah asks.
Shaking my head with bitterness that threatens to consume me, I fail to keep my anger contained as my next words escape.
“How could she marry him? Knowing that I wanted a future with her? After she had my son? What was she thinking? I’d already modified my will to care for her, she would have had everything that she needed.”
“Except you weren’t dead. The missing persons case was outstanding. Even if you were Bruce and Sharon would have contested the will. They made it very clear that they wanted nothing to do with her or her child. You know she doesn’t have any family. She was on her own, Jeremy.”
“Why didn’t you take care of her?”
“I did everything I could. I swear it. But Silas… he was determined. He won her over and there wasn’t anything anyone could have done. She loves him.”
She loves him. His words hang in the air like toxic smog. It fills my lungs and stings my eyes.
Before I can linger in my pain, the doctor arrives. It all happens in a flash. Noah tells me he’s riding my bike to the rehab facility and that he’ll meet me there. I’m dressed and discharged with an orderly wheeling me out of the hospital before I can really process what’s happening. A broad smile stretches my face as I approach the limo parked in front. I’d recognize that driver anywhere.
“Carter!” I call out. “It is really good to see you.”
“Probably not nearly as good as it is for me to see you. We all thought… Well, we didn’t expect to see you again.”
I stand up and we hug. Carter had been driving my family around since I was a child. The greying hair at his temples suggest that time had moved along while I was stuck in that hospital bed.
“How’s your family, Carter?”
“Good,” he says. “Everyone is doing just fine. My girls are in high school now. Keisha is applying to colleges.”
“I’m glad for you,” I say sincerely.
Everything Stolen Page 3
