No answer.
I heard whistling down the hall. It didn’t sound like him. It sounded more like a woman. I abandoned the door and wandered back into the living room. An older woman was standing in front of the couch fluffing pillows and humming.
I glanced at the camera in the corner of the room.Please be watching.“Hello?”
The woman jumped. “Oh, Penny. You gave me a fright, dear. How are you feeling? I made you your favorite breakfast. And I saw that you did a load of towels. You know I would have done that for you. Really, you should be sitting down.” She stepped away from the couch.
“Who are you?” I tried my best for it to not come out rude. She seemed pleasant enough. She reminded me of my mother. But I had no idea what she was doing in James’ apartment.
She put her hand to her chest. “Ellen. Oh, my. James warned me of this but…” she shook her head like she was trying to shake the tears away. “It’s hard to believe without seeing you in person. Please sit. I’ll bring your breakfast to you. You need rest. And fluids. Plenty of fluids.” She bustled off toward the kitchen.
Ellen? Who the heck was Ellen?It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Before I even realized what was happening, I was sitting on the couch with a huge omelet and freshly squeezed orange juice in front of me. I didn’t know what to say. I had already asked her who she was and her explanation hadn’t helped at all. “Um…where is James?”
“He’s used to going for a run every morning. So he’s been…” her voice trailed off. “You can ask him yourself when he gets back. He’ll be home shortly. Aren’t you hungry, dear?”
That was weird. But it wasn’t worth asking her about it. There was no way she’d tell me what he was doing instead of running. Everyone loved keeping me in the dark. And she asked me if Iwas hungry in a terrible segue for a reason. I looked down at the omelet. Honestly, I was a little hungry. But I was a little more suspicious. “So…what is it that you do?”
She smiled and sat down next to me. “You know, the little things to help make everything run smoothly here. I cook and clean. And I take little Scarlett off your hands whenever I get a chance. We go to the park all the time. She loves the park. And especially the zoo. She’s an adorable little girl. Just an absolute pleasure. Oh my, I feel like I’m going on and on. I don’t need to tell you about Scarlett, you already know all that.” She cleared her throat. “I mean, you will soon. You’ll remember. I know you will. You must. Now eat up. You need your strength.”
This woman was the adorable one. Not Scarlett. Scarlett leered at me. Ellen was simply wonderful. Or she was an intruder that creepily knew way too much about my family. I was willing to take my chances though, because the omelet looked amazing.
“This is fantastic,” I said after taking my first bite.
Ellen stood up. “At least your taste buds haven’t forgotten what they like. That’s probably a good sign. I’m going to go make sure we have all the ingredients for your favorite meals all week. After all, if one sense comes back, surely the rest will follow.”
I wasn’t sure if that was true. But I hoped she was right. She could be. I hadn’t remembered liking mushrooms and peppers in my omelets. Yet, here I was devouring this one. I stopped mid-bite, my cheeks full of food, when I heard the front door open.
I swallowed down my bite without fully chewing and almost choked. I had no idea why I was nervous to see him. Maybe itwas the letter I still had folded up in my hand. Or maybe it was the fact that I knew how badly I'd messed everything up. I just wanted today to be better.
James stepped into the living room in just a pair of running shorts and sneakers. No shirt. All the abs. Sweat dripped down the muscles in his chest. If I still had food in my mouth, I’m pretty sure it would have fallen out because my mouth was probably hanging open.Calm down.
Despite his hotness, he looked nervous, like he hadn’t expected to see me. And pale. His face looked really, super pale. “Hey,” he said.
“Good morning,” I said at the exact same time, blurring out his hello.
He smiled for the briefest of moments before it disappeared again. “Is it okay if I use the upstairs shower?”
“Um…yeah. Of course. I cleaned up the towels on the floor.”
“You didn’t have to do that. Ellen would have this morning.”
Good, he does know her.And then her name finally clicked in my brain. But not because I remembered her from before. It was because Rob had mentioned her to me. He had joked around and pretended Ellen was James’ other wife. It all made sense now. “Yes, Ellen seems very nice. But there’s no way I would have made her clean up after me. It was my fault.” I thought about the letter I had read. If I had tried to kill myself, the stunt I pulled in the bathroom was a thousand times worse.
He raised his left eyebrow at me. “She doesn’t mind, Penny. It’s her job.”
“But still.” The letter was burning a hole in my palm.Ask him.
“You’re supposed to be taking it easy. For a little while longer.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He took a deep breath, his chest rising slightly. That’s when I noticed the faded scar on his ribcage. And the one on his stomach. But they weren’t as alarming as the scar right above his left peck. It didn’t look old at all. I was pretty sure there were still stitches in it. How had I not noticed that yesterday when he kissed me in the rain? I swallowed hard. Well, I had been rather distracted.
I looked back up at his pale face and he immediately looked away from me. Like he didn’t want me to realize he was staring. Or maybe it was something a little more than that.Stop hiding things from me.“Where were you?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been doing physical therapy a few days a week.”
I tried to force myself to stop staring at his perfect hair. “For?”
