Page 27 of Back to Square One

“Ow!” Evie said, smiling from the front.

Rowan loved these moments, when a particular memory showed up out of the blue. “See?” she said to Lizzie. “This is how it works, apparently.”

“So, stuff just…pops up?” Lizzie seemed fascinated.

“Sometimes. Yes. It’s happened more than once, and it seems to be happening a bit more often recently. The doctors said it could happen like that.”

“Is it cool?” Evie asked, her voice soft. “Or is it, like, freaky?”

“It’s a little of both,” Rowan said. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s like I had this empty space in my brain and then suddenly, it’s not empty anymore. It’s kind of weird, but every time I remember something, I’m relieved.”

Evie shook her head, but she was smiling. “The human brain is really something.”

They fished and joked and chatted for another hour, catching four more fish before deciding to head back to the house for breakfast.

They carried all their gear back up to the house, the scent of bacon wafting out through the open windows.

“Justine’s up,” Lizzie said and picked up her pace. Rowan felt a quick stab of envy over having somebody you were that happy to get to. Stevie took the fishing equipment under the deck while Rowan carried the snack bag and garbage and Evie hauled the cooler. Inside, they said their good mornings. Rowan put her stuff away. Evie set the cooler down and shook out her hand, and Rowan remembered how heavy it was carrying it down.

“I should’ve carried that,” she said quietly to Evie. “I carried it down. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. I’m not helpless.” Evie didn’t snap at her, but her voice had an edge, and she walked out of the kitchen before Rowan could respond.

“Catch anything?” Justine asked from her regular position in front of the stove.

Shaking off Evie’s odd comment, she turned her attention to Justine and told her all about the morning.

The rest of Tuesday was lazy.

Rowan corrected herself. No, we’re not being lazy. We are on vacation. She lowered the book she was reading and turned to Jasmine, who was also reading, in the lounge chair next to her.

“What is it about society that makes us think even when we’re on vacation, we need to be doing something or we’re lazy?”

Jasmine lowered her own book. “Right? I’m very much enjoying just sitting here reading my book, but in the back of my mind, I’m wondering if I should be swimming. Or shopping. Or hiking. Or doing something that involves me moving. Like I’m not allowed to sit for too long.”

“Exactly.”

They sat quietly for a moment, neither of them reading, both of them gazing off toward the water. There was an anchored deck about fifty yards off the shore, a spot you could swim to, climb up on, and hang, and Stevie was there now. Rowan could see her stretched out on a towel, soaking up the warm sun. The boat was gone again, Lizzie, Justine, and Becca off for a ride. Claire and Evie were making noise under the deck, and Rowan knew they were looking for paddles for the canoe that lay upside down near the shore.

“Hey, Rowan?” Evie’s voice came from below her. “Do you know where the other paddle is?”

She set down her book and headed down the deck stairs. “I remember seeing them both,” she said as she rounded the bottom of the stairs.

Claire stood with one paddle on her shoulder, and Evie had two life jackets in her hands. It was a little dim under there, the sun not quite reaching. That, combined with the sheer amount of outdoor equipment people have at a lake house, and Rowan understood exactly why they were having trouble. Fishing rods and paddleboards and water toys and extra folding chairs—all were stacked, piled, or leaning. Rowan slipped her phone out of her pocket and flipped on the flashlight, shining it around, under and above the other stuff as she squatted slightly to see better.

“There it is,” Claire said.

Rowan stood up as Claire turned to grab what she’d seen and there was a whack as the paddle on Claire’s shoulder knocked Rowan in the head.

“Ow,” she said, both hands going to the back of her skull. “Shit.”

“Oh, my God,” Evie cried, moving quickly to Rowan, placing her warm hands over Rowan’s.

Claire dropped everything she was holding. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry.”

“Wait,” Rowan said. Just that one word, and both Evie and Claire froze in their tracks. Neither said anything. Just stared at Rowan. Waited. “My memory. I…it’s back.” She blinked at them, looked from Evie’s stunned face to Claire’s and back. “I…I remember it all. Everything.”

“Holy shit,” Claire whispered. “You do?”