Page 34 of My Almost Ex

I’m not twenty-five feet from Two Brothers and an Egg when I’m stopped by the military veterans most people in this town refer to as the Gossip Brigade. You wouldn’t think a bunch of old men would spread gossip, but they do any chance they get.

“Lucy, you remember during the Veteran’s Day parade how your class handed out little flags?” one of them says.

“Or how about you’d play at the park with my grandson, Owen?”

“I bet you can’t forget that time you had me come into your class to talk about the war.”

I smile politely. “Thank you all for trying to jog my memory, but I’ve got somewhere to be. I’ll see you guys later.” I pat Mr. Wilson’s arm and continue my walk toward the bay.

I sigh when I find the path mostly vacant. Almost all the fishing boats are out for the day and the mountains loom over the water on the far side. I walk the path, pulling pieces of my muffin out of the bag and eating them.

The vision of Alicia and Adam kissing is occupying most of the space in my brain. I wanted to walk over there and tug her off him. She saw me through the window. Our eyes locked before she stood and kissed him. Who uses tongue in a breakfast diner during the morning rush?

But I can’t stop Adam from having a girlfriend, so all I can do is focus on myself and getting my memory back and hope like hell I’ll never have to sign those papers.

Two months seems way too short, especially since it’s been three months since my accident and until I got here, nothing much was happening with my recovery.

“Lucy!” the jogger running toward me on the path yells. I recognize her as Amy from the Twisted Stem. She stops running next to me, jogging in place. “Good to see you.”

“Same.” I smile, not having much context except for knowing who she is.

“Do you remember your wedding flowers? How elaborate you wanted them? I had to have so many flowers shipped in, but it was so beautiful. I hope you can remember that because the ceremony was beautiful. Oh, you and Adam…” She stops talking, her eyes widening. “Oh, I’m sorry. I never should have said anything.”

“What kind of flowers?”

She smiles. “Pale pink peonies.” Her hands go up in the air. “You had them everywhere. Adam said he wasn’t going to put one on his lapel because it was so big, but as always, you convinced him.” She laughs. “He said it looked like a big pink puffball and you just gave him that look.”

I tilt my head. “What look?”

Her smile dims for a second. “The one that got Adam to do whatever you wished.”

“Oh.” That makes it sound like I forced him to do things he didn’t want to do. Did I?

“I didn’t mean it like that. Adam likes to do things for you. It makes him happy when you’re happy. That’s true love.” She squeezes my forearm.

No memory of my wedding day comes crashing back, and I’m disappointed.

“I better go,” Amy says. “I have another Greene bride coming in this afternoon.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Cade and Presley. Have you met her yet? You’ll love her.”

“Briefly. She seemed nice.” Although she was looking at me like an alien from outer space. I can only imagine the things Adam and his family might have said to her about me.

“She’s the sweetest. And her bookstore.” She acts as if she’s getting tingles just thinking about it.

I forgot how much the Greenes are looked up to here. How much everyone loves them.

“Good luck. I’m sure they’ll love their flowers as much as I did.” I pretend I remember, but sadly, I don’t. Does that mean something?

“See you around, Lucy. So happy you stayed.” She jogs away and I continue down the path.

After fifty feet, I decide to call Dr. Lipstein because I’m annoyed I’m remembering people but not necessarily events. The nurse is nice enough to put me on hold until he’s done with a patient, so I walk around the bay a little longer, walking away from groups of people who act as though they want to talk to me.

When Dr. Lipstein comes on the line, he says, “Lucy, did something happen?”

“No, I just had the florist from my wedding stop me and tell me all about the flowers, and although I remember her, I don’t remember what the flowers even looked like at my wedding.”

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