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“Was it the first one since we were kids?” Alec asked.
“He said he had one the day before that too,” Damien answered for me. “When Raina woke up.”
“Ah, Jesus,” Parker threw up his hands in defeat. “This is because of a damnwoman?” He pushed away from the wall as if to stalk from the room in aggravation, only to stop and turn back, not willing to abandon me. “You know, you guys really need to stop falling in love. Every single one of you fuckingregressedwhen you did.”
Keene leaned toward Alec, whispering, “This is why I’mneverfalling in love.”
“Because you want your mom to be stuck in the library as a ghost forever?” Alec snarked.
While Keene scowled back, Oaklynn snapped, “Hey!” from around the corner and up the stairs. “Don’t put Foster’s problems on Raina. It’s not her fault she had a massive brain injury and fell into a coma and couldn’t remember visiting him while she was asleep.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Parker snapped. “If you two are going to listen around the corner anyway, will you just get your asses down here and join the conversation with the rest of us?”
“I mean, if you insist,” Faith answered, appearing a second later with Oaklynn trailing behind her. From there, Faith wedged herself between me and Hudson so she could clasp my thigh briefly in support, and Oaklynn perched herself on the arm of the couch next to Damien.
“So,” Oaklynn started, slapping her hands down on the tops of her thighs. “Why was Raina waking up so upsetting for you? Shouldn’t that have been good news?”
I nodded, but it was Hudson who answered for me. “I think it was probably more the part where she remembered nothing of their time together that set him off.”
“What if she never remembers?” I lamented.
“Then tell her about it,” Alec encouraged.
“He can’t do that,” Thane objected. “She’d never believe him.”
With a cringe, I countered, “Actually, she might. She’s been pretty accepting of the supernatural ever since she was a teen and went with her sister to Houston to talk to her mom through a medium. But…” I shook my head. “I still don’t want to tell her. She just woke up from a coma. She’s grieving. Life is confusing and different for her. She has to relearn how to fuckingwalkagain. I don’t think being told this would help her. Not at all. She’s got to remember on her own.”
“Then woo her all over again,” Keene answered with a shrug as if it was no big deal. “You got her to fall in love with you once. Think about how easy it should be a second time now that you know her.”
“Or think about how tactless and inconsiderate it would be, trying to mack on her while she’s in the middle of grieving for hersister,” Parker countered with a dry mutter.
“Either way, it’s not a possibility,” I spoke up. “Because yesterday, she asked me to leave and never come back.”
“What?” Oaklynn shrieked in alarm. “But w-why would she do that?”
“Because looking at me brings her bad memories,” I said bluntly. “I remind her that her sister’s gone, and she can’t move on from that if I’m around. So I don’t blame her at all for not wanting to see me.”
“But it wasn’t your fault,” Alec insisted.
“I don’t think she actually blames me,” I tried to explain. “I stayed away from the beach for years after Hayes died, and I never blamed the water or the sand. I just—I couldn’t face it for a while. So I reckon I’m like the beach for her.”
Keene shook his head. “She didn’t seem to have a problem being around you when she was in her coma.”
“That was her spirit,” I said, shrugging. “It’s just…different now. And I knew it would be. I—” When I choked up, Faith took my hand in a firm, supportive grip. I squeezed back on her fingers and swallowed, feeling my eyes moisten. “I just didn’t realize it was going to hurt this fucking much.”
The room fell solemnly silent before Alec said, “I still think we should tell her.”
But Thane shook his head. “No. I’m with Foster on this one. I don’t think it would help even if we did. Try to picture yourself in her shoes. If someone you didn’t want to be around tried to tell you that you were actually their friend, would that suddenly induce you to say,oh, okay, I guess we’re good now?”
“Well, when you put it that way,” Keene grumbled.
Parker sniffed and shook his head bitterly. “Telling her’s not going to change shit unless she remembers on her own.”
“But how the hell is she supposed to remember,” Faith wondered. “If Foster can’t go anywhere near her toinduceany of those memories?”
“Ooh!” Oaklynn sat up straighter. “Maybe when I visit her, I can?—”
“No,” I ordered sternly, pointing at her in warning. “Please do not mention me to her.Ever. Okay? I don’t want you upsetting her.”
