“Is my dad here?” She’s looking at my hand, not my face. But I know she can see me when I shake my head, and I watch as a bit of hope dies in her eyes.
“That’s okay. I… I guess it’s better that he doesn’t see me like this. I wouldn’t want this to be the reason he gets his memory back. He might think you did it.” She huffs out a sad, pitiful laugh as she looks up at me.
Her dad would for sure beat my ass if he remembered her and knew about us. No doubt about it.
“Then we could match.” I give her a wink and a small smile. One I only give to her. I doubt she knows that. Not yet. But she will. She’ll know everything about me. I already know everything about her. It’ll take time, but I know that one day she’ll get it. She’ll understand that all I see is her. That all Iwantis her. And if I have to take a beating to get her dad to remember her, I will.
“Nat okay?”
“Yeah. General says she’ll need some surgeries but will live.”
She nods. “She was tough. She kept me sane in there. Kept me from losing my mind. I…. Things got dark. I had thoughts. She made sure I didn’t act on them.”
“No shame in that, Peaches. Shitwasdark. Every man here, brother or not, will never begrudge you of what you thought. You didn’t know we were coming. You had no idea what was going on. Braver men than you or I take that step. The one you didn’t. So hold your head high, baby girl. You survived. Doesn’t matter how, just that you did.”
I brush away the tear she lets slip down her face away.
“Still, I need to thank her. Maybe you can get me over there later to see her?”
I run my hand through my short hair and take a beat. “Honestly, Peaches, I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea. You can thank her and all, but wait till we know more.”
“More what?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. More about her? Know what’s true or not.”
She tilts her head at my words. “What’s true?”
“How well do you know her?”
“We’ve lived together for six years.” She says it as if that explains everything, and I give her an eyebrow lift. She shakes her head. “Not well. We both kept things to ourselves, and I… I didn’t push. I wanted to just be me with her and not have to deal with… well, everything else. I kept my distance, and she did the same.”
“She has a tracker on her. I don’t know where or why, but Kitten found a woman who knew her. Or yelled at her or something. Not really sure about the connection. All I know is that she said they turned the tracker on, and that’s how we found you.” I take a breath, steeling myself to tell her the truth. She deserves it. “We were looking for Natalie. But we were hoping for you.”
Her hand tightens on mine. “It’s okay. I don’t care who you went there for, as long as I got out.”
I lean in close and press my lips to hers. Softly, like she deserves, before pulling back just a little. “You. It’s always you I’m looking for.”
She smiles as I lean away and sit back a bit. “She must have someone watching her. You think she’s in trouble?”
“No, they didn’t seem to care if she lived or died. Or so they said, but they waited to get eyes on her before leaving.”
“Probably family.”
I nod in agreement. “Probably.”
She licks her lips. I already know she’s going to ask me something, so I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “The answer is yes. Just ask.”
She smiles. “Can you keep looking? She always said she was an orphan. But if she has family, I don’t want her to be alone. Like… like I was.” She corrects herself before I can do more than part my lips. “Like IthoughtI was. I know I wasn’t. I never was. Not with you in my life.”
I rub her hand again, keeping it warm between mine as she closes her eyes to rest. But I can’t wait. I know I should, but I can’t. “Peaches….”
“Yeah?” She keeps her eyes closed as she speaks.
“There was a woman.” Her eyes flutter open. “She didn’t make it.”
A soft smile touches her lips as she nods. “Her name was Ava.”
“When did she die? She….” I look for a polite way to say this.
