REMEMBER ME (Secrets of Spirit Creek Book 1)

by Linda Style

  “The nurse is bringing up a wheelchair. But…” He hesitated. “You…uh…you don’t need to stay. I’m waiting to hear about a place that might have a spot for me.”

  Her jaw dropped. “That’s great.” She’d checked everywhere and hadn’t found anything. “I can take you there. Where is it?”

  “No. I’m good.” He waved a hand. “But thanks.”

  His demeanor, the way he glanced away, made her think he wasn’t giving her a straight story. A quick knock sounded at the door and the nurse came in with the wheelchair. “Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Crusoe,” she said in a flutey voice, all cheery and smiling.

  Linc pulled himself up, his back straight as a telephone pole. “I’m not quite ready yet.”

  Yeah. She’d pegged that one right. He had nowhere to go, and he wasn’t about to tell her. “Yes, you are,” Tori said. “You can forget whoever you called. I’ve already arranged a place for you to stay while you recover. And I think you’ll like it.”

  Linc looked at her, a suspicious frown forming.

  “I’ll tell you more about it on the way.”

  The nurse came forward with the chair and a set of crutches. “Here, take my arm,” she said, motioning him to slide into the chair.

  “No, not yet.” He gestured for the nurse to leave the room. “I’d like to talk to Tori first.” As the nurse scurried out, his hard gaze came back to Tori. “Tell me now.”

  Tori took a breath and gripped the chair handles. “Okay.” She took another breath. “You’re staying…with me.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  WHAT? LINC DIDN’T KNOW what he’d expected her to do when she’d said she was going to help him, but staying with her wasn’t even on his radar.

  “It’s all set,” Tori quickly added. “We’ll stop at my parents’ house for my things, then we’ll head out.”

  Linc’s pride warred with the not unpleasant idea of being alone with Tori in her own surroundings. Maybe she’d open up a little. But somehow, the thought didn’t make him feel any better. “What about the therapy?” He held up the list.

  She rubbed her chin. “You can do that anywhere.”

  The uncertainty in her tone made him wonder even more. “You’re going to take home a guy who’s been in prison for ten years? What about your family? Friends? They’ll think you’re crazy.”

  She pursed her lips, looked him in the eyes. “First off…given the circumstances of your…confinement, the jail part is not an issue. And second, you’re…a friend. My friends are their friends.”

  Friends. Linc felt a sudden, powerful need to hold her—to feel the physical warmth of another human being. Except for the impersonal prodding and poking of the medical staff, he couldn’t remember what that felt like. His need suddenly seemed overwhelming and urgent—disproportionate to the situation. Maybe it was the thought of leaving the hospital? He’d been here since he awakened from the coma and it was all he knew. Everything else threw him off.

  How would he react to other people, and they to him, a guy with no past? For all they knew, he could’ve been a criminal, just not the one who’d committed rape. And worse than that was his own uncertainty about who he’d been. Everything in his past was gone, and without that, he had no compass for the future.

  Everything except Tori. She was his only link to the past—to his identity. She was the only person who knew who he’d been before prison, at least during one part of his life. But as much as he liked having her there, depending on her didn’t feel right. The last thing he wanted from her, from anyone, was pity.

  But, fact was, he knew less about himself than he knew about Tori…or the nurses who talked nonstop about their lives. Hell, the only thing he knew for sure was that Tori was the most giving person he’d ever met.

  No…he knew one other thing. He knew he needed her—and he knew he didn’t like needing anyone.

  ~~~

  Linc hadn’t said more than three words the whole way to pick up her things from her parents’ house. If he was surprised at her decision, he was not alone. Tori felt a bit shell-shocked herself. But it was the only choice. This was necessary.

  She sat a little higher in the driver’s seat, feeling a sense of resolve now that she’d taken matters into her own hands. But almost in that same instant, an image of her mother flashed in her head. She tightened her grip on the wheel. No. This decision was hers and hers alone. No matter how many times she’d messed up in the past, she was going to go with her gut. She was doing the right thing.

  Even if Linc found out who she was, what could he do? He wasn’t the kind of person who’d physically hurt her. She knew that already. Besides, in his condition, she could probably knock him over with a puff of air.

  “This is it,” she said, stopping in front of her parents’ four-car garage. She pressed the door opener and one of the bays opened.

  Linc stared straight ahead.

  Tori parked next to the Mercedes-Benz sedan. In addition to getting her things, she also planned to take a few items of her father’s, clothes she knew he never wore and would never miss, then they’d stop at a store on the way back to Spirit Creek for a few toiletries. She would do everything she could, except contact a physical therapist and a psychiatrist. Linc had said he’d take care of it once he was settled and that’s where she’d left it.

  She cut the engine then turned to look at Linc, who was staring out the window like a zombie. She’d like to tell him she’d just as soon not be here herself, but instead, she said, “I know you don’t like any of this, Linc, and I know it has to be hard, but…you’ve got to let those feelings go in order to help yourself. To get on with your life.”

  Silence.

  Dammit. Why was he being so freaking stubborn. “If I had been your real girlfriend or fiancée, you’d let me help you without a thought. Right? So, what’s the big deal?”

  She saw a muscle twitch at the edge of his mouth, but still, he said nothing.

  “Okay, how about this. If you have a better idea, then tell me. If you don’t have a better idea, then suck it up and be grateful.”

  He did a double take, his expression suddenly switching from dour to amused.

  “I can just as easily take you to a homeless shelter and you can work things out from there.”

  “Okay, already.” He held up a hand. “I’m grateful. You’re nicer than I deserve and I’m a jerk. I just don’t get why you’re doing all this.”

  Her pulse quickened. She shrugged. “Maybe I have a penchant for taking in strays.”

  “Well, that I am.” He gave her a quick grin. “Or maybe you’ve always had a crush on me and don’t want to admit it.”

  Heat flared in her cheeks. “Wait here. I’ll just be a few minutes.” From the corner of her eye, she could see he was still grinning.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

  Once Tori was inside the house, she started gathering her things and stuffed them into her overnight bag. As she went into her dad’s closet, she called Serena to tell her what she was doing and that they’d be there in a couple of hours to pick up the dogs.

  “Are you crazy?”

  Tori pulled the phone away from her ear. “Maybe. But Linc needs help. He has no family, no resources, and I’m responsible for his problems. It’s only until he gets on his feet again. So to speak.”

  “Linc? You’re calling him Linc now?”

  “It’s a long story.” She held up one of the T-shirts she’d bought her dad that he’d never worn and tossed it on the bed.

  “I’ll bet,” Serena sniffed. “But the bottom line is that you’re getting sucked in like always, and this is a disaster in the making. Can’t you see that?”

  “If it is, then it is. I have to do this. It’s the right thing.”

  Serena quieted, then after a moment she said, “Are you sure. What if his memory comes back?”

  “I’ll deal with that if it happens, and I’ve never been more sure.” Yes, she had doubts. She’d be stupid not to. Bu
t she’d made a decision, and for once in her life she’d prefer not to have someone question it. “Besides, friends are supposed to support their friends whether they agree with them or not.”

  “Okay, okay. But friends also tell their friends when they think they’re making a terrible mistake. And now that we have that out of the way, what do you want me to do?”

  “We’re going to leave here as soon as we can,” Tori said. “So I’ll stop by the café to get the dogs somewhere around five. Will that work?”

  “Sure. But—”

  “No buts. Get over it.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything. I just need to know a couple of things so I can keep my stories straight. Besides Gordon, does anyone else know?”

  “Gordon doesn’t know everything. Not this. And I haven’t told my parents anything. They’re not even here.”

  “It’s been in the news.”

  “Well, they don’t get all the news, and all they’d know anyway is that he’s out.”

  Tori grabbed a few more T-shirts, some socks, jeans and sweatpants. “They’ll think what they think, and I can’t deal with that right now. I have to do this.”

  “Are you going to tell them anything?”

  “No. There’s no reason to. When was the last time they came to Spirit Creek?”

  “Point made.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you soon.” She hung up and headed back to the garage. As she slid into the driver’s seat, she said, “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Within a half hour, they were on I-17 headed for Spirit Creek. Deciding to bring Linc to her home could be the worst decision Tori had ever made. But she felt good about it. Really good. If nothing else, she owned the decision. She felt as if every decision she’d made through most of her life had been decision by committee—her parents, Gordon, Dylan, her friends. She’d had enough.

  Linc reached for the radio. “Do you mind if I turn on some music?”

  “Not at all. Hit the satellite channels if you’d rather listen to music without a lot of talk in between. I’ve also downloaded some songs from iTunes and Amazon.”

  “What do you have?” he asked, then gave a curt laugh. “Not that it matters.”

  She thought for a moment, trying to remember what she’d downloaded before her trip to Santa Fe a few months ago. “There might be some Bruno Mars…Maroon 5…Adele…Keith Urban.” She glanced over to see if he recognized any names, but saw no response. “I have eclectic tastes in music,” she offered.

  “Just play something. Anything.”

  “Okay. How about some road music?” She scanned until she got to a couple of songs from the early 2000s that she thought might be recognizable. “Here we go. These are from about the time we were at ASU. Destiny’s Child, Pink…and, oh, here, this is a good one by the Gin Blossoms. They’re an Arizona group.” She hit the play button and “Hey Jealousy” kicked in.

  For miles, they listened quietly, the music and road sounds filling the air. As they neared Sedona, Tori was idly tapping a beat on the steering wheel when she noticed Linc drumming his fingers on his thigh. A second later, he was humming. She didn’t say a word, and as the red rock mountains surrounding Sedona loomed in the distance, she heard him intermittently hum and sing the lyrics to “As Long As It Matters.”

  She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Did he even realize he was doing it? And if he remembered that much, what else might he remember?

  Whether he actually knew the lyrics or was just a quick learner, he seemed to really feel the music. He kept humming all the way to Sedona. Coming into town, he shifted in his seat, his gaze ping-ponging from one side of the street to the other. “Hey, that’s strange,” he said, pointing to a McDonald’s. “Aren’t they supposed to have golden arches?”

  She grinned. “You’re right. The Sedona McDonald’s is the only one in the country that doesn’t have golden arches. The community wanted the architecture to blend, not stand out. Apparently, the city wouldn’t allow the store unless it fit the Southwest landscape. Hence the turquoise arches.”

  “Makes sense,” he said, still glancing around. He pointed to a store window with native artwork, and a sign that read Silver and Turquoise, 40 Percent Off. “This town is all art stores and tourist shops.”

  “In this area, yep, pretty much.”

  “All the art galleries…probably why you live here, huh?” He continued gawking like a little kid visiting Disneyland for the first time.

  She smiled. “No. And the town where I live is seven miles north of here.”

  “So, if it’s not the art, why didn’t you stay in Phoenix?”

  “My parents used to have a cabin in Spirit Creek while I was growing up. I spent a lot of time there.”

  He was quiet again and she wondered if what she’d said made him remember something.

  But then he said, “A cabin. That must’ve been nice.”

  “It was. Especially in the summer when it gets super hot in Phoenix.” A few minutes later, she realized she was coming up on the turnoff to go home, quickly changed lanes and turned left. “It’s a small town and I like that.”

  “So, this cabin…is that where you live now?”

  “No. My parents sold it when I was in college. I bought my house after my divorce.” She shrugged. “I wanted a new beginning, and I have a lot of friends in Spirit Creek, so I came back.” A warmth grew in her chest remembering how everyone had made her feel so welcome. “It’s small-town America, and everyone knows everyone. I like that.”

  He was quiet for a minute, then said, “Divorced, huh? I didn’t know you had even been married. I mean…you never said anything, so I just thought—”

  “The divorce was five years ago,” she said quickly, then gave him the sound bite she gave everyone. “We were just out of college, really too young. Anyway, it didn’t work out. Three years later, we divorced.”

  He got quiet again. Thoughtful. “Divorce can get really ugly. I’m sorry you had to go through it.”

  His concern sent a wave of guilt through her. As hard as divorce was, it couldn’t compare to the horrors of an innocent man spending ten years in prison. “Lots of people go through much worse. Our divorce was…amicable. We’re still friends.”

  Something she and Linc would never be once his memory returned.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Not many people can do that,” Linc said, admiring Tori’s ability to maintain a friendship with her ex.

  Her amber eyes lit up as she looked at him. “How do you know that?”

  He shrugged. “I just do.” Surprisingly, he seemed to “just know” a lot of abstract things, but he had nothing to attach them to. While in the hospital, if the nurses asked him about something, he might be able to answer knowledgeably, or he might not. And when he did know something, he didn’t know why or how he knew it. He could’ve studied the subject in school or seen it on some news show. “I’m hoping that one of these days the things I know will come with memories attached.”

  “That…would be good,” she said.

  Studying her, he realized how pretty she’d be without the glasses covering her expressive eyes. Today she was wearing a long, white, tank-type shirt with a short, jacket over it, black pants and black boots. Her hair was in a ponytail again, tiny silver hoop earrings graced her earlobes and a delicate silver cross hung on a short chain around her neck. Her smooth, slender neck. He had an incredible urge to put his lips against the spot right below her earlobe to see if her skin was as soft as it looked. His blood surged at the thought.

  But he’d no doubt get kicked to the curb on that one. Their road trip conversation was the first in which she’d willingly told him anything about herself. Up till now, he’d had to drag every smidgen of information out of her. That she’d trusted him enough to share something personal made him feel closer to her. He hoped she’d share more.

  Because if he knew nothing else, he knew he wanted to get to know Tori Amhearst a w
hole lot better. He wanted to know everything about her. Did she like ice cream, movies, hiking, the Beatles? She wasn’t exactly a prim-and-proper type, but she seemed a little reserved. He wondered if she was like that all the time, even in bed. After their first meeting, he’d dreamed about her coming into the room in a nurse’s outfit, shutting the door and then taking off her glasses, letting her hair down.

  “We’re almost there.”

  Her words nudged him out of his fantasy. But his body wouldn’t let it go. If only he could cross his legs. Embarrassed, he hoped she didn’t look over.

  “Good,” he said. “Sitting in one spot for so long makes me edgy.” He pushed himself to think of something to change the direction of his thoughts, though he doubted it would do any good. He seemed preoccupied with sex, which under the circumstances, shouldn’t be a surprise. “Are you always this nice to people?”

  Frowning, she glanced over, then returned her gaze to the road. “What do you mean?”

  “From what you said, we weren’t such good friends that you’d feel any sense of obligation to help me. You could just as easily have waved good-bye at the hospital and never come back. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it.”

  She maneuvered a curve, and as she did, she said, “Oh, look. We’re here.” Pointing to a sign on the side of the road that read, Spirit Creek, Population 2,500, she added, “That’s 2,500, give or take a few new babies, animals, eccentric hermits and loonies.”

  The road ahead cut through a mountain, stores lining both sides, and above them, homes dotted the rocky slopes. “It looks quaint.”

  “We’re stopping at the coffee shop on the next street to pick up my dogs. Bruno and Cleo.”

  Dogs. A warm feeling came over him at the thought. Maybe he’d had a dog in his past life. They turned off the main road, made another turn, and dead ahead, he saw an old Victorian home that had been painted bright lavender with white scalloped trim. In front was a sign that said, The Cosmic Bean.

  “My friend Serena owns the café and lives upstairs in the rest of the house.”