She wandered over to the file cabinet, which did double duty as an end table for her couch. “Can I touch these?” she asked, nodding to the papers on the floor.
“Yes. The detectives are done here. They’ll have questions once your memory comes back, but you can take whatever you want.”
Glancing over a handful of papers she’d collected from the floor, she scratched her head. “I can’t imagine what someone was searching for. It doesn’t appear I would have stacks of cash lying around. Or anything of value, for that matter. What do you think they wanted?”
“No idea. I thought maybe they’d taken a safe from the bedroom. There’s a space on the closet shelf that looks strangely empty. Don’t suppose you remember if you own a safe?”
She shrugged.
The file cabinet held bank and credit card statements, all organized in neatly labeled, color-coded file folders. She packed up a few, thinking she’d like to check them out later just to get a glimpse of her life and her finances. What did she spend money on? Did she have any money? What bills might be due soon? At least she was organized—one plus for old Hannah.
Jake was in the kitchen, rummaging through her cupboards, putting random things in a plastic grocery sack.
“Whatcha doin’?” she asked.
“I started poking around, just to figure out what you like to eat, but then I figured we might as well take whatever we can back to my place. There’s not much, really. Flour, sugar…” The cupboard he was pulling a jar of peanut butter from was basically bare.
Picking up a Tupperware container that was sitting on the counter, she opened it and her eyes lit up.
“Oooh. Cookies!” She pulled one out and took a bite. “Well, assuming I made these, I’m good at baking cookies,” she declared. She held the container out to Jake, who took one and popped the whole thing in his mouth.
“Agreed. What is that? Oatmeal with chocolate chips?” he asked after chewing and swallowing.
“I taste peanut butter, too. Not to toot my own horn, but these are delicious. I wonder if the recipe’s around somewhere.” She began searching drawers. “Hey, look what I found. It’s an address book. Maybe this will help.”
After flipping through blank page after blank page, she closed it. “Or not. Why would I own an address book if I have no friends or contacts to put in it?”
“Maybe it was a gift. Most people put all that stuff in their phones nowadays. Speaking of which, we should figure out what cell company you use so we can get you a new phone.”
“Oh, I saw a file for that. I’ll grab it.”
“All right. Well, your diet seemed to consist of Diet Mountain Dew and cookies. There’s not much here worth taking.”
“Work on my diet. Check. I’ll add it to the list of changes I want to make once I get my life back.”
“Hey, you’d get along great with my sister-in-law and soon-to-be sister-in-law. They both love cookies.” He chuckled.
In her bedroom, she found a small suitcase and packed some clothes, focusing on things that would fit easily over a cast. She stopped in the bathroom and threw in a few things from there. Returning to the kitchen, she plunked the suitcase on the floor and picked up the backpack that was hanging on the back of a kitchen chair. Midway through filling it with her schoolbooks, she froze.
“Jake. How could I be in school without a computer? I must have a laptop somewhere.”
“Shit. That’s true. Hundred bucks says that’s what ‘Bob’ had at the hospital. He was probably hoping he could use you to get into it somehow. We can take a look around to make sure, though.”
After an exhaustive search, she resigned herself to the fact that all her schoolwork was gone. And probably most of her financial and personal information, too. She couldn’t stop the tears.
“Motherfucker, this sucks!” She swiped at her eyes, angry at the tears. Angry at a lot of things. “I have to heal from these injuries, try to catch up with school, figure out how to pay for everything, worry that someone tried to kill me, and some asshole takes my computer? I swear to God, Jake, if I find out who did this…”
He wrapped her in his arms and stroked her hair. “Hey, now. I know, it’s totally unfair. I’m sorry you have to go through all this, but it’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” he clarified. “It does seem like a lot, but we’ll just take it one piece at a time.”
After letting the tears flow for a minute, she hiccupped and sighed. His strong, warm arms absorbed her burden and eased her mind. She didn’t want to move, but he was right. They had a lot to do. She just had to take a little at a time. “You’re right. Okay. Yeah.” She reluctantly pulled away and excused herself to use the restroom and blow her nose.
“Keep it together, Hannah,” she mumbled to herself while washing her hands. “You can’t have the one person willing to take you in think you’re a basket case.”
As they were getting ready to head out, she took one last look around. No pictures on the wall, no souvenir knickknacks, nothing to indicate she had anyone in her life. Or any life at all. Was she a total loner? Or just a total loser?
They stopped by a fast-food drive-thru on their way back to Jake’s. Before they went to the house, he took her on a quick driving tour of the small farm, pointing out Dirk’s house and the chicken coop. Most of it was fenced pasture where a few horses roamed.
“Do you ride the horses?” she asked.
