“Do you think that’s wise?” Krista gave him a concerned glance. “People think you’re dead. What if someone sees you?”
“We can both wear helmets,” Vance said with a shrug.
“I guess that works. Would someone recognize your bike though?”
“We’ve been gone for months,” I reminded her. “I don’t think anyone has seen it recently enough to make the connection.”
“That’s true,” she agreed.
I finally stabbed at some of the food, putting a bite of eggs in my mouth.
“This is delicious!” I smiled over at him, when I had finished swallowing.
“Thanks!” he smiled back. “I had a good teacher,” he added winking at his mom.
“Are my parents still sleeping?” I looked at the clock. It seemed awful late for them to not be awake.
“No,” Krista answered. “Your mom had to go back to work this morning, and Sean’s at your grandma’s doing research to find out if there’s anything to help Vance’s condition.”
“Ahhh,” I replied, taking another bite as I heard a knock at the front door followed by the sound of it opening.
“It’s just us! Brad and Shelly,” Shelly’s voice floated into the house.
My eyes flickered over to Vance and I jumped out of my chair running intercept them.
“Hey guys!” I said excitedly when I entered the living room, going to give them each a hug. “How’s everything today?”
They both exchanged an odd glance at my seemingly happy demeanor.
“How’re you doing?” Shelly asked, checking me over.
“I’m … better,” I replied with a nod, resting my hands on my hips, looking back and forth between the two.
“You certainly seem more chipper this morning,” she observed, and I knew she was wondering what had brought such an about faced change to my mood.
“Um, that’s because I have something I need to show you,” I said, grabbing each of their hands, leading them to sit down on the sofa.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?” Brad asked and he looked up at me. “You’re acting a bit weird.”
“Sorry.” I glanced back over my shoulder toward the other room. “Something’s happened, but you’ll understand better if I show you.”
“Okay. What’s up?” Shelly asked, watching me with narrowed eyes. “You’re starting to make me nervous.”
“Wait a minute.” I turned to leave the room. “Stay right there!” I went back into the kitchen.
“Our best friends, Brad and Shelly, are here,” I said to Vance. “Do you think you’re okay with meeting them?”
He stood, coming to me. “I remember them from the memories you showed me,” he replied with a nod. “I’ll be fine.” He offered a hand to me. I was surprised by the gesture, but gladly took it.
Brad and Shelly were whispering together, concern written on their faces. Both quit talking, turning to the door when we approached.
“What the …,” Brad’s voice trailed off, his face becoming an ashen shade of gray.
“Oh my gosh!” Shelly placed her fingers over her mouth. She went completely still for a second before the realization hit her. “Oh my gosh!” she yelled jumping up off the couch and running over to throw her arms around both of us. “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!”
She pulled back and there were tears streaming down her face. Brad came to join us, first hugging me and then turning to offer a hand out to Vance before pulling him close and thumping him on the back.
“How’s this possible?” he asked, stepping away from Vance with a look of wonder.
“Let’s sit down,” Vance suggested.
Brad and Shelly moved to the couch and Vance and I went over to sit on the loveseat across from them.
“Well, first you should know we think the Awakening is responsible for bringing him back to life,” I explained. “Apparently it kept working to make the change even after he had passed.”
“Wow!” was all Brad could say while he continued to study Vance. “I can’t believe my eyes!”
Vance glanced at me and smiled, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze and I turned back to face our friends.
“You also need to realize that Vance has lost his memory,” I added, watching for their reaction.
They looked confused, their gazes flickering between us as well as onto our clasped hands.
Vance spoke up then. “Portia showed me all of our life together through the mental link we share, so I can relate to things I’ve seen from her memory. For instance, I recall the four of us playing Frisbee in Scotland, but the memory is hers. I can’t associate any of my own feelings with that moment. It’s just a blank for me. I see myself as if I were watching a video of everything.”
“Okay,” Brad said, trying to assimilate this information. “So you don’t remember us at all?”
Vance shook his head. “Not technically. I mean if I passed you on the street somewhere I would’ve recognized you instantly from Portia’s memories. But as far as remembering for myself, complete with emotions and everything, there’s nothing.”
Shelly turned her attention to me. “How are you handling all of this?” she asked with concern.
“It’s been hard,” I answered with a lump in my throat, and Vance rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. “We talked about things last night though and kind of made a truce.”
“We’re going to take it one day at a time,” Vance added. “I can tell there’s definitely some sort of attraction between us, but I don’t remember her. I guess you might say we’re dating.” He looked at me. “I want to get to know her, and I want her to get to know me, as the person I am now.”
The tear that ran down Shelly’s face surprised me. She stared at Vance specifically. “You really love her, a lot,” she told him. “Honestly, I don’t understand how you can’t remember. I’ve never seen a love like yours before.”
“Shelly, don’t. It’s okay,” I said, fearing she would offend Vance.
“No. It’s alright.” He turned to look at Shelly. “Apparently early in our relationship, I shared a lot of my personal memories with Portia. It was done in such a way she was able to experience everything I felt,” he explained. “She’s passed those moments back to me, and I’ve been able to experience those feelings. While I don’t actually remember them, I can connect a bit with those. The rest of what I know is from her point of view, but I could see my reaction to her. I realize he …,” He shook his head in exasperation. “I realize I loved her.”
Shelly was completely distraught over this.
“Just do what we’re doing okay?” I suggested to her. “One day at a time. Let’s make new memories together that are real for him. Maybe someday he’ll remember, but he may not. I don’t want it to hold him back from living his life.”
“How are you planning on doing that, by the way?” Brad asked skeptically and he wrinkled his forehead in question. “Everyone’s aware he was dead. It isn’t like the two of you can run around town. You’ll give people a heart attack.”
“We haven’t crossed that bridge yet,” I said, and I smiled over at Vance.
“We’ll figure something out,” he replied, looking back at me. “Until then we’ll be discrete.”
There was an awkward pause in the room.
“Would you two like to eat?” I asked, changing the subject on purpose. “Vance and Krista made a delicious breakfast.”
“The food’s probably a little cold now, but there’s still plenty,” he offered.
“We ate before we came,” Shelly said. “But we’ll go with you, so you can finish yours.” The four of us stood and made our way into the other room, where Krista was still sitting in the nook, her plate almost empty.
“Want me to get you some more, Mom?” Vance asked when we entered.
“No, I can’t finish what I’ve got.” She laughed and she placed a hand over her stomach. “But thanks anyway. How are the two of you this morning?” Krista asked turning her attention to Brad and Shelly.
“I think we’re in shock and awe,” Brad answered, raising his eyebrows a bit and he sat at the table.
“That’s understandable,” she agreed, her eyes following Vance while he finished eating. “We’ve all been reeling from the shock for the last several hours.”
“How are you doing?” Shelly asked her politely.
“I’m wonderful!” Krista replied with an ever broadening smile. “In fact, I don’t think I can recall a morning as happy as this one in a long, long time.”
Vance stood with his empty plate, going over to pick up Krista’s too, and carrying them to the sink.
“Thanks son,” she said and I could tell how much she enjoyed the interaction they were having.
“No problem,” he replied, rinsing the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher.
Afterward, he came to stand next to me. “Are you okay, Portia?” he asked, glancing down at my plate. “You’ve hardly touched your food.”
“Guess what? I’m not very hungry,” I replied honestly. “My stomach is still doing flip flops. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.” He reached for my dish. “I just don’t want you to get sick because you didn’t eat enough.”
“I’ll be fine.” I was touched by his concern for me. I knew he didn’t realize this was something which had always been an issue with him. I’d gotten sick one time for not eating properly and he’d been practically force feeding me ever since. “You don’t need to wait on me though.”
“It’s nothing,” he replied while he scraped my food into the disposal before he rinsed and placed it in the dishwasher. He dried his hands off on a towel. “You ready to go for that ride now?” he asked when he turned back around.
“Sure.” I tried to answer calmly, though my heart was racing, excited at the thought of getting some one on one time. “Let me go change and get ready, okay?”
“I’ll be right here waiting.” He smiled, giving me a tiny wink.
I said goodbye to Brad and Shelly before turning to make my way up the stairs, feeling like my heart would burst.
Though I was excited to go on this outing, I indulged myself and took a little extra time to get ready. He hadn’t seen me fixed up since I had found him in the cemetery, and this was the first time he’d asked me out. It meant a lot to me.
I chose one of my favorite shirts to wear, one I’d not seen in the months I’d been gone, a cute teal, white, and yellow, plaid tank top that buttoned up the middle to a scooped neckline. I paired it with some jeans and similar colored matching canvas tennis shoes.
After I carefully applied my makeup, I flat ironed my hair completely straight. I knew I’d be wearing a helmet, but I wanted it to be as pretty as possible since he liked it so much, even if he didn’t remember.
Grabbing a few dollars out of my bag, I slid them into my back pocket in case we might need money. I wasn’t sure what else he had planned. He may just want to go for a ride.
I remembered when we were in Scotland, Vance made the comment he was anxious to get back to his motorcycle. He’d said he missed going for rides because they helped clear his head. Maybe that’s what this was about.
I left my room and headed down the stairs thinking I shouldn’t allow myself to get so excited over this, but I couldn’t help it.
No one was in the kitchen though, so I walked to the family room, finding him on the couch with Krista, watching television. He glanced up as soon as I entered.
“Hey!” He smiled, standing up and it seemed as if he was excited to see me. “You ready to go?”
I nodded, returning his smile while nervously sliding my hands into my back pockets.
“Sorry I took such a long time,” I apologized, wondering why I had so many butterflies in the pit of my stomach.
“It appears to have been worth the wait.” He grinned, looking me over. “You look really pretty.”
“Thank you,” I replied, enjoying that he noticed. “You look good too,” I added, meaning every word.
He lifted his hands up from his sides. “I’m exactly the same as the last time you saw me,” he reminded, as if I were the one who’d lost my memory.
“True,” I said continuing to smile, returning his appreciative glance. “And you still look good.”
He must’ve gone through the drawer this morning and showered when I was sleeping, because the sweats and old t-shirt had disappeared. He was wearing jeans, one of my favorite shirts that emphasized his muscular cut chest beneath, and he’d styled his hair the way he’d always worn it.
The grin on his face widened and he nodded in acknowledgement of the point I was trying to make.
“So when do you think you will be back?” Krista asked, attempting to appear nonchalant.
“I have no idea,” Vance replied, never taking his eyes off of me. “I guess when you see us again.”
I was having a real hard time distinguishing between the old him and the new. He seemed so much the same and I loved it.
“Well, be careful,” she added, the protective mother coming into play.
“We will be,” I said, turning to leave.
I could feel him following close behind while we went through the house. When we reached the door to the garage, he moved around me, opening it.
“Thanks,” I said, glancing at him as I passed.
“No problem,” he smiled.
We went to the motorcycle and I noticed he’d found the other helmet he used to have me wear.
“I hope this is okay,” he said, picking the gear up off the seat and offered it to me. “I found this on the shelf. I thought it might be a little less obvious than yours,” he added, nodding toward my purple helmet with its bright green daisies.
“Trust me, that helmet and scooter was not my choice,” I said shaking my head.
“I know,” he chuckled, and I flashed a glance at him with a question on my face. “The memories.” He pointed to his head.
“Oh, yeah.” I sighed.
I needed to quit getting so excited whenever he happened to mention something from the past. He did have my memories now.
Vance straddled the bike, and I waited for him to kick start the engine before I climbed on. He seemed completely at ease with me when I wrapped my arms around him this time, and I laid my helmeted head against him.
He backed out of the driveway and took off down the road. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed being next to him. When I opened them a few minutes later, I recognized the direction we were headed immediately. We were driving into Oak Creek Canyon.