“Forget it,” Alex snapped.
She stared at him, her stomach and thoughts churning at the implications of what Alex had just said. She glanced at Christina who was extremely pale, her gaze focused on the melon ball sitting on her spoon and not on them. “I can’t.” Saige shook her head and grabbed hold of Alex’s wrist to keep him in the room. “What did you mean?”
Christina swallowed a few times and, after she threw her napkin on the table, dashed out of the room.
Alex breathed through his nose and his whole body tensed in anger. “I got angry and spoke out of turn. Leave it, please.” Alex smiled, and took Saige’s fingers from his wrist and gave them a reassuring squeeze. “I’m going to take a walk near the jetty to cool down. Come and find me when you’re ready to head into town.”
Saige nodded and watched him leave while she pondered what the hell his comment about her stepmom meant. Had Christina come on to Quinten? And Alex?
Saige felt like she was the last to know with everything, and she found it frustrating that everyone who knew her had her memories.
“Saige, honey.” Her dad walked into the breakfast room and interrupted her thoughts, but it didn’t remove the frown from her brow.
“Morning, Dad. You’re up late.” She smiled.
“Not really.” Her father helped himself to half a plate of food and a small bowl of fruit before he sat opposite her, instead of his usual seat at the head of the table.
He looked tired as he poured a cup of coffee. His usual dusky blond hair had more than a hint of grey around the temples. He’d been lucky that he hadn’t shown any sign of going grey until he reached fifty. Her father had always been a strong man, and she knew that he still was, but there was now a weariness to him. His square shoulders sagged and the stress around his eyes told her that he worried. Saige had a good guess as to what about, so she decided to get it all out in the open and hoped her father would too.
After Christina and Alex’s reaction to each other, she no longer wanted to wait for everyone to come together. Christina, especially, could wait until Saige got her alone. No way did she want Alex setting her off again.
“Spit it out, Saige.” He offered her a wry smile. “I’ve always been able to tell when you had something on your mind, but didn’t know how to get it out.” He took a sip of his coffee. “You know what I used to say, and you always used to agree with me.”
“You’ll feel better once you’ve had your say, Saige,” she mimicked her father from years gone by.
“That’s the one.”
Saige glanced toward the bay window with a view of the water, hoping for courage. “I can’t leave the past alone.”
“I already knew that when you showed up with Alex, which I have to admit, I’m not too happy about.” Her father continued to eat while his eyes stayed focused on her.
“I know you aren’t happy about Alex staying here, but there’s nowhere in town to stay and we’re both doing this together, so staying here made sense.”
“Hmm,” he mumbled and sipped his coffee while watching her over the rim of the steaming brew.
“Why have you never told me about Quinten? About my relationship with him?”
Startled, her father dropped his cutlery as his eyes widened. “You got your memory back?” he asked.
“I wish I did.” Saige dipped her head and then lifted it to look at her father. “Alex is convinced that Quinten didn’t take me, or kill those girls. There is so much that isn’t making sense to me right now. I mean, did I really select him from a lineup of photographs as my abductor? The statement says I did, but that doesn’t seem right to me. When I look at images of Quinten, I don’t feel fear. Shouldn’t it trigger that feeling?”
“Oh, honey. No one mentioned your relationship with him because it could have harmed your recovery. You loved him. As a father, I wanted you well. So I listened to the doctors and refused to let anyone remind you of anything.” Her father pushed his plate away and cradled his cup of coffee in his hands. “I did question his guilt. I spoke with the sheriff, the detective investigating your case, and the district attorney. They were all convinced they had the right man. The detective hesitated to lay the blame at Quinten’s feet and told me so during a private conversation between the two of us. He wasn’t completely sold on Quinten’s guilt, but in the end, he was convicted.
“The prosecutor pushed and pushed until Quinten was found guilty of five counts of first degree murder, and your abduction and torture.”