“No, I’m sorry but I have nothing here that would help beyond any minor medical attention that I could provide. I have some medical supplies in my bathroom cabinet, but that’s mostly for external injuries,” I replied, “You could come check out the house and see if there’s anything that might help. I could also make you something to eat.”
His stomach growled loud enough for us both to hear. I chuckled, causing an adorable smile to spread across his face as he turned to me and nodded.
Chapter Nine
He started complimenting me on my home even before we arrived at the house. He complimented me on my landscaping skills, on how beautiful the pool was, and how nice the back deck looked. Soon he was complimenting the style of my kitchen, my dining room, my living room and then even the bathroom. The complimenting finally stopped when he saw a blue striped man’s bathrobe hanging by the shower.
“Are you the only one who lives here?” he asked, pretending that it was merely a random question.
“Yes, the island is mine alone and the bathrobe is just something I happen to have that you can borrow after you bathe,” I replied.
In truth, I had never seen the bathrobe before and had no idea how it got there. That didn’t bother me though because it was perfectly convenient.
“Bathe?” he asked.
“I’m going to go downstairs and cook you some of my famous scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast,” I replied, handing him a towel and a washcloth from the closet, “And if you would like to join me for any of this awesome buffet, I’d rather you not smell like you had marinated in the ocean all night.”
He gave me one of those beautiful smiles again and nodded.
“Will it be alright if I come to breakfast dressed in a bathrobe as opposed to my smelly clothing?” he asked, “I know it’s not proper attire at some fine restaurants.”
“I’ll see if I can find something more fitting for you, but just in case I can’t, the robe would be perfectly fine,” I replied.
With that, I left him to his shower while I searched for some clothes to wear. I quickly located some underwear, a pair of shorts, and a plain blue shirt. By the time I snuck into the bathroom, he was already in the shower and didn’t seem aware of my presence. I left the clothes for him on the sink and then proceeded to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
By the time I heard him coming down the stairs, I had fried up three pans of bacon, a half-dozen sausage links, and the scrambled eggs were just about done. When he turned the corner into the kitchen, he was smiling brightly and his hair looked much nicer and a little blonder than before.
“Ready to eat?” I asked, dumping the scrambled eggs onto both of our plates.
“It smells absolutely amazing!” he replied, grabbing the two slices of toast that just popped up.
I took both plates and led the way into the dining room. He followed with the tub of butter and both slices of toast. I set the plates down, showing that we would be sitting next to each other rather than across. I worried I might stare too much if we sat across from each other and although I changed into a dry summer dress, I didn’t want him worried about looking at me.
As we both sat down, I noticed that he was acting a little too curious about his surroundings. He quickly caught on to the fact that I was looking at him strangely and I was grateful to see he caught the hint.
“Are you sure that someone isn’t going to come in here and shoot me for being in his house with his beautiful wife?” he asked.
“Why do you keep worrying about this? I told you the truth,” I replied.
“But these shorts are male cargo shorts. The shirt is a men’s polo,” he replied, “Heck, the underwear are men’s boxers! I might not have my memories, but I do remember what sort of clothing I would typically choose to wear.”
I smiled and nodded. At least his worries weren’t unfounded. I explained that I had a variety of clothing in this house, some of which happened to be men’s clothing. And why that clothing happened to be his size? I didn’t know. I didn’t worry myself with trivial things like that.
He seemed satisfied with that and proceeded to eat hungrily. I enjoyed the food as well, even though I had already eaten a piece of toast this morning before heading out to the beach.
“Why was Saturn in the sky last night?” he asked, “An enormous ringed planet took up half the sky when I was drifting out there and I’m fairly certain it wasn’t a dream.”
“Saturn? You’re talking about the solar system back home,” I said, concerned suddenly by his confusion over such basic things, “That’s Kepler. Kepler 963a to be exact, but we just call it Kepler.”
“Kepler? As in the planets we located using the Kepler telescope?” he asked, “I’m actually surprised I remember that… but I don’t remember any planet with rings that we simply called Kepler.”
I chuckled and took a bite from a crispy strip of bacon. He turned to me looking a little bit offended.
“I’m not laughing at you. I’m sympathetic to your memory loss, but whether you remember Kepler 963a or not doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things,” I stated, “Some things you just simply have to accept if you’re ever going to get your memory back.”
“So if that enormous planet is so close to us, then are we on a moon?” he asked.
“Kepler Moon Alpha. Usually we just abbreviate it as KMA,” I replied, “Sometimes you can see KMB and KMD even during the day in the skies. Kepler Moon Charlie is too small however and any of the moons beyond Delta are too distant to see during the day.”
He shook his head, gazing at me in awe this time. He looked like a kid who just discovered what he was getting for Christmas.
“What?” I asked with a grin.
“I’m just… my memory loss took everything it seems. I never realized we could go to other star systems, much less find a place to live somewhere in another star system,” he said.
“And yet here you were wearing a uniform that suggested you were probably part of a space program,” I replied with a laugh.
“But that’s just it. You didn’t recognize the uniform and neither do I. Yet you say we are definitely in another star system and you even know the names of all the moons of Kepler. So you’re aware of your surroundings even if you don’t have a name for your own island,” he replied, “Speaking of that – how did you come to live here on an island all alone with a nice house and a nice pool?”
I thought about his question and then shook my head. He looked at me curiously. I simply shrugged.
“Did something bad happen that you don’t want to talk about?” he asked me, “I don’t mean to pry.”
“No, not at all. I simply don’t know how I came to be here,” I said.
“Seriously? You have problems with your memory too?” he asked.
I really didn’t want to talk about this with him. There were a lot of things in life that I couldn’t explain and I was content to live with the unexplainable. I wasn’t one of those scientifically minded people that had to know why everything in the universe happened the way it did.
“I don’t remember much about my childhood. I don’t remember my parents at all,” I said.
“Wow,” he said, gazing at me in a way that made me just want to kiss him, “We’re not all that different.”
I nodded and then returned my attention to the scrambled eggs on my plate.
“What’s your first memory? Mine is from when I was swimming toward the surface out there in the ocean,” he said.
What was he looking for?
Why did he feel the need to bring me into his world of curiosity?
Why make others question their histories?
“I don’t really think much about it. I was here on the island. I don’t quite remember what I was doing at the moment where the memories seem to cease,” I replied.
He shook his head, “That’s so odd. Both of us…”
“Zane, it really doesn’t matter to me that I can’t recall my childhood. Maybe it was
a bad childhood. Maybe nothing in my past had any bearing on who I am today,” I replied a little curtly, “What matters is that we find out what happened to you and see if we can help you remember your past. That’s important to you and so I will do whatever I can to help.”
“You don’t know me, though. Why are you so willing to help someone that might even be a criminal or a murderer? We really don’t know.”
I set my fork down and turned to him a little too abruptly. I took hold of his hand and forced him to turn to me. He set his fork down and allowed me to take that hand as well. His blue eyes met mine with as much curiosity as they always seemed to hold.
“You washed up on my beach, Zane. This beach… this island is mine and mine alone. I wake up each day and often go for a stroll along the beach. Then I decide if I want to take one of the four-wheelers up to the hills and tear up some dirt. Perhaps I’ll go cliff diving on the south side or maybe I’ll take a ride down in the caverns. Maybe I’ll go for an evening swim in the pool… no, there’s no maybe about it. I might settle down on the deck with a nice book from my extensive library. I could break out one of my puzzle books if I’m in that kind of mood. Or speaking of puzzles, I just might get out a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle and spend a few hours on that. I’ll finish the evening with a roaring fire in the fireplace and if I’m not currently engrossed in a good book, I may simply sit there and think about what I plan to do tomorrow or the next day,” I said, staring into his eyes while I held his hands in mine, “And then I will go to bed alone, sleep, dream, and then wake up alone the next day. Do I enjoy myself every day? Immensely. Is there something missing? Most likely, but without any knowledge of my past and without any knowledge of… of other people… well, I just don’t know. But you are here and you need help. You are here and that’s something I know nothing about. You are here and with the kind of person I am, I would find it to be something of an adventure to help you solve your current crisis.”
He simply looked at me and before I knew what was happening, he had leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. His hand was suddenly at the side of my face and he was kissing me. I’d never felt such a thing in my life before and it was making my heart race. His lips were so gentle in spite of the sturdy man he was.
I followed his lead and placed my hand on his face, kissing him back in the same way he was kissing me. I heard a groan escape me and realized in that moment that our lips separated.
“I r-read about that so many times,” I whispered against his lips, “Now I understand.”
“You’ve never been kissed?” he whispered, “Impossible.”
“Apparently it’s very possi-”
His lips met mine again and this time he wrapped his strong arms around me, drawing me closer if that were even possible. I held him, raking my hands through his hair as the kiss made me want him more and more. I knew in that moment that we were both simply caught up in a moment of vulnerability and that we needed to stop before we messed anything up. He seemed to read my mind as he drew his lips from mine and then whispered an apology against my chin. He released me and scooted back into his chair.
“What’s the apology for? I was just as guilty,” I said.
“Because I took advantage of your kindness. You deserve more than a stolen kiss,” he said.
“It’s quite alright and it most certainly wasn’t stolen.”
Chapter Ten
Although it wasn’t necessary, Zane assisted with doing the dishes after breakfast. He asked again if there was any way he could get his head checked. I was beginning to wonder if he thought I had lied to him earlier. Without saying as much, I decided that I had a good way to show him the island and let him see for himself that there truly wasn’t a hospital or any other secret means to get him checked.
That brought us to the shed behind the house where I presented him with my two ATVs. I grabbed the red gas can off the shelf and topped off both tanks as he watched from the doorway.
“I doubt I’ve ever ridden a four-wheeler before because I don’t think I know how to start one or how to make it go,” he said.
I returned the gas can to the shelf and then gestured for him to come sit on the red one. The blue ATV was my favorite, so I wasn’t willing to part with it. I showed him how to sit on it, as if that was even a question he would have. I turned the key and started it, and then I showed him the throttle and the hand brakes. He seemed to catch on right away and didn’t have any further questions. I then started up the blue one and led the way out of the shed.
“Should we close up the shed before we leave?” he asked.
“You mean so that no one steals my stuff?” I replied with a laugh, gunning the engine and starting toward the front of the house.
He started slowly behind me, making me wonder if I’d have to take it slower than usual so as not to lose him. I watched him over my shoulder as I made my way rapidly through the yard. He caught up to me pretty quick once he got comfortable with controlling the vehicle. There really wasn’t a whole lot of skill required to manage an ATV.
“This is the path I usually take anytime I use these vehicles,” I hollered back to him.
The ruts on each side of the path would have clearly shown the extent to which I enjoyed riding. I hollered back a warning about the steep incline of the path up ahead, letting him know to lean forward and to get up some speed. I gunned it after he hollered back his acknowledgment. I slowed down after making it up the 10-yard incline and kept checking over my shoulder to make sure he was able to make it up.
He shot up much faster than I had and was now barreling toward me a little too fast. I sped up just to make sure he wouldn’t crash into me. I could hear him laughing behind me, enjoying the ride probably as much as I did my first time. I decided to keep my speed up as I shot around the sharp turn near the lake. He was right behind me and impressively maintaining perfect control of the vehicle. This man required very little, if any supervision.
I stopped near the lake, but kept the engine running as he sidled up next to me.
“This lake offers some good fishing if you are ever in the mood. It might be a little small, but it’s deep and fully stocked,” I said.
“Do you have any fishing tackle?” he asked.
“Yeah, back in the shed. But keep in mind that the lake is no more than about a hundred yards across, so you might want to hold back when casting out your line,” I said.
“So you’re telling me that you fish?” he asked with a sidelong glance.
“Ummm… yeah,” I replied, somewhat hurt by the implication that women couldn’t enjoy fishing, “And I think I’m pretty good at it too.”
“I guess it would be pretty hard to get bored at place like this,” he said.
“Bored? Let me show you something,” I grinned.
I shot off, racing around the edge of the lake. I located the path that led a little further up into the jungle. He was hot on my tail again, taking the turns behind me like a pro. It wasn’t long before we were out of the jungle again. I stopped in the clearing and waited for him.
“Is this what I think it is?” he asked as he pulled up alongside me.
“Depends on what you think it is,” I replied with a smirk.
Before he could say anything else, I gunned the engine and headed for the closest dirt mound. I got up enough speed to get a fair amount of airtime after I sailed over the peak. I bounced after the tires hit the ground nearly ten feet beyond the mound. He followed a little more cautiously, getting almost no airtime at all. I led the way around the dirt track, hitting various mounds with enough speed to fly a decent distance. I wasn’t in the mood to get muddy today, so I steered clear of the mud pits. Any other day though and I’d be spinning my tires in the mud without worry.
Although Zane was willing to jump the hills, he continued to be quite reserved. He wouldn’t leap more than a couple feet with each jump. I was fairly certain that would change after a couple times of coming up here however. We rode around the dirt track
for a little while longer before I led him to the area with the most scenic view of the island. It was located a mere fifty yards beyond the dirt track.
We parked the ATVs on the trail and then I led the way on foot to an overgrown path. I rarely used this particular path anymore, so we had to push our way up the steeply inclined hill. I used a fallen branch to knock away some of the spider webs along the way. At the top of the incline, we found ourselves on a rocky shelf that overlooked the back three-quarters of the island. He could now see the whole portion he hadn’t visited just yet.
“It’s beautiful,” he stated, standing near the edge of the precipice, “Can we see your house from this viewpoint?”
“That’s actually behind us,” I stated, sitting down on the shelf with my feet hanging over, “Everything we’ve seen so far on the island is behind us. You are currently overlooking everywhere you haven’t been yet.”
I pointed out toward the ocean in the distance.
“Over there is where I like to go cliff diving. I’ll have to take you sometime,” I said, then pointing toward a small clearing in the foliage to the left, “There’s a mine-cart track over there that leads into the caverns below the island. And over there we have the muddy falls, but you can only ride that after a good rain.”
“This place seems like a miniature theme park. You ride the falls? You ride a mine cart through underground caves?” he asked.
“What good is having your own island if you can’t have fun? Do you think you’d be permitted to slide down a waterfall if it was located in a national park?” I asked.
He kicked a pebble over the edge and then sat down next to me. I turned to him when I felt his hand suddenly placed overtop mine. He shrugged.
“It’s quite a fall,” he said, nodding toward the trees beneath us, “It makes me nervous seeing you sitting with your feet over the edge, so if you don’t mind, I’ll hold your hand.”
Colonization Page 3
