Kade steps from the car still holding ne in his arms. “I can walk,” I tell him.
I try and wiggle so he’ll put me on my feet. As much as I want to lay my head down on his shoulder and pass out again, I want to see where we are. Everything is new to me and I want to see it, but the sun has already set. I can hear and smell the ocean.
“You don’t have shoes on,” Kade reminds me.
“Fine.” I sigh dramatically, and it earns me a small chuckle from Kade. His whole body shakes and the sound is wonderful coming from him.
“Have food sent to our room,” he tells King.
“Already done, sir,” King confirms as Kade starts to move toward the house.
It looks like it was plucked out of a movie and dropped down in the coconut trees. I don’t know what I imagined but I can tell from the lights it’s two stories with a porch that wraps around both floors.
He walks up the stairs onto the porch and pulls open the screen door. “Can I walk now?” I ask.
“Tomorrow,” he tells me as he goes straight up the grand staircase. I try and look around, but while the house is charming, the walls are bare except for the beautiful crown molding. The place looks historic but has modern décor and doesn’t look the least bit lived in. Maybe we don’t come here much. I don’t know why I hadn't thought about this being our second home.
“We live here?” I ask as he enters a large room and places me on the bed.
“Of course, this is our home.”
“I mean all the time?” I look around the bedroom and it’s breathtaking, with a fire already going in the fireplace. Someone prepared for our arrival. If Kade owned an island, I guess it would have to have caretakers. “What city were we in before?”
“Chicago,” he answers.
“Yes. Chicago.” My shoulders drop. I can’t even remember where I was. I tried to get more information in the hospital but didn’t get anywhere. Kade wasn't giving it and the doctor said to let it come back naturally. I’m not sure Kade wants it to come back at all. Something happened that has Kade on edge. Maybe that’s why there’s so much security.
“My main office is there. We have a home there as well. A condo.” He pulls back the covers on one side of the bed, patting it for me to come and lie down. The giant bed looks like heaven. Not only that, but now he can lie down with me. In the hospital I wanted to be wrapped in his arms, but the bed was too small.
“Wait, do I work?” I suddenly realize that I might be letting people down.
“Your job is getting better.” He pats the bed again and I crawl over, getting under the blankets.
“Get in with me,” I demand, and he smirks.
“Eat and I will.” He walks toward the fireplace, picks up a tray I hadn’t seen, and brings it back to the bed. He sets it down next to me and I don’t know if I can.
“Eat and then maybe take a soak in the tub if you want.” I reach for a piece of cheese off one of the small plates. There’s a variety of things, which is good because I can’t remember my favorite foods. A long soak in a tub sounds nice.
“I’ll eat and then you’ll lie down with me,” I counter-offer, because being in his arms sounds better than the bath. I pause with the cheese right at my mouth and raise an eyebrow.
“Deal,” he agrees. As I take a bite, he slips his shoes off and starts to unbutton his shirt.
I forget about chewing as I watch him and this time he’s the one to pause. “Eat.”
I take another bite and he goes back to unbuttoning his shirt. I might not remember anything from before, but these new memories are perfect. Maybe a little too perfect.
Chapter 4 Kade
“Now look over my left shoulder and try to hold still,” the doctor says while shining a light in my wife's eye.
I’m seated in the corner of the room watching her check over my wife. Dr. Lula Eckhart graduated at the top of her class and residency at Johns Hopkins just under a year ago. There are hundreds of articles detailing why she’s one of the best neurologists in the country and I knew she was the one I wanted here to take care of Collins. It didn’t hurt that she didn’t have any children or family tying her to Chicago, and it was easy enough to convince her to come to the island and care for my bride.
“Any dizzy spells, blurred vision, loss of concentration?” Dr. Lula asks.
“Other than not knowing my name or where I am?” my wife jokes, and the doctor’s eyes soften.
“The mind is still such a complicated thing that unfortunately we don’t know everything about it. But like we talked about, it’s better that it comes back to you naturally than trying to force it.”
“I remembered something last night,” she offers, and her cheeks heat when she looks at me.
“My nickname,” I say, keeping my eyes on Collins.
Last night I stayed on top of the covers but still managed to wrap myself around her all night. I slept for a little while, and in that time it was peaceful. But when I woke up and she was on top of me, it was more than I could bear. I made an excuse about seeing the doctor first thing and got us both out of bed before something more could happen.
“That’s great,” Dr. Lula encourages. “Just take your time and do things together. The more
