Lucy shrugged. “I don’t know. When I look at it, I get this . . . really creepy feeling. That’s the best way I can explain it. Maybe because my parents slept on the second floor.” She shrugged again.
“All clear on the second floor, girls. Adel found a charger at home that fits your cell phone, which is charging right now on that table next to you. I programmed our number so we’re first on your speed dial. Just hit the number one if you need us. Now, is there anything else we can do for you before we leave?”
“No, I’m good. Thank you so much, and, Adel, I think that was the best pot roast I’ve ever eaten. I must love mashed potatoes, because I sure ate a lot of them. This couch is wide enough that I know I’ll sleep okay. I’ve taken all the pills, so I’ll sleep when I get tired of watching television. It’s okay for you to go.”
“We’ll be over first thing in the morning to get you ready for the day. Remember, now, Buddy and I have our physicals tomorrow, so that will take up most of the morning, but we’ll be back by lunchtime. Then we’ll head to the airport to pick up your friend.”
Lucy nodded.
When the door closed behind her new self-proclaimed parents, Lucy leaned back and closed her eyes. The house was so quiet, it felt like a tomb. An uneasy feeling settled between her shoulder blades. She looked toward the staircase and shivered. Buddy had said there were no bogeymen up there. Then why did just looking at all those steps make her heart race? If I could only remember.
Lucy clicked off the MUTE button, and sound from the television invaded the family room. She looked at the blond personality on the screen and knew who it was—Nancy Grace. If she knew that name, she must have watched her show. How could she know that and not know where and how she saw the show?
She thought back to the earlier hours of the evening, when Buddy had shown her the house she lived in back in New Jersey compliments of Google Earth. She hadn’t recognized it. Then he’d gone to Facebook and shown her a picture of her friend Angie, but she hadn’t recognized her, either.
When the picture of the smaller structure on the property where she lived came up, Buddy had homed in on it and the box and bell and a sign that said IBL. She’d gotten excited then. “I know those letters. I do.”
“What do they mean, dear?” Adel asked.
“They mean . . . I know what they mean.... I just can’t remember them right now. Do you know what they mean?”
Adel and Buddy nodded. “Izzy, Bizzy, and Lizzy.”
Lucy shook her head. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Clever, though. They rhyme. What do they mean?”
“They’re animals. You created them. Izzy is a dog, Bizzy is a cat, and Lizzy is a parrot. You’re an artist.”
“I am!” Lucy said in stunned surprise. “I must like animals, then.”
So much to think about.
As hard as Buddy tried, he couldn’t come up with any pictures of her mother, but he did manage to pull up on his laptop several articles that had been written about her famous father. He was a stranger to her.
“He doesn’t look like he has much of a bedside manner,” Lucy said as she eyed the professional pose. “Kind of like this house. Cold and empty. I wonder if I liked him.”
“I’m sure you did, dear. He was your father. Don’t judge your father by a newspaper picture.”
And that had been the end of that conversation, which only meant she didn’t know one thing more now than she had when she woke in the hospital.
Lucy lowered the volume until the sound was just a murmur on the television, then curled up on the sofa. She closed her eyes and said a prayer that when she woke, she would have her memory back.
Lucy slept soundly until three thirty. She woke with a start. And knew instantly where she was and what had happened to her during the past week, indeed, during her entire life.
She struggled to sit up, careful not to let the light blanket touch her injured foot. She clenched her hands together into tight fists when she started to shake. Her thoughts were jumbled with memories and the situation she was in. Her memory had returned at three thirty in the morning. How strange was that? More like how weird was that?
Lucy hobbled to the bathroom, taking her thoughts with her. From there, she went to the kitchen and poured a glass of iced tea Adel had left for her. The delicious angel food cake she’d brought over—which, she said, won prizes at the State Fair of Texas—sat on the counter. She ripped off a chunk and scarfed it down. Delicious. A sharp pain shot up her leg, reminding her she wasn’t supposed to be walking around. She looked down at her toes peeking out of the heavy-duty bandage and winced.
Carrying her iced tea, Lucy made her way back to the sofa and her made-up bed. She took a pain pill and unplugged her cell phone from the charger. She didn’t care what time it was or if she woke Angie. She had to talk to her, and she had to talk to her immediately.
Lucy wasn’t surprised when Angie answered on the second ring. She didn’t sound like she’d been sleeping. “I remember everything, Angie.” She babbled on for a full five minutes before she ran out of breath. “I can’t wait for you to get here.”
And then it was Angie’s turn to babble on, which she did nonstop. At four thirty, Angie called a halt to the conversation, saying she had to shower and drive to the airport. “My flight leaves at seven, and I have a ninety-minute layover in Atlanta. I’ll call you from there. See ya, friend.”
Lucy’s mind started to race. She prayed then, thanking God for returning her memory. Then she cried, great hacking sobs that shook her whole body, which required another trip to the bathroom for tissues. She was exhausted when she returned to the sofa and within seconds was sound asleep again and didn’t wake until Adel shook her arm and smiled down at her.
“Oh, you are not going to believe this. I woke up at three thirty to go to the bathroom, and I remembered everything. Everything. I know who IBL is. I draw them every day. I don’t have to work until the first of the year. I hate this house. I hate the one in New Jersey, too. I couldn’t cry at the service, because I didn’t feel anything. That picture in the paper, that’s how my father looked all the time, except that one time when he gave me a ride on his shoulders when I was five. He pretended to be a train, and he whistled. They were cold people, but they were good providers. I liked them, but I didn’t love them. Isn’t that terrible? I love Angie, I love Izzy, Bizzy, and Lizzy, and they aren’t even real. I need to talk to a shrink when I go home.”
“Well, now, that’s something,” Adel said as she struggled to keep the surprise she was feeling under cover.
Buddy just stared at his new daughter. “Darlin’, you’ve had a terrible shock. Your parents died. Then you got hit by lightning. Your body is out of kilter, and your thoughts . . . well, they’re just sort of jumbled right now. You need time to come down to earth, and when the dust settles, things that appear now . . . Well, they won’t be like that then. Adel, explain that for me, will you, honey?”
“She doesn’t have to, Buddy. I understand what you’re saying and why, but you’re wrong. I know what I feel, and I remember everything. Nothing is going to change. It’s okay. I got this far in my life basically on my own. Honestly, these past few years, months would go by, and I wouldn’t hear from my parents. They were pretty much strangers to me. Please, don’t look at me like that. I’m okay with it. Angie is moving in with me, and she’s going to help me run my business. It’s gotten too big for just me to handle.”
Adel looked down at her watch. Just when she had found someone to love again, she was going to go off and leave her and Buddy alone again. She felt tears prick her eyelids. “Come on, dear. Let’s get you into the shower so you’re all nice and spruced up for your friend when she gets here. Where is your suitcase, dear? Buddy will fetch it in, and we can get you some nice clean clothes.”
Lucy felt a wave of panic skitter through her. Where is my suitcase? Buried under all the boxes in the Rover? Where?
“It’s in the Rover,” Buddy said.
“That re
minds me, Lucy. When I took your clothes home from the hospital to launder them, I found some strange wires in your pocket. I didn’t know what they were, so I saved them. Buddy put them on the counter in the kitchen.”
“Thanks. Yeah, I need those,” was all Lucy could think of to say. Adel gave her a strange look but didn’t say anything more.
An hour later Lucy was back on the sofa, her foot dressed in a clean bandage. She had on clean but wrinkled clothes, and her hair was still damp. But she felt so good, she wanted to sing. Adel and Buddy were gone, and she was alone with a cup of coffee.
She felt terrible at how devastated her new friends were. Happy, truly happy that her memory had returned, but terribly sad that she would be leaving them. For a short while, just hours, really, they had felt like they had a real daughter to help. Now they were going to go back to their uneventful lives, hoping she’d invite them to New Jersey so they could stay in touch. They hadn’t really carried on a conversation during her shower, while her dressing was changed, and when she got dressed. In fact, both Adel and Buddy had been pretty much silent the whole time.
They weren’t words! They were thoughts. Adel’s and Buddy’s thoughts. She knew what they were thinking. How could that be? Lucy looked over at the pill bottles on the table by the sofa. It must be the pills.
That was when it hit her like a pile driver. She’d traded in one problem for another. Now I can read minds. Dear God! Don’t let this be real. Please don’t let this be real.
She started to shake then, and she felt so light-headed, she had to lie down. When she felt more clearheaded, she bolted upright. She looked at the warning labels on her medicine bottles. Take with food, don’t drive or operate machinery, and sleepiness can occur. Standard warnings. It had to be some trick of her imagination. A fluke of some sort. People couldn’t read other people’s minds. It all came down to energy, electricity. She’d been struck by lightning. Did that make her a candidate to be a mind reader? That was just too stupid for words. Wasn’t it? She’d talked to Angie, and she hadn’t been able to read her mind. Stupid. Really stupid, Lucy. The person has to be near you for that to happen. Not a thousand miles away. What if it was true, and suddenly she could read minds? What would her life be like? No one would want to be around her. Maybe she should call the doctor and point-blank ask him. He had said to call him if her memory returned.
Lucy’s hands were shaking so badly, she could barely dial the number of the hospital. She asked for the doctor, and she was surprised when he picked up the phone. She identified herself and explained how her memory had returned.
He sounded happy for her, admonished her to take the pills until they were finished. “Is there anything else I can help you with today? How’s the pain?”
“Not as bad as yesterday. It’s itching slightly. There is one thing I’d like to ask you. You’ll probably think this is silly, but I’d really like to know the answer.”
“Try me.”
“I vaguely remember reading, or maybe it was a movie, about someone who got hit by lightning who ended up being able to read minds.”
“There are case studies on that very thing. I personally never treated anyone like that, but yes, it has happened. Are you afraid that’s going to happen to you, Miss Brighton?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I just feel peculiar. I can’t put my finger on it precisely. I do have my memory back and . . . I’m sorry. I’m probably just being a worrywart and borrowing trouble.”
“Well if anything like that should happen, call me.”
“Yes, yes, I will. Thanks for the good care. I plan on going home tomorrow.”
“Have a safe trip.”
“You bet,” Lucy mumbled to herself. So, she wasn’t nuts, after all. Shoot, why hadn’t she asked how long something like that would last? Was it like memory loss, which could be temporary, or was something like that permanent? Her brain had short-circuited. Amazing.
The doorbell rang. More curious than anything, Lucy got up and hobbled to the front door. She opened it to see one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen in her life standing there. Nice.
“I’m Lucas Kingston, but everyone calls me Luke.” He looked down at her bandaged foot. “That has to hurt. I just wanted to stop by to offer my condolences on your loss. I was in Miami, working on a development that my father and I are building there, and I couldn’t get back in time for the funeral service. My father told me that he attended, and he also told me about your accident. I came by the other day, before your accident, but I guess you were out. Again, I’m sorry for your loss. Is there anything my father and I can do for you?”
What’s wrong with her? She looks like she’s seeing a ghost. Maybe I have a big piece of spinach stuck in my teeth.
“Thank you. My foot does hurt. I don’t see a ghost anywhere, do you? And rest easy. There’s nothing stuck in your teeth,” Lucy blurted out.
“What?”
“What what? Is there anything else, Mr. Kingston?”
Shit, she’s just like her weird parents. It must be true that the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. “Well, as a matter of fact, there is one other thing. You do know that if you put this house up for sale, Kingston and Kingston will be the ones to sell it. It’s in the contract and the covenants, as well. You cannot use an outside real-estate agent. Your parents signed the agreement, and you’re bound to it as next of kin.”
“You know what, Mr. Kingston? I haven’t decided what to do with this property. I am leaning more toward taking a wrecking ball to it than selling it. My weird parents would probably approve of that. But, then, I’m not weird like they were, and I know all about nuts not falling far from the tree.”
She had to get rid of him. Just shut the damn door so you don’t have to look at his horrible expression. You had to do that, didn’t you? Why, why, why?
“What? You’re some kind of mind reader?”
“Why would you think something like that?” Lucy said. She wondered if she looked as frazzled as she sounded. What is going on here? Why am I being so ugly to this good-looking guy? “You delivered your message. I get it. Is there anything else?”
Luke Kingston backed off a few steps as he stared at Lucy. How could someone so pretty be so . . . ornery? “Well, if there is, I’ll be back,” was all he could think of to say.
He thinks I’m pretty. Imagine that. “Well, guess what, Mr. Kingston. I won’t be here. I plan on leaving tomorrow, so if you need me, you’ll have to come to New Jersey.”
Like that’s going to happen. “I hate this house. Just so you know. I think it’s an abomination. Maybe instead of a wrecking ball, I’ll just burn it down.”
“What? An abomination! This is the best-built house in Palm Royal. It was featured in every building magazine in the world, and it was also in Architectural Digest. They don’t just put any old house in AD. It’s worth over ten million dollars. It was built to your parents’ specifications, and let me tell you, they were hell on wheels to work with. Everything is top of the line. The best materials money can buy were used to build this house. It’s against the law to burn down a house.”
Damn, just what I need, another loony tune. Still, curiosity got the better of him. “What, specifically, do you hate about it? Seriously, I’d like to know. You could invite me in, you know. I never saw the inside once your parents moved in. As a builder, when someone tells me they hate something I poured my heart and soul into, I want to know why.”
He did have a point. Lucy thought about it for a few seconds. He was rather cute, and if she could read his mind, all the better. “All right, but don’t take all day. I have things to do.”
She held the door open wider, and Luke Kingston walked through. Lucy walked back to the sofa and plopped down. Her foot was killing her. She propped it up on the coffee table while her guest meandered around the house. She took a deep breath when she noticed him going upstairs at a good clip, taking the steps two at a time. He was back down within ten minutes.
Luke
stood in the doorway to the family room. “I guess I can see now why you hate this place. It’s cold and sterile. I could never live in this house. When your parents came to us and we worked on the plans, I had this vision of a big family with lots of grandkids visiting, hence the layout. I guess that was my mistake. The house is sound.”
Lucy strained to hear or see or feel his thoughts, but nothing came her way. Or maybe the person had to be very close to her. “Yes, I’m sure it is. Sound, that is. My parents were not into green plants and cozy anything. As you can see, there are no . . . personal touches at all. I packed up their personal belongings, but they were just clothing, shoes, that kind of thing.”
“Everything looks like it just came out of a furniture showroom.”
“Yes, it does,” Lucy agreed. What an inane conversation, she thought.
“How are you managing? Do you need any help?” Luke asked as he advanced into the room.
“I’m good. Mr. and Mrs. Longhurst have been helping me.”
“Nice people. My dad likes them a lot. You couldn’t have anyone better helping you.”
He was close now, only a foot or so away. That explains it, Lucy thought. The person has to be that close for me to feel what they’re thinking. God, that foot looks beastly. It must hurt like hell. And all those pill bottles. Guess she has a right to be snippy.
Lucy looked up and smiled. “It doesn’t just hurt. It hurts like hell. I’m sorry for being so snippy.”
Luke chewed on his lower lip. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out. “So, where should I send the rules and regs of Palm Royal? I want you to have a copy of the covenants.”
Maybe I’ll head up to New York over the holidays and stop in to see her. Jersey is just across the river from Manhattan. Won’t she be surprised! I can always say that I’m going to meet up with two old friends if I need an excuse.
Lucy grinned. This was almost fun. “Tell you what. Send everything to the Schwager law firm here in Palm Royal. Now, should you find yourself in New York over the holidays, just pop on over and surprise me. Jersey is just across the river from Manhattan.”
Forget Me Not Page 7