Chapter One
Go home and rest. Maybe it will help.The doctor’s words partially infuriated Michelle as she parked in front of the bed and breakfast, pocketed her keys, and exited her rental car. What was home?Wherewas home? A steady ache throbbed behind her eyes, and she rubbed her thumb across her forehead.
Blue River, Nebraska, the town where she’d grown up, looked foreign after the accident that robbed her of her long-term memory. She stopped near the B&B’s wooden steps and glanced left, then right, hoping for the slightest spark that might trigger her memory. She’d driven through town at a snail’s pace, peering into shop windows and watching every face she passed. Nothing. Not even a blip of recognition.
“You must be Michelle.” A petite woman with black hair cut in a sharp bob opened the front door and approached the steps. “I’m Yvonne. Your aunt said you’d be here today. I’ve been keeping an eye out for you.”
“That’s…nice.” Would she remember Great-aunt Sarah? She’d scrolled through her phone, looking for clues to her life and found nothing more than lists of meetings and the rare photo of the city skyline.
“Any bags?” Yvonne approached with slow steps, like she feared Michelle might bolt at any second.
Truthfully, she’d already considered that option. “One.” She thumbed over her shoulder. “I thought I’d check in first, then bring in my luggage.”
“Ah.” A twinkle lit Yvonne’s eyes. She smiled, bright and cheerful, like it was something she did every day without fail. “Chase can grab it for you.” The bubbly laugh said she didn’t have to feel obligated to answer. “You don’t mind, do you, Chase?”
“No, ma’am.” A tall, lean man walking down the sidewalk jogged over. He nodded once at Michelle. “Welcome to Blue River.”
Michelle’s cheeks pinched when she tried to relax her frown. Was it her or did he give her an expectant look when he opened the back door and took her bag off the seat? He strode past her, carrying the bag into the B&B and closing the door behind him.
“Michelle, there you are.” A warm voice billowed with a breathy quality that reminded her of…something.
The flash of recognition slipped away before she had a chance to grasp hold, and a frustrated sigh emptied her lungs. She turned on her heel to face the voice. The woman barging her way wore her long, gray-streaked hair in a knotted bun at the base of her neck. Her jeans, boots, and blue chambray shirt matched the town’s rural atmosphere and blended in with the cowboy hats and boots she’d spotted on the drive. She stormed forward, tall and arrow straight, with a look that told the world it had better watch out. This was the woman who resided in an assisted living facility?
Arms wrapped around her and squeezed.
Michelle’s shoulders bunched up beneath her ears, the unfamiliar embrace sending a shock through her system. Then, between one breath and the next, her body relaxed of its ownvolition, almost as though it recognized this touch whether her mind did or not. She set her hands on the woman’s shoulders and inhaled the peppermint scent. It reminded her of summertime for some reason. She tasted watermelon and heard phantom laughter that made no sense to her jumbled brain.
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry.” The womantsked and grasped Michelle’s upper arms. “I told myself I wouldn’t do that, but the minute I laid eyes on you I had no choice. I’m your great aunt Sarah.”
“I figured,” she said with a bark of laughter that burned her nose. “I tried to find a picture of you last night so this wouldn’t be as awkward.” She tried to turn it into a question, hoping Sarah would elaborate on why Michelle had no memory of her family despite remembering everything from the last six months.
Anything that happened before Christmas had vanished when she busted her head on the steering wheel during the crash. All the information she knew, like how Sarah lived in an assisted living facility, came from a single phone call between Michelle and Sarah the day after her accident. That was when Sarah invited her to come home and recuperate at the bed and breakfast.
Recuperate. What did that even mean?
“Michelle, would you like to see your room?” Yvonne remained calm and polite, her hands folded neatly at her waist and her expression mildly curious. Her head tipped toward the door, where the man who’d carried her luggage inside waited with the door held open.
He gave her a solemn, unreadable look. “You ladies have a great day.”
“Thank you, Chase.” Yvonne dismissed him with the thanks and motioned Michelle closer with a wave of her hand. “Come on inside out of the heat.”
Sarah moved beside Michelle, the soft touch of her arm brushing close. “It’s going to be okay. No matter what happens.”
She despised those words in so many ways.No matter what happens.She’d lost her memory, her life…everything that had meant anything, gone in an instant. What had she loved before the accident? Her head ached with the need to remember, to find some small fragment that pieced the rest of her world together. “I’m not feeling well. I might go rest.” She followed both women into the front desk area and sank onto a nearby bench. Her spine hit the back of the seat, and she peered up at a gorgeous landscape painting of the mountains. Snow covered the peaks, and the entirety of the mountain range reflected in a lake at the base. It was soothing, though somehow disorienting to realize that the painting could be turned upside down and it would look the same. Unlike her life.
“I thought we might go for a walk around town. Or maybe drive out and visit some of my friends.” Aunt Sarah twiddled her thumbs around repeatedly. “I’m not able to drive anymore.”
It was a subtle invitation to step up and give Sarah a moment of freedom. It must be awful to have her independence stripped away and forced to live in a home with no hope of regaining her own space. A knot formed in Michelle’s throat. Here she was feeling sorry for herself for losing her memory when her aunt had suffered far more.
Was she allowed to grieve for the loss? The doctors said her memory could return at any moment. They’d done what they could at the hospital, but once she recovered and nothing resurfaced, they’d been stymied as to the prolonged cause and eventually blamed stress as the motivating factor.
Maybe she’d done something awful and that was why her brain refused to let her remember. She hadn’t crashed on purpose, that much she knew for absolute certain.
“A walk would be nice. And I’m happy to drive you anywhere.” She tried a quick laugh to ease the tension riding her shoulders. “You’ll need to give me directions, though. I couldn’t find my way here without my GPS.”
“I can do that.” Aunt Sarah smiled, and it was a warm and open expression that melted Michelle’s resolve. “I’ll be your memory, and you can be my independence. It’ll be great.”
Her own smile widened despite her misgivings. Who could look at that grin and not return it? “Okay. Let’s start with a walk around town. I’ll need to get acquainted with where everything is so I can buy groceries.”
