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He nods again, and this time, he can’t hide the excitement in his eyes, they brighten, and a smile slowly starts to take over his face.
“Do you have any other kids?”
He hesitates before answering.
“Uh, no. I haven’t been in another relationship since, uh, everything happened.”
Right, he was with me for a year, deeply in love with me, and then I was just gone.
Great going, Tanya.
He clears his throat and taps the counter with his knuckle.
“I have to get back to the city. Here’s my number, let me know what you decide.”
He slides a business card over to me and backs to the door. We don’t say anything, and he doesn’t take his eyes off me as he walks backward. Almost like he doesn’t want me to leave his sight. His back hits the door and he just smiles at me before turning and walking out; I let out a breath once he’s gone. All the tension leaving the room with him.
6
CHANDLER
I didn’t want to leave Willow Creek and Tanya and Sophia, but I had to get back for my meetings. I’m driving the rental car Jillian got for me back to the city, and the hour drive gives me time to process everything that has happened. It all seems like a dream. I never expected to find Tanya living in the same state as me, alive and well, and raising our daughter.
Josh is going to lose his mind.
I hit the speaker button on the wheel and tell the machine to call Josh. He answers after two rings, impressive for him.
“Why is Jillian telling me that we can’t schedule a lunch for today because you are still out of town? I thought you were only gone for a night. What kept you in Mayberry?”
“I found Tanya; she’s living in Willow Creek and has been this whole time.”
The line is silent on the other end, and I’m breathless from having said it out loud.
“Holy shit.”
I laugh, and it comes out sounding a little manic.
“My thoughts exactly.”
“So she did run?”
I don’t know why she was driving to Willow Creek without all her things.
“I don’t know what happened and neither does she. The day she disappeared, she was in a bad car accident and has been suffering from amnesia this whole time. She looked right at me and had no idea who I was, Josh.”
I replay that moment in my head as I wait for him to respond.
“She’s been living an hour away for nine years with amnesia?”
His tone is full of doubt, and it makes the hair on the back of my neck rise.
“Yes, I spoke with one of the nurses that took care of her. Apparently, it was a really bad accident. Oh, and that’s not all.”
“There’s more besides her just forgetting about her whole life?”
I ignore his sarcasm.
“She was pregnant with my daughter when she left. I have a beautiful eight-year-old daughter who looks just like I did as a kid.”
