“Why? I want her to sleep.”

Bill sleepily arched an eyebrow at him. “I don’t want to freak her out, her waking up to find you gone and someone she doesn’t recognize here instead.”

“Oh. Good point.” He thought about it. “She recognized Steve. Maybe she’ll remember you. And she’s seen your picture.”

“That’s not the same.” He grew tired of waiting and pulled the carafe out to pour himself half a cup. “You said she didn’t recognize Carol and she’s known her as long.”

“True.” Rob grabbed the mug he usually used and tried not to look at Laura’s mug, which sat next to it. Oversized, it was bright lime green and bore the picture of Scooby-Doo. He’d given it to her two birthdays ago after finding out how much she loved the cartoon dog.

“She’s tough,” Bill insisted. “She’ll get her memories back.”

“I hope you’re right.”

* * *

Rob grabbed his things and took a shower in the guest bathroom so he didn’t wake Laura too soon. But as it drew close to time for him to leave, he knew he had to wake her.

He returned to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed after turning on one of the bedside lamps. “Laura, hon? I need to leave for work.”

She mumbled something and tried to roll over, but then apparently the pain in her still-tender ribs jolted her from sleep.

Rob helped her sit up. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Bill’s here. I wanted to make sure I…” He swallowed back the hitch in his throat and tried again. “He’s awake. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I go.”

“Bill?”

“Your brother.”

“Oh.” She slowly nodded, sleep still obviously in charge. “Okay.”

She let him help her up and to the bathroom. He waited outside the door until she was done, then gave her his arm to hold onto as he walked her out to the living room, where he settled her on the couch. “I’ll get you some coffee and your pain meds.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Bill stepped into the living room. “Hi, sis.”

Rob watched her brow furrow, her focus going from Bill to the picture of her with him on the wall and back again.

“Do you recognize me?” Bill asked.

She shook her head, staring at him. Eventually she spoke. “I’ve seen pictures of you. Rob and Carol and the others have told me about you.”

Bill’s eyes flicked toward Rob, then back to Laura. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.” He walked over to sit next to her on the couch.

She studied his hands and he finally held them up for her. While tough and rugged, they were uninjured. “I’ve got an alibi.” He smiled, and then when she looked away, he put them down. “Sorry, Laur. I guess that wasn’t funny.”

“It’s okay.” She finally looked at him again. “I don’t have very many memories. I’m sorry.”

Rob watched as Bill tried to smile, tried not to stare at her bruises. “I understand.” Bill looked at him and met his gaze before returning his attention to her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner, sis. I should have been here for you. I’m staying two weeks. A friend of mine is helping me out with my charters.”

She nodded and looked away from him, as if afraid to meet his glance.

Laura normally would have been staring Bill right in the eyes and met him with a huge, friendly hug. She sat with her shoulders slumped, pulled in, trying to shrink away. Like a beat dog.

Then again, she looked like a beat dog.

Rob brought her a glass of water, a cup of coffee, and her meds. “It’s getting late. I really need to go. Sweetheart, are you going to be okay?”

She glanced at Bill as she took the meds from Rob and swallowed them with a drink from the water. “I’m okay,” she softly said.

Her weak tone of voice nearly broke his heart.

“I have to work a full twenty-four,” Rob said. “But Bill’s going to be with you. He’ll take you to the shop later, if you want, and stay there with you. And the captain said as long as we’re not on a call, I can take a long break and come home to have dinner with you.”

“Okay.” Doogie had rested his head on her lap and she reached out to stroke his head. “Can Doogie come to work with me?” she tentatively asked.

Rob had to swallow back another hitch in his throat. “He always goes to work with you, sweetheart.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

He took the water from her and leaned in to kiss her forehead. “And you can call me. If you get my voice mail, leave me a message and I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Or you can text me.”

“Okay.”

He took the glass of water back to the kitchen and went to grab the bag he normally took with him to work, with spare clothes and shower stuff.

Bill followed him. “My god,” he whispered. “She looks awful.”

Rob nodded. “I know. I warned you.”

“It’s like I’m a stranger to her.”

Rob nodded again. “I know.”

“This is horrible—”

“You don’t have to tell me that, Bill.”

Bill stopped. “I’m sorry. I know you love her. I know this is rough on you.”

“I almost lost her,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “She almost died. And now she doesn’t even know me. That first day in the hospital when she woke up, she was afraid of me.”

Bill reached out and touched Rob’s shoulder. “She’ll come back. She’s tough. She’ll get her memories back. I know it.”

“I wish I was that sure. She can remember the dog, but she can’t remember me.” He glanced toward the living room. “I called her ‘baby girl’ in the hospital and it was like I’d insulted her. I can’t even talk to her the same way. I don’t know what to do for her, how to help her.”

“Just love her, man. She’ll come back.”

Chapter

Fifteen

Laura tried to relax around Bill. Intellectually, she knew if Rob trusted him, he was okay. She had few memories to rely on.

The fact that meeting him didn’t trigger new memories depressed the hell out of her, although she wanted to hide that fact from the men.

“Well,” Bill said once Rob had said his good-byes and left for work, “can I make you some breakfast?”

She nodded. “Thank you. That’d be nice.” She followed him into the kitchen, Doogie on her heels.

“French toast?”

She thought about Shayla’s omelets. “That’s fine.” She leaned against the counter to watch him as he searched for ingredients in the refrigerator and realized she’d be less than helpful.

She had no idea where anything was.

“Are you married?” she asked, unable to remember if she’d already asked that of anyone else.

He laughed from behind the fridge door. “No, happily divorced over six years now.” He peeked at her from over the top of the door. “You despised her, so you weren’t exactly heartbroken when it happened.”

She felt her face heat. “Sorry.”

“No, no need to be. She was a bitch. I just didn’t see it at the time.” He set eggs, milk, and a bottle of vanilla extract on the counter. “Mom and Dad didn’t like her, either. Although I loved you all like hell for keeping your mouths shut about it at the time. I knew she didn’t make a good impression, but you all still tried to welcome her to the family.”

“Um, okay.”

He found a loaf of bread in the pantry closet. “Don’t worry. Mom and Dad loved Rob.” He paused, a sad look on his face. “They adored him. They’d be happy to know you guys are getting married.”

She stared at the engagement ring, that she’d put on her right hand. She didn’t know why she’d moved it there.

He spotted it and met her gaze again. “Are you two still getting married?”

“I…” Her mouth snapped closed. Rob hadn’t said anything else about it.

And she’d been too busy struggling to corral her free-ranging memories that she really hadn’t thought much about it, either, other than her conversations with Shayla.

Bill didn’t speak. She knew he was waiting for her answer.

She couldn’t bear the weight of his gaze any longer and looked down to where Doogie was curled up in the corner of the kitchen, watching them. “I think so. Eventually.” She shrugged and that hurt her aching ribs. “I guess so.”

“Laur,” he softly said, “if you have any doubts about Rob, don’t.”

“I don’t. I guess. I just…” She closed her eyes and tried to condense her jungle of emotions into a coherent, short sentence. “I have doubts about me,” she admitted.

“What?”

“I don’t know who I am yet. What if he doesn’t like the new me?”

When she finally looked at him again, the sadness in his expression nearly started her crying. “Rob will love you no matter what.” He carefully engulfed her in a hug. After a few seconds, she relaxed into his embrace, familiar comfort, different than she felt with Rob.

“Let him be the one to decide whether he can love you or not,” he told her. “Don’t pull away from him because of all of this.”

“He’s so upset.”

“Not at you. No one’s upset at you.”

“Because of me.”

“No.” He held her at arm’s length. “Because of the fucker that did this. And that guy’s a sick, sadistic bastard. Don’t let him win like this by driving you away from Rob out of fear.”

He pulled her close again. She closed her eyes and let her fractured mind drift. “Strawberries,” she whispered, unsure what it meant.

“What?”

“Strawberries.” This time she said it firmly as a mental picture tried to swim into focus.

“Yes?”

She held her breath as the puzzle piece went from fuzzy to solid and slid into place with a click only she could hear. “You love strawberries and try to get them every time you come home because they grow them up in Plant City.”