“Hey, Megs.”
She flinched at the sound of my voice and my shoulders sank in disappointment. It was ridiculous to think she would get her memory back in an hour, but my hope faded with every passing moment. She looked at me like I was a stranger. Even when things were strained between us, she had always greeted me with a warm welcome smile.
“You scared me.”
“Sorry. I just wanted to see if you need anything?” At her blank expression, I sighed. “Anything personal you think you might want that’s not already here?”
Megan’s gaze swept the hospital room and she shook her head. “Nothing I can think of. I already have shampoo and conditioner, body wash, clothes, and a few photos.”
“Okay.” I nodded and shoved my hands in my pocket. “You’ll be here for a few more days.”
She nodded. “And then what?”
I took a few steps inside the room and dropped into the chair beside her bed. “Once you’re discharged, I hope to take you back to our home, but only if you’re comfortable with that.” I had to swallow down the bile at those words, at the thought that Megan might be uncomfortable staying in the house with me. “If you’re not comfortable with that, my parents would be happy to let you stay with them. Or Gus. Or Persy, I’m sure.”
“Your parents?”
“Yeah.” I nodded and scraped a hand over the stubble on my face. “They’ve known you since you were an itty-bitty thing and they love you. Even before we got together, my parents thought of you as another child.”
“They did?”
“Yeah, they did. We were best friends for a long time before things became romantic between us.”
She blinked her surprise. “We were?”
“We were.” I smiled, telling her about how we became friends as the memory replayed in my mind. “It was the first day of second grade and everyone was on the playground for recess, having fun and burning off all the energy to finish the rest of the school day. You were new to town and hadn’t made any friends yet, so you were sitting in the grass, a book on your lap while you watched everyone else play.”
She had looked so lonely I couldn’t help but notice her.
“You were watching me?”
“I was. As a member of the founding family of Jackson’s Ridge, my mother drilled into me the importance of making everyone feel welcome, and you seemed so, I don’t know, content, to just sit there and read. A little sad, but content, too.”
Her smile grew. “And?”
“Being new and so little, you were the perfect target for Wally Strickland and his school lunch program.”
“School lunch program?”
“Yeah, he walked right up to you and demanded either your lunch or the money your parents gave you for lunch.”
Her green eyes widened with shock. “Did I give it to him? Please don’t tell me I gave him my lunch.”
“You didn’t. You kicked him in the family jewels and went into his lunch bag, taking his orange cream soda because it was your favorite.” I couldn’t help but smile at how impressed I was by her that day. How awed I was that a girl could be so tough. “He got up eventually and went after you. I stepped in between you because you were small and he was a big bastard, bigger even than most of the fifth graders.”
She sighed and arched a blond brow my way, reminding me so much of the strong girl she’d become in high school. The girl who had eventually stolen my heart. “My knight in shining armor?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Hardly. I was just trying to do the right thing, but you were so full of sass. Told me you could take care of yourself and don’t even think about getting any of your orange cream soda.”
A loud belly laugh exploded out of Megan, and she put a hand to her head with a wince. “I didn’t say that!”
“You did. I told you I was just being kind to the new girl, hoping we could be friends.”
“And we became best friends after that?”
“I think so, yeah. You took me at my word and offered to split the soda with me. I took a sip and let you have the rest. We spent the rest of the recess seeing what we had in common—our love of chocolate cake and Transformers were at the top of the list. When you found out that I was a Seahawks fan, that sealed the deal and we’ve been in each other’s pockets ever since.”
Her green eyes widened and her shoulders went slack. Whatever Megan had planned to say after that was interrupted by a jaw-cracking yawn. “Wow. That’s a pretty awesome origin story.”
I smiled at her use of superhero lingo. “It is. We’ll talk more after you’ve had some rest. Your phone is right on the bedside table, and I’m listed under ‘My Sexy Husband.’ Call if you need anything.”