The Memory Keeper: A heartwarming, feel-good romance

by Jenny Hale

  Liam gave her a long look. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Seven

  Hannah sat in the near darkness of her hotel room at the dinette table beside the box of birthday cake, anticipating her dinner, her tummy rumbling while Georgia and Jerry slept. Liam had texted her that he’d called in the order, so now there was nothing to do but wait.

  Finally, there was a quiet knock, sending Jerry’s head above the covers. Georgia turned over in bed but resumed the deep breathing of sleep. Hannah stepped out into the hallway so as not to disturb her roommate, and handed the room service guy a couple of bills.

  “Thank you so much,” Hannah whispered.

  The man nodded and hopped back into the elevator across the hall.

  Hannah pulled off the silver dome covering her plate to take a peek, her stomach in knots from hunger. A double burger and tater tots? That wasn’t what she’d ordered. Oh no. Could this be Liam’s order? If it was, that meant Liam might have her chicken, veggies, and potato wedges. She turned around to the door to open it, but it had locked behind her. Before she could start to panic, Liam stuck his head out his door down the hall.

  “I’ve got your plate if you’ve got mine,” he called quietly.

  “Oh, good,” she said. “But I’ve just locked myself out of the room. Could you hold my dinner while I run down to reception and get a key?” she asked, evaluating the patterned burgundy carpet under her bare feet, and wondering if she could squat down and eat right there. She was starving.

  “You’re welcome to eat at the table in my room.”

  “You sure?” she asked, not wanting to intrude.

  “Of course… We could leave the door open if it would make you feel more comfortable.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “I trust you.”

  She took the plate of food the few doors down the hallway to Liam’s room. He propped the door open with the doorstop as promised, even though she didn’t require that. She sat down at the table.

  “Here you go,” Liam said, swapping out the plate for the one in front of her.

  They’d been in the car together the entire journey to Virginia and they’d just spent the evening at the restaurant upstairs, but here in his room, it felt more intimate, which immediately made her less talkative. Someone in the hallway walked by the room and looked in.

  “You can close the door,” she said. “I’m pretty confident that you won’t… steal my potato wedges or anything.”

  He allowed a little grin. “You’re putting a lot of faith in me,” he said.

  “Well, I eyed your tater tots when they were delivered to my room. I might have even stolen one…”

  “You didn’t,” he said, chuckling, and it gave her an unexpected fizzle of happiness.

  “I’d never tell,” she teased, enjoying their banter. She got up and closed the door, plunging them into silence and solitude. “I feel like I’ve been up for forty-eight hours,” she admitted, stabbing a piece of broccoli. “It’s been a very long day.”

  “Yes, considering we’re eating dinner after midnight. I’m usually out for the count by ten these days.”

  “Me too.”

  “Happy birthday,” he told her, his face alight.

  “Thank you.”

  Her gratitude was deeper than surface level. Liam was like a quiet light in the darkness, the one right thing in everything else that had been going wrong.

  “Your cake is back in your room,” he noted.

  “Yeah, I’ll have to eat it after I wake up.”

  “At least you got to make your wish. I hope it comes true for you,” Liam said.

  “Thanks.”

  They fell into another buzzy silence, only making a bit of small talk for the rest of the meal. She wanted to talk more, but she was so tired she couldn’t think straight.

  “Thank you for letting me eat with you,” she said when they’d finished. “I’ll just go wake up Georgia now.”

  “Of course,” he said, standing up to walk her to the door. “Have a good night. See you in the morning.” He stood in the open door to watch her go down the hallway.

  Hannah went to her room and knocked, but no one answered. She knocked again and waited, her eyes aching for sleep and feeling terrible that Liam was standing there waiting for her to get into her room. He had to be as drained as she was. She didn’t even want to shower at this point. She just wanted to fall into bed and close her eyes. She knocked again, this time as loud as she could. Jerry barked once but no one came to the door. She didn’t want to make Jerry bark any more or they’d all get thrown out for having a pet in the room…

  “No answer?” Liam called down to her.

  She walked back over to him. “No,” she said, exhaustion causing her voice to quiver. “I might be able to go down to the front desk and get a key.”

  “It’s already almost one o’clock in the morning. I’ve got two beds in my room. You can bunk with me if you want. It’s totally fine.”

  This was certainly awkward.

  “We’re going to be sleeping,” he said, evidently reading her doubt. “Neither of us will even know where we are in about two minutes.”

  “True,” she said.

  He opened the door to let her in, and she came back into the room.

  “You can wash up in the bathroom, and I have an extra T-shirt and shorts in my toiletries bag if you need to borrow them. I always roll up a few garments in my carry-on in case my luggage doesn’t make it. Looks like it paid off this time.” Before she could say anything, he went over to his bag and pulled out a gray T-shirt and a pair of navy-blue running shorts, handing them to her. “They’re clean.”

  “Thank you,” she said from the doorway of the bathroom. As she headed in to change, he walked over to the bed and pulled the covers back for her. The crisp white sheets were calling her name.

  When Hannah came back into the room, Liam was on his side, facing away from her. She climbed into her bed, clicking off the lamp he’d left on by her bedside, plunging her into darkness until her eyes adjusted to the low light. Hannah lay in bed with the covers pulled up, her arms on top of the blanket, suddenly wide awake. She sharpened her hearing to home in on Liam’s breathing, straining to hear over the hum of the heating, but she couldn’t make out any deep breathing.

  She’d enjoyed being with Liam tonight. She conjured up the look in his eyes when he’d listened to her. It was unique to him, and she doubted he even knew he was doing it, as if he were studying something that he really appreciated.

  Hannah took in a deep breath and tried to unwind. Beginning with her toes, she focused on relaxing her muscles, moving to her legs, and then—

  She squealed, throwing off the covers and jumping out of bed.

  “What is it?” Liam said, clicking on the bedside lamp and climbing out of his covers, while squinting at her as his eyes adjusted to the light. His gaze slid down her bare legs in his shorts and up to the T-shirt, a hint of interest surfacing on the pout of his lips.

  “I’m so sorry. I think I felt a spider,” she said with a shiver. “I swear. It crawled across my shin.” She lifted the sheet and shook it to see if she could find it.

  Liam moved over to her and as he leaned around her, she felt it crawling on her. “It’s on my arm!” she shrieked, sending her backwards and knocking into him, making him laugh out loud.

  “That was my hand,” he said. “I was just trying to get around you.” He went over to the side of the bed and lifted the sheets, shaking each blanket. “I don’t see it. Hopefully, you scared it away.” He double-checked, letting her see.

  Hannah took in a steadying breath. She hated spiders. But it looked like whatever it was had vanished. Perhaps it was a loose thread or something. “Thank you,” she said. “Sorry again.”

  “It’s no problem.”

  He switched off the light, and they both climbed back into their respective beds.

  All riled up now, Hannah had to try again to bring herself back down and relax. She l
ooked at the digital clock on the dresser: 1:45. Ugh. She turned her thoughts back to her muscles, attempting to clear her mind. Then, unexpectedly, she felt it once more. This time it was on her shoulder. In a panic, she jumped out of bed. Liam laughed again from his side of the room.

  “I can’t help it,” she said into the darkness. “There’s something crawling in my bed. I’m not joking.” She put her hands over her eyes. “It’s getting so late. I just want to sleep, and I know you do too. I feel awful.”

  “If you don’t mind sharing, you’re welcome to have the other side of my bed. I haven’t felt a single critter in here,” he said. “I’ll just turn toward the window. And then let’s be sure to mention it to the front desk in the morning, so they can let housekeeping know.”

  Hannah didn’t make a habit of crawling into bed with people, but this was an emergency. She was not sleeping with a spider. And she was locked out of her room. So there was only one thing she could do, and that was to take Liam up on his offer. She slid under the covers, feeling his warmth beside her, making her skin prickle, every nerve on high alert as he lay on his side, facing the window.

  Before long he’d dozed off, rolling onto his back, their arms and legs nearly touching. Hannah felt his fingers resting next to hers, and all she could think about was the softness of his touch when he’d rubbed her arm to wake her up in the car. She tried to remember the last time Miles had even rolled over and given her a kiss, and she couldn’t recall. The more she thought about it, the further back her emptiness spread until she realized that she’d been lonely for a very long time. Tears welled up in her eyes, making her already aching head pound. One teardrop slipped out of the corner of her eye and ran down her temple. She tried to clear her mind of it all, but she was struggling.

  She spent the next half-hour working on relaxation, and finally she started to feel the weight of sleep fall upon her, her limbs becoming heavy. Her breathing had slowed to a steady rhythm and her consciousness was waning. Then, her eyes sprung open again when Liam turned over in his sleep, draping his arm across her body, his face snuggled into her neck. She turned her head to try to view his face in the dark, the slightly spicy scent of his soap delightfully welcoming. She lay there, barely able to calm the pounding of her heart, unsure of what to do. If she tried to untangle herself, she might wake him up.

  She wiggled a tiny bit, but then he pulled her in closer and his head tilted toward her, his lips finding hers. His kiss was soft and gentle, and it felt strangely perfect. Her shoulders relaxed just as his eyes flew open and registered the situation. He sucked in a short gasp, and she could tell he was horrified she’d think he was taking advantage of her. She offered a smile through the dim light of the room to let him know that she knew he wasn’t. They both stared into each other’s eyes, for what seemed like forever and a brief moment at the same time, before he swallowed hard, his face closing up.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said, breathless.

  “It’s okay,” she assured him. “It was… nice.”

  “Let’s get some sleep,” he said, rolling over. His tone let her know, kindly, that the kiss had been an obvious blunder, but now she couldn’t get the feeling of it out of her mind.

  Staring at the gray of the ceiling in the dark, she tried to conjure up something else she could think about, but it had been the best and most surprising thing that had happened all day.

  There was something reassuring about Liam being there—she couldn’t deny it. It felt oddly right to have him next to her.

  Eight

  Liam stirred ever so slightly, and Hannah was quickly aware of the light coming in through the window, and the proximity of his body. His arm was around her again, warming her like a cocoon, his face snuggled up next to hers. She hadn’t noticed when he’d done it this time, but his snuggliness made her happy.

  He slowly opened his eyes, and they both took in the situation through their bleary, sleep-deprived consciousness. She wanted to wait to see how Liam reacted in the light of morning. He kept his sleepy eyes on her for a moment with a vulnerability that took her breath away. Slowly, he unwound himself from her, every muscle in her body screaming for him to stay put, and sat up.

  Running his fingers through his disheveled hair, he turned back to her. “Good morning,” he said softly, his gaze sweeping over her as if he wanted to drink in the sight but was forcing himself not to.

  “Morning.” She struggled to take her eyes off this more authentic version of him. She definitely liked it.

  Until now he’d been so measured and serious, so businesslike. There was an underlying weight behind his eyes, and she had a feeling that if he ever decided to write down what he was thinking, he’d have volumes before he’d finished. But this morning, he seemed different. All of that was stripped away, and it was just him, the guy who’d laughed at her ridiculous fear of spiders, the guy who’d pulled back the covers for her, the one who’d held her and kissed her last night…

  Hannah threw the covers off her legs and fluffed her pillow before getting out of bed. She felt she needed to focus on anything but Liam to avoid divulging the flutter she got whenever she looked at him.

  “Coffee?” he asked, grabbing a hotel mug in two fingers, and loading the compact in-room coffee maker.

  She padded over to him and, as she did, she caught the tiny bit of interest from the corner of his eye before he turned his attention back to the coffee.

  “Yes, thank you,” she replied, browsing the selection of miniature creams and sugars.

  “Sorry I didn’t give you much room to sleep,” he said, his words careful as he prepared her coffee. “But on the other hand, the spider probably slept like a king.” He handed her a steaming mug.

  She laughed at his joke, a comfortable ease settling over her now. “I didn’t mind.” She looked up at him through her lashes as she sipped her coffee.

  “You’re definitely not a fan of spiders. I’ll have to remember that…”

  As he said it, it was as if he’d caught himself. Both of them seemed to consider the implications of his statement. Would he want to see her after today? She certainly would like him to. She was enjoying their time together.

  “Happy birthday!” Georgia said in the open doorway, as Hannah stood in the hallway outside their hotel room. She scanned Liam’s oversized outfit that Hannah was still wearing, lingering on the wad of Hannah’s clothes piled in her hands, before continuing all the way down to her bare feet. “Somebody’s having a very good birthday, it looks like.” Georgia sucked her lips in, her eyes round as saucers, as she stepped aside to let Hannah into their room. She scooped up Jerry and followed Hannah over to her bed, which was still freshly made.

  “It’s not what it seems,” Hannah said, dumping her pile of clothes on the bed, turning away from Georgia, heat rising under her skin. “I got locked out after dinner, and it was so late…” She yawned, still lacking enough rest to feel energized even with the caffeine from her morning coffee. Her eyes burned with the need to close them, but every time she did, the feel of Liam’s kiss rushed through her. “Liam offered for me to sleep in his room.”

  “Did he, now?” Georgia said, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

  Hannah didn’t make eye contact for fear her bright cheeks would now completely give her away. She pushed her lump of clothes over and set her suitcase down on the bed, unzipping it. “Nothing happened…” Then she stopped, changing course. “Oh no,” she said, wondering, as she stared at all the sundresses and tank tops she’d packed for sunny Barbados, what in the world she could wear that would be warm enough in this February snowstorm.

  “Well, that’s not good,” Georgia said, standing in the hotel bathrobe, looking over her shoulder.

  “I know…” Hannah chewed on her lip while she assessed her choices. “I was packed for Barbados.”

  “Not the clothes, the sleepover.” Georgia poked her head into Hannah’s line of vision. “The way he’s been looking at you the whole trip, I’d have thought he
would’ve at least tried to make a move.” Then she pulled back as if to get a better view of her. “Unless he did try, and you didn’t take the bait.”

  Hannah laughed incredulously, but she wasn’t convinced that Liam hadn’t felt the bit of chemistry that she had, and if she were honest with herself, she wouldn’t be terribly put off if Georgia’s assumptions were right. “He was asleep in seconds. And what are you talking about? He hasn’t been looking at me like anything.”

  “When you’re talking, he studies you as if you were some interesting new subject in college.”

  “He does not,” Hannah returned, shaking her head. But as she went into the bathroom and started the shower, she couldn’t deny the flurry of happiness she’d felt at what Georgia had said. She came back out to grab her shampoo and conditioner, and walked past a grinning Georgia on her way into the bathroom.

  After Hannah’s shower she’d checked her email, only to find a full inbox. When she’d responded to everyone at work, she and Georgia split up. Georgia ran out to walk Jerry and get a coffee, while Hannah went to see if she could find warmer attire in the gift shop downstairs.

  “Hey,” Liam said, waving fondly as he entered the shop. He was clean-shaven and wearing his clothes from yesterday.

  “Hi,” Hannah returned, holding a sweatshirt that said, “Virginia is Home.”

  “You need clothes too?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Unless I want to wear my swimsuit and sarong. I was packed for a beach vacation.”

  He chuckled and reached around her, grabbing another sweatshirt. “At least you have something,” he teased. “I should charge the airline for this.” He held up the sweatshirt so Hannah could see what was on the front: “Sweet Lovin’ Right Here.” Hannah laughed out loud, sending the store clerk’s gaze their way. “What? Not my color?”

  “Orange isn’t really anyone’s color,” she said, still laughing. She liked this humorous side of him. It reminded her more of the boy she’d known so many years ago. Perhaps their time together last night had loosened him up a touch.