Page 23 of Last Summer

“But...it took him a while to come around. That’s what you told me.”

Ella chews her lower lip, her mind tracing back to Damien’s reaction to her memory loss. “You weren’t supposed to forgethim,” he’d exclaimed. Why would he say something like that?

“Did I say anything at the hospital, anything strange?”

Davie frowns. “Like what?”

Ella shakes her head, unsure how to make sense of what Damien said and how to phrase it for Davie without it coming across as bizarre. Damien could have simply been shocked and the words came out of his mouth all wrong.

“What do you know about my accident?” she asks instead.

“Only what Damien told me.” Davie reiterates the same story Damien gave Ella that afternoon.

“Nothing else?”

Davie shakes her head. “I take it you don’t remember the accident.”

“No.” But she has the impression she and Damien argued beforehand. She asks Davie about it.

“If you did, you didn’t tell me.”

Ella hears laughter outside her door and the music on the Sonos speaker in her office abruptly stops.

“Game night is on,” Andrew shouts for them to hear.

Davie groans and sags in the chair. Ella, though, is relieved Damien’s mood has shifted.

“Come on. It’ll be fun.” Ella could use an insane night of Cards Against Humanity. She slides off her desk and pats Davie’s knee.

“Fine,” she grunts, getting up. “As long as it’s not ‘Exploding Kitties’ again. I refuse to give your little bro another belly rub.”

“You weren’t supposed to give him a literal belly rub. And it’s ExplodingKittens, by the way.”

“Whatever. His fault for lying about the rules.”

“Maybe he’ll purr this time if you’re lucky.”

“Fuck you.”

CHAPTER 6

Ella wakes the following morning with the vague memory of Damien kissing her goodbye.

“I’ll try to be home early,” he murmured. But the softness of his tone belied his worry. He’d read an email from his vice president of sales before bed. They’d lost Imperial Properties, a nationwide commercial real estate company. Ella didn’t want him to go in to work. She’d rather spend the day in bed in his arms. The painkillers make her so sleepy. But after seven days off, he needed to make an appearance at the office and meet with his sales staff. He had to find out what went down with Imperial. Damien left before the sun was up with a promise. He’d pick up dinner at Bob’s Steak and Chop House. Ella loves their steaks.

Ella boils water and fixes her coffee, skipping breakfast. Her appetite seems to have taken another hiatus. Coffee in hand, she makes her way to her office, still wearing her wrinkled sleep shirt and ratty terry cloth robe. She’s ready to dive into work, grateful for the distraction. She’s also grateful Damien kept the door to the nursery closed. Easier to imagine the room as the guest room it was before. Empty for a very different reason than it really is: no houseguests rather than no baby.

She settles into her chair with a groan and sets down her mug beside a white iPhone box. A large silver bow is taped on top with a note from Damien.

All set up and fully charged!

Couldn’t find the same case so I got several.

They’re in the Apple bag on your credenza.

Love, D.

Ella swings her chair around and peeks inside the bag. Her throat swells with emotion. The past week had to have been hell for Damien. One of the worst in his life. Yet he still had the forethought to replace her damaged phone. God, she loves this man.

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