Page 15 of Forget Me Not

She storms out, but before she’s out of earshot, I hear her quiet, “Asshole.”

“You sure you don’t need anything else, Grams?”

She’s sitting in her old recliner, watching old episodes of M.A.S.H., while Pappap snores loudly from the chair beside her.

They’re a picture, these two.

“I’m fine, sweetheart. You should get some rest. It’s not good for a young lady to be running around so much. You need to take more breaks.”

I smile, even though I want to tell Grams that I’m perfectly capable of determining when I need a break. She’s from a different time, so I understand her concerns.

“I’m okay, Grams. You sure you don’t need my help getting Pappap to bed?”

She waves a hand at him, just as he makes a loud snort in his sleep. He sleeps a lot these days.

“We’ll be fine. Go home and get some sleep.”

I stoop down, giving her a hug before kissing Pappap lightly on the cheek so I don’t wake him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Leaving their little suite at the inn is always hard. Seeing Pappap as a shell of who he used to be is even harder.

My grandpa practically ran this town back in the day and while power isn’t important to him, the soul of Port Nova is. I know seeing the inn in poor shape is hard on him. It’s partially why I wanted to come here and help in the first place.

The Port Nova Inn is a safe haven for our little town. It’s where everyone convenes, meets with their family, enjoys a piece of chocolate cake if they’re having a bad day . . . I have to fix it. I don’t know how, but I will.

I’ve got a list of everything that needs repaired, but it gets longer every day. Mom and Dad are no help. They’d rather sell the place than make it great again.

That leaves me.

Unfortunately, that will have to wait for another day. Right now, my feet hurt so bad I could cut them off and probably feel better. I think I sweat off five pounds tonight, easy.

Especially with my afternoon with the mysterious asshole fisherman in room B-4.

Okay, so maybe I looked up what room he’s in. Just for science purposes, though.

I swear. Never has a man had me so flustered and hot at the same time. It’s not the way he snaps at me or how he grumbles when he talks, almost like he can’t speak above a certain decibel. It’s definitely not the way he bit my head off for mentioning grandparents, which, yes, I still feel guilty about. It’s not even the body.

Okay, it’s not all his body. It’s the way his eyes follow me, as if I’m the only thing in the room he’s paying attention to. As if he could eat me whole in a single bite.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt . . . this.

No.

I refuse to give that any merit.

I made a promise and as silly as that promise was, I intend to keep it.

Collecting my bag from Pap’s office, I lock it up for the night. Manto’s gone home. Tara and Beth are gone. The only people left in the inn are Sherri, the night manager and Bonnie, the housekeeper.

Well, and the guests.

I try to ignore the fact that Reid is one of those guests as I tiptoe out the back door to check on my cat situation. I didn’t go back up to the room after our little spat. I still feel guilty about getting drywall on his shirt. That was childish of me. Though . . . he may have deserved it.

Something tells me Reid doesn’t have any family to speak of. I don’t know why, but the way he acted when I brought up grandparents just made me feel . . . sad for him, I guess? What would it be like to be completely alone in the world?

Then again, maybe I’m just reading too much into it.

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