“No. He’s for the guests to ride.”
“I’ll come up with a few thousand bucks and come for a ride,” Vega said.
“We’ll let you take him out on the house—Shit.”
“What?” Evie noticed a moment later that one of the ranch hands was running toward them.
“That is Evie!” the man said.
“Oh shit.” She whipped her head in Jesse’s direction. “Do I know him?”
“Yeah, that’s Chris Alvarez. His sister Kelly was in your class. Just play it cool. Keep it loose on the details.”
Chris closed the distance between them, then hopped the corral fence like it was nothing.
“Evie Buchanan! How are you?”
Evie climbed off the flatbed and stepped into his waiting arms. “Hey, Chris. How are you doing?”
“Good, good. Exciting day. You see that handsome colt?”
“Yeah. It’s—uh. Kinda why we came over. Um—this is my friend Vega.”
Vega offered him a wave and wary smile, but Chris wasn’t having it. He reached out and gave her hand a rough shake.
“Nice to meet you!” He didn’t seem to notice she was wearing scrubs under her coat.
“Same.”
“Evie. God. It’s been forever. What brings you back to town? I have to tell Kelly. She’d love to see you.”
“Oh, I’m not in town for long. I just came to visit for a few days.”
“Well, you should come out with us tonight to Claim Jumpers.”
“Oh, I—”
“She has dinner plans with Miss Leona tonight,” Jesse said, coming to her rescue.
“Oh. Yeah, okay.” Evie watched as Chris took a small pack of gum out of his pocket and popped a stick in his mouth. “Miss Leona pulls rank. You want some gum?” He held out the pack, nodding for Evie to take a piece.
“Um, sure, thanks.” She took piece and tried to match the bright smile on Chris’s face.
“Hey, Alvarez! Little help over here?!” Felix called out.
“I gotta get back, but Jesse has my number. Seriously, we should hang before you leave. Kelly would love to see you. You gotta meet her kids.” Chris didn’t wait for Evie to respond before he hopped over the fence and jogged back around the corral.
“He’s a good guy. Just excitable,” Jesse said. “You handled it just fine.”
“That was a close call. We really should talk about how much longer I’m gonna be ‘hiding,’” Evie said with a sigh. “I can’t keep this up.”
“I think you handled it just fine, but you’re right. I’ll text Nicole and ask her when’s a good time for us to all get on the phone.”
“You should try the gum,” Vega said with a smile. “New, overly sweet flavor to add to your profile.” Evie knew she was only half joking. She looked down at the flat stick in her hand, wrapped in foil, the word Wrigley’s embossed on the wrapper in a diagonal pattern. She lifted it to her nose and inhaled the artificial cinnamon scent.
Across the field, Chris helped the rest of the crew close up the trailer ramp. Evie unwrapped the gum and put the stick in her mouth. She crushed the sugary, chewy substance between her teeth and the sharp flavor flooded over her tongue. The sensation that hit her started in her chest, like a fist gripping her dead center, shaking the memory out of her. She stood there, looking up at her grandmother, and as clear as day she could hear her voice.
“I don’t have any candy, I just have gum.”
The memory only lasted a moment longer, but she remembered the sun on her face. The smell of horses, the grass under feet, the piece of Big Red gum in her hand and her grandmother by her side.
Evie doubled over, her eyes squeezing shut just as she gripped the middle fence rail.
In the distance she could hear Jesse and Vega saying her name, but everything was muffled. She felt like she was underwater. Through the haze she felt Vega’s fingers lifting her chin.
“Look at me,” she said.
It was so much harder than it should have been, but she managed to open her eyes.
“Good. Look at me and breathe. In and out, just breathe.”
Evie did her best. In and out, and suddenly tears were running down her cheeks. Nana Buck. Her nan. She was gone.
“Can you hear me? Nod yes.”
Evie gave her a weak nod.
“Jesse. Help me out here.” The next thing Evie knew she was in Jesse’s arms. He carried her around the side of the truck and set her down in the passenger seat. A moment later Vega was back in front of her taking her pulse and encouraging her to breathe. She produced a bottle of water and encouraged her to drink. “Okay, just breathe. Good. Can you tell me what happened?”
Evie glanced back toward the corral. It was clear she’d caused a scene. Zach was looking over in her direction.
“I—I—the gum. I remember.”
“You remember what?” Vega asked slowly.
“Everything. I remember everything.” Her whole life didn’t flash before her eyes, no. It was like something had been reset, and instead of feeling lost and unsure, she felt like herself again, buoyed back in her own reality, connected to her own past. She remembered everything. Including how she’d spent the last two weeks growing closer and closer to Zach Pleasant. And then every detail of the conversation that had driven them apart was as clear as that cloudless night she laid her grandmother to rest.
Her finally telling Zach the truth, that she loved him. Her begging him to understand that she just needed some time, but she needed to be with him, to be close to him just to help her get through the crushing pain of losing the last person she had in the world. She could see it, the clarity in his eyes as he almost gave in and pulled her into his arms. But instead he held her at arm’s length, begging her to understand that Paris was where she needed to be, that she couldn’t give up on her dreams just to be with him. The disappointment and the anger, the realization that Zach didn’t understand her. He didn’t understand that she knew exactly what was best for her and sadly, he would never be the one to give it to her.
She glanced back again just as he handed off the reins and started jogging in their direction.
“You remember your accident?” Vega asked.
“I have to get out of here. I have to get back to the house.”
“What?”
“Jesse. Now. Please take me back to the house. I can’t deal with him.”
Jesse looked up and saw Zach closing the distance between the far end of the corral and his truck. “Yeah, okay. Vega, get in. And put on your seat belt.” Vega rushed around the other side of the truck and climbed in the rear of the cabin.
Evie looked at Zach through the back window. Saw him trying to wave them down. She knew she’d have to deal with him much sooner than later. But now she couldn’t. She needed to get back to Miss Leona’s. She needed to talk to Nicole.
* * *
Zach called three times as they drove back to Miss Leona’s house. Each time Jesse hit the Decline button on his dash display. The fourth time he answered.
“Evie’s fine. Lunch just didn’t agree with her.”
“Are you sure?” The sound of Zach’s voice made her stomach lurch. She was not ready to speak to him.
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Jesse said. “We’re just heading back so she can lie down. Finish up with the gang and we’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, okay. See ya.”
Just as they pulled up to Pleasant Lane, Jesse’s phone rang and Nicole’s number flashed across the dashboard. Evie’s hand darted out and hit the green Accept button.
“Nicole! Hey! I was just about to call you.”
“Evie, hey, are you with Jesse?”
“I’m here. We were just on our way back to the house to call you. I—”
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Your voice . . . Evie.” Nicole gasped. “Your voice.”
“What about my voice?”
“Nothing. For a second it sounded like—”
&
nbsp; “Like I was back to normal?”
“Yeah . . .”
“I—I remember, Nicole. My—my memory’s back.”
“Holy shit! How? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think I’m okay. I’m fine, I just—You could tell from my voice?”
“I mean, yeah. You were talking a little like a polite cyborg before. But hold on one second. I just saw Melanie Burns on the street. She confessed to pushing you down the stairs.”
“What?” echoed around the cab of the truck. She looked over at Jesse, his shock mirroring hers before a dark cloud of rage passed over his features. Melanie was lucky there were three thousand miles between herself and all three-hundred-plus pounds of him.
“God,” Evie sighed. “She just can’t—She did. She did push me down the stairs.”
“I knew it!” Jesse pulled the truck to a stop right in front of Miss Leona’s, and the three of them sat there and listened to Nicole’s whole strange encounter with Chef Burns.
“This is insane,” Evie said. She was having trouble breathing again. There were still some gaps in her memory, but parts of that night were very clear.
“What exactly happened?” Jesse asked.
“I don’t know if she followed me or what, but she was in the stairwell as I was coming down. We got into an argument about the way she’d treated Tiffany, and then when I tried to walk away, she shoved me.”
“We have to go to the police.”
“Damn right we do. I’m coming back and we’ll go speak to them first thing in the morning.”
“Hi. Sorry to interrupt. But can we slow down for a minute here,” Vega said from the back seat. “Hi, yeah. You’re possibly experiencing spontaneous recovery after a massive head injury. I think you’re still in the middle of a pretty intense panic attack. Maybe don’t jump on a red-eye tonight.”
“She does have a point,” Nicole said.
“Nicole, let us call you back,” Jesse said, his voice oddly calm.
“Yeah, okay. Call me back soon.”
Jesse ended the call. “Thank you,” Vega said. “Let’s get Evie inside. I’d like to properly examine you and then we need to call Dr. Zordetski. Even if she doesn’t need to see you right away, she needs to know. And I’m pretty sure Miss Leona would like to know what’s going on as well.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jesse agreed.
Evie knew they were right. Her heart was still beating a mile a minute and her mind was racing. So much was happening, so much had already happened. She had to take a breath, take a moment before she rushed off into the night again. Last thing she needed was to pass out mid-flight from something like undiagnosed internal bleeding.
“Come on.” Evie carefully stepped out of the truck and followed Jesse up to the front door.
Chapter 23
Zach knew between his brother, Vega, and Miss Leona they were more than capable of handling Evie’s stomachache. That didn’t stop him from rushing back to the house as soon as he could. Still, the sun was already starting to set by the time they could get Bam Bam settled in his stall. Clearly date night, part two, was off if Evie wasn’t feeling well, but Zach wanted to check on her before she turned in.
Things were oddly quiet when he walked into Miss Leona’s. The dogs didn’t even bother to greet him. He found his grandmother in the kitchen. Jesse and Corie were standing at the island, with grim looks on their faces.
“Hey. Where’s Evie? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, baby,” Miss Leona said. “She’s down in her room with Vega and Lilah. You should go speak to her.”
“Is she alright?”
“She’s fine,” Jesse said again, but the grave tone of his voice was anything but reassuring.
“Just go talk to her,” Corie chimed in.
“Okay. I will.” Zach turned and headed down the hall toward Evie’s room.
“Do you want us to stay?” he heard Vega say as he got closer. He didn’t hear a reply. Just as he reached Evie’s door, Lilah and Vega came out and squeezed by him in the hallway. Vega wouldn’t look at him as she said her excuse-me, but the expression on Lilah’s face matched the grim look that Miss Leona hadn’t tried to hide.
Zach came around the corner and found Evie standing near the foot of her bed. Her suitcase was spread open on top of her bedspread, half full of clothes. Euca was curled up in the armchair in the corner. She looked at him before she closed her eyes.
“What are you doing?” Zach said.
“Close the door, will you?”
Zach did as she asked, letting the door gently snick closed behind him before he turned back around. “What’s going on?”
“I’m packing.”
“Why—” Zach registered it then. Something was different about Evie. Since she’d been in the hospital, she’d been occupying space in a particularly cautious way. But this Evie suddenly seemed possessed with a confidence he hadn’t seen in almost ten years. Zach swallowed and watched Evie as she glanced up at him through her eyelashes. She folded a pair of jeans and carefully put them in her suitcase before she reached for another pair of pants. “What happened out at the ranch today? Didn’t have anything to do with your stomach, did it?”
Evie moved over to the window seat and sat down. She crossed her legs, then dragged her teeth over her top lip, letting out one hell of a sigh.
“Dr. Zordetski thinks it was a full, spontaneous recovery of memory brought on by an overwhelming familiar scent or flavor connected to an important person or moment.”
“What?”
“Chris Alvarez gave me a piece of Big Red gum and I practically hallucinated Nana right there by the corral. It hit me so hard I thought I was having a stroke.”
“Your memory’s back?” he asked, a heavy sense of relief flooding through him before the panic rushed right up behind it. Her memory was back and she was skipping town. “No,” he said stepping closer to her. “Don’t leave like this.”
“I have to.”
“No, you don’t—”
“Zach.”
“So, this is over?” he asked, motioning between them.
Evie nodded. “Yeah, I think it is.”
“At least talk to me. I don’t want a repeat of last time. Where you’re pissed at me and then you run anyway and I don’t hear from you for another twenty years.”
“I’m not running away. I’m just—”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re—”
“I don’t live here!” Evie exploded, shutting him right up. Euca perked up and glanced between them. She didn’t settle until Evie let out another deep breath. Zach watched Evie as she closed her eyes, then adjusted her glasses before she went on drilling a hole through the center of his heart. “I’m not trying to be dramatic, Zach. Not everything is about you. I don’t live here anymore. I know what we had, but my family isn’t here anymore. My life isn’t here. And I don’t mean that you guys aren’t like family. I don’t mean that all of the Pleasants aren’t important to me. I just—”
“I think that’s exactly what you mean.”
“God, Zach. I have to get back to the city for reasons that have nothing to do with us.”
“Nah. You’re running. You can make some calls, whatever you have to do. You don’t have to bounce like this.”
“Can we just not right now? Can we not act like this isn’t extremely weird and maybe not the best idea?”
“Are the circumstances here a little strange? Yeah, that doesn’t mean I want you to take off again,” Zach said, knowing immediately that he’d fucked up again. That wasn’t how things went down. He knew his father would have backed off if Zach had asked him to stop trying to push them together. He also knew, now, that if he had just been honest with himself and told Nana Buck and Evie how he really felt about her, they might have had something. He’d taken Nana’s words to heart and he’d sent Evie away.
“I didn’t mean that.”
“Yes, you did. And this is why this isn’t going to be
gin to work. Ten years, Zach, and you still think you had no part in me putting three thousand miles between us.”
“That’s not true. I’m sorry. I admit it. I sent you away. I thought that I knew what was best for you. I thought you were grieving and maybe—”
“You thought that losing my grandmother meant I wanted to throw my life away. Even though you knew I’d finally found my passion and my calling, you thought that just because I got up the courage to finally make a move and tell you how I felt and what I wanted for us that I was really going give it all up.”
“I—There was only one way it could work. I had to take over for Senior. It was that or we sell the ranch.”
“No, Zach. That was the only way it could work for you. You didn’t see it any other way. You’re still so arrogant. Jesus. You think I didn’t know the pressure Senior had put you under? You think I wasn’t paying attention? It didn’t have to be all or nothing for either of us, Zach, but you thought it did. You made the call, so I went back to Paris. I finished my training. I saw the world. Without you.”
Evie closed her mouth suddenly. Zach didn’t miss the way her knuckles tensed as she gripped the edge of the window seat. “Why couldn’t you just admit that you felt the same way about me?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know until it was too late.”
“You did. I think you didn’t want to admit it until you realized you could have lost me forever.”
Zach swallowed. He didn’t want to validate that statement, even if it did have a hint of truth to it. “I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer, but I don’t know why I didn’t tell you a hundred times. Your grandmother made it so clear that she didn’t want me for you, and when she died—”
“Listen, I get it. I struggled with the same thing. Doing what she wanted of me, making sure that I focused on myself and built my own dreams. She told you to stay away from me and you took that to mean forever. Well, it worked and now I have to go.”
“So all of this is nothing?”
“Zach,” she said with a pained laugh. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose, but this? This sucks. It stings. It stings knowing that I had to lose my memory and become someone else for you to fall for me.”
A Cowboy to Remember Page 25