Emmy spent the weekend thinking about Nash and all that he’d said. Could she ever forgive him? Did she even need to?

After all, they weren’t dating, and they didn’t need to be friends. He was her patient, simple as that. She wanted to believe that, but her heart wouldn’t let her.

The reality was that when she looked at him, she saw her whole life and where it had gone off track all those years ago. She’d never imagined a future without Nash in it. If she was being honest with herself, she’d always had him in the back of her mind, even when she was married.

“I know there was something else we needed…” Emmy muttered to herself as she sat at the kitchen table with her grocery shopping list. “I have eggs, milk, ketchup…”

“We need fabric softener. But remember to get the kind with the little bear and not the kind with the big purple flower. That stuff smells like a whorehouse,” Pauline said, never looking up from her crossword puzzle. For as long as Emmy could remember, her mother always spent Sunday evenings at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and her beloved crossword puzzle.

“I know there was something else…”

“Toilet paper. But get the double ply kind. You’ve got to stop trying to save a buck. That last stuff you got was worse than truckstop bathroom toilet paper.”

Emmy stopped writing and looked at her mother. How was she remembering this stuff? It dawned on her that the B12 shots must be working because her mother could never remember stuff like that.

“Mom, do you remember when my dental appointment is, by chance?”

Pauline chuckled as she filled in the blanks, a look of satisfaction on her face. “The third of next month. Maybe you need some of those shots, Em.”

Emmy smiled to herself as she finished her list. Maybe things were looking up after all. If her mother was able to care for herself, she could go home to Atlanta sooner than she thought. Only Atlanta just didn’t feel like home anymore.

* * *

“I have to say I’m impressed, Nash. Your range of motion is really improving,” Emmy said as she finished their exercises for the day. “Look how far you can lift that arm now.”

Nash smiled half heartedly. “Yeah, it’s definitely better.”

“What’s wrong now?”

“I just want to get back to normal life.”

“Vegas?”

Nash chuckled. “Actually, no. I just want to be able to do normal things. Take a walk or a hike. Spend time in nature. Take a shower without holding onto something.”

Emmy cocked her head and thought for a moment. “I can help with some of that.”

Nash grinned. “Okay, please follow me over this way toward the shower,” he said, playfully waving his hand sideways like a game show model.

“Ha ha, very funny. You have some time right now?”

“Well, I can fit you in between my conference call and meeting with my financial adviser.”

Emmy stared at him for a moment before realizing he was joking.

“Right. Okay. Come on. I want to take you somewhere.”

Nash was maneuvering his walker so well that sometimes he could get by with just a cane. They loaded his walker into her car, just in case, but when they arrived a few miles away at their destination, he only brought his cane with him.

“Where are we going?” he asked as they got out at a nondescript parking lot and headed toward a wooded path.

“You don’t know where you are?” Emmy asked, a surprised look on her face.

“Well, I haven’t been to Whiskey Ridge in years, and this parking lot wasn’t here when I left.”

“I’ve been gone a long time too, but I can’t believe you’d ever forget this place…” She smiled before turning and heading toward the path.

Nash followed slowly behind her, but they weren’t very far into the path before he tripped on a small root and bumped into her back.

“Oh, man… Sorry,” he said, holding onto her for dear life as she leaned over and retrieved his cane from the ground. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

Emmy looked up at him. “You can do this. I should’ve supported you better. Sorry I walked ahead of you. Here, hold onto this arm.” She held her upper arm out toward him, and he slowly took hold of it for more support. “It’s not a long walk, I promise.”

They walked along together, mostly quiet, with Nash concentrating on where he was walking.

“Look at that,” she whispered as a deer crossed the path about twenty feet in front of them. It stared at them for a moment before slowly walking into the woods. “I forgot how peaceful this place could be.”

“Yeah, well to be fair, we were kids back then. We weren’t exactly looking for peace, were we?”

She laughed. “I guess you’re right. We were looking for adventure. Remember when we all jumped off Cherokee Cliff? That lake was freezing!”

“If I remember correctly, you tried to do a flip and did a belly flop instead,” Nash said with a laugh.

“That hurt for a week! I didn’t have as much padding around my midsection as I do now.”

Nash cut his eyes over at her and smiled, his dimples on full display. “Well, Doc, I don’t see anything wrong with your figure.”

“Nash…” she chided.

“Hey, I might have a bum arm and leg, but I can still appreciate beauty when I see it.”

“Yes, and this forest is beautiful,” she said, staring straight ahead and trying to change the subject.

“You know, I remember the day I first saw you. You were standing outside that ring, and I was so distracted I’m surprised I didn’t get hurt that day too.”

Emmy stopped and looked at him. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to walk down memory lane, Nash.”

He sighed. “Why wouldn’t it be a good idea to remember good things?”

Emmy turned and started walking again. “Fine. But only good things. No potentially upsetting or anger producing topics.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a smile. Gosh, his smiles were deadly. He’d gotten away with everything as a teenage boy simply because of that smile. And that thick, wavy head of hair. And those broad shoulders and muscular arms…

“Remember when we TP’d the school senior year?”

“Um, that was you and the McAllister boys. I was at home being a good girl!”

“Yeah, right. When we met up in my truck that night, you were certainly not being a good girl. I remember getting in all kinds of hot water over that hicky you put on my neck!”

Emmy had to laugh. Those were the good days. When there were no bills, no ex husbands, no life altering decisions.

Truth be told, she remembered the day she met Nash like it was yesterday. Watching him work with the horses and bulls gave her feelings that she didn’t even understand at the time.

He’d been hot as a teenager, but even as a somewhat maimed grown man, he was even hotter now. His jawline was more square and grown up. His hair seemed thicker, but with flecks of silver starting to peek through here and there. His eyes seemed more tired, though, and that made her sad. Sometimes life takes its toll.

“Oh wow. I think I know where you’re taking me. The question is, why?”

Emmy simply smiled and kept walking. The woods were her happy place. Even as a kid, she’d loved sneaking away to read under the shade of one of the massive oak trees that dotted the mountains around her hometown. Until now, she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the landscape. There were no honking car horns or massive glass-faced buildings. Instead, she could only hear the crunching of the leaves beneath their feet and the occasional bird tweeting.

“Follow me,” she said as they turned down a path to the right. “Be careful of these tree roots.”

Nash looked down as the descended the pathway, tripping a bit as he diverted his attention. Emmy grabbed his good arm before he could do much damage.

“Thanks,” he said softly. They froze for a moment, looking at each other, before Emmy let go and turned back toward the path.

“Can you hear that?” she asked, a smile spreading across her face.

Nash smiled too, recognizing where they were headed. “I knew it.”

They walked down the path a bit further and came to a clearing where there was nothing but a mixture of jagged and smooth rocks, steep cliffs and raging water with side pools of completely calm water.

“I can’t believe you brought me back to this place,” Nash said as he looked side to side, taking in all of the scenery. His face showed what was going on inside his head; memories were raging past just like the water in front of him.

“Come on,” Emmy said, reaching out her hand to help him onto a large rock that sat next to the water. He took her hand and their eyes met for a long moment until Emmy broke their gaze and pulled him along with her.

For a moment, she was back in high school. She’d held his hand many times walking to this same rock. In fact, many things had happened near these waters all those years ago.

Nash struggled up onto the rock and sat down. He was out of breath which was hard for Emmy to see. His injuries had really taken a toll on him.

“It’s been forever since I came out here,” Emmy said as they sat there looking at the water move past them.

“Me too,” Nash said before he started laughing.

“What?”

“I remember this one time, me and Billy came out here because he was convinced he could jump from that rock over there to this one. I knew he couldn’t do it, especially without falling on his ass. But he bet me ten bucks, and I hadn’t gotten my allowance that week because my Dad said I didn’t cut the grass the right way.”

“Ugh. Your father is…”

“Em. Let’s not go there.”

“Right.”

“Anyway, Billy gets up on that rock and pounds his chest like Tarzan before taking this running leap. A group of our buddies and their girlfriends were out here too. I think you were working or something. Anyway, he runs but slips at the end of the rock and slides down the face of it. What he didn’t count on was this jagged piece on the face of the rock that caught the edge of his swim trunks. When he finally got loose, he was naked as a jaybird holding onto the side of that rock for dear life while we all laughed and made fun of any body parts we saw.”

Emmy laughed hard. She could just imagine Billy doing a thing like that, and it brought back fond memories of better times.

“Billy was a nut back then,” she said.

“Billy is still a nut.”

“Do you think he’ll ever settle down?”

“I don’t know. I doubt it. He seems to love single life. Now me, I never enjoyed single life. I wanted to be tied down.”

Emmy giggled. “You said tied down.”

Nash cut her a glance and smiled. “I remember when we tried that…”

“Nash Collier!” she said, smacking him on the arm. “And you know that isn’t true anyway.”

“It was a fun thought,” he said under his breath. “So why did you bring me here, Emmy?”

“Because you need to get out of the therapy room and into the world again.”

“I know that, but why here? Why specifically this place?”

“No real reason. I just remembered this place.”

“Come on, Em.”

“Don’t read anything into it, Nash. It’s just a place,” she said, their eyes meeting for a brief moment before she continued. “Besides, my job is to get you back to Vegas as soon as possible, right? And maybe your dream woman is waiting there for you right now.”

God, she hoped he didn’t look at her face right now or it was going to give her away for sure.

* * *

Of course, she knew what this place had meant to both of them. There was no way she’d forgotten, Nash thought to himself. This place had been “their place”. Many firsts were experienced here. First time they held hands. First picnic. First kiss. Even their first slow dance using a boom box he’d found in his brother’s room.

And another first that a person didn’t discuss in public.

And she’d brought him here. Out of all the places in Whiskey Ridge they could’ve gone for a therapy field trip, she’d chosen this place. Nash couldn’t help but read more into it.

And he had no idea how he felt about it all. For weeks, all he could think about was getting back to Vegas. Getting back into the rodeo game. Now, all he could think about was a boy and a girl sitting on this same rock all those years ago.

“My Mom is doing so much better,” Emmy suddenly said.

“What?”

“My Mom. The shots are helping her memory. She remembered most of our grocery list when I couldn’t!”

“Maybe you need some shots,” Nash said, nudging her arm with his elbow.

“Stress does that to me, I guess.”

“Have you heard from your husband?”

“Ex husband now. And no. He left me in the lurch, but I’m working things out.”

“I’m sure you are, but if you ever want to talk about it…”

“Thanks,” she said, looking over at him. “You always were my best friend, Nash Collier.”

That made him feel both good and bad, and he wasn’t sure why.

“So do you own a home in Atlanta?”

“No. We were renting an apartment in a high rise near the restaurant.”

“So that’s where you’ll go back to?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but really wondering what her plans were.

“No. I lost it.”

“Oh. Sorry. Well, I’m sure you’ll find someplace else. You always land on your feet.” He hated the way that sounded, as if her problems weren’t real.

“I’ve always been forced to land on my feet. It doesn’t mean I like it, Nash. But when the only person you can count on is yourself…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I didn’t mean that like it sounded. I’m sorry.”

They both smiled sadly at each other and then stared back at the water.

“Her name was Kaylee,” she said softly.

“Whose name was Kaylee?”

“Our daughter,” she said, a tear welling in her eye. “She was so tiny, Nash.”

He reached over and took her hand, and she let him.

“Oh, Emmy… I’m so sorry I wasn’t there…”

She squeezed his hand and smiled sadly. “I forgive you.”

“How could you forgive me? I don’t even forgive myself,” he said, struggling with tears of his own. “That was my baby girl, and I ran out on both of you.”

Emmy turned and wiped away the stray tear that escaped from his eye. “We were just kids, and we had a lot of pressure. I understand it better now. I didn’t realize how hurt I was about it all these years… until I saw you again. I’m sorry I got so angry at you, but I think I needed that release.”

“How far along were you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I just remember that day. I started having a lot of pain, so my mother took me to the ER. There were a lot of people rushing around… and then it was over. My Mom made them bring Kaylee to me. I think she just knew that I would regret never seeing her. She was so tiny, Nash. She fit in the palm of my hand.”

He sat there listening to her, wishing things could’ve been different all those years ago. Emmy had been the woman of his dreams, the only person in the world who ever truly understood him. To lose her the way that he did had shaken him to the core.

“Who did she look like?” Nash asked.

Emmy smiled. “Well, she was still so tiny it was hard to tell, but I swear she was going to have your nose.”

Nash reached up and touched his nose. “Yikes.”

Emmy laughed as she wiped the tears from her face. She smacked him on the arm. “Stop it! You have a great nose.”

“You know, I’m glad you told me all this. It was hard to hear, but I’ve wondered for years if you knew if it was a boy or girl. Now I can know that we had a baby girl, and her name was Kaylee.”

Emmy smiled. “We have a little grave marker for her at the church cemetery… if you’d ever like to go visit her.”

“I would like that a lot. Thank you for telling me.”

“We didn’t put our last name on the marker. I think my Mom was a little embarrassed by it all at the time, but she never said so.”

“Things were different back then, I guess,” Nash said simply.

Emmy stared at her feet, dangling a few inches above the water. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten all of our memories from this place, Nash.”

He cleared his throat. “So you do remember?”

“Of course. This was our place, and it always will be. You know, back then I was certain that one day we’d get married right here. Just something small with our family and friends.”

Nash swallowed hard. “You thought we’d get married one day?”

“Of course. You didn’t?” she asked with a laugh.

“I wasn’t sure. My parents didn’t exactly show me a glowing example of marriage.”

“True. Are you still liking his new fiancee?”

“She’s great. I can’t believe I’m saying that, but she’s changed him for the better.”

“Well, I’m glad. For your sake. And best of luck to her because she’ll need it.”

It was obvious Emmy still held a lot of resentment toward Brick.

“We’d better head back. I’ve got an appointment after lunch, so I need to eat a bite.”

“Right. Listen, thanks for bringing me here, Em. It was nice.”

“You’re doing good, Nash. Don’t worry. You’ll be back to Vegas in no time, and this will all be a memory again.” She smiled, although it looked forced, and waved her hand around the river.

The only problem was, he wasn’t sure he wanted it to just be a memory anymore.