“You know her better. You know why this is happening, the doctor told you this, didn’t he? He’s been asking you about her life. If anything traumatic happened recently that may be the cause of her memory loss?”
Matt turned and stared at him in shock.
“I’ve been reading,” Ben cocked his head and glanced away.
“Why are you so interested?”
“Someone needs to figure out how to help her, Matt. I’m not going to let your jealousy and anger ruin both your lives.”
Matt’s temper boiled, and he gripped Ben’s shirt.
“She’s like a sister to me, Matt. She was never anything more,” he paused and locked eyes with Matt. “What happened three years ago was a mistake we’ve both been regretting; I can promise you that.”
Matt let his brother go in a forceful push and turned to head back to find Liz. His heart sank when he saw who was standing at the doorway.
Clyde stood peering at them, partially concealed by the shadow of the doorframe. The snide expression that would send chills through Matt if he weren’t so heated at the moment.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Clyde offered. “Thought you boys could use a beer to cool off out here,” his lips stretching on one end before he held up his hands with a bottle of beer in one and two of the same in the other.
Matt forced himself to relax his shoulders in an effort to disguise the tension built up in him the moment he noticed the devious man. He wouldn’t ask how much he’d heard. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Matt glanced down at the beers. “I’ll take one,” he offered, ignoring Ben’s sneer.
Clyde handed Matt a bottle, who nearly winced at the temperature. Not because it was cold. But because it wasn’t cold enough. This wasn’t a bottle pulled out of a cooler in the last five minutes.
“On second thought. I’m good. I’ll see you around Clyde.” Matt stalked out of the room to search for his wife and call it a night.
Chapter 34
LIZ
Liz stretched out her arms in acceptance of the morning sun shining through their bedroom window. She shivered a little and went to turn down the air conditioning. She followed with turning the knob of the large window, letting it unfold until it was a nearly perfect ninety-degree angle. She heard her husband shift his weight and felt his admiring eyes on her.
“That’s cruel,” he murmured.
“Well, maybe I would have slept in longer if we stayed at the party last night.”
“What’s the point? We had dinner, a few drinks. What did you want to stay for, the speeches? It’s the same one every year. I could recite it to you, if you’d like.”
“No, thank you.” She blinked and then turned to face him. “I’d prefer you telling me the truth.”
He fell back in bed, dramatically. “Okay, it was me. Goodnight.”
She bounced next to him on the bed, barely causing him to move. “Tell me about Clyde.”
Matt stayed silent under the covers for a moment, long enough for her to wonder if he’d truly fallen asleep. Until he pulled down the cover and looked thoughtfully and, dare she think, cautiously into her eyes. “Why do you want to know about him?”
“Who is he? Why don’t you and your brother like him? Did he do anything to you?”
“No, he didn’t do anything,” he paused. “He’s just a...he’s a long-time family...friend. He can be a dick sometimes, but he’s nothing to worry about.”
She waited for more, but there didn’t seem to be any. She decided to accept his lacking response and offered a small smile. “What are you doing today?”
“I’m going to go talk to Dr. Tai. Would you like to come?”
“Don’t I have to?”
“Not necessarily. The doctor did want to speak with me alone at some point about your progress. He suggested it would be less pressure to be honest if you weren’t in the room.”
“I could see that,” she smirked.
