Page 131 of You First
Gray couldn’t hide his shock.
Bax nodded. “Yeah, and there was some weird business with her ex a few days ago, Mom said.” Bax watched him, seeming to search his face for any flicker of recognition. “You called the police, and you got André Washington involved.”
Bax tried to hide it, Gray could see, but there was a hint of skepticism in his brother’s eyes. So this was what Meredith had meant when she’d said her life was crazy. And this must have been how he’d helped her.
If she’d had trouble with her ex, and he’d called in André, she must have been in danger, Gray realized. Without warning, the urge to protect overtook him. Whatever he’d done, Gray hoped it had been enough to keep her safe.
“And, um…” Bax dragged a hand over his mouth and down his chin, as if weighing his words took all his concentration. “…Mom said… you put her into your will?”
He turned the statement into a question, tinged with disbelief.
Gray had put her into his will? If this was true, it told him everything he needed to know. His eyes flicked to his phone and he searched his messages for her name. And there it was, a history of correspondence between them. Gray read the last few — from two days before.
Gray:Where are you?
Meredith:Leaving school. That test butchered me.
Gray:Come home to me. I’ll put you back together.
Meredith::) You’re really good at that.
His face flamed as he spied on their intimacy before he let the reality sink in.This is ours. This is mine.It was like finding a winning lottery ticket in his back pocket.
“What are you grinning at?” Bax asked, and Gray looked up to find him frowning. “Do you remember any of this?”
Gray shook his head. It was rapidly becoming clear to him that if he never remembered, it might not matter all that much, as long as he knew what she meant to him. And he was becoming more and more certain of that every minute.
“Well… don’t you think it’s… a little strange? I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Bax said, shifting his weight and holding up his hands. “Meredith is a sweetheart, and she’s been amazing through all of this… but it’s so unlike you.”
This he couldn’t deny. It wasn’t like him to fall like a stone for someone in a few weeks. To open his home and his heart to a girl who had more than her fair share of problems. It wasn’t like him at all.
It was better.
Gray:Does she make me happy?
He knew the answer before Bax had even read the question. The evidence was everywhere. It had been in the look on their faces when they realized he didn’t remember her. It had been in the way he felt when she’d leaned in to hug him the day before — when he only knew her as a stranger. It was in the trail of truth he was just picking out — in his efforts to protect her and provide for her.
Bax read the message, and his shoulders hitched with silent laughter. He looked back up at Gray, his frown gone. “Happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. Maybe happier than I’veeverseen you.”
Gray nodded, unsurprised but already tasting the joy he’d known. He tapped the text conversation he and Meredith shared.
Gray:Good morning, Meredith.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
MEREDITH AWOKE ONthe air mattress between Brooke and Penny’s twin beds. Oscar lay snuggled beside her. She’d cried herself to sleep the night before, but only after settling Oscar down an hour past his bedtime.
He’d been an emotional wreck, crying and rejecting all of his favorites. Books, songs, the rocking chair. Meredith wasn’t sure if it was because of all of the moving around or if he could sense that she was starting to unravel. Maybe both.
At least it was Sunday. Catching up on homework wasn’t the best way to soothe a broken heart, but she didn’t have to get out of her pajamas and face the world. The week would start, and before she knew it, she and Brooke would be moving into their own place, and she could concentrate on building a new life for herself.
After she found another job.
Meredith shut her eyes as the thought resurfaced, towing all the pain attached to it. Aside from the fact that she’d fallen in love with him, working for Gray had made her happy. And it had nothing to do with the reality that it was the best paying job she’d ever had — by far. Helping him had made her feel good. She made a difference for him — in his home and with his work. It was fun, and it was fulfilling. And it was all of those things outside of what she felt for him.
Meredith had faith she’d find another job, maybe even one she liked as much as working for Gray, but she didn’t kid herself about getting over him. That wouldn’t happen. And she didn’t want it to. One of them had to remember what they’d shared.
It wasn’t his fault he’d forgotten her, she knew, so she didn’t blame him or even his doctors. But the truth of it burned with an all-too-familiar shame.
