“Did you have to go to a doctor’s appointment?” she asks in a low voice.
“No, nothing like that.” Lucy knows all about my phobia about doctors and hospitals, stemming from my mother’s terminal cancer. She knows I have a panic attack every time I need to visit the doctor. “I’m fine. It was just so strange to wake up next to Graham when…”
“You couldn’t remember him?”
“Yes…”
“I can’t even imagine…” Lucy lets out a long sigh. “But you should know, Tess… Graham is a good guy. He loves you a lot.”
“I guess…”
“And he’s hot, right?”
“Yes…” I can’t deny Graham is hot.
“Honestly, Tess, he’s so much better than Harry.”
A tear cascades from my right eye at the mention of Harry Finch, and I brush it away. “Lucy, where is Harry?”
There’s a sharp inhale of breath on the other line. “Tess…”
“Please tell me. Please.”
“I… I don’t know. Before your accident, you hadn’t mentioned him in years. But now…”
“Why did I break up with him?”
She’s quiet on the other line. “You just grew apart.”
“Grew apart? Lucy, we were engaged!”
“I don’t know.” There’s a vagueness to her voice that makes me think she’s lying to me. “You called it off.”
“When?”
“Maybe six months after you got engaged? I can’t remember. You just said you were glad you decided not to marry him before the wedding invitations went out.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know, sweetie. He was just sort of a loser, you know? And you were so much better off without him. You were way too good for Harry Finch.”
I wince at her comment. Harry and Lucy didn’t particularly like each other, but they both tried to be civil around each other for my sake. And Lucy promised to keep the negative comments to a minimum. This isn’t the first time she’s informed me I was too good for Harry.
“And then you started seeing Graham…” she adds.
“Yeah…”
“And he’s great. An all-around wonderful guy.”
“He seems nice.” I chew on my thumbnail. “He’s been so kind to me today. And it’s such a great story about how we met. The way he saved my life…”
Lucy laughs. “Saved your life? What are you talking about?”
I frown. “The story of how we met. Hadn’t I told you before?”
“Well, yes…”
“It’s… romantic.” I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing I could remember the day it happened. “A car was going to hit me and he pulled me out of traffic…”
“Pulled you out of traffic!” Lucy cackles with laughter. “Who told you that?”
My fingers freeze on my phone. “Graham told me. This morning.”
The laughter instantly dies. “Oh.”
“What are you saying?” I press her. “How did Graham and I really meet?”
“Well, he…” I can hear her swallow. “He was an accountant you hired for your company. I… I thought that’s how you met. But maybe he also saved your life. Or… is it possible that you misunderstood?”
That scar on my right scalp throbs dully, and I press my fingers against it. Graham told me this morning that we met when he saved my life. I’m sure of it. I may not remember what happened yesterday, but the conversation with him is so clear in my mind. He told me he pulled me out of traffic just before a car was about to hit me.
Didn’t he?
I pull up the sleeve of my shirt. I stare down at the number that I apparently fabricated completely. It felt so real, but it wasn’t. I can’t trust myself.
“I have to go,” I manage.
“Tess?”
“I’m sorry, I…” I gulp for air. “I need to talk to Graham about something. I… let’s talk later.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I promise.”
I hang up the phone before Lucy can ask any other questions. My head is throbbing again. Maybe Graham was right. Maybe I do need to see a doctor and get another scan of my head. Maybe my brain started bleeding again. All I know is I can’t trust any of my memories anymore.
I close my eyes and remember that snippet I had imagined when Camila said I was having a seizure. The one that felt so real, where Graham was coming into my office to interview for a job at My Home Spa. I had thought it was a figment of my imagination, but it seems consistent with what Lucy just told me. Maybe it was an actual memory.
I shove my phone back into my pocket and run up the stairs to the second floor. I start to go to the bedroom, then I notice another door is ajar, and the light is on inside.
It’s the bedroom right next to the master bedroom. When we bought the place, Harry joked, That’s where our firstborn will sleep. Even then, we assumed we would end up together for the rest of our lives. We both wanted children. Two or three—we couldn’t decide.
But Graham and I don’t have any children. So what is in this room?
Before I can second guess it, I reach for the doorknob. I’m tired of my entire life being a mystery. I want answers.
Chapter 15
I nudge the door the rest of the way open. It’s an office. Graham’s office. He’s got a mahogany desk set up with a black leather chair, and a bookcase pushed up against the wall, stuffed to the brim with books and papers. He’s got a laptop on the desk, and next to it is a picture frame containing a photograph of me and Graham.
I pick up the frame. It’s the two of us on a beach somewhere. My hair is long and thick in the photograph, and my skin is several shades darker than it is now. And I look… happy. Graham’s arm is around me and we’re both grinning for the camera.
I replace the frame on the desk where I found it. The next item I pick up is a pen. I twirl it around and notice there’s gold lettering on it. My Home Spa. I test the pen on a blank piece of paper on the desk. It writes nicely—good quality.
There’s a large drawer below the desk. On an impulse, I reach for the handle of the drawer and try to pull it open. It doesn’t budge.
It’s locked.
“Tess? What are you doing?”
I jump away from the desk at the sound of Graham’s voice. He’s standing in the doorway to his office, his light brown eyebrows bunched together, staring at me.