by Susan Stoker
Truck understood Mary’s reaction tonight a little better after reading her journal. She was insecure about the way her body looked. She was afraid he was going to reject her as a result. But she had nothing to be worried about. Nothing.
Mary was his. Eventually, he had no doubt he’d regain all his memories, but in the meantime, he needed to make sure she knew that he wasn’t giving up on them. That he truly loved her. She never needed to say it out loud. He knew she loved him back, and not just because of the words she’d written on the paper.
Truck stood and straightened the living area. Then he went into his bedroom and picked up as much as he could and vacuumed up the broken glass. He placed her journal on the table next to the bed. He wasn’t going to lie about reading it. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Ever.
As he was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, he fingered the velvet bag holding their wedding rings. He didn’t see a diamond in there, but he’d be remedying that as soon as he could. He wanted to get her something huge, so there was no mistaking that she was taken, but he knew she’d hate that. He’d have to be creative in designing her ring, make it something low-key yet beautiful at the same time.
Hating that he had to put the bag with their rings back into the drawer, away from view, Truck consoled himself with the thought that Mary would soon be back here. Living with him. That their rings would be back on their fingers for the world to see.
But this time there would be no misunderstandings between them. No sickness. Just the two of them and their love.
He grinned.
Chapter Fourteen
Mary didn’t want to go to work. She wanted to call in sick…or just quit. But she knew she’d need the unemployment payments to survive once she was laid off, and she wouldn’t get them if she quit. So she reluctantly got dressed and ready to leave.
She thought about what she wanted to do with her life. She’d thought about it a lot already, and finally decided that she wanted to help women like her. Women who had, or had survived, breast cancer. She didn’t know how, but that was what she wanted.
When she’d been sick, there had been a lot of offers from complete strangers to bring her food, sit with her while she was getting chemo, and even offers to pick her up to do errands. She hadn’t really needed any help once Truck had insinuated himself into her life, but without him, she would’ve been in big trouble, and those offers of help would’ve been extremely important.
She wanted to do that. Wanted to help others. Tell them that she knew what they were going through because she’d been there, done that. Wanted to be a shoulder for people to cry on, to be the one they could let down the façade of strength with.
Mary still had no idea what her decision was going to be about the reconstruction of her breasts, but she didn’t need to decide right that minute. Even though she’d been mean, again, to Truck the night before, she’d taken his words to heart.
He loved her exactly how she was. She wasn’t looking forward to letting him see her naked, but she knew without a second’s doubt that he wouldn’t like her any less because she had no boobs.
If she decided to get the reconstruction, she’d do it for her. Not because she wanted to be prettier for Truck. Not because she wanted others to look at her and like what they saw.
Feeling better about that part of her breast cancer journey, Mary headed out of her apartment to her car. Still feeling guilty about the way she’d treated Truck the night before, she pulled out her phone. Before she chickened out, she sent him a text.
* * *
Mary: I’m sorry about last night. I was a bitch. Again. Want to have lunch today? Talk?
* * *
She got in the car and turned it on. She was about to pull out of her parking spot when her phone vibrated. Surprised that Truck had returned her text so quickly, she smiled as she read what he wrote.
* * *
Truck: Good morning, beautiful. Yes, I’d love to talk. There’s a lot we have to discuss.
* * *
Mary didn’t know what Truck meant, but at least he wasn’t ignoring her.
* * *
Mary: I’ve only got thirty minutes for lunch today.
Truck: I’ll bring you something, if that’s all right.
Mary: Perfect.
Truck: What time?
Mary: 11:30?
Truck: I’ll be there. Love you.
* * *
Mary stared down at the phone in her hand. She couldn’t believe he’d just typed that. Well, maybe she could.
* * *
Mary: Later.
* * *
Smiling, she put her phone away and headed for the bank in a much better mood than she’d been in five minutes ago. For the first time in a really long time, she thought that things with Truck just might work out. Of course, she had to tell him at some point that they were married, but that could wait.
Halfway through the morning, a woman came into the bank. Mary only noticed her because she stood by the front doors for quite a while. She looked like she was either going to get sick or pass out. When there was a break in customers, Mary left her station behind the counter and walked up to the woman.
She was around Mary’s height, and had long brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt that said, “People. Not a fan.” It made Mary want to laugh, but the closer she got to the woman, the more she could tell something was wrong.
“Are you all right?” Mary asked quietly when she got close.
The woman jerked, as if she hadn’t seen Mary coming toward her at all. She blinked twice, her face pale. “I’m okay,” she said quietly.
“Do you need to sit down?” Mary asked, looking around. “I can grab a chair, it’s no problem.”
“I’m nervous,” the woman blurted. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wrapped her arms around herself and Mary could see that she was pinching the skin on both of her biceps. “I came to see you,” the woman said after a moment.
“Me?”
“My name is Macie Laughlin. Ford Laughlin is my brother. You’re married to him, right?”
Mary could only stare at her. This was Truck’s sister? But the longer she looked, the more she recognized the family resemblance. She had no idea where she’d come from or how she knew where Mary worked, or even who she was. But none of that mattered at the moment. “Oh my God, you’re really Macie?”
The other woman nodded.
Mary beamed. “He’s going to be so happy!”
It was Macie’s turn to stare. “He is?”
“Yes! He asked his commander to see if he could find out where you were, so he could talk to you. Catch up. He’s hated that he hasn’t talked to you in so long. He feels guilty about it.”
“It’s not his fault. It’s mine. I’m pretty sure it’s all my fault,” Macie whispered.
Mary shook her head, thrilled that she was face-to-face with Truck’s sister. “How did you find me? I need to call him!”
Macie shook her head frantically. “No! Don’t do that. I mean…I want to talk to him, but not today. It took everything I had to come talk to you. I couldn’t possibly meet him today.”
Mary took a long look at the woman in front of her. Now that she was paying attention, she could tell that Macie was on the verge of having a panic attack. Was very possibly having a panic attack. She was breathing hard and squinting, a sure sign she had a headache or a migraine. “Okay,” she said, trying to calm Macie down. “I won’t call him.”
“I live near here. In Lampasas. I know someone who’s good with computers, and he’s kept me up to date on Ford. He’s a hacker, really. I know that’s illegal, but I’ve missed my brother so much and felt guilty for losing touch with him. My friend found your marriage certificate online, and I decided that now was the time to try to make contact. I know I shouldn’t have pried, but I love him. He’s my big brother and I was such an idiot for so long.”
Macie’s words were quick and rushe
d, as if she was trying to hurry up and get them out before her body refused to let her say anything at all.
“I…I moved to Texas about two years ago, and I’ve wanted to come see him ever since, but I didn’t think he’d want anything to do with me. But after he got hurt…again…I decided I needed to suck it up and do it. But I didn’t know if he remembered me or not, with his amnesia and all. So I thought I’d come and talk to you and see if you thought he might be willing to hear me out. To let me apologize. So…here I am.”
“Macie,” Mary said gently, wanting to reach out and hug the other woman, but holding back, “your brother will be over the moon to be able to talk to you. I told you, he’s had his boss looking for you too. He’ll be so happy to know you live close. And to answer your question, yes, he remembers you. He’ll definitely want to talk to you.”
Macie relaxed a fraction, but she was still way too tense. “That’s good,” she finally said.
“It is,” Mary said with a smile. “Can I tell him you were here? Let me give you my number, so you can call and we’ll set something up, okay?” She had a hundred more questions, but it was more than obvious Truck’s sister was ready to bolt.
Macie nodded. “I’d like that.”
Mary turned and grabbed a business card off a nearby desk and scribbled her cell phone number on the back. She handed it to Macie. “Seriously, Truck has told me so many stories about you two. He loves you, Macie.”
“Truck?” she asked with a small frown.
“Sorry, Ford. Truck is his nickname…for obvious reasons.”
Macie smiled then. It was a small quirk of her lips, but Mary blinked at the transformation that came over her face. The other woman was beautiful. She had too many worry lines and it was obvious that life had been hard on her, but Mary wanted to do everything she could to keep that smile on her face.
“If he’s Truck, I guess I’m Car,” Macie said with a smile.
Mary chuckled. “I’m thinking Truck fits your brother better than Car fits you.”
“No doubt. Thank you for talking to me,” Macie whispered.
“Truck’s coming here for lunch,” Mary told her. “If you wanted to stay, I’m sure—”
“I can’t,” Macie interrupted. “I’ll get in touch and we can work something out. Somewhere to meet. Just tell my brother I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Just tell him, okay?”
“I will,” Mary said quickly, seeing that Macie was getting agitated again.
And with that, the other woman nodded, ducked her head, and turned around and left the bank without a backward glance.
Mary wanted to immediately text Truck and tell him that she’d just met his sister, but she decided to wait and tell him in person. She couldn’t wait to give him the good news.
Truck pulled into the parking lot of the bank and closed his eyes. His head was killing him. He really needed to call the doctor and let him know that he’d begun to remember more and more. Mostly things that had to do with Mary, but even driving around town was starting to make him remember things suddenly.
Seeing the grocery store made him remember shopping there for something Mary might be able to keep down.
He’d driven by Fletch’s old house, and he’d had a flash of a memory of a wedding in the backyard—and taking down assholes who’d thought it would be cool to rob it.
Even seeing the JCPenney store at the mall made him abruptly remember that was where Kassie worked.
It was as if his mind was one of those old films that spun round and round on the reel. It had been stopped, but now it was slowly starting up again in fits and spurts. It was confusing and jarring, but oh so welcome.
Seeing he was early, Truck put his car in park and picked up his phone. He called Ghost.
“Hey, Truck. How’re you?”
“Good. I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Was the French diplomat’s daughter okay? And the other girls?”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a second before Ghost said, “You remember.”
“Not all of it. Just bits and pieces. I do remember we were specifically looking for that little girl, but that there were lots of others who needed rescuing too.”
“There were. She’s okay.”
“How many did we lose?” Truck asked.
“Three.”
“Damn.”
“What else do you remember?” Ghost asked.
“Most of it is a big jumble in my brain at the moment,” Truck admitted. “Flashes here and there that don’t make much sense, but I’m confident it’s just a matter of time before it all comes back.”
“Thank fuck,” Ghost said.
“Yeah. So…you guys were all pissed at me for marrying Mary, huh?”
“You remember that?”
“Not the being pissed part, but the marriage, yes.” It was a little lie. Truck didn’t actually remember the ceremony yet, and he’d had to find out about it from Mary’s journal, but that didn’t matter.
“That’s awesome. You call the doc yet?”
“No, but I will after lunch. I’m here at the bank with Mary. Ghost, I hope like hell you’re all really okay with my marriage to Mary, because I love her. I’m not giving her up. She’s going to be in my life for a really fucking long time, and you all need to be okay with that.”
“We’re more than okay with it,” Ghost reassured him immediately.
“Good.”
“She know you remember?” Ghost asked tentatively.
“No. But I’m gonna remedy that as soon as I can. I want to talk to the doctor first and hear what he says. Then I’ll have a chat with my wife tonight when she gets off work.”
“You do that,” Ghost said, and Truck could almost hear the grin in his tone. “Good to have you back, Truck.”
“Not all the way back yet,” Truck warned.
“But you will be.”
“Yeah. I understand Fletch wants to have a thing at his house this weekend?”
“Yup. He’s bringing Emily and their baby home on Thursday. Emily insisted on having a small get-together—her words—on Saturday so they could share what they named their son.”
“What’s wrong with a text?” Truck grumbled.
Ghost chuckled. “What Emily wants, Emily gets,” he quipped.
Truck could totally understand that. He’d give Mary the world if she asked. “Okay, I need to get inside. Mary only has thirty minutes for lunch. Oh, and she’s gonna need to find another job.”
“Why?”
“The bank is reorganizing. Getting rid of tellers and going to machines.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Agreed. Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you kept your ears open for something that she might be interested in.”
“Will do. Can I tell Rayne?”
Truck hesitated, then said, “Maybe not yet. I’m sure Mary will tell her, but I’d rather she not have something else to be pissed at me about.”
Ghost laughed. “She’s always pissed at you, Trucker, adding one more thing won’t matter.”
Truck snorted. “Ain’t that the truth. But she’s so fun to piss off. She doesn’t act like most women, she gets right in my face and tells me off. Weirdly enough, I like it.”
“Obviously.”
“Seriously, I always know exactly what she’s thinking. It’s refreshing. She’s not scared of me at all. Which, because of my size and looks, is a fucking miracle as far as I’m concerned.”
“I can see how that could be a good thing.”
“It is. Of course, I’d never do anything to hurt her…and she knows it. Makes it hard to get her to do what I want and need her to do, to keep her safe. And now I really need to go. I don’t want to miss a minute of our lunchtime.”
“You’ll call after you talk to the doctor?”
“Yup. Later, Ghost.”
“Later, Truck.”
Truck clicked off his phone and stuck it i
n his back pocket. Then he grabbed the two lunch bags he’d packed back at his apartment and climbed out of his car and headed for the entrance.
He opened the door and stepped inside the bank—right into the middle of complete chaos.
The second the five men came into the lobby of the bank, Mary knew they were in trouble. All her warnings had gone unheeded by Jennifer and now it was time to pay the price.
The men were dressed in jeans and T-shirts and none had coverings over their faces, which didn’t bode well in Mary’s mind. They should’ve been worried about concealing their identities. The fact that they weren’t was a bad sign. She recognized three of the men from giving them tours of the vault, but the other two were strangers. All five men were white, and she could see they had tattoos up and down their arms.
She should’ve been freaking out, but Mary was strangely calm. She and the other employees had trained for situations like this, and while she was scared, Mary wasn’t about to do anything that would put her life, or anyone else’s life, in danger.
Three of the men branched off and immediately began to corral the customers and employees. The other two came up to the counter where she and Rebecca were sitting and pointed pistols right in their faces.
“Up, bitches,” one said.
Mary immediately held her hands in the air, making sure both men could clearly see them. She scooted off the chair she’d been sitting on and stood. While one man held them at gunpoint, the other leaped over the counter, knocking off the odds and ends that had been on the surface. Mary could hear Rebecca sniffing as if she was crying, but she didn’t take her eyes from the man in front of her.
“We meet again,” he sneered as he stared at her.