Why did she remember him?
“Don’t be sorry for having memories,” he said quietly.
She couldn’t help herself. She chanced a quick glance higher. Right up to those eyes. Heat flushed over her. For no earthly reason at all.
“It happens like that,” she admitted thoughtlessly. “Words come out without even thinking about them and then I realize afterward what they mean.”
“Yeah, well.” The corners of his lips lifted slightly and his finger fell away from that spot just beneath her chin. “You always did have the habit of speaking first and regretting later.”
“Oh,” she managed faintly. She still felt warm. From her face to her toes.
His gaze dropped to the donut that she held between her fingers. “You also used to devour a donut like that in about thirty seconds flat.”
“Mother thought donuts were déclassé.”
His faint smile turned sardonic. “I’ll bet.”
She started to ask him if he’d known her parents but Dr. Granger came into the room, holding a coffee urn aloft.
“Here we are,” the director said brightly as she sidled between her patients to set the urn on the table. Lesley, one of the day nurses, followed close behind her with disposable coffee cups. “If we’re going to have donuts, we must also have coffee.”
Since Laurel didn’t drink coffee, she hung back. Adam, on the other hand, took a coffee from Dr. Granger. But if he’d eaten one of his treats, he’d done it before he’d arrived at Fresh Pine.
He drank his coffee black and unsweetened, she noticed. Maybe he didn’t like sweet things in general.
“Want to go for a walk?”
She stared, surprised, then looked from him to the windows overlooking the back of the building. “The garden outside is pretty nice, but it’s not exactly large enough to accommodate a walk.”
“Not in the garden. Dr. Granger said we could take a spin around the neighborhood. If you’re feeling up to it, that is.”
She couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d announced they were taking a spin around the horn of Africa. But along with the surprise came a warningly unsteady thump in her heart and a faint agitation in her stomach.
You are not going to have a panic attack. Not now.
She polished off the remainder of her donut, though it suddenly tasted like cardboard, and nodded wordlessly.
He smiled slightly in a way she decided looked a little forced. “I’ll let Dr. Granger know.”
She nodded again. The donut churned inside her.
While he went over to Dr. Granger, she moved to the rear window and looked out on the blooming azalea plants.
Her eyes traced the edges of the delicate petals. She imagined painting them. Watercolors would be best. Melting the magenta in the centers, drawing outward to the faint blush of the outer ruffles.
Her stomach twisted even harder and she inhaled deeply. Exhaled slowly.
It was only ten o’clock in the morning. The sky was clear. Perfect for a leisurely spin.
She could do this.
She would do this.
She turned away from the window only to find Adam right behind her. She bounced off his chest and his hands closed around her shoulders, steadying her. “Sorry about that.”
She was both relieved and regretful when his hands dropped away from her. “Shall we?”
She nodded jerkily and preceded him from the common room, aiming blindly down the corridor for the lobby.
“D’you want a sweater? You used to get cold at the drop of a hat.”
Her mind felt blank in a totally non-amnesia way. “My room is upstairs.” She didn’t know what on earth was motivating her. “Do you want to see it?”
His eyebrows pulled together a fraction. “Probably better for me to wait for you in the lobby.”
Her cheeks felt hot. She wasn’t inviting him in for coffee after a date. Which she didn’t drink anyway. And which they weren’t doing anyway. “I—I’ll be right back.”
“No rush.” The words were easy. The turbulent look in his eyes was not.
She raced up the stairs, rushing regardless of what he’d said. In her room, she nearly tripped over the bedding that was still bunched up on the floor. Those patients physically unable to make their beds had help from the nurses and aides. In her case, now that she was able, she was expected to make her own.
“Later,” she muttered and snatched her cardigan from the hook near the window. She pitched the bedding back onto the mattress and hurried out to the stairs, nearly sliding down them in her hurry.
She was breathless when she reached the lobby.
Adam was standing there talking with Jerry.
The security guard’s smile was wider than Adam’s as he buzzed the lock for the door. “Perfect morning for a walk,” he said as they left. “You kids enjoy.”
The words stayed with her as she went outside with Adam.
You kids enjoy.
They seemed to echo around inside her head. Achingly familiar without knowing exactly why.
Story of her life for the past two months.
Then she forgot about it when she realized she was actually standing out on the front sidewalk alongside a quiet road. She didn’t have a brace on her leg anymore. She would even be able to walk around the block without having to stop every fifty yards to catch her breath.
She was aware of the look Adam sent her. “I haven’t been out here before. Not once since I came to Fresh Pine.” She took in the modest houses lining the street in one direction and the schoolyard in the other. Across the street, a woman pushing a stroller was entering a worn-looking convenience store.
“How does it feel?”
“Terrifying.” The truth escaped and her cheeks got hot. “Probably sounds silly.”
But he wasn’t smiling. Not even that faint half smile that was about all he’d shown so far. “What terrifies you?”
“I don’t know.” She chewed
