Page 26 of Back to Square One

“You absolutely do.”

“You can ask me anything, Liz,” Rowan said. “What’s up?”

Lizzie took a deep breath, like she was pulling her seriousness back in. “What’s it like? Not being able to remember things? Like, did you forget how to, I don’t know, do anything?”

She shook her head, glaringly aware of Evie’s eyes on her as she spoke. “No, it’s not like that. I didn’t forget basic things. I didn’t forget how to walk or talk or hold a fork or write my name. Brush my teeth. It’s more events. Conversations. Trips. People. It’s hard to explain. Like, sometimes, you guys will be talking about something that happened or something that was said, and I was there, but I have zero recollection of it. Especially conversations. Those are the biggest things. It’s one thing to forget you took a trip to Italy, but it’s another to forget your husband proposed to you there. See what I mean?”

“Oh, wow,” Lizzie said, her eyes wide in the early morning light. “That’s gotta suck.”

“It really, really does.”

“What kinds of things did you forget?” Lizzie asked, then laughed without humor. “I mean, I get that you wouldn’t remember, but are there big things?”

“Well, yeah, like I said when we first got here, my grandma died almost two years ago. So that got wiped from my memory, and when my mom explained it, it was like I lost her all over again. As far as my brain was concerned, she was still around, living a few blocks away.”

“Oh, God,” Evie said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Things trickle back here and there, though. I get flashes of things, which is weird because if they’re out of context, they can be super confusing. I didn’t remember that Evie and I had broken up until I was near the water. And then I got a flash.” She hadn’t meant to go there, but her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own and just blathered on without any filter.

Evie gasped softly.

Rowan met her gaze, which was stricken, and gave a subtle shrug. Before any more could be said, her rod bent in her hand and the buzz of her line being pulled filled the air. “Whoa,” she said, tightening her grip.

“You’ve got a bite,” Stevie said with excitement, and set her own rod down to help Rowan with hers. Together, they reeled and pulled, reeled and pulled. Stevie grabbed the net and bent over the side to scoop up Rowan’s catch—which turned out to be a tiny sunfish.

“Oh my God, he’s so cute,” she said with a happy grin. “Hello there, sir. Don’t worry, I will put you right back.” Then she tilted her rod toward Stevie. “Can you do it?”

Stevie grinned and shook her head. “Such a girl.”

“Don’t hurt him.”

“I won’t.” Stevie closed her hand over the sharp spines of the fish’s top fin, unhooked him, and held him toward Rowan, who said her goodbyes, then waved as Stevie tossed the fish back into the water and he wiggled, then swam away.

“He’s gonna go tell all his fishy friends about his adventure this morning,” Rowan told them. “I hope he tells them he got caught but managed a heroic and daring escape. It’ll play better to his buddies.” When she turned to look at Evie, she was smiling at her with an expression Rowan couldn’t quite pinpoint. No, that wasn’t true. She could pinpoint it just fine because she’d seen it many times. She didn’t want to think about it. That was a more accurate statement. With a hard swallow, she looked away. To Stevie, she said, “So, Sara comes tomorrow, yeah?”

The way Stevie’s face lit up made Rowan all warm and mushy inside. She wasn’t the only one who noticed, because Lizzie spoke up.

“Look at how cute you are. Still in love after—what is it now? A million years?”

“About that long,” Stevie said with a nod.

“Is she bringing Scout?”

Stevie sighed. “No, not this time. But Sara’s niece is dog-sitting, and Scout is in love with her, so he probably won’t even notice we’re gone.”

“Can’t wait to see my girl!” Lizzie said, her voice painted with excitement.

Rowan blinked several times, then looked at Stevie, whose expression got serious in an instant.

“What? What is it? You okay?” She was next to Rowan, hand on her arm.

Rowan grinned. “We did this before. You taught me to fish already. Camp was not the last time.”

Stevie’s smile was huge, and she gave Rowan’s arm a squeeze. “The last year you came. Three years ago. Yeah, we took that small fishing boat they had at the house we rented, and we went out, just the two of us, to fish in the morning.”

“And I got my hook caught on your pant leg.”

“You so did.” Stevie was laughing now. “And then you tried to cast anyway, and it dug into my thigh.”