Samuel washed his face with water in his hotel room bathroom, unbuttoning the top shirt of his tuxedo and losing the jacket. He needed to breathe.
Leaving Caro and Luke’s reception had been the right thing to do. Pilar had every right to be happy.
He went into his empty room and flipped the TV on for white noise.
Somehow, he needed to block the memory of Pilar’s tears.
He slumped on his bed and closed his eyes—another image crashed into his mind where he held Pilar’s hand while she screamed in a hospital bed.
A nurse rushed past him and a doctor told Pilar to push. She’d gripped his hand and screamed but he saw the dark hair of his son as he was born.
He’d taken her pain and told her to breathe.
A ringing in the room caused him to sit up and shake off the memory or vision. Was he remembering his son’s birth?
He ignored the question in his head and answered his phone.
Before he could even say hello, Valentina said, “Papa, come downstairs to the valet.”
His eyes widened. His daughter had never said anything like that before. He slipped his shoes on and grabbed his room key while he headed toward the door and asked, “Valet? Did you go somewhere, Valentina?”
She sounded breathless and needy. “No, but Rafe and Anthony are arguing over Jennifer right now, and I have a bad feeling about this. Papa, come.”
The door slammed behind him and he marched toward the elevator. “I’m on my way.”
He hung up the phone the moment the elevator carriage arrived. He was alone so he paced the cramped interior as it went down.
His son needed to be safe—what could Anthony do to him? He walked back and forth as another image of holding a baby and giving him to Pilar at the hospital played in his mind.
The doors to the elevator opened and he headed through the lobby, toward the front door and the night.
Halfway there he bumped into someone else and his skin electrified. He glanced down and saw his wife. He stepped back and crossed his arms. “Pilar, what’s going on with Rafe and Anthony?”
Her eyes widened, and she pressed her hand to her heart. “Rafe? What are you talking about?”
He hadn’t meant to worry her. “Valentina called and said he was arguing at the valet station with Anthony.”
She changed direction. “I’m coming with you.”
Humidity pressed against their skin the moment they were outside. The moon was high in the sky and cars were lined up near the entrance with boys in red jackets moving the cars to give the keys to the guests. Pilar’s high heels clicked on the cement as she hurried toward the valet station.
Near a black Lincoln town car, a driver loaded bags into the trunk and then took them out when he was told. In front of the car were Rafe and Anthony, who both had their hands flailing as they spoke loudly to each other.
As they ran toward them, Samuel could finally hear what they were saying. Rafe’s voice was raised as he stood in front of Jennifer and said, “Anthony, if Jennifer wants to stay here then she’s staying here.”
Pilar rushed to her son’s right side, so he took the left. “Is everything okay?”
Anthony stepped back with disdain and smoothed his hair. “I was talking to Jennifer about leaving for Italy when your son jumped into our conversation.”
Rafe refused to budge. “Mama, he was pulling Jennifer against her will.”
Pilar turned around and asked, “Jennifer, do you want to go?”
Jennifer’s face was white as a ghost. She glanced at all of them like she needed to make up her mind now but wasn’t certain. Pilar gently rubbed the movie star’s back like she was a little girl. A moment later, Jennifer nibbled her lower lip as she held her waist. She took a step back. “I don’t know. I wasn’t ready to leave the party or the hotel and now I really don’t know what I want.”
Samuel stepped forward, all of his repressed anger at this particular young man coming to the fore. “Until she decides for herself, you cannot force a woman.”
Anthony pushed Samuel back. “Get out of my way, old man.”
Anthony snapped for the driver to get into the town car and he slipped into the backseat.
At the same time, like a fool, Samuel lost his balance and he tipped backwards. His head hit the hard cement wall, and he tumbled down.
The car sped away, but Samuel saw stars.
He felt Pilar’s hand on his face and heard her sweet voice as she asked, “Samuel, are you okay?”
Her face wasn’t clear as he tried to open his eyes. She was blurry. He tried to stand as he said, “My mind is swirling right now and I’m dizzy.”
Pilar’s voice was the rock he needed. “Jennifer, go with Rafe back to the reception. Valentina, help me get your father to his room.”
Oh. His daughter. He hadn’t seen her, but he felt her hands on his other side while the two women pulled him to his feet. He swayed and tried to straighten his shirt. “I’m okay.”
Pilar linked her arm with his, and he remembered taking a long walk with her on his arm. She brought him back to the present when she said, “You’re white as a sheet. You hit your head, but I don’t see any blood. I’m having the hotel doctor called.”
Valentina hesitated. “That sounds expensive.”
Pilar walked them into the lobby. He knew not because he could see but because the cold breeze of air conditioning hit his skin. “No doctor—I’m fine.”
Pilar paused, then said, “Okay, let’s go to my suite.”
Imposing on her was wrong. He dragged his feet as he said, “We can’t…”
She tugged on his arm and spoke like she was still his wife. “No arguing. I can afford a doctor, and besides, you helped our son and Jennifer. It’s the least I can do.”
“Rafe is my son too.” His vision slowly came back.
“Si, but you don’t remember.” Pilar turned them toward the elevators to her suite.
He didn’t say a word as they brought him up the elevator. His vision cleared, but his mind still swirled. He remembered Caro in a red riding hood-like costume as she danced on stage when she was small. He then remembered his son dressed all in white at the church.
Pilar led them to her suite and directed them toward her bedroom. He held her hand closer and asked, “Did Rafe used to sing in the choir? Did he have his communion at our church?”
She forced him to sit and he realized a second later he was now on the bed as she stared down into his eyes. “Are you remembering?”
If he said yes, he’d lie to her. If he said no, he’d lie to her. Right now, he didn’t know what was right or wrong so he avoided the question and massaged his temple. “I don’t know. My head is throbbing. I keep seeing a little girl in a red riding hood costume as she spun across the stage.”
“Caro.” She tugged on his legs to turn him. “Don’t strain yourself. Lie on the bed. I’ll call the doctor. Valentina, keep him talking and make him comfortable.”
His youngest had heard everything. She tugged at his shoes while Pilar disappeared. His daughter pressed her hand on his forehead and said, “Papa, you have to be alright.”
“I’ll be fine.” He took both of her hands and tried to sit up. He saw Pilar standing against the back wall with the hotel phone. “You and Pilar are fussing too much. I just have a splitting headache.”
Pilar shook her head and stared at him like he was an errant school boy. She then hung up the phone and walked toward him. “The doctor will be here soon. I’ll get his other shoe off.”
Heat washed through him as she untied his shoe. He had no right to be here right now. She didn’t want him. She needed to live the rest of her life in total happiness. His body stiffened as she brushed against his ankle. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Don’t argue, Samuel.” She tugged his shoe off, leaving it where he’d left his shoes last night.
His body refused to budge. Pilar’s brown eyes were beautiful and the only thing he could see right now.
His daughter at his side broke the spell as she said, “Pilar?”
“Yes, mi’ja?” Pilar went to sit beside Valentina on the bed.
The two of them together was like a dream. If only his family was united always.
Another vision of Pilar in a white gown at the church altar surrounded with white orchids hit him.
Valentina said, “I told my father to break up with you and take me back to Italy. I was being immature and sad over Anthony, but I see so clearly now that he’s a jerk. I’m so sorry I told my father anything about you.”
Like the perfect woman, Pilar patted his daughter’s shoulder and hugged her. Once Valentina was calm, Pilar immediately said, “Don’t worry about this. Your father and I are adults and we have a long history he doesn’t remember.”
And he’d broken up with her. An apology wouldn’t be enough. He swallowed, unsure what to say as a memory of driving in the car with Pilar at his side, laughing, and their two children in car seats in the back seat played out in his head.
Valentina brought him back when she said, “My father is all I have. I was worried you’d take him away from me.”
Pilar’s genuine smile at his daughter was exactly what he remembered. Even as a little girl, she’d smiled at everyone in their class.
He jolted back as more images came to him about his mother, his father, his grandparents, the first time he kissed and made love to Pilar. Everything hit him like a bomb and he couldn’t move.
Pilar said, “Never. You’re his daughter and he clearly loves you.”
While he heard his daughter, Samuel was immobile. He also remembered being in Italy and with Valentina’s mother though even then he’d known somehow he missed someone important. “You, Caro, and even Rafe have been good to me. Caro offered to send me an entire collection of clothes.”
Pilar patted Valentina’s knee. “She’s your big sister.” A knock sounded in the room and Pilar’s weight lifted from the bed. “Here is the doctor.”
If she left him, he feared all the images in his mind might disappear. He sucked in his breath and met her gaze. “Pilar, you don’t have to let him in.”
She flitted to the door, like she had already made her decision. “I’m going. Samuel, you better be well.”
“I’m fine.” He braced himself.
Once she left, more images of tucking his children in, taking Rafe for that ice cream and also stopping at an arcade for secret pizza hit him.
He truly was Samuel Soliz.
Pilar returned with the doctor as she offered her hand to Valentina to stand up. “Doctor, my husband has amnesia and he hit his head. Now he’s having headaches and he’s dizzy.”
The doctor put his bag down and loomed over his skull. “I’ll check for a concussion first.”
Neither Pilar nor Valentina needed to hear him, not yet. He wasn’t ready. He kept his head down for the doctor to probe his sore head. “Can we talk alone, Doctor?”
The doctor turned toward Pilar and Valentina and asked, “Can you give us a few minutes?”
“Of course,” Pilar said and pulled Valentina out of the room.
Samuel kept his lips sealed until he heard the door. Finally, once he was sure they were alone, he glanced up.
The doctor shined a light in his pupils as he asked, “What’s going on?”
He looked to make sure the door was fully closed. “I’m having images in my head that I think are memories.”
The doctor put the small light away and pressed his hands against Samuel’s temples. “That’s good. How long have you had amnesia?”
“Twenty-five years,” Samuel said like it was a yard stick.
The doctor continued to check all parts of his head while he asked, “Do you know what triggered the return of your memory?”
The night he saw Mitch walking behind two men who’d dragged Isabelle out of the house, Samuel had placed his tools down on the driveway and stood up. He blinked, remembering how Mitch’s face then had matched Anthony’s today. “Memories have been coming on gradually, but when I saw Anthony and my son arguing about taking Jennifer, another woman, against her will into the car, I remembered when Mitch dragged Isabelle with his bodyguards in tow.”
The doctor sat up. “I don’t know who they are, but are Isabelle and Jennifer all right?”
This time Samuel massaged his temple and his entire life sorted out like he’d solved a puzzle that had confused him. “Everyone’s fine, but Isabelle’s kidnapping is when I lost my memory all those years ago.”
The doctor took out a stethoscope and listened to him breathe. “I see. Well, reliving the past is much more likely to trigger memories. I don’t see signs of a concussion. Did your previous doctors not tell you to relive special moments to see if that would help?”
At least he was physically fine. Now he needed to fix this life that he’d entirely screwed up. “I didn’t know anything or anyone in my past until a few days ago.”
The doctor concluded the visit and packed his stethoscope into his bag. “Well, it’s best if you stay off your feet and have someone sit with you. Let the memories surface on their own.”
“Okay, thanks doctor.” Samuel sat straight, his back against the headboard of Pilar’s bed.
Alone, Pilar walked in with a glass of water that she handed him as she sat beside him and stared into his eyes like she had lights to see right through him to his soul. “Are you okay, Samuel? The doctor didn’t say much.”
If he told her he remembered everything now, she’d stay with him out of obligation. He couldn’t do that to her. He needed to win her heart, which meant forming a plan. He gulped the water. “He said I didn’t have a concussion but to take it easy tonight and see how I am in the morning.”
Pilar took the glass back and then held it in her lap. “Valentina’s ordered your things to be brought to my suite for the night. I’m giving her the extra room that was technically Caro’s that she never stayed in. Once you’re feeling yourself tomorrow, we can go back to what we agreed.”
Caro, Rafe, and Valentina were all important, but so was Pilar. She was the linchpin to his happiness. If he left right now, he’d lose his chance—so, he took her hand. “Sorry for the trouble.”
“Samuel, what matters is your health. If you need anything, just call.” She stood up suddenly like she’d been burned and rushed out of the room.
What’d he said on Caro’s big day was wrong. He loved Pilar. Even when he didn’t remember her, he knew he’d lost the most important thing in his life. Now he understood why nothing ever filled the gap. Pilar was the love of his life and he needed to somehow make everything up to her.
He had one night to come up with a plan.