Page 9 of Forget Me Not

“Grayson,” she manages to get out before bursting into a coughing fit. I squeeze her hand firmer in an attempt to coddle her. “Grayson,” she says again. “Thorn.”

Grayson Thorn. My last name is Thorn. A smile tugs at my lips, but I force it back down when I notice Mom side-eyeing me.

“He’s a horrible person, Rhea. Horrible!” She gasps for air, but musters the strength to say, “If he finds you, your life will belong to him.”

I can feel the prominent crease on my forehead as I squint at her in confusion. “But why?”

“He tried to take you from me. That’s why I chose this life for us. I was so young when I had you, Rhea. Only seventeen years old, and I hung on to Grayson’s word that he would protect us. When you were only a couple of months old, I overheard him strike a deal with a very wealthy family. That’s all I needed to hear before I packed our bags and snuck out the back door.” She pauses to catch her breath, but I’m too invested in this conversation to have patience.

“What sort of deal? Tell me, Mom!”

“You were the bargaining chip in a mutual agreement.”

My heart is pounding out of fear that she’ll slip away before I know the truth about my dad. I have to know! “I don't know what any of this means. Please, Mom. Tell me!”

“He gave away your hand in marriage to a boy a couple years older than you. He sold you, Rhea. He sold your future for his own gain.”

A cold gust of disbelief sweeps through me, and the tiny hairs on my arms stand tall. “Who is this boy? This family?”

“A powerful one. Far more powerful than Grayson. I don’t know much about them, but they came to an agreement on a marriage of convenience to form an alliance of sorts. They hold enough force to hide you away and keep you forever, and not a single soul will know you’re gone—except for me, and I refuse to let that happen.”

My stomach twists into a ball of knots. My entire life has been a lie. I always knew we were running from my dad for a reason, but I never anticipated the reason being this. “No,” I blurt out. “That can be.”

“It’s true, my love. That night, I took you away, and I’ve kept you away ever since. But as long as he lives, he will never stop trying to find you.”

Losing my mom was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face, and I’ve faced some pretty hard times. I never want to feel a pain so deep again. With God as my witness, I will never love, or be loved. I’m nothing but an invisible force, merely existing in a world where money is power, and power rules the world. I don’t want it, but I need it. There is not a single desire in me to live a life of luxury. As for love—that’s a burden I refuse to carry. I’d rather not love and lose anyone than love and lose them all.

Mom left me that night, in our hotel room after being cared for by an on-call doctor brought in by Dexter. I held her hand and watched her drift away into her eternal sleep, begging for God to take me too. I didn’t let go until almost three hours later when Dexter came for her body. And when he did, I plagued him with questions about my dad. The only information he could share was that he was a very wealthy man who struck a deal with the devil to save his own ass.

The deal being me.

ChapterFour

RHEA

Present Day: October 9, 2022

Lockhaven, VM

“Good morning,”I say to the sweet elderly couple who seated themselves in my section. Their fingers are intertwined, resting on top of the table, and they're wearing matching white shirts, hers adorned with a gold chain holding a locket that rests against her delicate skin.

“Can I start you two off with something to drink?” I ask as my pen hovers over the notepad in my hand.

“Two coffees,” the kind gentleman says. “Black. And ice water for my sweetheart, please.” My chest fills with warmth at the way his soft blue eyes sparkle when he looks at his wife.

“You got it. I’ll be right back with those.”

As I turn away, the forced smile on my face slowly fades. My shoulders slump, and the warmth that radiated through moments ago is replaced with rawness. This job has been…different. It’s not that I hate it, but there’s just no thrill. Not a single bit of excitement. I’m not sure what I expected in this town that consists of one main road with buildings that are all attached like they're one big happy family. That’s sort of how everything, and everyone, in Lockhaven behaves—like we’re all family. Only, they’re not my family, and I’m struggling hard to connect to a single person I’ve met thus far.

“I see you’ve met Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove,” Taryn gushes as she places her hand over her heart. “Aren’t they just the cutest couple ever? Did you know that they’ve been together since high school? Even got voted the cutest couple their senior year.”

“Did not know that. But thank you for sharing.” The lack of enthusiasm in my tone is apparent because I make no attempt to mask it. Grabbing the pot of coffee behind the waitress station, I pour the piping hot drink into a Michigan Wolverines coffee mug. Then I grab another. This one’s got a panda bear on it.

All the plates, cups, and bowls in this place are mismatched. It’s almost as if everything was donated, or purchased from a thrift store. Yet, no one cares. Taryn’s Tavern is the one-stop shop where everyone goes. We serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There’s a small gift shop attached to the back of the place that’s run by a lady who rents the extra space. We also have a full-service bar—the only one in Lockhaven. On the weekends, it’s the most popular hangout.

Dexter really stuck the fork in me when he picked this town. Then again, it’s what I asked for. I suppose the saying is true, be careful what you wish for.

“Rhea,” Taryn says with a bite of seriousness in her tone. It’s odd hearing my name. Almost a surreal feeling. “I know you’re still settling in, hun. But could you please try just a little harder to turn that frown upside down?” She sneaks up on me with a sly smile, then pokes my side with her index finger. I yelp and jump away from her. “Just smile, girl. It’s not that hard.”

---