Lost Down Deep

by Sara Davison

  Daphne flung a bouquet of flowers on a chair and stampeded toward her. Before Summer could react, her friend had flung her arms around her and pulled her close. “Are you okay?”

  “She’d likely be better if you weren’t accosting her, Daph.” Shawn followed his wife into the room, considerably more sedately, clutching a white box under one arm. Summer grinned. They really were perfect for each other, those two.

  Daphne let go of her and stepped back abruptly. “Sorry. But I was so worried after Nancy called and told us everything that was going on, including that your name is actually Summer and Ryan’s is Jude. I had to see for myself if you were all right.”

  Summer winced. “I’m sorry about all that confusion. I am fine, I promise. It was an experience, but between Jude and the police and God, everything turned out okay.” I hope. Her smile dimmed as she wondered again how Jude was doing. Likely he was still in surgery, but she’d give anything for an update.

  As though he could read her thoughts, Shawn touched the blanket over her foot. “Is Jude all right?”

  Summer swallowed. “As far as I know. He was shot in the leg, so I’m guessing he’s in surgery, but no one is willing to tell me anything about him.”

  “I know a few people who work here. Want me to ask around? See if I can find out anything?”

  She could have wept at the offer. “Would you?”

  “Of course.” Shawn set the white box down on the table beside the flowers. “A few of your favorites.”

  “They’re all my favorites.”

  He flashed her a grin. “That’s what we like to hear.” He headed for the door. “I’ll come back as soon as I hear anything.”

  “Thanks, Shawn.”

  As soon as he was gone, Daphne pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and plopped down on it. “Are you really okay?” Her bright blue eyes searched Summer’s.

  “I am, but I’m worried about Jude.”

  Daphne’s forehead wrinkled. “Nancy didn’t give a lot of details on the phone, so Shawn and I are still trying to figure out who everyone actually is.”

  Summer expelled a breath. “Ryan Taylor is actually Jude McCall, my…” What should she call him? Ex-fiancé didn’t give off the right impression, even if that was exactly what he was. “… boyfriend.”

  Daphne’s eyebrows rose nearly to the blonde bangs sweeping across her forehead. “But you didn’t remember him because of that head injury.”

  “Exactly. He followed me here to Elora because he was worried that the guy who attacked me in my home might follow me here. Which, of course, is what happened.”

  “And you’re Summer…”

  “Velásquez.” Summer held out her hand. Daphne took it and pressed it between both of her plump ones. “I’m sorry I lied to you about that. I came here to hide, so I couldn’t use my actual name.”

  “I get it. It’s nice to finally know the real name of my sister, though.”

  Summer blinked.

  “That’s right. I’ve decided we’re going to be each other’s sisters, since neither of us has one. You can choose your own family, you know, especially if the one you’re born into turns out to be a dud.”

  She laughed. Daphne her sister and Shawn her brother-in-law. “I love that idea.”

  “Me too.” Daphne patted her hand. “And that means you get to be an aunt in a few months, too.”

  Summer’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”

  “Yep. I’ve known since shortly after you started working with us, but I was afraid to tell anyone because of what happened last time. A couple of days ago we told Shawn’s son Cory, who was pretty thrilled to find out that, at twenty-three, he was about to have a baby brother or sister. You were next on my list of people to tell, so now you know.”

  “Daphne.” Summer tugged her hand free and threw her arms around her friend. Her sister. “I’m so happy for you and Shawn.”

  “Thank you.” When Summer let her go, Daphne sat back on the chair with a little bounce. “I’m happy for us, too.”

  “That’s exactly what I needed to hear right now.”

  Daphne gripped the armrests and leaned forward. “I’m sure it must be terribly hard, waiting to hear news about the man you love. If Shawn had been shot…” She stopped and cocked her head. “What is it?”

  “What makes you think I love him?”

  “Oh, come on. It was clear to me from the minute Ryan or Jude or whatever his name is walked into the Taste of Heaven that the two of you were meant to be together. Even those first few weeks, when you didn’t know you knew him, there was obviously something strong between you.” She drew in a sharp breath. “When you get out of the hospital, you guys should get married and have a baby and we can raise our kids together.”

  Shock jolted through Summer. “Espérate, Daphne. Slow down. I don’t think Jude and I are there right now. The last time we were engaged, it didn’t go so well.”

  “Wait.” Daphne flung out an arm, knocking the white box off the table. She grabbed it before it could hit the floor and set it back on the table. “You two were engaged?”

  “Yes. Until the night before I was attacked. Then he came to me to tell me he wasn’t ready. So what would make me think that he’s ready now?”

  Daphne reached for her hand again. “Summer, I know I’ve been discreet about it, but I’ve been watching the two of you together.”

  Summer pressed her lips together.

  Her friend let out a long-suffering sigh. “All right, I don’t do discreet. The point is, I’ve been watching. That man is deeply, madly in love with you. And I’m pretty sure—now that you remember everything that happened between the two of you, and maybe even before you remembered—you feel the same way about him. ¿Estoy equivocada?”

  Summer stared at her for a few seconds, until her shoulders slumped. “No. You aren’t wrong.”

  A smug look crossed Daphne’s face. “There you go.”

  Shawn tapped lightly on the door before walking into the room. Summer straightened quickly. “Did you find out anything?”

  He walked over and stood behind Daphne, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Not a lot, only that Jude’s out of surgery. He’s going to be in recovery for a while.”

  “Okay, that’s good to know. That’s all they told you?”

  “I’m afraid so. They don’t like to give out information to anyone who isn’t family.”

  Daphne scowled. “We’re practically family.”

  He squeezed her shoulders. “I know, sweet. Unfortunately, the hospital doesn’t recognize ‘practically family’.”

  “It’s okay.” Summer tugged the blanket up higher as a coolness skittered across her skin. What if Jude wasn’t all right? Daphne had reminded her how much she had loved him before her attack and how much she loved him now. More, if possible. She didn’t know everything that had happened to Jude since coming to Elora, but he was different. She hadn’t seen a trace of the blackness that had surrounded him occasionally, that had pressed down on him in dark moments. He’d worked through something, even more than he’d shared with her in the kitchen. She hoped and prayed they’d have a chance to talk about that so she would be able to understand why he had appeared to hold back from her before but now seemed to be all in. God, help him to be okay. We have so much to talk about, so much life to live. Help me not to worry, but to leave him in your hands.

  The prayer helped. The fear she’d been feeling eased and the coolness dissipated.

  Shawn patted Daphne’s shoulder. “We should go, Daph. Let Summer get some sleep. And you should rest, too.”

  Summer smiled. “Yes, Daphne told me your news. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.” Shawn nodded toward the white box. “Enjoy, okay?”

  “I always do.”

  Daphne bent down and hugged her again. “Let me know when you’re home. No need to come back to work, though, until you’re absolutely ready.” She straightened and pressed a hand to her chest. “You are coming back to wo
rk, right?”

  “I’m not sure. Everything is up in the air at the moment. Can I tell you as soon as I have a chance to talk to Jude and we figure out where we’re going from here?”

  “Of course.” She winked at Summer. “I’ll be dying to hear how that conversation goes.”

  “I’ll let you know. And maybe I can tell you my story then too. I think I’m ready to share it now.”

  Dimples flashed in Daphne’s cheeks. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

  Shawn slid an arm around his wife’s shoulders and guided her to the door. The room, as it always did, felt emptier and quieter after Daphne had left than it had before she arrived. That woman trailed laughter and sunshine with her wherever she went. No wonder Shawn was so head over heels in love with her.

  Like Jude is with you and you with him? Summer lay back against the pillow, contemplating Daphne’s assertion. She hadn’t had a moment to analyze where she and Jude stood with each other since her memories had come back. Now that she did, she could only come to one possible conclusion, one that drove the last of the cold out of her body.

  No, Daphne was definitely not wrong.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Jude shifted slightly on the hospital bed and winced. He’d woken up in recovery a couple of hours ago and was going crazy lying there, wondering if Summer was okay. He needed a distraction from both that question—which nobody here seemed to want to answer even though he’d asked every single person walking by, some more than once—and the throbbing pain in his thigh where they’d removed the bullet.

  They’d brought his belongings into the tiny cubicle, and he reached over to the small table beside the bed, lifted his shirt, and grabbed his cell phone. He punched in a phone number and waited through a couple of rings before his brother answered. “Hello?”

  “Cash, it’s me.”

  “Hey. Everything okay?”

  Jude hesitated. “I’ll tell you, but before I do, let me start by saying that I’m all right.”

  When he spoke, Cash’s voice was tight. “What’s going on?”

  There really was no good way to break it to him. “I got shot.”

  He held his breath through three seconds of silence before his brother spoke again. “Are you actually trying to shorten my life, Jude?”

  Jude laughed. “No, I promise I’m not.”

  “What happened?” The couch creaked as though Cash was getting to his feet.

  “The guy who attacked Summer showed up at Nancy’s place this morning. He took her hostage at gunpoint. When I tried to stop him, he shot me in the leg and took off with her. I followed them and he drove to the top of the gorge and dragged her down the steps and out onto the river.”

  “Before we go any further with this, is Summer okay?”

  “I think so. She’s somewhere in the hospital too.”

  “Shot?”

  “No, she…” Jude stopped and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “She fell through the ice.”

  “No.”

  “I know. It was crazy. I even started getting messed up in my head about who it was I was going after. Anyway, the guy tried to stop me, but the police arrived and took him down and I was able to pull her out in time.”

  “Wait. So all those sirens I kept hearing earlier today, those were about you?”

  “I guess so.”

  Cash blew out a breath. “Did you have surgery?”

  “Yeah, it went well. I’m in recovery now. Can you come and talk to some of your buddies here, get them to let me out of this place?”

  His brother let out a short laugh. “I doubt I can do that, but I can come, yes. I’ll bring Mom and Maddie too.”

  “Okay. And Cash?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Mom doesn’t know anything about Summer. Can you fill her in on the way in case she meets her here at the hospital?”

  “Sure.”

  “And I know I’ve put her through a lot the last five years. Please lead with the fact that I’m going to be perfectly fine.”

  “I can, although, from personal experience, I’ll tell you that all that does is raise about a million red flags.”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s all right. There’s no good lead-in to news about being shot.”

  “I guess not. But speaking of news, the other breaking headline is that Summer remembers.”

  “Everything?”

  “Yeah. It all came back to her this morning, right before that guy showed up.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing, Jude. Really.”

  “I know. She made it clear that I have some explaining to do, but I’m hopeful we can work everything out.”

  “Does that mean we can all be ourselves tonight?”

  “Yes, thankfully.”

  “Good to know. I’ll head out now.” Keys jangled in the background. “Is there anything you want me to bring you?”

  “Actually, there is. Can you go to the motel and see if they’ll let you into my room? If so, grab me a change of clothes and…” He hesitated. Should he bring it here? He couldn’t wait until he was out of the hospital to ask Summer—again—to marry him. He needed to know that as soon as they were both strong enough to get out of this place they could start their life together. “There’s a blue ring box in the top drawer of the dresser. Can you grab that too?”

  A short pause, then, “I thought you refused to take that back from her.”

  Jude exhaled. “I did, but I went to her place and took it from her room before coming to Elora.”

  “Ah. Okay then, I’ll grab that. And I’ll be able to get in. I know Melanie, the woman who works the front desk there, from the gym.”

  Meaning the chances of Jude getting his stuff were pretty good. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. See you soon.”

  Jude set the phone on the table. For a long time, when he was in trouble, he hadn’t had anyone to call. It felt pretty good now to know that, whenever he needed him, his big brother would be there. So good that he didn’t know how he’d been able to go so long without that. Of course, he could have called Cash any time after leaving home. He’d known that, even in his darkest hours. He hadn’t lied to his brother when he’d told him he’d almost called, more times than he could count. And he should have. Although, if he had, Cash would have come and gotten him and maybe he never would have met Summer or figured out what he wanted to do with his life.

  Jude sighed. God was in control, and he was not. And he was perfectly fine with that.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Summer was ready to tear her hair out by the roots. “I’m going to lose my mind.” She flopped back against the pillow.

  “Which would be a shame, since you’ve only recently gotten it back.” Nancy calmly handed her a cup of tea.

  Summer made a face at her. “That’s very funny.”

  “I thought so.” Nancy fluffed the pillows up behind her back—her earrings and clunky orange necklace clattering as she did—and gave her a quick hug. “He’s going to be fine.”

  “I’m sure he is, but I’d really like to hear that from the surgeon.”

  “Well, I keep bugging them at the nurse’s station, and they keep telling me they can’t give me any information because we’re not family. I have a strategy, though. I plan to hound them until I wear them down and they give me an update purely to shut me up.”

  Summer had an entirely different strategy in mind. She set the cup of tea on the table beside the bed and clasped Nancy’s arm. “I appreciate you being here, but why don’t you go home and have a nap? I can call you when they release me.”

  Nancy’s eyes narrowed. “Oh no. You’re only trying to get rid of me so you can sneak out of bed and try to find Jude. I’m not going anywhere.” She picked up her bag of knitting and plunked herself down on the chair in the corner.

  Summer blew out a breath. Jude was here in the building somewhere. So close and yet he might as well be a hundred miles away, since no one would let her see him or tell
her how he was doing. Now that she’d finally recovered her memories, the two of them could—

  Summer gasped and pressed a hand to her mouth. The woman who had forgotten all about him. It was her. She was his mystery woman. Only now she remembered.

  A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she lowered her hands to the blanket. “Come in.”

  She’d been hoping for a doctor, but a thrill still shot through her when she saw who it was. “Evan!”

  “Hi, Summer.” He walked to the side of her bed, bent down, and kissed her on the cheek. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Thankful you showed up when you did.”

  “Me too.”

  Summer looked over at Nancy. “Nancy, this is my partner, Detective Evan Travers, from the Toronto PD.”

  Nancy rose from the chair and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You too.”

  She gestured to the small white box on the table beside the bed. “Would you like something to eat?”

  Summer opened the box and held it out to her partner. “They’re from the bakery where I’ve been working, the best you’ll ever taste. Even better than Aunt Dolly’s on Yonge Street.”

  “That’s a ringing endorsement, for sure.” Evan examined the choices before grabbing a white-chocolate-macadamia-nut cookie. “Thanks.” He pulled a chair closer to the side of the bed and sat down.

  Summer clasped her hands on top of the blanket. “Have you heard anything about Jude?”

  “Actually, yes.” He frowned. “Pretty tight security around this place. I had to flash my badge around to a few different people before they’d tell me anything.”

  “Is he all right?”

  Evan broke off a piece of the cookie. “He’s going to be fine. He’s out of surgery and the doctor said everything went really well. They don’t expect there will be any permanent damage.”

  She sagged against the pillows. Gracias a Dios. Thank you, God. “Did they say when he could go home?”

  “He lost a lot of blood, so they want him to stay a day or two at least, keep an eye on him.” He shoved the cookie into his mouth.

  Summer blew out her breath. “That makes sense. Thank you. I was going crazy not knowing what was going on with him.”