Page 28 of The Affair
“Ah, I remember you saying your mom grew up there.”
I nodded. “She didn’t move out here until college. And then she met my dad and never left.”
A wide grin crept across my face, and I felt a swirly sensation rising in my belly—something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“And that’s how you became a Southern girl.”
“I guess so,” I answered, my voice a tad hoarser than it should be.
“You should transcribe these,” he announced.
“Transcribe?”
“Yeah, either by voice or the old-fashioned way. But these words need to be preserved.”
“You think I should copy her journals into the computer? Wouldn’t that take … forever?”
He shrugged. “It’s not like you have a deadline for it. It could be something you do in your free time. But I’ve heard horror stories on the job. We’ve done work on houses after fires, and it’s never the appliances or the marble tile people miss. It’s stuff like this,” he said, pointing to my grandmother’s words still resting on his legs.
“I’ll think about it,” I promised, looking up at the man who’d somehow managed to take over my entire night with a bag of burgers and a hundred questions.
What are you doing to me, Sawyer Gallagher?
And am I prepared for it?
That was the real question.
Chapter Five
“Elle? Is that her name?”
My name was being whispered through the fog, and I reached for it.
“Elle, wake up. I’m so sorry.”
The voice wasn’t familiar, but somehow, it felt soothing. Like coming home after a long trip.
I didn’t know how long I’d been wading in that pool, floating somewhere between awake and asleep.
Drifting.
Listening.
But finally, my eyes began to flutter, and light crept in.
And I saw him.
“Hey,” he said, a smile spreading across his young face. “You’re awake! I’m so sorry I hit you with my bike. I lost control. The street was a little steeper than I realized.”
“You’re the new kid,” I said, my voice still hoarse.
“Yeah,” he answered. “My name is Reed. And you must be the infamous Elle.”
* * *
Even hours later,my mind was still haunted by the dream that had awoken me this morning.
But this hadn’t been an ordinary dream.
