“Totally serious.”
“Then why are we doing it?”
His mouth twitched. “We have an appointment.”
She blinked in surprise. “We do?”
Gray nodded.
“When?”
“At two o’clock.”
Meredith looked at the dash display. “That’s in thirty minutes. Are we going to make it?”
He nodded again. “We’ll be early.”
Silence.
“Is it for your book?”
Gray stifled a laugh. He was on Chapter Twelve of his fifth novel, and Meredith had become invaluable in the process, a true and treasured assistant. She was still his first read, but she also helped him with research and authentication. They worked together for a few hours each day, and he loved every minute of it.
They didn’t come back all at once, and he hadn’t recoveredallof his memories, but little flashes of recognition surprised him all the time. Dr. Cates told him he might remember everything one day, but even reading the second half of his fourth novel didn’t rekindle any notion of writing the chapters.
Yet Gray couldn’t complain about that experience. He was happy, overall, with the way the book had turned out, and how many writers get to experience their work fresh? As a reader? Seeing the plot twists and the surprises with new eyes? And better still, the novel was doing well. Really well.
“No, this isn’t work.”
She huffed a sigh. “It’s not work, but it’s not fun.”
This time he did laugh. “Well,I’mhaving fun.”
“Clearly,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling. She tried to scowl, anyway. Her smile was a little too strong to make it believable. Then her eyes widened. “Was Brooke in on this?”
Gray just cleared his throat and concentrated on driving. He owed Meredith’s roommate big time. He’d managed to fill out the DS-11, but Brooke had been in charge of getting the photo with all of the State Department passport requirements — in front of a white background, no shadows over her face, etc. Brooke had told her it was for a class project, and she’d taken one of Rajan just to make it believable.
The trickiest part was getting Meredith’s birth certificate. Brooke had reached out to Meredith’s sister, Becca, for that, and the fifteen-year-old had come through like a champ, swiping it from their dad’s desk and mailing it to Gray. He’d met the girl just once during her Easter break when she’d lied to her parents and had them drop her off at Lafayette Lanes. They’d all gathered at Twins for burgers instead.
She looked so much like Meredith, he’d done a double-take. She even blushed the same. Becca wore braces, and her hair had been styled in French braids, making her look twelve instead of fifteen, but Gray knew one day she’d stun men alive just like her sister.
For now, Becca and Oscar were all Meredith could claim as family, but Gray wanted to change that.
As eager as he was, he knew to be patient. He wanted to marry her now, but she was only twenty, though she never seemed so young. Still, it was only fair to give her time.
But that didn’t mean they couldn’t live together.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Don’t forget,” she said, sitting taller in the passenger seat, a hint of playful smugness in her tone. “After two months of non-verbal communication, I can read you like a book. It’s not just the other way around anymore.”
Gray bit down on his lips to contain his smile but kept his eyes on the road. She was right. Though he could read her every mood on her face, in the days after his surgery, she was the only one who could speak for him. Literally. She’d known what he wanted or needed with just a glance. She’d been the one to press for an early release when she saw how tiring it was for him to stay at the hospital. She’d gone to the speech pathology department at UL and found him the best speech therapist in town because she knew how embarrassed and frustrated he felt. She put in hour after hour helping him practice, reading to him from his forgotten manuscript, and negotiating the final edits with his team so he could find his way back to doing what he loved.
Even without a bank of memories, he’d wanted her to move in then. But Meredith had insisted that she and Oscar needed their own place for a while.
Gray had allowed six months to pass without bringing it up — even though he thought about it nearly every day. Because although Meredith still worked for him and he got to see her on a daily basis, she still left him nearly every night.
But Gray didn’t want to wait any longer. Saying goodbye to them at the end of every day left his house feeling empty and quiet. Unnatural.
“How is Brooke?” Gray asked, stalling.
