Page 14 of Question Everything

Once the babywas finished feeding, burped, and changed into a clean diaper, she grabbed a sweater out of her suitcase to cover her camisole and slowly made her way back into the kitchen. The smell of pancakes hung in the air.

Kyle looked up when he heard her pull back a stool. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come in and walked you out of there.”

“No need. I’m fine now. Just hungry. Breastfeeding seems to deplete me faster than I’d like to admit.”

“Well, let’s do something about that,” he said with an easy smile. He turned around for a quick moment and then returned, handing her a plate of fluffy pancakes stacked neatly in a tower.

“That’s a lot of food,” she said laughing.

“Well, you claim to be depleted. Let’s fill you back up.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He handed her a warmed pitcher of maple syrup.

“You never answered me before. Coffee or tea?”

All at once she was hit with the realization that at some point in her life, she would have requested tea with milk, but in this instance, she felt safer asking for coffee, even if she wasn’t sure why.

“I’ll have a coffee if it’s not too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” he replied, pouring some already brewed liquid into a large ceramic mug. “Cream? Sugar?” he asked.

“Just cream would be great,” she replied.

He swung around again and pulled a small clear glass pitcher out of the refrigerator and handed it to her. “Here you go,” he said. “And by the way. I ran your name through the system. No hits. No one filed a missing person’s report for you. You have no police record. Hell, you don’t even have an outstanding parking ticket.”

“So, is that a dead end?”

“That is, but I was about to Google you when I heard Sarah get up. I’ll do that after we eat.”

They ate side by side, seated at the counter, and after a few minutes of silence he asked, “Did finding your name on your driver’s license jog your memory at all?”

“A bit,” she lied.She couldn’t tell him the truth. Mia wasn’t her name. She had no idea what her name really was, but she knew that it wasn’t what was printed on that small card.

“Maybe as the day goes on, more will come back to you. Time is the only cure for your problem,” he said, swiping his forkful of pancake through a puddle of syrup on his plate.

“Kyle…what if it doesn’t? What then?” she asked.Frightening thought, but she couldn’t help herself.She felt a shiver run up her spine.

“Let’s not go to the worst possible place. Let’s believe that with some more rest and a little bit of time, all will be revealed,” he said in a soft yet reassuring voice.

She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. She wasn’t sure that she wanted all to be revealed. After all, the unknown was a scary place. But so were the shadows that lurked around the corners of her memory. The memory that was blocked.For now.

The days passed peacefullyand without incident. It was already Saturday, almost a week since the accident. Her memory remained unrestored, and she felt fully unsettled.

Kyle had been a gentleman, giving her space to take care of the baby. He quietly took care of her, cooking their meals and making her feel like a welcomed guest in his home. She was beginning to think that even if she had no idea where she was supposed to be, she should find somewhere else to stay. This man was kind, but she didn’t want to feel obligated to him. Plus, being around him, she was constantly aware of his maleness. He was attractive, and she found herself noticing small things, like the strong shape of his fingers and the broad nature of his shoulders and back. The way his tee shirts strained against his biceps made her stomach weak. She recognized the danger of getting more intimately involved with him.

Plus, he was trying his best to locate her family, and she had a bad feeling about that. She still couldn’t put her finger on it, but she was sure that she didn’t want him to uncover that part of her life. She was feeling certain that her family was the reason she’d been driving so fast that night when they first met after the accident.

For now, the baby was napping in the bedroom, and she was trying to clear her mind from the panic that seeped around the edges of her thoughts. She was deep in concentration journaling, trying to write down the details of her life now, hoping it would jog a memory of her past. She was so immersed in her task thatshe didn’t hear Kyle step into the living room. When he sat down on the couch next to her, she almost jumped out of her own skin.

“Oh! I’m sorry. Did I startle you?” he asked.

“No, it’s okay. I was just trying to remember more of where I was headed before I had the accident.”

“Still nothing, huh?” He shook his head.

“I promise, I’d tell you if I could.Would she, though?A chill passed up her spine at her last thought.What was the secret that she was keeping? She knew that it was dangerous, whatever it was…

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