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He scoffs. “I’m sorry, what? That’s not possible. You’ve been torn up over her for years. You two were fully in love and all that swoony shit.”
“Well, apparently, it wasn’t as memorable for her. I shouldn’t have come,” I say, feeling the weight of the world settle on my shoulders.
“Dude, I don’t believe that for one second. That girl was crazy about you. You don’t just forget your first love. Even I know that.”
Rubbing my tense neck, I take a deep breath and let his words settle the anxiety that welled up inside of me.
“Okay,” I say, getting out of the car and making my way to the entrance of the only hotel in town. “Okay, I’ll go see her again tomorrow, see if I can’t jog her memory.”
“You got this, bro. Keep me updated.”
“Will do.” I end the call and enter my temporary home, flopping down on the bed.
As I lie there, an idea begins to form… the best idea I’ve ever had.
I wake with the sun, roll out of bed, then drag my ass into the shower.
I’ve got a lot to do today. The sooner I start, the sooner I can get my girl back in my arms where she’s always belonged.
Ava and I sit with Betsy on her front porch, drinking sweet tea when she sighs loudly and says, “Okay, enough with the fake niceties. What do you two hussy’s want?”
I blanch and place my tea on the table. “Betsy, it’s not like that at all.” It’s totally like that.
She rolls her eyes into a glare. “Oh, really? So this has nothing to do with that nice young man who was supposedly asking around town after you, Miss Miller?”
My ears perk up at her words. “Someone’s been asking about me?”
“If I tell you, will you leave?” she asks. “Having you two on my doorstep looks bad.”
Ava snorts. “No worries, love, we’ll be outta here as soon as you dish the goods.”
Betsy nods. “Fine. So, Gloria, Lin Smith’s granddaughter who works at the grocer, served a young man yesterday who asked if she knew Margo or where he could find her. Gloria isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, so she told him she didn’t know of anyone named Margo in town. Anyway, that didn’t deter him because a bit later he asked Niles, at the gas station, the same thing. Now he obviously knows who you are, Miss Miller, but he’s a paranoid old fart and wouldn’t tell the young man where you work.
“Still, he didn’t give up. He made a stop at the town information center where Blanche was working, and she told him he could find you at the library.”
“That’s it?” Ava says, her brows bunching in a frown. “Where’s the good stuff? Is he staying in town? Where? How long for?”
Betsy settles back in her chair and casts a smug look at us each in turn. “He’s booked into the motel for the next week, due to check-out on Sunday.”
“Thank you,” I gush, jumping to my feet, eager to be on my way, Ava hot on my heels.
We slide into my car, and I crank the old hunk of junk over three times before she revs to life. “That’s my girl,” I croon, rubbing my hand over the dash.
“You really need a new car,” Ava says, giving me the stink eye.
“She just needs a little extra love, that’s all.” This was my first car. I bought her with the money I’d saved over two summers slaving at the Billings’ Apple Orchid. Yes, I have enough squirrelled away to upgrade, but she’s special.
As I pull away from the curb, memories of picking apples at the orchid with Tyler sweep through me like a tidal wave, making my heart clench. I swallow hard, pushing the feelings down.
I can’t lose it right now. I’m so close to finding him and getting the answers I’ve been waiting years for.
“Hey,” Ava says, placing her hand on my forearm. “You okay?”
Nodding, I keep my eyes on the road. “I’m fine. I just really need to see him. I need to fix this and… and, I don’t know,” I say, rubbing my forehead.
“It’s okay to be confused right now, Margs. He appeared out of nowhere. It’s not like you had time to prepare yourself for coming face to face with him,” she murmurs. “The way you reacted wasn’t wrong. I mean, I honestly don’t blame you for pulling the selective amnesia card.”
“You don’t?”
