She jumped. Her heart raced as if she’d been caught doing something wrong.Dummy. He can’t see you mooning over his texts.
You awake?he asked.
Her fingers hovered over the virtual keyboard. Finally she replied,Yes.
Then she watched those three dots undulate, waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting.
Had he gotten distracted? Changed his mind? Fallen asleep? Restless, she scrolled up to their texts from a few days ago and reread them. Just as she reached the end, his reply popped up.
I’m sorry for the way I treated you those first weeks after you arrived. (Basicallyfor everything you remember before the accident.) I was unkind and judgmental for reasons that had nothing to do with you and I’m so sorry.
Wow. She reared back. Another text came in before she could reply.
I apologized to you in May, but I just realized you wouldn’t remember that.
He’d apologized?You’re right. Thank you for apologizing—again.
I was hard on you when you camehereand I shouldn’t have been.
She was taken aback by his honesty. By his humility. She read through his apology again and responded.What reasons?
What?
You said the reasons had nothing to do with me...
While she waited for his response, she reread his apology. Finally his text appeared.
I had a girlfriend awhile back who broke my heart. Let’s just say that in some ways you reminded me of her at first. I went on defense to protect myself because—spoiler alert—I was attracted to you.
Another text appeared.SO glad you didn’t ask this the first time I apologized.??
She could hardly process everything he’d just said. She decided to stick to the easier part of the conversation.Did you ever tell me about this woman?
Of course. Pretty earlyon, actually.
Will you tell me about her again?
A minute passed before his reply appeared.She was an esthetician for Harborview for about a year. We met at the coffee shop and became exclusive after a month or so. Things were getting serious, and then she got a job offer in Manhattan. She couldn’t leave town fast enough.
The guy was apparently no stranger to a broken heart.I’m sorry. That must’ve been painful.
It wasn’t fun.
There were no painful breakups in her past she could’ve disclosed to him. She hadn’t dated anyone seriously. Had never been in love. She’d been busy making her education and career her number one priority. But how much had she revealed about her childhood?
How much did I tell you about my past?As soon as she typed the words, she deleted them. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know—and she sure didn’t want to get into it right now.
Another text appeared. I’m happy to answer any questions about the past. If you want.
She typed her response.Did I do a good job with the resort this summer?Not the kind of question he was probably hoping for, but she sent it anyway. She didn’t want to dig into the romantic relationship she didn’t remember and could still hardly believe had ever happened.
You were amazing. The guests loved you. And you’ve seen all the ideas we’ve implemented, thanks to you.
I don’t recall you thinking they were such good ideas.
