Page 67 of Remember Me

“I’ll be sure to let him know you’re waiting.”

“You do that.”

In Hayes’s office, I remembered the lunch in my hand and set the bag filled with Tupperware on his desk along with my purse.

Hands on hips, I surveyed the small room. I needed to look for my ring while I was waiting. Where to begin? The desk was large, with a comfortable-looking leather seat behind it and a wooden seat beside it. Two of the walls were lined with shelves. There was a narrow gap between the bottom shelf and the floor, and I decided to start there. I would expect that the rest of the floor would be swept and cleaned regularly, so if the ring had been there at any point, it wasn’t likely to be there now.

I got down on my hands and knees, glad I had chosen jeans today, and crawled along the length of one shelf. Phone in hand, I trained its light into the darkness beneath it.

Dust bunnies.

I moved to the next shelf.

Nothing.

The light picked up a dull gleam beneath the third shelf, making my heart leap. The gap was too narrow for my hand to slide under and reach it, though, so I stood and looked around for something to reach it with. There was a jar with various tools on another shelf — a ruler, pens, and pencils, what looked to be drafting tools. I grabbed one and got back on the floor, stretching out on my side so I could see what I was doing.

A minute later, my ring was in my hand, dusty but whole.

I held it in my fist and stood, walking back around to the opposite side of the desk as I wiped it with the hem of my shirt. Then I held it up for a look, curious about this ring I had no memory of.

It was an antique, with a filigreed band inset with diamonds and a larger square diamond in the center. Edwardian, my brain supplied. A sensation of dizziness assailed me suddenly and I dropped into the chair beside the desk. I looked at the ring again, and just like that, I remembered.

The plan: surprise him with our news.

The omen: doorknob, icy beneath my hand.

The insult:Her, on the desk where we’d made love.

The feel: of my heart breaking.

I remembered everything about that evening.

“I am yours

and I will whisper it

and shout it

and write it

and carve it into my skin

if only blood

would tell you

the truth you need to see.

I am yours

and I have never

been anyone's before.”

Tyler Knott Gregson

December 19¦Hayes

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