Page 17 of This Is Love (The Light to My Darkness 3)

He smiled. “It’s in the past, Penny. I know it probably feels more recent to you, but it was a long time ago.”

“So you swear that you’re happy?”

“I swear that I’m happy. All that hurt led me to happiness with the right person. Everything has a funny way of working out for the best. Does this mean that you remember breaking my heart and choosing James?” He smiled down at me.

I didn’t know whether to nod or to shake my head. Pieces were all that I had. Fragments of a life I had forgotten. But there was no denying the memory that I just had of Tyler. How I felt after James called off our wedding. That devastation. “I remember loving him so much that it felt like I died when he asked me to leave and never come back. Like I didn’t know how to keep breathing in a world where he wasn’t beside me.”

“Imagine how the poor guy has been feeling for the last few days.”

I nodded. God, he was right. I had been so focused on my thoughts, when my heart had been leading me to him the whole time. “I don’t want to fight the memories anymore. I want to go home.”

“Welcome back, Penny.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on my forehead like he had all those years ago. A friendship kiss. Nothing more and nothing less.

Tyler may have saved me tonight, but he wasn’t my knight in shining armor. James was. He always had been. He saved me when I didn’t even realize I needed saving. And if that wasn’t a sign that he was my soul mate, what on earth was? I didn’t need all my memories to see that.

“As soon as we talk to the police we can get you home. They’ll have some questions. And Dr. Nelson will finally be in custody.”

He hadn’t stirred at all. Tyler must have really knocked him out.

“You’re okay, right? You’re not hurt at all?”

“I feel fine.” Besides for the overwhelming feeling that I missed my family. I desperately wanted to be with them.

“I should call James. He’s probably worried sick about you.”

I grabbed his arm as he pulled his c

ell phone out of his pocket. “We can tell him in person. He’ll freak out about this more if I’m not right there. He worries so much about me.” He worries? I know that? I smiled to myself.

“You’re probably right. If you want we can stop by my place and get you in a pair of comfy sweatpants. You’re drenched from the rain.”

I laughed. “You always let me borrow your sweatpants when I come over?” I said it like a question, but I knew it was true. I didn’t have a memory of it, but I just knew.

“That’s right. It’s all coming back.

It was. “If it’s okay, I just want to go home.” I needed to see James. I needed to tell him that I was remembering. I wanted to hug Scarlett and hold Liam. I wanted my life back. It was like I had finally awakened from a dream. This life around me was real. And I didn’t want it any other way. I’d take it just the way it was, even without all my memories.

Chapter 5

Monday - Penny

Tyler sat with me on the taxi ride back to my apartment. And insisted on walking me all the way to my door. It was like he was afraid I was going to be snatched again. Thanks to him, that wasn’t going to happen.

I lifted my hand to knock, but I stopped and turned to him before my knuckles collided with the wood. “Thank you again, Tyler. No matter how many times I say it, it’ll never be enough.”

“Get inside before you catch a cold. James will kill me if you get the flu on top of everything else.”

I smiled. “I think you’ll be in James’ good graces permanently after tonight.”

“Maybe I’ll finally get that A.”

I laughed. “Psh. You got an A in my book. And you probably would have if I didn’t get our class canceled.”

“Fair point. Go on,” he gestured to the door. “Get back to your life.”

It did feel like I was delaying. As soon as I went through that door, everything would change. Or go back to the way it was? My memories still felt like dreams instead of reality. But I wanted this. I wanted this amazing life. I don’t know how I wound up here, but I was so ecstatic that I had.

Reading about James’ love and experiencing it were going to be two very different things. I wanted to feel what I felt in the pages of my novel. I wanted to know what it was like to be truly loved and love in return. I was ready. I knocked on the door.

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