Page 19 of When Forever Stays

“Good morning, sunshine,” Crew says dully from the dining room table as he sips coffee and flips through a book. He doesn’t even bother to look my way. “Lover boy is up!” he shouts toward the kitchen.

Dana emerges wearing a purple apron. Her hair is in a messy knot with loose strands framing her face and it’s held in place by what looks like a knitting needle. “Good morning,” she says brightly.

Dana’s eyes widen as she notices me standing in the living room. She scans me up and down, and a slow blush creeps onto her cheeks. That’s when I realize I forgot to put a shirt on in my rush to find out where the noise was coming from.

“Sorry, I’ll be right back.” I dash to the bedroom and grab a shirt.

I start pulling it down but stop when I look in the mirror and find a scar on my abdomen. Running my finger over the puckered skin, a memory trickles through the fog of my amnesia. Unease fills me, and I quickly head back to the living room, needing to be near Dana to alleviate those feelings.

As soon as she’s back in view, comfort chases away the unease. She smiles my way, and an entirely different sensation overwhelms me. It’s an illogical yet unsurprising emotion. The feeling that I’m home. With my safe person. Thatshe’smyperson.

She shyly looks away from me to Crew who, thankfully, seems unaware of my moment with Dana.

“I’m going to go home, shower, and get some stuff done around the apartment,” Crew says, more to Dana than me.

“All right, we’ll see you later,” Dana says, giving him a quick hug.

Crew turns to me. “I’ll see you around.” I’m pleasantly surprised when he reaches his hand out to shake mine.

“It was nice meeting you,” I say.

He grunts and gives me a nod in response before disappearing out the door.

Dana bites her lip. “Sorry about him. He doesn’t open up very easily.” She twirls a loose strand of hair, and I have the sudden urge to pull the item I now realize is a crochet hook from her hair and run my hands through the strands.

I stare at her, imprinting her features into my brain so I never forget her again. I must take too long to memorize her because her soft smile turns into a frown.

She pulls off her apron and hangs it on a hook on the wall. “Well, I’m going to go for a run. Breakfast is in the kitchen. Help yourself to whatever you want. And you know where the bathroom is, so feel free to get a shower while I’m gone. I left a towel and washcloth on the counter for you.”

Her slightly wrinkled nose gives off the impression that it was more of a request than a suggestion, I turn my head and sniff myself. Yeah, I could definitely use a shower. I probably should have taken one last night.

She stares at me, almost as if she’s trying to figure something out. Maybe I have drool on the side of my mouth that I missed when fixing my hair in the mirror. I lift my hand and pretend to scratch my chin to check. All clear. But her focus doesn’t waver.

“What is it?” I ask.

“You just look a lot like…” She shakes her head as if breaking free of a trance. “Never mind. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Before she reaches the door, I call to her, “Dana, wait.”

She turns and faces me. Her curious expression tells me to go on.

I swallow hard. “I’m sorry you had to deal with me last night. Well, all day, really. And I’m sorry that all this stuff has fallen onto your shoulders.” A shiver races down my spine at the memory of the nightmare that woke her up last night.

Dana waves me off as if taking on the role as my caregiver is no big deal. “It’s fine. I’m just happy I found you and that you’re on the mend.”

I see nothing but sincerity when I search her eyes. I know I hurt her in the past, but she doesn’t appear to be holding a grudge. Maybe she was a little gruff when she first found me, but it didn’ttake her long to soften toward me. Again, I go silent, unable to form a reasonable response.

She takes a step toward me.

“Are you okay?” She releases a breath before she continues. “Last night, when you woke up?—”

I cut her off, not wanting to tarnish her life with my darkness. “I’m fine.” I smile at her, trying to portray the same sincerity she gave me.

Dana gives me a closed-lip smile that tells me she doesn’t believe me, but she doesn’t fight me on it. “Okay. Make yourself at home.” She motions to her living room. “I’ll see you in a bit.” And with that, the door closes softly behind her.

I walk to the kitchen and grab a breakfast sandwich off the plate on the counter. After sending up a prayer of thanks, I take a bite and practically moan. Crew wasn’t joking, Dana’s cooking is amazing.

As I eat, I wander around her space, taking in the little details I wasn’t able to last night. Maybe this way I can learn at least a little bit about her.

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