Page 47 of Remember Me

And yet, when he texted me the next day, I found myself agreeing to eat with him.

Just. That. Easy.

December 11¦Birdie

THE DREAM LINGERED ASIAWOKE.I had fallen asleep on the couch and stretched now, feeling blood and memory flow through my veins.

It wasn’t a dream. It was a memory, a missing piece located and slotted into place as though it had never been lost.

I needed to tell Hayes.

Sitting up, I saw that he had strung lights on the tree. It glowed softly, the only light in the room. The window beyond revealed it was nighttime. I picked up my phone, resting on the coffee table, and saw that it was past midnight.

Well, damn.Hayes was probably asleep. I, on the other hand, was wide awake.

I made my way to my studio and clicked the lamp on atop the desk. Everything was laid out with precise attention to efficiency. Mason jars of pens and brushes were placed neatly beside a stack of wooden flats. Paint in small tins lined a shelf in rainbow order. In the corner of the room, a stack of pre-made frames leaned against the wall.

I pushed aside a piece of paper and pulled a flat across the surface to me. It looked like it had already been painted and was waiting on the next step. Words.

Where did my words come from? I looked around again, more closely this time. There was a tray of paper and a basket of scraps. Plucking one out, I saw that it had a line of verse scribbled on it.

“Sometimes

the only way

to catch

your breath

is to

lose it

completely.”

I pulled another out.

“Oh, what we could be

if we stopped

carrying the remains

of who we were.”

There was a piece of paper lying beside it, and I read that next.

The handwriting was different from the other notes, and when I started reading it became clear that Hayes had made this to-do list. I wasn’t certain of its purpose. It was a hodge podge of items. Decorate the nursery. Kiss her. Elf. Tell her.

Tell her? Tell me what?

Uncertainty replaced my earlier euphoria and suddenly I was just tired. I set the note down on the desk and clicked off the light, then trudged through the darkness to my bed.

“I believe

in love at first sight

but am not burdened with the misconception

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