Page 15 of Love and Memories

So, no wife then. She shouldn’t care, but it was nice to know this stranger wasn’t missing out on time with his family to babysit her.

And he was handsome. It wouldn’t be right to admire another woman’s husband.

“Tell me about your friends,” she said, guiding the conversation to safe topics.

“I have a roommate. Gage is a mechanic, and we sometimes work together at a nearby ranch in our off time.”

“You work in your off time? That’s not off time,” Isabella pointed out.

Travis shrugged. “What else am I going to do?”

“Hang out with your friends,” she offered.

“I do plenty of that. I work with most of my friends.”

Isabella picked at a seam on the bedsheet. Did she have a job? Why didn’t she have a phone or a purse? They had to be somewhere.

Travis glanced at the clock again. “I guess I should go if I’m going to make it to work on time.”

A pang of sorrow shot through her chest. She wasn’t ready for him to leave, but she couldn’t ask him to stay. The moments alone were the worst. She had way too much time to sit around, and her worries roamed free.

“Thank you for coming,” she said softly.

Travis flashed her a sweet smile before standing. “Do you need anything? I can bring you something the next time I come. That is, if you want me to come back.”

The hesitation in his voice probably mirrored her own indecision. What was he doing here? He didn’t have to check on her.

“You can come back if you want to, but please don’t feel obligated. I’m sure I’ll start remembering things soon, and I’ll be on my way home.”

Wow. It was as if she’d put all of her false hopes into a few sentences. Did she believe any of it? Should she even want him to come back? He was a stranger. How stupid would it be if she trusted him after only a few quick meetings?

Travis reached for a napkin on the tray table and pulled a pen out of his pocket. He wrote something down and scooted it over the surface toward her. “Here’s my number if you need anything. I’m sure you can make calls from the room phone.”

She’d noticed the phone, but what good would it do her if she didn’t know anyone’s phone number?

Now, she had one–a lifeline she wanted to cling to. He was the only person she had any sort of link to in this world, and the loneliness sat heavy on her chest.

Isabella brushed her fingertips over the neat numbers. “Thanks.”

Travis motioned like he was tipping a cowboy hat. “See you again soon, Isabella.”

“You can call me Bella,” she said quickly. Her mom had always made a big deal about her full name, claiming people should call her by her given name and not some nickname. Few people had ever called her anything other than Isabella.

She wanted to give Travis something special–a unique part of her–in exchange for his kindness.

Travis nodded once and whispered, “Bella.”

Yes, asking him to call her by a shortened name was a good choice.

He gave her one last glance before walking out the door. As soon as he was gone, she felt his absence like a gaping hole had opened up in her chest.

He was gone now. He had things to do and places to be, but she’d wanted nothing more than to ask him to stay.

7

TRAVIS

Travis parked his truck in front of his house and turned off the engine. The silence was a stark contrast to the diesel roar that had kept him company all the way home.

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