“It’s no problem at all.Whatever we can do for her—and you.”
“Means a lot.”
“I’ll be there within the hour.”
“I’ll see you when you get here.”
Archie put the phone in his pocket and went into the living room to see if Harlowe needed anything.
“No, thank you.I’m good for now.”
“How’re you feeling?”
“A little better since I ate that delicious meal you made.”
He noticed her brows were furrowed, as if she was worried.“What’s on your mind?”
“Haha, not much.”
Archie smiled, relieved to see her making a little joke.“Poorly worded question.”
“I don’t get how I understand words and situations, such as you’re a police officer and Erica is and your friend Sam, too.Like, I get what that means.I knew to say your meal was delicious.Why do I know that stuff but not where I was staying or why I’m upset with my parents or anything about what happened to me?”
He took a seat on the coffee table and held out his hand to her, wanting any contact between them to be on her terms.
She wrapped her hand around his, filling him with the same overpowering sense of rightness he’d experienced with her from the start.
“I’ve seen this before when people suffer a serious head injury.Everything is a muddled mess while the brain is healing.Nothing makes sense.”
“That about sums me up.”
“I know it’s hard to be patient, but your brain is on its own timeline, and there’s no sense trying to rush it.”
“You’re so very sweet to put your life on hold to be here for me.”
“I’m happy to do it.”
She threaded her fingers through his.“Why does this feel… special?That’s the only word I can think of to describe it, although I’m not sure what I’m basing that on.”
“It was special between us.We connected right away.I couldn’t wait to see you again after that first night.I actually left work right at five o’clock for the first time in longer than I can remember.I did thatthree days in a row.”
Her smile lit up her pretty eyes.She looked more like the woman he’d first met than she had since before the attack.“I wish I could remember what we did.”
“You wanted me to show you some of the places I like best in the city.The first night, we took a long walk in Rock Creek Park, and then we had tacos and beer.I teased you about being a beer girl, and you said you always have been.You remembered sipping from your grandfather’s beer glass when you were a kid.The second night, we worked out together at my gym, and then we brought takeout back here.”
“Wait.I was here before?”
“Yes, once, a few days before you stopped replying to my texts.”
“Did we… you know…”
“No, we didn’t, but we wanted to.There was a lot of kissing and stuff.You said we needed to save something for our third date.”
“What did we do on that date?”
“I took you to Old Ebbitt Grill, a DC institution, and then we went to a bar with live music.We both thought it was too loud, so we didn’t stay there for long.You had an early meeting in the morning, so you got an Uber to go home after that.You had plans to go to yoga with Deb on Friday night.We were supposed to go to a Caps game on Saturday, but I never heard from you, which was rather upsetting.I was afraid you were ghosting me.”
“I’d never do that!”
