Page 42 of Begin Again
“I know, but I don’t care. We’re going in here to get something to eat. I know you haven’t eaten much since the other night.”
“What do you care, Xavier?” She practically spits my name, and I remind myself not to fall into her trap. She’s in a bad mood because of everything going on. I shouldn’t take it too personally. Maybe a little, though.
Parking at the diner, I say, “Charlie, get out of the truck now.” Before she can challenge me, I repeat myself. “Now.”
With a loud huff, she does as she’s told.
Mom was right. Nothing a good meal can’t fix or make a little better. Charlie’s mood had improved significantly after getting some food in her stomach. Helen took one look at her and immediately knew what to give her: one of their famous chicken pot pies and a slice of lemon meringue pie. By the third bite, Charlie was a brand-new person.
However, that new person disappears when we drive through the Blackwood Ranch gate. She sees the Escalade still parked in front of the house. It’s now joined by another vehicle I don’t recognize—a silver Jeep Wrangler. They can’t be from around here. Most people in Bezer drive older SUVs, and most aren’t Jeeps—surprisingly.
Charlie slams the passenger door, takes off toward the house, and lets the front door slam behind her. The door slams one more time when she comes back outside. “They’re not inside. Where in the hell—”
“Charlie! Xavier!” I hear Joseph shout from behind me. He waves, walking down from the barn with the same two men behind him. “There you are. I was starting to wonder if you were ever coming back. I want to introduce you to some people.”
“No, thanks,” Charlie says, her voice laced with enough venom to poison all four of us were she to strike.
Joseph ignores her, introducing them anyway. “Jace, Ben…I’d like to properly introduce you to my daughter, Charlie, and our house guest, Xavier. He’s the one I was telling you about who has been doing all the work around the ranch.”
Both men stare straight at me. Neither one tries to hide it, and the shorter one fails to hide the smile tugging at his lips. It’s not a normal smile you give to someone you just met. It’s the kind of smile when youknowsomething everyone else in the room doesn’t. He steps forward and extends his hand. “Hi there, I’m Jace. It’s nice to meet you…Xavier, was it?”
“That’s what they call me,” I say, shaking his hand.
“Yeah, because you don’t even know your own name,” Charlie says with a slight scoff, earning a glare from me and Joseph. Why in the hell would she say that? These guys don’t need to know what a nutcase I am.
“You don’t know your name?” Jace asks, cocking his head to the side.
Joseph sighs, glaring at his daughter one more time. “Xavier was in an accident and unfortunately lost his memory. He’s been with us since we found him wandering the woods last—Oh, good! She’s here.”
Joseph beams, staring past Jace and Ben back to the barn. When I follow his gaze, my heart stops.
It’sher.
I have no doubt it’s her—the woman I’ve been dreaming of.
When our eyes meet, she braces herself against the barn door. Little by little, the fog that has infiltrated my mind for the last twelve months lifts, and I can see everything.
I know who I am.
I know who she is.
The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together. We may be almost a football field apart, but I can see the emotions displayed across her face. The tears in her eyes. The flush in her cheeks. The way her chest heaves with each shuttered breath. She wants to, but she doesn’t make the first move.
She waits to see what I’m going to do…
I can only imagine what she’s been going through the past year, and I hate myself for putting her through it. I’d do anything to take it back, and I will. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this right. But right now, all that matters is the woman in front of me—my wife.
“Dee.”
Part Two
HER
CHAPTER TWENTY
NOW
ONE YEAR.
