Page 5 of Running to You

“This is my house. I’m not leaving.”

Camilla didn’t argue. She approached Eliza with the two drink choices outstretched. Eliza chose the mug and sipped, and Camilla took the space on the table beside her husband. “You’ve got a little dirt on your face. Do you mind if I clean it?”

Eliza pressed back, looking around. She found Sam and held his gaze with wide eyes, blinking rapidly.

What was she afraid of? Not Sam, obviously.

This was ridiculous. He crossed the space. “I’ll do it.”

Daniel and Camilla shared a look, but they moved out of his way. He took the washcloth, sat on the table, and leaned close. “Tell me if I hurt you, okay?”

She nodded, the movement barely perceptible, and he dabbed at a smudge on her forehead as gently as he could.

She closed her eyes, her shoulders falling. Relaxing. Trusting him.

That wouldn’t last.

He continued down to her cheeks, careful of the cut. By the time he’d gotten most of the dirt cleared, the towel had cooled.

It was too dark to see if there were bruises, and maybe too soon. He still had no idea what had happened to her. But the cut on her cheek didn’t look deep. He dug into his pocket and set the things he’d brought on the table beside him.

“Good thinking,” Dan said.

If he hadn’t thought of it, no doubt his brother would’ve sent him to fetch the items. And he didn’t want to be away from Eliza now. Not when she so obviously needed him.

He’d analyze that later.

“Can I ask you some questions?” Daniel shifted closer, and Sam slid off the table to kneel beside the sofa. Daniel dabbed a bit of antibiotic ointment onto her cut.

“Okay.”

“Can you tell me your whole name?”

“Elizabeth Marie Pelletier.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” Daniel said. “When’s your birthday?”

“January seventeenth.”

“And you’re how old?”

“Twenty-three.”

The wrong answer was delivered with such confidence.

The anxiety humming on Sam’s skin ramped up.

“Okay.” Daniel’s voice gave away no worry. “And what year is it?”

She sipped the tea, then lowered it to her lap. “Twenty seventeen.”

Wrong by five years.

Five years ago, Sam and Eliza had been together. Five years ago, they’d been in love.

“Do you remember what happened before you came here tonight?”

“Um…” She found Sam with her eyes. “I don’t know. I probably went to work?”