I learned a few more thing about myself I could add to the so-called Amnesia checklist.
1) Dresses made me feel pretty
2) Hot chocolate was definitely my favorite
3) Kissing Eddie was something I would never get tired of
And
4) Small town life appealed to me. (Or maybe that was just Eddie.)
The people in town were curious about me. I felt their eyes everywhere I went. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, though, because there wasn’t anything malicious in the way they stared.
Who wouldn’t be curious about a girl whose mind was completely wiped clean? Even I was curious about me.
The bakery was across the street from the salon where I got my hair cut. I held Eddie’s hand when we dashed across the road, the hem of my dress fluttering out behind me. I felt freer today, lighter. Maybe it was because I cut off most of my hair, or maybe it was the dress. I wasn’t really sure, I just knew I was enjoying the feeling.
It almost felt like happiness, something that almost seemed bizarre, as if my own body wasn’t used to being happy or free. I embraced the sensation instead of marveling at why it was unnatural to me.
Joline and Jeremy were in the bakery, along with a couple other people who lived in town. Eddie introduced me to everyone I’d yet to meet while Jeremy made me a large hot chocolate, piling on so much whipped cream there was no room for a lid.
Laughing, Eddie and I sat at one of the two tables by the front windows. “I think he gave you more whipped cream than actual hot chocolate,” Eddie cracked.
I leaned forward and licked off the top, making a sound of appreciation. “Jeremy sure knows how to treat a girl,” I called out, and Joline laughed.
“Take him home with you, then. All the laundry he generates will change your mind quick!”
I giggled and licked at more of the topping. Feeling Eddie’s eyes, I looked up. One hand was wrapped around the paper coffee cup (his actually had a lid), and his body was gravitating over the tabletop, his sapphire eyes intent on me.
“What?” I said, my stomach feeling a little funny. He had a way of looking at a girl. A way no one else seemed to have.
“You have whipped cream on your nose,” he mused, reaching out to wipe it away.
“Thanks,” I whispered, still caught by his stare.
“Fresh, hot donuts,” Joline said, sliding a large glass plate on the table between us. “On the house.”
“Thanks, Jo,” Eddie said, not breaking the eye contact we had going on.
Her light laughter faded as she went back around the counter. We were blissfully alone for the first time since we’d met on the street. Jo and Jeremy were in the back, and the other customers had left.
When he didn’t say anything, continuing to eat up my face with his eyes, I cleared my throat and lifted the drink. “I’m excited to see your store.”
His mouth curved up on one side. “It’s not really mine. My dad owns it.”
“A family business?” I asked.
He nodded, withdrawing into his seat and running a hand through his loopy, unruly curls. “I’ll take over it completely someday.”
“Really? Do you know when?”
He sat forward again. Eddie’s intensity was something that caught me off guard sometimes. “When I can focus better.”
A few people walked by the large front window, stared in, and then their lips began moving.
“You weren’t kidding when you said everyone would be watching us.”
He shrugged. “Who cares?” His attention went to the donuts. “Mm, chocolate.” He picked up the frosted pastry and took a huge bite. When he pulled his hand away, frosting was smeared on his nose.
“Now you’re the messy one!” I laughed and leaned over to swipe it away.
The second I did, Eddie caught my hand, gently brought it down, and wrapped his lips around my thumb, sucking off the icing.
My belly flopped so much it made the room spin. The gentle roughness of his tongue against the pad of my thumb was delicious.
If he noticed my reaction (nearly melting out of my chair), he didn’t comment. Instead, he released my hand and went back to shoveling the chocolate into his mouth. “Drink your cocoa, Am.” He reminded me.
After I drank enough that the lid would fit on the cup and ate a donut covered in sprinkles, Eddie carried the plate into the back for Joline and then stuffed some cash in a tip jar on the counter.
The cool fall air danced around my bare legs when I stepped out the door he held open, and my newly cut hair floated out around me.
“I was thinking,” I said as we started down the sidewalk.
“Dangerous,” Eddie teased.
“I should probably get a job.”
“A job?” he echoed.
“Yeah, I can’t just let Maggie and you pay for everything. Besides, I’m sure I’ll have a ton of hospital bills coming soon.”
He was quiet as we walked. I looked up at him. The muscle in the side of his jaw worked, a small movement I was quite drawn to. It spoke of restrained strength. Maybe of frustration.
“You don’t like the idea,” I surmised.
“I’m just worried it will be too much, too soon.”
“It’s been almost a month since I woke up. How much longer is too soon?” I asked, feeling frustrated myself.
Eddie caught my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m just protective of you, Am. You have to understand that. If you think you’re ready for a job, then I’ll help you find one.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
As we approached the end of the street, Loch General became more prominent. It was the biggest building on the street, so large it took up the entire end. It sort of sat on the street like a king at the head of a table.
“The store is beautiful,” I said, gazing up at it as we approached. “It looks almost like a house.”
He nodded. “Yeah, it was built to look that way,” he explained. “The man who built it actually lived there when it first opened. My family was part of the group of people who founded this town.”
That was a lot of history. Very deep roots. It was fascinating to me because I didn’t have any at all.
“But as the years and decades went on, the store got bigger. Things were added on, and of course, no one lives in it.”
“Where do your parents live?” I asked, curious.
“One street behind the lake,” he said, gesturing behind the store. The lake was there in the distance, not too far away, but not so close that Main Street was on top of it.
“I’m not sure they like me,” I said, thinking of the times his parents would come and visit me at the hospital. They were always friendly, but they were also slightly reserved. It was just a feeling I got when they came that they were there more for Eddie than for me.
“They like you. They’re just helicopter parents,” he murmured.
“What’s a helicopter parent?” I wondered.
He laughed. “It means they’re all up in my business all the time.”
“Oh,” I murmured and drank more of the rich, warm drink.
He chuckled and tugged me along, across the street the stretched out in front of the general store. There was a big wooden sign on front with a Loch Ness image on it and the words Loch General Store.
He saw me gazing at it, then nudged me in the side. “That sign was my idea. It’s only a few years old.”
“I like it. He’s kind of like the mascot of the place,” I said, still looking at the creature.
“Exactly!”
There was a huge bin of large orange pumpkins on the sidewalk outside. I was drawn to their shiny skin, spicy color, and rough stems. “That’s a lot of pumpkins,” I said, running my hand over a couple, looking down into the heaping bin.
“It’s fall. People around here really get into this time of year.”
“Have you ever carved one?” I asked, glancing around.
“Of course.” He scoffed. “I’m a brilliant pumpkin carver.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Pick one,” he said, and my eyes snapped back to him. He laughed. “Go on. Pick one. We’ll carve it later.”
“Really?” I echoed.
He nodded.
I pointed to one sitting on the ground outside the bin. “That one.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s the biggest one here!”
I felt myself grinning back at him. “I know.”
He made a bunch of sounds as if he might be dying as he lifted it up. “Open the door for me, baby.”
My stomach flipped with his words, but I rushed around him to pull open the door. He went in ahead of me, telling everyone to make way for “the great pumpkin.” People were chuckling, and I heard them talking to Eddie as he carried the pumpkin off somewhere.
Loch General was beautiful. I’d never seen anything like it. I was barely inside the door, but I couldn’t go any further. There was just too much to see. Everything was wooden, but not so dark it was uncomfortable. Even though it was a huge grocery and goods store, it was quaint and charming. I could feel the history here. I could almost picture generation after generation working here side by side.
To be part of something like this, to have somewhere I’d always belong, I thought to myself. It was amazing, almost too good to be true. Way too good for you. I physically recoiled from the last thought. A pang of hurt pierced me when the words drifted through my head. What a horrible thought. What if it’s true?
“Hey,” Eddie said, coming up behind me. His voice was soft with concern, the warmth of his palm at the small of my back bringing me out of my head. Without thinking, I turned, stepping incredibly close, and buried my face in his chest.
“Hey now,” he murmured, folding me into his embrace. “What’s wrong?”
I just shook my head, pressing a little closer.
I felt his hand smooth over the back of my head, over my hair. It soothed me, and I took a breath. “Sorry,” I said, moving back.
He tugged me close again. “I’m not ready to let go yet,” he whispered against my ear.
My arms slipped back around him, holding him tight. I didn’t know why, but I felt as if my time with him was suddenly limited. Like I was just living in a fairy tale and soon I would wake back up to reality… and my reality was nothing at all like this idyllic lake life.
“Me either,” I whispered.
Eddie held me firmly, his body swaying a little, rocking me into a sense of calm. “You want me to take you back to Maggie’s?” he asked eventually.
“No!” I gasped, ripping away from him and shaking my head adamantly. “No way. Show me around.”
Amused, his eyes lit up. “You sure?”
I grabbed his hand and spun around, ready to wander through this amazing place. My feet faltered, though, when I saw we were being watched.
A few shoppers had literally stopped what they were doing to stare. I blinked, feeling like an attraction at the zoo.
“Hello.” I finally spoke out because the women were still standing there staring at me in shock.
My voice seemed to shake them, and all at once, everyone started moving around again.
I glanced back at Eddie, and he rolled his eyes. “Gossip hounds,” he whispered.
I made him show me every inch of the general store. I loved it. It was my favorite place I’d seen in town so far, and I told him so.
Eddie’s dad, Forest, heard me going on about it when we were behind the register, and he came around, chuckling. “Well, son, I guess if you ever decide you don’t like the old place, we know who to sell it to!”
Eddie smiled, his eyes turning thoughtful. “She was just saying she wanted to get a job.”
Forest raised his eyebrows. “So soon?”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I muttered. “I’m perfectly capable of getting a job.”
“A woman with work ethic.” Forest nodded. “I like it. I’m sure we could find something around here for you to do.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Eddie agreed.
“A job here?” I exclaimed. “Really?” I looked around again, gazing up at the old wooden beams and looking out the back windows to the lake in the distance.
“Sure. Maybe then Eddie here would want to come to work,” Forest said with a laugh.
Eddie made a rude sound. “I work all the time.”
I could see him every day. “I’ll take the job.” I agreed swiftly.
Forest laughed loudly. “You don’t even know what the job is!”
“I don’t care what it is,” I said, gazing at Eddie. “It’s here. That’s all that matters.”
Like two magnets, we sort of shifted, drawn closer to each other. The look in his eyes nearly melted me.
“You two are something else,” Forest muttered, then went off to help a customer.
Eddie’s hand slid around the back of my neck, my eyes closing just because his touch was like a warm blanket. “Oh, Am,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my hairline. “What am I going to do with you?”
After my heart settled back down, I tipped my chin up and squinted at him. “Show me around some more.”
“You’ve seen every inch of this place.” He chuckled.
“Out there?” I pointed toward Main Street.
“Let’s go,” he said, then called out a good-bye to his father.
Instead of going straight to the door, he pulled me along behind him, toward the back where there was a cooler filled with drinks. He reached behind the cold glass doors and pulled out two glass bottles of root beer that he told me was made right here in Maine.
“For the road.” He grinned.
“Oh, good, you’re still here,” Forest said, coming out of the storage room. “Can you give me a hand?”
“Sure.” Eddie agreed, handing me the two drinks. “Be right back.”
I walked to the next aisle, browsing at all the products, still pretty much in awe of this place. It made me proud there was so much of Eddie here, so much of his own work.
Hushed whispers from the other side of the aisle stopped me in my tracks.
“Looks just like her,” exclaimed a woman.
“I know. They said she did, but we all know it’s just not possible,” someone else answered.
I stepped closer to the shelves, tipping my head so I could hear the rest.
“Poor Eddie. That boy has been through enough. This is only going to set him back.”
“Poor Claire and Forest, their only son—”
Suddenly, I lost my balance and fell into the shelf. A few boxes dumped to the floor, making a loud banging sound.
Wincing, I hurried to pick them up, setting them back the way they’d been. When I was done, I listened for more of the women’s words, but they had moved on.
Still, the whispered conversation stuck with me. Haunted me even.
They said I looked familiar, implied I might be someone they knew. And Eddie… They acted like I was going to hurt him. That me being here was the last thing he needed.
I knew he said the people here liked to gossip, but this went beyond silly speculation. This seemed as if it were rooted in truth, a truth no one bothered to mention.
And Eddie was right in the center of it.
What wasn’t he telling me?