Page 17 of Love and Memories

Gage sat in the recliner beside the couch. “Wow. That’s a lot.”

“Tell me about it. So I went to visit her after my shift ended the other day, and she woke up while I was there. She was scared and shaken up. She still hasn’t had any visitors, and the police haven’t been able to figure out who she is or why she’s here either.”

Gage nodded. “So you feel like you need to help her.” There wasn’t a question in his voice, only an observation.

“Basically.” But there was more than that. He didn’t feel obligated as much as drawn to her. “We talked a lot on Thursday just trying to piece together some of her memories. She’s nice. I hate that this happened to her. She’s hurt and all alone. No wonder she’s scared.”

Gage leaned forward with wide eyes. “You like her.”

Again, a good observation by Gage.

“I shouldn’t like her,” Travis noted.

“That’s what I said about Hadley too, but look where that got me.”

Man, Gage wasn’t helping.

Gage reached over and slapped a hand on Travis’s shoulder. “Good luck with those pesky feelings.”

Travis shook his head. “I’ve been burned by a pretty woman before. I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

“Not every woman is like Vanessa. In fact, few people on earth are that evil. Forget about her.”

Travis had definitely moved on, but it was hard to forget the sting of a betrayal like that. He never saw it coming, and he couldn’t afford to be that blind again.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking a woman. I know you’ve got it in your head that it’ll always end badly like it did with that snake, but at the very least you have a chance to help this woman when she obviously needs it.”

Travis rubbed the scruff on his cheek. “Stop being rational. Speaking of rational, there’s absolutely no reason why I should like this woman. Most of her face is a bruise. I don’t even know what she looks like. I’ve barely had two conversations with her. All I know about her is her name.”

“So you definitely don’t know her? You haven’t seen her around town?”

“Nope. She looks a little younger than me. She could be a tourist. She said she grew up in Omaha.”

Gage hung his head for a moment before raising it. “You want me to see if Hadley can stop by and visit her?”

Bella needed people by her side, and Hadley was always eager to make a new friend. It was stupid to keep Bella all to himself when he had friends who could help her too.

“Yeah. I think she’d appreciate that. Plus, I have to be at Silver Falls Ranch early in the morning. You think she could visit Bella tomorrow?”

Gage pulled out his phone and sent Hadley a text. “Asking now.”

“Thanks. Maybe I can get her out of my head now that I know she has someone else who can be there for her.”

Gage stood and slapped Travis on the back as he walked by. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Travis rested back against the couch and groaned. Gage was right. As soon as Bella found out where she belonged, she’d go back home.

Travis would be left here, alone, again.

8

ISABELLA

Isabella’s attention drifted from the TV on the wall to the window. The sky was a beautiful shade of pale blue, and the clouds were white and fluffy.

What was it like out there? The marker board on the wall said it was June. Was June here like June in Omaha?

If only she could open the window and feel the air. The hospital was fine, and the workers had been good to her. Why was she dying to feel the sun on her face when she should be grateful for what she had?

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