Page 58 of One Foggy Christmas
“What?”
“Nothing.” I move my piece. “It’s just that you’re so predictable. Memory loss has nothing on your tried-and-true checkers strategy.”
“Never mind.” She sits up taller, looking down at the game. “I’m doing everything different. We’ll see who’s predictable.”
I watch as she tries to switch things up. She looks beautiful, with her brown hair pulled up in a messy bun and no makeup exposing her light freckles. It’s the Sadie I love. I want to tell her how I feel and remind her of my love, but Dr. Hatchet explicitly said to take things slow. Don’t overwhelm her with information or feelings too soon. So, I leave the words on the tip of my tongue.
Her gaze jumps to me. “See? Now I have you guessing.”
“Uh, yeah.” I quickly glance down. The last thing I need is for her to get freaked out by me staring. But man, it was so nice to just stare. “You’ve got me all mixed up now.”
We take turns back and forth, but it’s clear her new strategy is no strategy at all. I’ve jumped the majority of her pieces.
As I remove her second-to-last piece from the board, I shoot her a playful smile. “I bet you’re glad this wasn’t strip checkers, because you’d be naked right now.”
“You know comments like that aren’t helping me not hate you.”
“You used to love how much I flirted with you.”
“I don’t know.” She lifts her shoulders. “It feels like a lot right now.”
“I guess I hoped that after talking to Autumn, you wouldn’t be so skeptical of me.”
“Autumn does seem to be a big fan of yours.”
“Really? What did she say?”That I’m the love of your life? That I make you happy? That we’re meant to be?
Brown eyes flip to me with a look that says I’m not getting any information from her.
“Okay, fine. Don’t tell me.” I jump my last piece over hers. “That’s game.”
“I want a rematch.” She immediately begins resetting the board. “I mean, you’re taking advantage of a person with a traumatic brain injury. Who does that?”
“I can let you win if you want.” My lips lift. “Take pity on you.”
Her stubbornness presents itself through her lifted chin. “I don’t need your pity.”
“That’s what I thought.”
She goes silent as we play, but I don’t mind. Being in the same room as her is enough.
“I’m getting released tomorrow,” she announces out of the blue.
“I heard. I actually wanted to discuss that with you.” I keep my focus on the game. It feels less threatening that way. “I talked to your parents, and we all thought that maybe it would be good for you to go back to our apartment, sleep there, and then fly to Syracuse on Sunday.” I’m bending the facts to fit my needs, but showing a united front with her parents is better. Right now, they’re her allies.
Her shoulders drop, and she sits back.
“Seeing where we live and what your life looks like might even help trigger something with your memory.” I’m not trying to manipulate her. I really believe that it could help. But I also want her to have the whole picture. “It would just be me there with you, but I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“You’ll sleep on the couch?”
I hold my hand up. “Scout’s honor.”
“Are you a boy scout?”
“No.” I shake my head with a smile. “Empty words.”
She playfully rolls her eyes, which is better than being annoyed. “It would probably be good for me to see our apartment.”
