“Badness comes from the heart,” Liam said. “No matter what your memories are, that will never change.”
I sensed a deep river of anger directed at me from the sheriff.
I wondered what I’d done to deserve it.
Had he met me before?
If he had, wouldn’t he have mentioned it already?
He tore his eyes from mine and focused them on Isabella.
I sensed something was going on between them but with how standoffish she behaved, I wasn’t sure it was what the sheriff wanted.
“Isabella, what happened to your pick-up?” I said as Liam pulled onto the road.
“You remember my pick-up?” Isabella said.
“The nurse mentioned it. That you were driving when you found me.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say I found you. You fell from the sky. I just happened to be there when it happened.”
“It was lucky for me you were. I might not have survived.”
Isabella smiled over at me, her face divided by the wire mesh.
“You’re welcome.”
“And thanks for taking me in. I know you didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s nothing,” Isabella said, waving a hand dismissively. “Anyone would have done the same.”
Would they?
I doubted it.
“Maybe we should take you to the crash site,” Liam interrupted. “It might jog a memory or two.”
“Not now,” Isabella said, settling into the front seat and staring out the window. “I want to go home and rest. It’s been a long night.”
All the way to Isabella’s farm, Liam kept a closer eye on the rearview mirror—and me—than the road ahead.
The small shops sat huddled beside one another along the main thoroughfare.
People roamed the streets moving from one shop to another, but not in any great number.
The streets were mostly empty.
I watched as the small town slid away.
Liam slowed to a crawl as we pulled up to a narrow road clothed in gravel.
The driveway was long and ended around a shallow bend.
The farmhouse was surprisingly large, with a broad archway that served as the main entrance.
As we pulled up outside it, an old couple came down the short line of steps.
Between them, they had enough features for me to identify them as Isabella’s parents.
They smiled kindly and stood with their arms wrapped around each other’s waist.
They waited for us to approach before they extended their hands toward me.
I was surprised when they didn’t squeeze as hard as they could, so I didn’t do the same to them.
They responded much more calmly than Liam had.
“Welcome to McCormack farm,” Isabella’s mom said. “I’m Esme.”
“And I’m Benjamin,” Isabella’s pop said. “We heard about what happened to you and hope you make yourself right at home.”
“If there’s anything you need, just let us know,” Esme said. “Isabella, how about you show our guest to his room?”
Isabella pushed the screen door and shouldered the door open.
“It’s right up here,” she said, motioning toward the narrow staircase.
A trail of photos lined the wall and with each step, I witnessed a sketch of Isabella’s entire early life.
Her first wobbly tooth.
Her first day of school.
Graduating from high school, then college.
She kept the same features throughout her life and looked much the same as a child as an adult.
The same cheeky smile, the same broad bright eyes that became smokey by the time she reached her early twenties.
“Do you want to see your room or don’tcha?”
Isabella tapped her foot impatiently at the top of the stairs.
She led me down the corridor leading left, then to the single door on the lefthand wall.
She opened it and stepped inside.
“You’ll be staying in my brother’s old room,” she said. “There’s no ensuite bathroom, so you’ll have to use the one down the hall.”
“Where’s your room?” I said.
She paused a moment before answering.
“Right here.”
She motioned to the room directly across from mine.
“I figured I should keep you close. In case there’s, you know, anything you need. You’ll know where to find me.”
The narrow hallway felt intimate and close.
We had to turn sideways to avoid bumping into each other, but neither of us did.
The room was simple but classy, with a double bed and portraits of local nature spots.
The largest image was a watercolor of a big lake.
“Is that where I crashed?” I asked.
“That’s the one.”
“What were you doing there in the middle of the night?”
“Skinny dipping.”
My eyebrows rose.
She nudged me with her elbow.
“Driving home.”
“After a party?”
“Something like that.”
I ran an eye over the wardrobe and chest of drawers.
She drifted over to the door and turned back to me.
I would never get tired of seeing her “drift” like that.
“You and my brother are about the same size,” she said. “Feel free to use his clothes while you’re here. He won’t notice.”
“Are you sure?” I said, reaching into the suitcase from the hospital and lifted out the first item.
A shirt with “BULLSHIT” written across it.
Isabella laughed and clapped her hands.
“Well, that’s just timeless.”
“I’m starting to think it wasn’t a lost and found box but a dumpster around back.”
Isabella laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.
It was the first time I saw her laugh—really laugh—since I met her.
She smiled up at me and her eyes darted away again.
“Well, I suppose I should let you get comfortable. If you can. I’m going to go crash. I’m exhausted.”
She turned to leave again but once more paused at the door.
“I wasn’t going to mention this, but it’s something Liam mentioned earlier and I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“What?”
“He said no one has come forward to claim you or your plane yet. And news about your crash hasn’t appeared anywhere. I was wondering if there was a reason for that.”
“Like what?”
Her eyes searched mine, looking for something she couldn’t find.
I wasn’t entirely sure what she thought would be there.
She shook her head.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Hopefully, this whole thing will be over soon and you can return home to your friends. And loved ones.”
She shut my door, and then her own.
I let out a deep breath and drifted over to the windows.
On one side, a view of the extensive family farm that stretched on for miles.
Out another window, the front-drive.
Liam was speaking to Isabella’s parents, his
