Her name is Rowe.
“Tell you what, getting married is worth it for the honeymoon alone.”
He’s on his honeymoon. I’m so glad I didn’t say anything stupid. “When are you coming back, again?”
“Not for another month. We’re taking our time. Might as well enjoy it, right?”
“Absolutely. If I was on my honeymoon, I wouldn’t work for an entire year.”
Pane laughs. “Right.”
Which suggests I’m a workaholic. Got it.
“Anyway, don’t get too comfortable. Rhett’ll be visiting soon.”
“Rhett,” I murmur, hoping the name rings at least one bell. It doesn’t. There’s not even a hum purring in the back of my mind.
Pane continues, “You know how our cousin is—wants to make sure he’s getting his money’s worth.”
“Oh yeah.Rhett.” Understood. Rhett is checking on his investment. Which means I should convince my brother everything is in line. “We’re looking good here.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you don’t sound like yourself.”
I scoff. “Maybe because I’ve been busy overseeing a resort.”
“I take it back. You sound exactly like yourself.”
I exhale the breath I’ve been holding. I’m still not telling him about the amnesia. Why do that when it’ll be gone soon anyway?
The longer this drags on, the more questions I’ll have—about my life, who’s important to me, who isn’t.
My gaze lands on Coco.
Her.She’s the only person allowed to know the truth, because for some reason it doesn’t feel like a weakness around her.
It feels like I’m opening up, like I’m sharing part of myself.
Which suggests I don’t do this often. I’ve tucked myself away, andthatfeels more wrong than having lost my memory.
“As long as you’ve got everything under control, I’ll let you go,” Pane tells me.
I ache to ask him more. To find out about other things—like our sister. And our mom!
Our mom.
We have a mom.
Once again, that subtle hole widens inside me—a gap desperately needing to be filled, but one I want to fill naturally, without pushing, without begging for someone to explain my life to me.
“So, um”—Keep it cool, Stone, don’t raise any red flags—“how’s, um, Mom?”
There’s a long pause, which makes me think he’s hung up.
“Pane? You there?”
