Forgotten First Kiss

Chapter 5

Danica’s text came early the next morning. I’d just put my credit card in the reader to buy my morning Pepsi. It’d taken the bulk of the afternoon yesterday to find a gas station that offered pellet ice, but it was worth the effort. No Pepsi experience is complete without the joy of soft-frozen pellet ice.

Can you come? I’ve got paperwork here, and I can’t see well enough to read Mark’s number on the note you left.

The Styrofoam cup crushed in my hand as I gripped it in hardly veiled triumph. I didn’t respond by text. Instead, I called Mark.

“You’re going to be getting a few documents from me in the next hour. Medical contracts.”

“Dude. Are you all right? You didn’t do anything crazy in Wilder River, like go mountain boarding and break your neck, did you?”

Mountain boarding sounded great, but, “Not yet. It’s not for me, but they’ll still need to be confidential. I’ll pay you for all work. Double if you do it fast.”

“You already pay me double my hourly rate.” But he agreed. “Who is this for? Not—not a woman.”

I hung up and climbed into my truck, heading toward the hospital. Funny, I’d penned those numbers for Mark’s phone pretty large.

Which could only mean Danica wanted me there. Saying she couldn’t read Mark’s number was just an excuse.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of an inaudible song.

“Hey, what’s up?” I strolled into Danica’s room, bringing a container of homemade macaroni and cheese from last night’s dinner at Aunt June’s house that I’d saved for her, as well as my Pepsi. “Paperwork?”

Would seeing the Pepsi jog her memory?

“They are insisting I sign it, and you’re right. I have no idea what I’ve been signing.” She pushed a pile of papers across her rolling table toward me. “Last night, they brought me this old stack, plus more papers.”

“You remembered to ask.”

She nodded, her frown grim. “You don’t think anyone’s trying to pull a fast one, do you? I’m not at the top of my game. I’d be an easy target.”

“We’ll have Mark look them over. He’s expecting them.” I started snapping photos and sending them to Mark’s email address. “Now, why did you really want me to come over here? Because it’s not about the paperwork.” I raised a brow. “Oh, here’s something Aunt June made last night.”

Danica accepted the plastic container and peeked beneath the lid. She took a deep whiff and then whipped it off. “Homemade mac and cheese? Seriously?” Without waiting for a spoon, she picked out an elbow-shaped piece and popped it in her mouth. “Mmm. I am in heaven right now.”

Our eyes met, when she opened them after her pasta-ecstasy. “You’re a good friend.” Her voice came low, and macaroni-laden. Luxuriant. The voice I’d barely dared to hope would come from Danica to me. “A really good friend.”

I’d love to be more than that. I came back with the most nonchalant “mm-hmm” I could muster and took the stack of paperwork off her makeshift desk. “How much longer do you have in here?”

“Those are my release papers. They’re letting me go after lunch.”

She was going home? Where was home? And who’d be taking her there? The room showed no signs her parents had been by to help, and they certainly hadn’t monitored what she’d been signing.

“That’s good. Are you feeling ready for that?”

“I’m feeling ready to get out of here.”

Not the same thing. “Do you want a ride somewhere?” I had no idea where she lived. Presumably, neither did she. “Is someone else coming for you?”

“I haven’t asked anyone yet.” She worried her lower lip. “If you wouldn’t mind …”

Little leprechauns performed a Riverdance exhibition in my chest. “Sure. Let me just check something.” I thumbed through her paperwork and eventually found an address. “You live near the upper bridge.”

“Probably.” She shrugged. “I’m kind of a disaster.”

A gorgeous one. “Until then, do you want to find out more about Jane Eyre? Will she end up with Sinjin, or is a dark stranger in her future? Dun-dun-dun!”

“No spoilers!” she cried. Then, she settled back and let me read to her again. We got to the part in the story where Jane began her service as governess at Thornfield Hall, when Danica chimed in again. “I think Jane really loved the children. Even though I don’t remember much about my life, I have this sense that I always wanted to have children.”