Page 68 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

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Logan returned to the set, steeling himself for the fallout his long absence had likely caused, while Jane retreated to the serenity of the pool house, taking Loki with her.

Her mind was a whirl with this new “relationship” she found herself in.

Having seen her face splashed over the entertainment news channels, she had changed to a radio channel, deciding she didn’t need that kind of information in her face.

Time came and went until she had to eat or she’d be no good to anyone. She decided something more substantial than eggs was needed. It was time to see how well she really coped in a kitchen. If nothing else, it would help to take her mind off the day’s madness.

Rummaging through the fridge, she settled on grilled chicken breast, asparagus and potatoes, marveling at how easily the art of cooking was coming back to her.

She peeled the potatoes, slicing them thinly to bake. She seasoned and marinaded the chicken breast in a simple lemon butter. Jazz played from the hidden speakers in the walls. She hummed along to a tune. It was halfway through the song before she realized that she knew it.

She started on the asparagus, washing then trimming the ends on the chopping board…

A memory rushed into her mind, startling her into dropping the knife. It clattered into the sink but she ignored it, focused on what she could see in her head.

Her long, elegant hands rinsed a colander of white asparagus under a chrome tap. What she could see of the kitchen was modern in style, with black graphite counters and mahogany cupboards. There was jazz playing in the memory too, though a different song. Pots sat on the stove, steam misting the air. She lifted her gaze from the hands, hoping to see something of the house that could give her a clue of its location, but the flashback vanished.

She was back in the pool house.

A relieved smile spread over her face. Her memory was finally starting to come back to her. She was hit with the compulsion to tell Logan, but in his absence, she ran over to Loki instead. He lay on the sofa, demolishing what looked to be another shoe of Logan’s but at her approached, he sat up.

“Loki! I’m starting to remember things!”

She grabbed his paws and started to dance with him. Caught up in her excitement, Loki barked and spun around on the sofa until he grew dizzy and fell. She celebrated with him a while longer before returning to finish cooking her meal.

When it was all done, she ate by the roaring fire. The dancing flames healed her soul and provided comfort to Loki, stretched out in front of it.

She cleaned up the kitchen, enjoying the simple domesticity of the task, and was sipping from a glass of wine when footsteps approached. Not the light quick steps that she’d come to associate with Kitty, but the weary tread of a tired man.

When Logan’s face came into view under the string of garden lights draped over the terrace, she was taken aback by the vulnerability she saw in him. For the first time since she’d known him, he looked like a normal man — still as handsome as sin — but one in need of a hug.

Bathed by the warm, flickering light of the fire, wearing a white dress, she looked almost like an angel. Logan’s breath caught and had to swallow. Seeing that she was staring at him, his shoulders came up and he injected an energy that he didn’t feel into his voice.

“Am I disturbing you?”

She swung her bare feet off the sofa, intending to get up.

“Don’t get up on my account. I’m not going to be long.”

Loki woke from his slumber and ran to greet him, tail wagging a mile a minute. He jumped into the air, desperate to nuzzle Logan’s hand only to keep missing it. A whine of frustration burst out of him. Taking pity on him, Logan petted his head, sending the dog into a frenzy of barks.

A hint of a smile appeared on his lips that he tried to hide. Jane wondered why he thought he couldn’t show affection for the puppy, given that it was the natural outcome of spending any time with one at all. After a few moments of play, he pulled away from the dog.

“I remembered something tonight,” Jane volunteered tentatively. She had been bursting to tell him, but now that he was actually there, she wasn’t sure if he’d even want to know.

“From your past?”

She took comfort that he sounded interested. “It wasn’t much. I just remembered a song on the radio. Then I saw myself washing asparagus at what must have been my home.”

“That’s good news, and a great sign that your memory will probably return with time.”

The smile he gave softened his face, taking away the edge that was normally there and made her stomach flip flop. “So, what brings you here?”

She didn’t know why she had asked, only that she’d had to say something so it wouldn’t look so obvious that he was having an effect on her.

It must be the wine.

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