by Hope Jones
“You’re lying with me tonight,” I said. “It’s obvious you aren’t getting enough sleep in that chair.”
“Henley, there isn’t enough room and I don’t want to hurt you,” he told me, eyeing the bed wearily.
“Graham. Get in the bed. You can’t take care of me if you’re too tired.” I manipulated him in saying that. I knew he was doing his best to take care of me and knew me saying that would get him to listen.
I was right.
Graham blew out a frustrated breath, kicked his shoes off and moved the blanket. The bed dipped with his weight, and he stayed so close to the edge so as not to touch me, I was shocked he didn’t fall off.
I raised an eyebrow at him and silently said “really, get on the bed.” He must have known what I was saying because he scooted a little closer and tucked the covers around both of us. I gave him a smile that I knew was smug, but I was happy he’d finally get a somewhat decent night’s sleep.
The smug smile still in place, my eyelids began to get heavy and I was off to sleep in no time, my husband—who I didn’t remember—doing his best not to touch me. It was the best sleep I had had in a long time.
Chapter Four
Henley
A WEEK LATER, I was walking into the home I owned with Graham.
My last week in the hospital had been pretty much the same. Graham was still iffy about me being up and walking around but eventually accepted that I was going to do it with or without his permission. The first few days, when my muscles were still stiff, he began to help me get in and out of bed, moving to the bathroom, or we would look out the hospital window and watch the sunset. Watching the sunset basically became our nightly routine.
More than a few times, I caught Graham looking at me versus the window and rather than feeling awkward or uncomfortable; I felt a warm tingle move through my body.
I liked the idea of him watching me.
Graham pulled his truck into the gravel driveway and I marveled at the house before us.
I couldn’t believe it was mine.
“We live here?” I breathed in awe at the picturesque home.
It was the definition of a country-style home with white paint on the outside and green shutters, a wraparound porch being the main focal point.
“I bought it a couple of weeks after we got married. We’ve spent the last year renovating it,” Graham said, watching my face as I gaped at our home.
“It’s amazing,” I told him.
Graham threw the truck in park, quickly unbuckled, and was at my door in no time. Helping me down, Graham laughed at my amazement. I paid him no mind.
Obviously, I had seen our house before now, but it was amazing getting to experience it again. I really hoped I’d get my memories back so I could remember what it was like renovating it with Graham. I had a feeling we both enjoyed putting our blood, sweat, and tears into our own home.
A large swing hung from the ceiling of the porch on the right side and the left had two off-white rocking chairs with a small table between them.
I could only imagine coming out here in the morning, drinking coffee and watching the sunrise.
Our house was far enough off the main road that we wouldn’t have to worry about noisy cars and city lights. Other than the driveway and a few yards around the house, we were surrounded by trees.
I instantly fell in love, all over again I believed.
To the left of the house was a single, very large tree with a small wooden swing attached to a limb. I knew Graham would never go for it, but I wanted to sprint to that swing and feel the cool breeze in my hair.
We didn’t have any children that I knew about, so I asked him, “What’s the swing for?”
“We were trying for a baby,” he told me, looking more than a little uncomfortable. “You wanted the swing out there for when we did have kids. Occasionally, when I came home from work, I’d catch you on it, swinging back and forth with a serene smile on your face.”
Tears started gathering in my eyes and I angrily swiped them away. Graham’s eyes came back to mine and he looked shocked.
“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” he asked.
“No.” I sniffled. “I’m angry that I lost everything for the last five years. I wanna be able to remember meeting you, our first date, our first kiss, what it was like to come out here and drink a cup of coffee while watching the sunrise. It’s not right.” I sobbed, his arms gently coming around me and pulling me into him.
“It won’t always be like this. We’ll get your memories back,” he growled, pain laced in his voice.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how painful this is for you, too.”
“I’m more worried about you,” he told me as I pulled away from his chest and wiped the last of my tears away.
“You know you don’t have to coddle me, right? When I ask you questions, don’t worry about how uncomfortable it is. I want to know everything, even if it’s something like we were trying for a baby.”
Graham looked unsure but ultimately nodded his head.
“Come on,” he said, tugging my hand. “There are a few things I want to show you.”
I followed behind him, my sadness and anger long gone, being replaced with a giddiness that had me bouncing on the balls of my feet.
We entered our house and I was awestruck again. It was even better on the inside.
A small foyer had rooms on either side, but before I could look in them, Graham was coming to my side and helping me up the stairs in front of us. While my muscles worked much better than they did a week ago, climbing stairs wore me out a little bit. With Graham’s help, the trek wasn’t so rough on me.
We followed a long hallway all the way down, passing several doors but not stopping to look in them. Making it to the last door on the left, Graham left my side and opened it, pulling me in.
The room was painted white, a long dresser pushed against the wall on the left and a gray bed in the middle of the wall on the right. It was very clean, something I knew I wasn’t. Cleaning wasn’t a strong suit of mine. At least it wasn’t five years ago.
“Look,” Graham whispered, pointing to two canvas pictures on either side of the bed.
My breath caught in my throat. On the right side was a black-and-white picture of me, only catching the side of my face, but I could tell I was smiling hard. My hair was done in a half up, half down fancy twist, and judging by the veil in my hair, it was my wedding picture.
The second canvas picture was also in black and white, but it was Graham. His picture was taken farther away than mine, so I was able to see his entire face. In his picture, there was an archway behind him, decorated in white roses. He was also smiling, but tears were streaming down his face, and he looked like had seen something stunning. His face was cleanly shaved, and he looked happier than I’d ever seen him.
“Wow,” I mumbled, slightly obsessed with the pictures.
“We hired two photographers for our wedding so they could capture both our reactions the exact moment we saw each other. You wanted them in black and white and hung above our bed.”
“They’re amazing,” I told him, and I wasn’t lying.
Hiring two photographers was unnecessary though, I only needed to see his reaction. He was truly happy to be marrying me. Judging by the look on his face, I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Having seen the pictures made me want to be closer to him. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to work on my memories so I could get everything back.
“Do you want to see the rest of the house or would you rather take a nap? You’ve got to be tired.”
I really wanted to see the rest of the house, but between leaving the hospital, the ride home, and the trek up the stairs, I was worn out.
“I think I’ll take a nap and we can tour the rest of the house when I get up. Can you wake me up before Tuesday gets here?”
“Sure. Your pajamas are on the right side of the dresser, last drawer.”
I nodded a
nd moved to the drawer while Graham moved to leave our bedroom.
Tossing my wrinkled clothes on the chair sitting in the corner of our room, I threw on my pajamas and crawled into my bed. Before I could think another thought, I was out.
***
THE BED DIPPED WITH a heavy weight and my sluggish eyes opened to find Graham sitting on the edge.
“Hey,” he whispered, a soft smile playing on his face.
Rubbing my eyes to get the sleep out of them, I sat up and grinned back at him. No light was filtering through the room from the window, so it was safe to assume it was nighttime.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I asked, instinctively reaching for the lamp on the nightstand.
“You looked exhausted before you fell asleep, I wasn’t going to wake you,” he told me, holding a plate up and offering me a sandwich.
I hadn’t realized until then how hungry I was, so I hastily grabbed the plate and started shoving the sandwich in my mouth.
Graham laughed, making me realize how unladylike I was behaving. “Sorry,” I mumbled around a mouthful.
“You could have come down to the kitchen and ate before you took a nap.”
“I’ll remember that.”
I slowed my chewing and shoving while Graham moved from the edge of the bed to sitting on it fully, arranging the pillows against the headboard.
After a few moments of silence Graham cleared his throat. “I have an idea,” he said vaguely.
“Okay?” I replied.
“You want to remember everything, right?”
His question didn’t warrant an answer because he already knew I wanted to get my memories back. I nodded my head and took the last bite of my food.
“I want to recreate everything. I want to go on our first date again. I want you to get to know me so you don’t feel like you’re living in this house with a stranger.”
I mulled the idea over in my head while setting my plate on the nightstand. It was a freakin’ brilliant idea.
“Let’s do it,” I told him, grabbing one of his hands resting on his stomach and giving him an encouraging squeeze.
He returned my smile and said, “In that case, Henley Westbay, would you go on a date with me tomorrow?”
Feeling the butterflies take flight in my belly, I told him, “Yes. I would love that.”
We sat on the bed for a few more minutes until a phone started ringing in the distance. He hopped off the bed and came around to help me. We climbed down the stairs and walked to the right, into a kitchen that was breathtaking.
Graham deposited me on a stool in front of the bar and picked up the phone off the counter.
While Graham talked to whoever was on the phone, I looked around the kitchen and took in the décor. It was obvious that it was decorated by a woman with the light color scheme and dark cabinets. Whenever I could, I was making a meal in here. Hopefully, walking up and down stairs wouldn’t exhaust me for much longer and I could actually stand in the kitchen to cook.
Graham’s attention came back to me and he told me that Tuesday was on her way. He said he kept her away as long as he could, but she was insisting on coming over.
I didn’t mind Tuesday’s company, but it would have been nice to spend a little more time with Graham. I was getting a feel for his personality and I liked being around him. He was very calm and sensitive to my emotions, which made me believe that we had an extreme connection that I wanted to continue exploring.
***
A FEW HOURS LATER, Tuesday and I were sitting on my black leather couch, browsing through photo albums that I had kept on the coffee table. Tuesday was sure it would bring back some memories and if it didn’t, I could see how happy my life had been the last five years.
We started on the albums that didn’t include Graham yet. Several photos were Tuesday, me, and friends from college at house parties I rarely attended. A few were of Tuesday, Mom, Dad, and me at family functions.
When coming across the photos of my dad, I smiled a watery smile and rubbed his face. My dad passed away a few months before the last thing I remember. He had a heart attack and when he went in for surgery to remove the clog blocking one of his heart valves, he died.
“I miss you,” I whispered to Tuesday. “It doesn’t feel like five years have gone by since he passed.”
Tuesday scooted closer to my place on the couch and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I know it’s tough, babe.”
We sat on the couch, flipping page after page of my pictures when we started to come across some of the ones with Graham in them. In every single picture I was smiling, looking very happy to be in the presence of my man.
Frustration started coursing through my veins. I wanted so badly to remember.
“Graham’s taking me on a date tomorrow night,” I told Tuesday.
“Oh, really?” she said, wagging her eyebrows.
I giggled, but told her, “Shut up, you know it’s not like that.”
“Not yet, anyway,” she pointed out.
“What’s he like?” I asked, turning to face her fully. I knew I was cheating by asking my best friend about him, but I needed to know more.
Tuesday sighed dreamily. “I couldn’t have picked someone more perfect for you. He dotes on you like you’re the very reason for his breathing. When he looks at you, you can tell he absolutely adores you, even with your memory gone.”
My heart sped up knowing I picked someone who loved me as much as Tuesday said Graham did.
Biting my lip with excitement, Tuesday and I finished going through the pictures. I loved my best friend, but I wanted nothing more than to shove her out of the house so I could eat a late dinner and go to bed so tomorrow would get here faster.
I wanted to go on a date with my husband.
Chapter Five
Graham
OWNING ONE OF THE few twenty-four-seven tractor-trailer services in town was beginning to kill me. Henley’s and my date was this evening, and while I had dropped her off at her mom’s, I still wanted to leave work and take a shower before our date. My hands all the way up to my elbows were covered in grease.
I had taken the last three weeks off work, giving everything I couldn’t do from home to my shop manager so I could be at the hospital with Henley while she recovered. I was doing my best to keep the phone calls from work to a minimum since she had come home, but work was really good this time of year, and it was becoming too much for my manager to handle it all on his own.
Waking up this morning to three phone calls from three different employees, I knew I needed to return to work, even if it was for only a few hours. Those few hours turned into the entire day and I was pissed. I could take a few more weeks off before I would start eating the hours, but I would take off the rest of the year if that was how much time Henley needed to recover fully.
After waking up and confirming with my employees that I would be coming in, I took a shower, careful not to make much noise around the house to allow Henley to sleep longer. I knew the emotional toll everything was taking on her if her pinched face had anything to say about it. She was incredibly frustrated looking at pictures last night with Tuesday and not remembering a single thing. I did my best to stay away from the living room where she and her best friend were camped out, opting to work in my office on the payroll for the last week. Occasionally, I would go downstairs and find Henley staring intently at a picture, almost as if she were trying to will the memory into her brain.
It didn’t work, but it didn’t stop her from trying.
As much pain as I was in knowing my sweet wife didn’t remember me, it caused me more pain to see her so troubled by her injuries. Dr. Raven said her memories would likely come back, but how long that could take was up to her brain. However long that took, it was going to be agonizing.
Snapping back to the present when a tire was slammed on the stack in front of me, I decided to call it a day. I had an hour before I needed to pick Henley up from her mom’s for our date.
&nb
sp; “Jim, I’m headed out. I’ve been here longer than I planned, gotta pick my wife up.”
Jim grunted, walking back to the dismounted tires and picking another one up. I shook my head at my ornery manager and strode to the bathrooms to clean my hands before getting in my truck. Jim may come off as harsh, but he was the best at his job and didn’t mind the back-breaking labor. He came highly recommended and when his application landed on my desk; I hired him on the spot.
**
THE DRIVE TO HENLEY’S mom’s house was quiet, the only sound the low music I had on. My thoughts being the only thing I was really listening to.
I was nervous because I had no idea how to act around Henley. To her, I was a stranger. She didn’t remember any of the intimate moments we shared together. She knew next to nothing about me and she also wasn’t sure how to carry herself in my presence.
I was hoping that with this date we could establish some knowledge and common ground so living together wouldn’t be awkward for her. I was already sleeping in the guest bedroom and refused to leave my wife to live somewhere else while she recovered. No way in hell was I leaving her.
Pulling up to the ranch-style home, I slammed the truck in park and walked to the front door. When I got on the porch, I heard through the house, “Henley!”
Grinning, I knocked and waited as patiently as I could manage for Henley to open it. When the door flew open, my breath got stuck in my throat.
My wife was the most beautiful person I had ever laid eyes upon and that hadn’t changed in the three years we’d known each other, or since she had forgotten me.
She was still my entire world.
The high-waisted jeans she was wearing accentuated her full hips that I knew led to a fantastic ass. She wore a light pink and orange see-through long-sleeve button-down with a white tank top underneath, half of the button-down shirt tucked into her jeans. A few of the buttons were undone, giving me the slightest hint of cleavage, bringing back all the memories of sucking her nipples into my mouth and hearing the moan of pleasure it gave her.
