Tofino Storm

by Edie Claire

  Laney managed a smile. “Likewise. And thank you again.”

  He gave her a salute and headed off, but Jason stayed in place. “I’m thinking maybe I should come knock on your door in an hour or so,” he floated, his brow furrowed.

  “There’s no need. I promise not to drop dead on your premises,” she quipped.

  His frown only deepened. “I’m serious. You look terrible. You sound terrible. And I don’t believe you passed out just because you got your memory back.”

  She huffed out a breath, then met his eyes. Those beautiful, intense, gray-green eyes. What was it about the man she found so compelling? In addition to the obvious, of course? Perhaps it was his unusual perceptiveness. Or maybe it was the compassion he’d shown for a woman he had no physical interest in. He was an enigma, that was for sure. As was her own inclination to lean on and to trust him, when she had no logical reason to do either.

  She couldn’t seem to help herself.

  “If you knew what I remembered,” she answered softly, “you wouldn’t say that.”

  Jason looked taken aback. He glanced at Ben’s departing form, then returned his attention to her. “If you want to talk about it—”

  “I don’t,” she answered, more abruptly than intended. Damn her stupid mouth! He wouldn’t let it go, now. And she couldn’t trust him, not with this. She couldn’t trust anybody. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m fine, really. Take Ben wherever you need to take him. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

  Am I? She would be going to Ucluelet. Eventually. As soon as she got her head together and figured out a plan. Never mind that she’d had the whole endless, snowy drive in which to compose a plan, and it had never materialized. She was here on a mission, and near-death experience or no, she would see it through.

  Jason studied her another long moment, clearly uncertain how to proceed. “I’ll check back with you later,” he said finally.

  She made a lame attempt to smile again. “Okay,” she conceded. “See you then.”

  His entrancing eyes continued to watch her as she closed the door between them.

  ***

  Laney’s attempt to restore her composure with a brief, cozy nap failed. The wheels in her brain chugged furiously, attempting to marry up her newly returned memory with the present and speculating wildly over her next steps. She soon gave up on evasion and hauled out the dreaded laptop. It was time.

  She dimmed the light on her screen and clicked into the file labeled Tremblay, which she now remembered contained the addresses of Jessica’s grandparents and uncle. Plugging the former address into her map program, she could see that the grandparents’ home was about a half hour’s drive away. Jason had guessed correctly about her choice of the surf lodge — she had indeed tried to find a place closer to Ucluelet, but couldn’t find anything nearly as affordable.

  She closed her eyes and sighed. If the dull ache in the center of her forehead was any indication, her allowable computer time would be short. She needed to plan it well. So, what next? Did she rent a car and drive herself to their house? For what purpose? Was she going to stalk the poor people? Talk to their neighbors? Ask questions around town?

  She groaned. She had no idea how to do this. She’d never had any idea. Had she not jumped in her car and started driving largely to avoid figuring it out? Anytime she’d thought about it, she’d run into the same, insurmountable problem. The safe way — getting to know the couple without confessing who she was — was also the sneaky, underhanded way, and everything about espionage was totally alien to her nature. She was direct and no-nonsense to the bone. She was a lousy liar and an even lousier actress. What chance could she possibly have of pulling off such a crazy con game?

  Zero chance, that’s what.

  What felt the most right would be to walk straight up to their front door, ring the bell, and tell them that their granddaughter wasn’t dead after all. But there was a problem with that scenario, too. Convincing these people that their beloved granddaughter was alive would be one thing. Laney thought she could handle that part, with the help of the newspaper articles, as long as everyone spoke of Jessica and Laney both in third person. But what happened when they wanted to find their granddaughter? To know her?

  Laney wasn’t Jessica. She couldn’t be Jessica. She was Laney Miller. She didn’t want to be anyone else, and nobody was going to make her!

  A gentle knock sounded on the door. Her eyes flew open and the computer slid off her lap onto the bed.

  “Laney?” a familiar voice said quietly. “It’s Jason.”

  She shut off the computer and pushed it out of the way. Had it been an hour already? “Yeah, hi. Come in.”

  She knew perfectly well that he would only bring trouble, ask questions she couldn’t answer, and offer help she’d have to refuse. But she wanted him here anyway. He represented sanity. And happier thoughts.

  “Feeling any better?” he asked, closing the door behind him and leaning comfortably against the sink. His position couldn’t possibly be comfortable; he just made it look that way.

  Laney moved her computer back onto her lap. “Have a seat,” she offered, gesturing at the other end of the bed, which was the only place he could sit in the tiny room.

  He sat. “You look,” he said tentatively, studying her, “a little better.”

  She smiled. “How terribly honest of you. Thanks. I’m physically fine, I promise. Mentally, I’ve had better days.”

  His eyes continued to study her. “I was thinking about what happened on the beach,” he began, sounding as if he’d rehearsed some sort of speech. “I was wondering why you think you got your memory back at that particular time. It seemed to happen pretty suddenly, right when Jessica called out to me. Was there a particular trigger?”

  She was really starting to dislike that name. “No idea,” she answered with a shrug. “It could have been anything. Or nothing. Who knows?”

  Jason raised an eyebrow. Then he chuckled softly. “You’re a really bad liar. You know that?”

  Laney huffed out a breath. “I’m aware.”

  “Well, don’t strain yourself, then. If you think it’s none of my business, just say so.”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  He sat quietly a moment, considering. “Yeah, that’s not going to work. So let’s try again. What brought all the negative memories back? Did it have anything to do with me? Something I did, or said?”

  Laney smiled at him. “What I can’t figure out, you see, is why you even care. We both know I’ve brought you nothing but trouble since I got here.”

  He returned a lazy smile of his own. “You’re much better at eluding questions than you are at outright lying. You should use that.”

  “I am.”

  “What made you remember?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  As their eyes met with shared amusement, Laney realized she was feeling better already. The man did have that effect on her.

  “Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll answer if you will. I care because I’m a nice guy, I like you, and I don’t want to be making your situation worse without realizing it.”

  “How would you do that?” Laney asked, confused.

  He shrugged. “Maybe your bad memories have something to do with a man. Maybe somebody I remind you of.”

  Her eyes widened. He couldn’t possibly be farther off the mark. Which was probably a good thing…

  “Hmm,” he speculated. “That looks like a no.”

  Dammit. Why did she have to be so easy to read?

  “But I have to tell you,” he continued uneasily, “that I’m still worried. I can see that you’re afraid, Laney. And you don’t strike me as a woman who’s particularly easy to scare. So I have to ask. Your flight up here… are you running from a particular person? Because if you are—” he sat up and looked at her intently. “We can get you help. Some of my best friends are Mounties. You don’t have to deal with something like this alone.”

&nb
sp; Laney’s eyes misted over. He thought she was running from domestic abuse, some psycho-stalker situation. He was willing to stand by her, protect her. How incredibly, unexpectedly sweet.

  She could see that her impending tears were confusing him and decided to put him out of his misery. “I appreciate that,” she said gratefully. “I really do. But I’m not running from a person. I’m not in any physical danger at all, I swear. If I’m scared, it’s only because I’m too big a wimp to deal with a personal matter that’s… unpleasant for me. That’s all.” She smiled at him. “And you know I’m telling the truth because I couldn’t possibly lie so well, right?”

  His returning smile was slight, at best. He looked like he believed her. But he didn’t seem particularly relieved.

  “You’re not the kind of woman who would pass out over an ‘unpleasant’ personal matter,” he stated. “I don’t believe you scare easy, period. You’re not going to convince me that this is trivial, so you might as well answer my question. Why did you remember all this when you did?”

  Laney rolled her eyes. How could he be so sweet and so tenacious at the same time? “It was the name, okay?” she heard herself say. “That’s all. No big mystery!” She tried to keep her tone light, even as she swore internally at her sieve of a mouth filter.

  It took a moment for him to understand. “Jessica?” he asked. “You mean when I called out—”

  “Yeah, something like that,” she said dismissively. “Not that the name is terribly important, it’s just… you know, the brain works in strange ways.” She forced another smile. “So, are you happy now? My memory ‘attack’ had nothing to do with you. Or with your—well, whatever she is to you.”

  He frowned. “She’s just a friend. An acquaintance, really—”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Laney said way too quickly. Crap.

  He continued to stare at her uneasily.

  “Look,” she began, thinking hard. What could she say that was truthy enough to be believed but comforting enough to squelch his compulsion to play the hero? “It’s like this. I found out something, shortly before I left to come here. It’s something personally distressing, but not dangerous. I just have to confirm some facts with some people who live in Ucluelet, and I wanted to see them face to face. Once that’s done I can go home and return to my regularly scheduled life. Okay?”

  She smiled. That was a pretty darn good generic explanation!

  He sat quietly for a long time, saying nothing. She studied him back, trying to find some evidence of relief in his face. She thought maybe she saw a glimmer of it — a slight easing of the tension in his frown lines. But overall, the effect of her words was less than satisfying.

  “I hope you know you can trust me,” he said finally.

  She didn’t answer. She hoped the question was rhetorical. Of course she didn’t trust him. Why should she? He was friendly, and he’d been kind to her. But she’d known the man for all of three days, only two of which she could remember.

  The secret she was keeping was no small, inconsequential thing. It was a horror that risked the undoing of her entire documented life, her very being, for God’s sake. She hadn’t even been able to tell her Aunt June! Entrusting a near-perfect stranger with such a hand grenade would be the stupidest thing she ever did. Once he knew that she wasn’t who she professed to be — that her mother was a kidnapper and that she was effectively an undocumented immigrant living off an illegal inheritance — he would always know. Maybe they were sort-of friends now, but what about six months from now? What about in ten years? Did she want to spend the rest of her life wondering if he’d ever get personally spiteful enough, or financially desperate enough, to stoop to blackmail?

  No way! She could never tell anybody.

  Jason’s face looked suddenly crestfallen. Then his expression hardened. “You don’t need to answer that,” he said shortly, rising.

  “Wait,” Laney protested, rising with him. “Don’t take offense, please. I’m just… a really private person.”

  “I understand,” he said more gently, smiling again.

  But he didn’t understand. He was hurt. Hurt! How could that even happen? Weren’t players supposed to be immune to such emotions? Why did he even care what she thought?

  “My offer stands,” he continued. His voice was back to normal, but his eyes still glinted with disappointment. “I’m happy to help if you decide you need anything. Even if it’s just a friendly face to hang with. I’ll be in the office — have to start my shift now. See you.”

  Laney tried to think of something to say, but couldn’t. She was standing with her mouth gaping as the door closed behind him.

  Chapter 18

  Jason leaned back in his desk chair and gazed out at the waves, which were decreasing in height now as the swell trended downward. By the time he got off work, they’d barely be rippable. Overnight things would change again, with a new storm system rolling in, promising more wind and weather drama for tomorrow. He loved the winter storms. Their fury might make surfing impossible for a few hours, but their comings and goings were the stuff great waves were made of.

  He wondered when Steve might give Laney the go-ahead to get out on the water. The first lesson shouldn’t be too taxing. He could tow her board for her, so she wouldn’t have to paddle too much, and—

  He cut off the thought with a grumble. Why was he wasting his time obsessing over this idea? Laney had expressed no interest whatsoever in learning to surf. She had expressed little enough interest in him, period.

  He swiveled around to look at his computer, but his mind remained elsewhere. Laney didn’t trust him. Maybe rationally he could understand why, but at a more personal level, her rejection stung. He’d gone over and above for the woman, more than once, and still she seemed suspicious of his motives. He hadn’t even hit on her, for God’s sake! What was she even suspicious of? Was it so impossible to believe he could just want to be a woman’s friend?

  He had a sudden image of a few females of his acquaintance laughing hysterically.

  He growled beneath his breath. Okay, so maybe friendship wasn’t his usual MO, at least not with single women. He either went for it, or — in the case of the forever girls — kept himself at a safe distance. Pursuing a woman over a platonic friendship was atypical behavior for him. But that didn’t mean there was anything nefarious in it!

  He liked Laney. He enjoyed her company. He thought she’d be fun to go surfing with. He thought — no, he knew — that once she could surf well, they’d make the perfect team. She’d already taken to surf forecasting like a pro. Her academic understanding of the science behind it was topnotch — well above his own — and once she got that gut-level feel of the ocean beneath her board, the rest of it would come to her instinctively. She’d be poring over the charts, analyzing the data… she’d rise early in the morning and wake him up, all excited because the perfect conditions were pounding at a particular break, and he would throw back the covers and—

  Jason shook his head and blinked. Wait. How the hell did his imaginary self get in bed with her? That wasn’t part of the plan. He wasn’t even attracted to her!

  Now he imagined himself laughing hysterically.

  Okay, fine. He was attracted. He was very attracted, and getting more so all the time. She didn’t look like the women he usually dated, true, but his body didn’t seem to care. She had a cute face with an adorable nose and absolutely amazing clear blue eyes. Her curves were subtle, yes, but she had a firm, healthy earthiness about her that was incredibly sexy. There was nothing artificial or pretentious about Laney Miller. She was all heart, all natural… all woman.

  Damn, he wanted her.

  The door to the common room popped open suddenly, startling him out of his… regrettable state. She’s a forever girl, he reminded himself grimly. Knock it off.

  A blond head appeared. The woman in question smiled at him and walked toward the desk.

  Jason pulled himself together.

  “Hi,” Lan
ey said, with unexpected shyness. He hoped to God she wasn’t a mind reader. “I’ve decided I’d like to go ahead with renting a car. You said I asked you about it when I first showed up, but of course I can’t remember what you told me. Do you know where I could get something cheap? Like, really cheap?”

  Jason hesitated. He’d been thinking of renting her the Civic, since he could just as easily drive his truck, and the businessman in him was always looking to make an extra buck. But that was before.

  “You shouldn’t drive, Laney,” he reminded. “Remember what your doctor said? About the concussion and brain fog and your reflexes? And that was before you passed out cold.”

  The cute little face frowned. “I don’t remember him saying that. But my time in the hospital is a little fuzzy.”

  “Which is exactly why you’ve got no business driving,” Jason said firmly. He opened his mouth to offer to drive her himself, then shut it again.

  Stop, dude. Just STOP. You’re getting in too deep. You need to back the hell off. Now.

  “Do you know where I can get a bus schedule, then?” Laney asked lightly.

  Jason let out a long, tortured sigh. Was the cosmos out to get him? “There’s only one bus that runs this time of year, and it won’t help you get around town. It just connects the cities. Theoretically it could get you to Ucluelet in the morning and back in the afternoon, but that would leave you with a whole lot more walking than would fit into your ‘no physical exertion’ prescription.”

  Laney’s face fell, but her expression quickly changed to determination. “So, do you know a cash-starved teenager I could hire to drive me around on the cheap? Otherwise, I will have to walk.”

  Jason’s jaws clenched. She looked incredibly appealing when she tried to be fierce. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he replied, thwarting his own voice of reason. “I’d be happy to take you wherever you need to go. It’s no big deal. So long as it’s not during my office hours — and the waves aren’t pumping. You need to do something this afternoon?”