Fifteen years that had been wiped out.
Without memories, there was no passage of time, no change, no growth. There was just this love for Julian, this runaway train of emotion that she could do nothing but ride.
He must have nearly killed her with his betrayal. She knew that because when she’d said the word never, she’d felt it in her heart and soul. She’d loved him too much—and it would destroy her, that bad and dangerous love. But knowing a thing didn’t change it.
The door opened. “Mikita, you are awake?”
“Mama!”
Rosa stood in the doorway, smiling brightly.
Mikaela gasped, brought a shaking hand to her mouth. “Oh, Mama …”
The years had been hard on Rosa. Her hair was snow-white now, her dark skin creased heavily around the eyes and mouth. Mikaela wanted to ask “What happened?” but before the question was even formed, she knew the answer. Bad love.
Rosa came up to her bedside. She touched Mikaela’s cheek, said softly, “A milagro. ” Then she bent down and scooped Mikaela into a hug. “I never think to see you smile again, hija. ” She drew back.
Mikaela’s throat constricted. “Hola, Mama. ”
“I have missed you very much. ” Rosa held on to Mikaela’s hand.
“What happened to me, Mama? No one will tell me. ”
Rosa picked up a brush from the bedside table and began brushing Mikaela’s short hair. “You fell from a horse. ”
“So they tell me. What in the hell was I doing on a horse?”
Rosa smiled. “You remember the bad language, I am not happy to say. In the past years, you have become the good horse rider. It is something you love. ”
Mikaela grabbed her mother’s thin wrist. “Tell me about Juliana, Mama. ”
Rosa carefully set down the brush. Her bony fingers curled around the bed rail. “We call her Jacey now, and she is everything you would wish for in a daughter. ” She gazed down at Mikaela, her eyes glistening. “She is beautiful and gifted and loving and muy intelligente. And popular—I have never heard the phone ring so much. Look around this room, Mikita, and tell me what you see. ”
For the first time, Mikaela looked around the room. There were flowers and balloons everywhere; cards lined the tables and the windowsill. “Are they all from Julian?”
Rosa made a sweeping gesture with her hand. “Not from that one. They are from your friends. This is your home now, Mikaela. It is a wonderful place, not like Sunville at all. Every shop I go in, someone asks about you. The women, they bring food to the house every day. Here, mi hija, you are much loved. ”
Mikaela couldn’t imagine that she’d found a real home, a place to belong, and not to remember that, it wasn’t fair …
She looked up at her mother. “He never came for me, Mama. ”
“I know. This was hard on you before. Maybe it is even harder now. Then, you remembered why you left him. Now, I think maybe you forget. ”
“I want to see my daughter. ”
Rosa didn’t answer for a moment. Then, softly, she said, “It will … wound her heart … this forgetfulness. Dr. Liam wishes for you to have another day to remember, sí? You do not want to hurt her. ”
Mikaela didn’t know how she could survive the heartache seeping through her. “I remember how it feels when a parent doesn’t know you. I remember this from … my father. ”
“You have never called him this before. ”
“I know. ” She sighed tiredly. “But calling him something else doesn’t make him someone else, does it?”
“No. ” Rosa reached into her pocket, pulling out a photograph. “Here. ”
Mikaela’s fingers didn’t work right. It took her several tries to grasp the picture, and even then, Rosa had to gently guide her daughter’s fingers. She stared down at the picture—it was of Mikaela and Rosa and a beautiful young girl. They were standing in an unfamiliar room, beside a gorgeous, wonderfully decorated Christmas tree.
Mikaela’s hungry gaze took in every detail about the girl—the brown eyes, the easy smile, the waist-length black hair. “This is my Juliana … No, my Jacey. ”