Page 63 of His Unforgettable Bride
Tabitha handed Juliet the umbrella, and they crowded underneath it, shoulder to shoulder. “Take this, and please run your errand before my sister ties herself into a tizzy, but perhaps it’s already too late.”
Juliet shrugged, not about to say anything negative regarding Livy. “I will.”
“Unless you strongly disagree, I’d like you present when we tell Gray the truth.”
She was honored to be included in the conversation. As Gray’s friend, she wanted to be at his side for the announcement. “I’d like that as well.”
“I thought you might.”
As she spun to leave, Gray’s image slid into her thoughts. If he wasn’t the sisters’ nephew, who was he?
* * *
A rural setting. A pond, horses, and a spreading oak tree. Gray tightened his grip on the paintbrush and tried to capture the full memory before it disappeared.
His recollection was like before, only broader, with an auburn-haired girl reclining in the grass after tumbling from her horse. A faceless boy kneeled at her side and held her hand. Instead of rushing to offer aid, Gray hesitated.
Why was he callous toward her, and why did the same specific memory resurrect again while countless others remained hidden? The temptation to fling the brush across the tearoom beckoned. Instead, he drew a deep breath.
Cy’s fall earlier had undoubtedly triggered the recollection. But Gray had also fallen in the woods behind the house before Juliet found him. Was that occurrence not more significant than the one from his youth?
“It’s time to baste the salmon.” Icala wiped his hands on a rag near the door, drawing Gray from his thoughts. A patch of pink paint stained the cook’s white sleeve, and another splotch graced his chin. “I’ll be back. Then we’ll compare which of us did better on our tasks.”
Gray raised his brow and tried to focus on the present instead of the past. “Has your nature always leaned toward the competitive side?”
“Has yours?”
“I’m going to say yes because a man with amnesia gets to make up whatever he wants about his past.”
“True enough.” Icala chuckled.
“When you go inside, check Cy’s condition.”
“Planned on it.”
After Cy’s fall, they’d helped him to the sitting room and settled him in his bed. He had insisted he would survive and needed nobody to fuss over him. But Gray had waited until the physician arrived before returning to the tearoom.
Icala cocked his head to the side, studying the wall. “I think we need to add a second coat of paint.”
“I thought the same thing, then changed my mind.”
Icala reached for his coat on the floor near the door. “My father was full of advice. For example, he said to follow my instincts and not to second-guess myself, a rule I’ve tried to follow ever since. Usually, I have no regrets.”
Regrets—what a heavy word. Gray could not say how he knew but sensed he had a few. Perhaps many. “Any other wise advice from your father?”
Icala finished tugging on his long leather overcoat and then tapped his eye patch. “As a child, my brother and I played swords with sticks. Somehow, I accidentally poked myself hard enough in my eye that I lost my vision.”
A painful tragedy, yet his friend had notably risen above his affliction. Had he always accepted the situation or slowly adapted to his new limitations and reality? “No doubt, that was an adjustment for you.”
“My father claimed mistakes are merely part of living. I’ve never forgotten those words.” With a nod, Icala exited, the door banging behind him.
What mistakes had Gray made over his lifetime? Too many to count?
With every passing day, Gray pondered whether it was time to quit dwelling on his restricted memory and stop trying to figure everything out. The truth was his memories might never return. Instead, should he move forward with this new life and strive to become a better man than he was in his nebulous past?
He had held himself back from establishing roots to a degree because he expected to leave eventually. But maybe his lot in life was as a carpenter with the sisters in Everly.
Could such a future also include Juliet? Was it time to stop holding himself back from her and start pursuing her more seriously?
