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Does she really have amnesia or is all of this just a ploy?
I write down my items on the page, then go and find the table I am supposed to be sitting at. Once I’m settled, I look around the room, trying to find Tanya. I catch sight of her straight ahead of me, where I have the perfect view of her and Sophia for the rest of the night.
She’s still so beautiful. Seeing her tend to our daughter while dinner is served has me emotional, and it’s taking everything in me to focus on the conversation that is going on at my own table. I watch Tanya cut up her food and place a napkin inside the collar of her dress. She smooths our daughter’s hair out of her face, a soft maternal smile on her face. I’m grateful when dinner is done and everyone shifts to look at the makeshift stage set up at the front of the room. While everyone is distracted by the bidding, I can take this time to focus on Tanya again.
My body is tense as I sit in my chair, fisting my hands to physically keep myself still so I don’t march over to her and take her and our daughter and make them come back home with me. I don’t want to scare either of them.
I take my phone out of my pocket and text Jillian.
Me: Something has come up. Please cancel the helicopter, extend my hotel room another night, and have a rental car delivered to me in the morning.
Jillian: Will do. Is everything okay?
Me: I will explain when I get back.
I put my phone away and bring my attention back to Tanya. Sophia gets down from her chair and crawls into Tanya’s lap, letting out a big yawn before snuggling into her mother’s chest and closing her eyes. Tanya sits back in her chair to make room for her on her lap and wraps her arms around the sleepy little girl. She gently rocks side to side and kisses the top of her head. Our daughter’s face is turned so I can see it, and her little cherub face is peaceful as she falls asleep in her mother’s arms, feeling safe to do so in a room full of people. An ache pinches inside my chest at the sight. I’ve missed out on the first eight years of my daughter’s life. I missed out on Tanya carrying our child.
As the thoughts of how much I’ve missed out on swirl around my head, I decide right then that I will tell Tanya everything tomorrow. I’m not going to miss out on having her and our daughter back, even if she is faking it all. Right now, I feel like I’m going to suffocate in this room. I don’t want to make a scene, and I need time to calm down before approaching her.
4
TANYA
I have an early shift at the café this morning. As I make my way behind the counter and into the back, I curse Kayla in my head. I never should have let her talk me into going last night. Sophia was a bear to get up this morning because she went to sleep so late last night. I did get some satisfaction when I rang Kayla’s doorbell and woke her up so I could drop Sophia off. I know they both probably went back to sleep, but small wins are still wins.
The café has already been open for thirty minutes when I arrive, and there are a couple of customers waiting to get their coffee and breakfast. Ms. Poppy is already taking people’s orders at the register, and there are two people working on the drink orders.
“Tanya, could you run things out to people? There is an order ready to go to that gentleman in the corner.”
“Sure, no problem.”
I finish tying the apron around my waist and pick up the coffee and chocolate chip muffin to take to the customer. When I step up next to him, he looks up at me and our eyes meet, making my breath catch in my throat.
He has Soph’s eyes.
He smiles at me, and I realize that I’ve just been standing here staring at him.
“Oh, sorry. Here is your coffee and muffin. Let me know if there is anything else you need.”
I turn quickly and make my way back to the safety of the counter. Ms. Poppy gives me a look.
“What was that about? Did his beauty dazzle you to the point that you forgot what you were doing?”
She smirks at me, and I roll my eyes.
I really need to stop doing that so Sophia stops rolling her eyes at me.
I glance at the stranger out of the corner of my eye. He is the first person in nine years that I have ever seen with the same sea blue eyes with a golden ring around the pupil. They’re the same shade as Sophia’s. I fiddle with the locket around my neck and lean back against the counter behind me. One of my coworkers comes up next to me to fill a cup with coffee.
“Why don’t you talk to him? He’s beyond attractive, and you haven’t been on a date in a while.”
I scoff at her. “I have an eight-year-old daughter at home; when exactly do you expect me to date? Plus, he’s not from around here.”
I glance back over at him, and just as I do, he looks up and our eyes lock again. He smiles at me, and I can feel my cheeks heat as I quickly look away. The girls laugh at my bashfulness, and I turn my back to the customers to stick my tongue out at them.
“Do you let Sophia see you do that?”
I laugh and turn around to walk the order I’m holding over to the couple that is sitting in the middle of the room. We’re hit with a constant flow of customers coming and going for the next hour, but the entire time I am hyperaware of the man with eyes like my daughter’s sitting by the window.
