Blondie smiled wide. "Hey, it's been a while, Matt."
Matt deadpanned, "It hasn't been long enough."
"Good one, mate," Gary said, and when Matt didn’t shake his hand, he patted Matt hard in the shoulder where he'd stuck the needle before. "Be good to her. Amy is someone very special."
"What do you know about Amy?" Matt said with a hard stare. No one knew his wife like he did.
"Matt, what's the occasion?" he heard. Bill Ruby stepped out and sized Matt up at the door. Matt saw two men moving out the side door to load luggage into the Jeep.
"Going somewhere?"
"How did you get here?" Ruby asked with a ‘cat ate the canary’ smile on his face.
“Thanks for buying off all the locals."
"Where did you park your dinghy? I'll make sure it finds the bottom of the ocean like your airplane."
"Good one, Bill," Blondie laughed.
"Where are Amy and the boys? Mabel said they’re here." Matt looked over Ruby’s shoulder but he didn't see or hear anyone in the house. Bill Ruby looked at Matt with his steely-eyed stare, and Matt wondered if he was going to have to force his way in.
"Be good to her," Bill Ruby said, his eyes changing to the faraway slits of someone deep in thought.
"Why does everyone keep saying that? She's my wife!"
Bill Ruby shook his head. "Well, I don't know about that, but she's in love with you, Matt. Don't be an idiot and screw this up again."
Ruby nodded at Donnelly and then stepped around Matt, heading to the Jeep with Blondie. Matt watched the choreographed ballet as the rest of the men waited to see which seat Bill Ruby would take before entering the car and driving toward the launch.
Donnelly led Matt through the house to the veranda overlooking the ocean. Matt saw the boys playing in the surf, and he dropped his coat and his bag and ran across the grass and sand to meet them. He ran right into the surf in his shoes and pants and scooped Benji up and swung him around.
"Daddy, Daddy!" Benji screamed and laughed as Matt swung him around and around. Steven and William heard Benji and then stopped playing and watched. Matt looked at his boys, and he could see that they were tentative about him, and it broke his heart. He'd abandoned his sons for over a month, and he was ashamed.
"Steven," Matt said, and the boy ran to him and hugged him around his stomach. Matt leaned down and kissed Steven's head, reaching his free arm out to William. His eldest son walked over in the surf and took Matt's hand, shaking it firmly.
"I love you, son," Matt said to William with tears in his eyes. "I love you all, and I owe you an apology.”
"Do you remember the island, Dad?" William asked.
"I do, son. I remember everything. Where's your mother?"
William pointed back at the house, and Matt could see Amy reclined in a patio chair watching intently. He'd run right past her when he'd seen the boys.
"I'm going to go talk to your mother," Matt said, putting Benji back in the water.
Matt walked slowly back up to the house. His heart was pounding and he had a million things to say to Amy, but he wasn't sure where to start. He saw her stand up; her beautiful form frozen and tentative. When he stepped onto the brick patio, Matt crossed to Amy and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Amy was stunned.
"I love you, Amy, I always have. Well, at least since we crashed into that stupid, wonderful island."
"You love me? I don't even know if I like you anymore," she said and stepped back.
Amy did like Matt, though. Since Bill had said goodbye, she'd been sitting out here watching the boys and thinking about Matt. If she'd admit it, she'd thought about him non-stop for the last two years.
"I'm really mad at you, Matt," she said, pounding him in the chest and pulling away.
"You should be, Amy. I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say except I will do my best to make it up to you. We love each other."
"You remember the island?"
Matt nodded and smiled. "It was wonderful, Amy."
"Well, I don't remember anything." She crossed her arms, which forced him to let go. Amy didn't know if she was more upset that he'd abandoned them or because he could remember and she couldn't. It was easy to love her three sons, but very hard not remembering any of their childhoods.
"It will come back to you, I know it will."
Amy shook her head.
"You love me, Amy," Matt told her with such certainty that she wanted it to be true, but she was so confused and she didn't know where to start.
Amy blushed. "I don't think I do."
"You told me that you always had a crush on me, Amy."
She looked up into his eyes. It just dawned on her that he'd called her Amy four times now, and she wasn't sure if he'd ever used her first name before. "You called me Amy."
"I always call you Amy."
"No, you always call me Reynolds."
"I've called you Amy since the night we were married. It was a destination wedding. Just you and me under the stars on our beach with the sound of the waves and the breeze through your curls."
Matt stepped forward to tuck Amy's hair behind her ear and it felt familiar to her, although she was certain that he'd never done that before.
"Your hair kept blowing into your eyes just like this." Matt put his hands on her shoulders, and Amy swallowed back her tears. He was saying everything she ever wanted to hear, but it didn’t seem real and she wasn't sure how to react.
“Your name is Amy Cole, and you are my wife. It's you and me, it always has been. I'm so sorry that I didn't remember. I didn't know any of it. I didn't remember how much I love you and the boys. Please, Amy. You have to remember," he pleaded.
Matt looked as though he could cry, and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to believe him, but she had no memory. Amy looked down the beach at the boys who were now standing on the sand and watching their parents attentively. The boys remembered, and she'd seen the photo proof, but she couldn't will her brain to remember.
"Matt, I think I was in love with the crush that I had on you and not the real you. I don't think I really knew you at all, and now I have the boys to worry about. I don't know what to say."
"You said the same thing on the island, that you were in love with the crush you had on me and the person you had made me in your mind. Don't be in love with the person you had a crush on, Amy. Be in love with me. Even if you don't remember our life together, me and the boys do. And you took all of those wonderful pictures. I wish I saw those a month ago. I wish I remembered because then I wouldn’t have behaved like such an idiot."
Matt took Amy's hands and she looked at her hands in his. He was leaning down and looking straight into her eyes, and she could tell that he was sincere.
"Matt, I..." she stuttered and shook her head. Amy knew she loved Matt, she had since she'd first laid eyes on him, but it seemed like it was just too late. "Matt, I don't have any memories from the island. I admit that I had a crush on you, but that was before."
Matt nodded and dropped her hands, walking away slowly and rubbing his hands through his hair. Amy realized that she felt disappointed that he was giving up on her. She put her hand to her forehead and whispered, "What do I want?" She wanted to scream at him and at herself. It was impossible to figure out what she wanted when she'd wanted him for so long, and she'd given up.
When she looked up, Matt was standing in front of her with an easy smile and the gleam of tears in his eyes.
"I can tell you anything you want to know, Amy. I can tell you that you cried when you realized you were pregnant, but even more when you had Steven because you always wanted a sibling. I can tell you that you are really bad at fishing, but you will do it to eat, and you always apologize to the fish."
Amy nodded. "I did want a sibling."
"I wonder what it would be like to make a specific decision about your life, of the path you want to follow, and to be absolutely sure about your path, and to know that you are exactly right about it"
/> Amy retorted defensively, "You seemed pretty confident that you were headed in the right direction, and that road didn't include us."
"Wait, let me finish," Matt said patiently. "If one chose their life's direction only to get to the very end of life to see where they made mistakes. To look back and see where you took the wrong turn. It would be devastating to have that clarity. To get to the end and to know in your heart exactly where you went wrong. Maybe it would be better to not have seen your mistake."
Amy threw her arms up because she had no idea what he was trying to say.
"Amy, I am that person. I'm so mad at myself that I chose not to be with you when I couldn't remember, and I know that was so clearly a huge mistake. Please hear me now. I love you, Amy. You are my wife. You are the girl from the ice cream shop."
Amy wiped away a tear. "I don't know what that means."
Matt chuckled. "You asked me on the airplane all those years ago right before we crashed. I mean, maybe to you it was just a month ago, but for me it was the day we crashed on the island. You said that I wasn't really in love with Sarah because I didn't love her to the core of my being."
Amy giggled, and she started to sweat. She remembered saying that because Matt had laughed at her statement.
"You asked me what if I got married to her, and in five years I was in an ice cream shop, and the girl of my dreams walked in, what would I do? And I said I would walk away because I was already married, and I would just watch her go. But I don't have to watch her go, you see? You are the girl from the ice cream shop."
Amy was crying now. She had been in love with Matt Cole for too long, and she didn't remember the island or their wedding or the births of their sons, but she knew she would have longed to hear these words two months ago. She knew now that she didn't really understand how deeply she had felt for him. She looked over at their three boys who were walking up the beach, and she knew that she wanted a lifetime with Matt.
"I have very good news, Amy. Your life hasn't passed you by yet. Do you remember your fortieth birthday?" Matt was smiling, but he wasn't toying with her.
Amy patted him in the stomach with the back of her hand.
"Of course you don't, but I do. The boys were sleeping, and I had planned a celebration with that horrid fermented whatever-fruit juice I made, and you couldn't stop crying because you were forty years old and you were sure you had wrinkles on your face that I wasn't telling you about. You were a wreck."
"That's good news?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"Yes, it is good news." Matt stepped forward and took Amy's hands in his. He leaned down so his face was closer, and he smiled more warmly than she could ever remember. "You are only thirty-two years old, sweetheart. You're not forty yet. You get those years back again."
Matt gently wiped away Amy's tears, and he leaned down to kiss her. They embraced for a long time, and when they finally parted and Amy was giggling, she looked over to see their three boys standing next to them. Matt and Amy pulled William, Steven, and Benji in for a long hug.
"I want a real wedding, Matt, one that I remember. And then you have to dance with Mabel at the reception," Amy said.
"Reynolds!" Matt yelled, and he pulled her in again for another long kiss.
They did get married, and Matt danced with Mabel and then Amy danced with Matt's father at the reception. Amy also danced with each of her sons and Mabel did too. They called her Auntie Mabel, but Amy started calling her mom ‘Grandma’ when they were alone.
For the rest of their lives together, Amy never did remember their lost years on the island or how they fell in love, and Matt never forgot. She read their whole story when Matt became a best selling author after he published a book about what they lovingly called their ‘Ruby Island Incident’.
* * *
<<<<>>>>
Also by Anita Renaghan
Jackpot
Reviewed as “Breakfast Club on wheels”, five strangers spend the night driving into the midwest countryside sharing introspection, judgment, and their outlook on the future.
Prince S - Book 1: The Avalon Hall Trilogy
King Pawn - Book 2: The Avalon Hall Trilogy
Queen’s Call - Book 3: The Avalon Hall Trilogy
A Young Adult Medieval Fantasy Trilogy, Avalon is born a girl but raised as the male heir to the throne. Avalon is a teenager falling in love for the first time amid deception and adventure.
The Suicide Man
A Chicago lawyer with a sad history is on the brink of suicide. Can Hazel save him from himself?
* * *
Thanks for reading! If you loved the book and have a moment to spare, I would really appreciate a short review as this helps new readers find my books.
Please go to anitarenaghan.com/books where you can find more titles and join the email list to receive a free ebook.
Copyright © 2020 by Anita Renaghan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
* * *
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is fictionalized or coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Also by Anita Renaghan
Ruby Island Page 19