Page 68 of The Boathouse By the Loch

‘No, I’ll never go back to them!’ Robyn cried.

David sat back in surprise at her outburst. ‘So, thereissomeone?’

Robyn put her hand to her mouth. ‘Honestly, I don’t remember.’

‘Then why did you just say—?’

‘I don’t know! It’s just a feeling.’A not very nice feeling, shethought. The same one of dread she had whenever she recalled sitting in a car outside the boathouse in the pitch dark.

‘Now you see – don’t you? Why I need to go back to the hospital and find out if someone can help me remember? I thought I could, you know, carry on as I am – without my memories. In fact, I wanted it that way. My life is here now. I don’t want to look back. But I can’t keep feeling this way, afraid of what’s really in my past.’

‘I understand. Robyn. It’s the elephant in the room, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s better to just face your fears. I bet whatever it is you’re afraid of is not half as bad as you think.’

Robyn hoped so.She had a sudden thought that came out of nowhere. It wasn’t the doll’s house that connected her to the Rosses. It was something in her past.

David took both her hands in his once again. ‘So, you haven’t been meeting anyone else while you’ve been away in London, apart from clients?’

Robyn let out a nervous laugh. ‘Of course not.’

‘No one from your past?’

‘Well, that would be a bit difficult, seeing as I don’t remember.’ Robyn shook her head, pursing her lips, hating to lie. It was true, she didn’t remember. Not everything. But shehadfound herself face to face with someone, and it had not been at all what she had expected.

Chapter 24

‘I’m just going to head down to breakfast.’

Robyn had just emerged from the shower, her hair wrapped in a towel, her face devoid of makeup. ‘Right now?’

David was already marching to the door.

‘Can’t you wait until I’ve dried my hair and put on some makeup? Then we can go down together.’

David had already showered and dressed. He wanted to go downstairs first so that he had a chance to speak to Gayle alone. ‘I’d rather head on downstairs, if you don’t mind.’

‘I don’t mind. I just thought you wanted to spend every waking second with me now I was back – remember?’ She grinned.

David laughed nervously. ‘Oh, yeah.’ He’d forgotten he’d said that. He walked over to the dressing table where she had sat down and stood behind her. He watched her as she unwrapped the towel and her hair fell around her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head. ‘I like your hair now.’

‘You didn’t like me blonde?’

David knitted his brow.

‘It was just a bit …’ He tried not to use the wordoddorstrange. ‘Surprising.’ Robyn’s decision to dye her hair had beenmost unexpected. But now it was back to her natural dark hair colour. He preferred it that way.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. ‘Would you like another surprise? I was thinking of changing the colour again.’

‘Why do you want to do that?’

Standing behind her, David caught the look on her face in the mirror as she turned away from him. She wasn’t smiling. She was looking anxious. Something wasn’t right.

He’d had his suspicions when he’d asked her if he should be worried about the two of them. David was no fool. Now she was talking about wanting her memories back. All these months, since he’d known her, she’d never once talked about getting her memories back. In fact, she’d admitted it was the last thing she wanted. So – why now? Despite his own anxieties over what would happen when she remembered her past, he had reassured her that whatever she was afraid of would not be half as bad as she thought.

David was only saying that to make her, and himself, feel better. She’d said herself that she was afraid of what was really in her past. David couldn’t get out of his mind the possibility that even though she couldn’t remember anything, her subconscious was telling her something.

He kissed the top of her head once more. ‘If you want to dye your hair again, then go for it.’

‘Really?’ She turned to look up at him, smiling.

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