Page 81 of The Do-Over
“Lead the way.”
Rob followed Thea out of the ballroom and up the stairs. The second floor of the hotel was dimly lit—it was clear that no one was expected to be up here. Thea pushed open the conference room door and went inside.
“This is weird,” Rob said. “It’s like we’re having a business meeting.”
Thea sat down at the table and looked at the backs of her hands.
“What is it?” Rob asked, sitting opposite her. “Are you okay, Thea? You know Steph and the baby are okay, right?”
“No, I know they are,” Thea said. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s just…it’s all ending,” she said. “You’re going to be leaving now.”
“I am?”
“I saw what happened in the closet,” she said. “Your memory came back. And please don’t misunderstand me. I’m so glad that happened. I’m so happy for you, Rob, really.” She hesitated. “I’m right, aren’t I? You remember everything now.”
“I think so,” he said. “I’m going to have to take some time and test myself later. But…there are no gaps. I think it’s all come back to me now.”
“God,” she said. “You must feel…I can’t even imagine how you must feel. The way you and I have been for the past few days.”
“Hey, what do you mean by that?”
“We’ve been acting like we never broke up,” she said. “Like twenty years weren’t standing between us.”
“It’s felt like that,” Rob told her. “Being with you again feels like we were never apart.”
“Because you lost your memory. Because I was the last thing you remembered. And please don’t misunderstand me, Rob. I’m so glad you’ve got it back, I really am. But now you’re going to want to go back to your life, and it’ll be as if this…whatever this was…never happened. It will be as if we never came back into each other’s lives.”
“Is that really what you think?”
“Well, of course,” she said. “That’s what I’ve been thinking all this time. You have a career. You have your practice in Chicago. You only came to Deer Ridge to collect this award. I’m sure you and I wouldn’t have seen each other at all if your car hadn’t gone off the road.”
He nodded. “You’re right,” he said.
She closed her eyes.
Then he grinned. “Is it weird that I’m glad I had that crash?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “You’re glad you crashed your car?”
“If the alternative was not seeing you, not getting to know you again…yes. Of course I am.” He shook his head. “Thea, I was a fool to ever let you go.”
“But your father,” she said, her voice coming out in a whisper. “You had to leave, Rob. I know you had to leave. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I do now. You couldn’t stay here while he was being abusive to you.”
“I should have figured something out,” Rob said. “I remember that day now. The day you got your rejection from Larrimore. We should have tried to come up with another solution. I should have gone to Iowa State with you. Something.”
“You would have had to take out loans to do that.”
“Then I should have taken out loans. I was in love with you. I still am, Thea.”
She shook her head, her eyes wide. “No,” she said. “No, that’s not—that’s not how it was. Your dreams were to get out of Deer Ridge. You never wanted a life here. I was…I don’t know what I was. A fallback, maybe.”
“You were everything,” he said. “And I didn’t hold onto it because I was afraid. Because giving you up was less scary than standing up to my father. And now I’ve spent twenty years alone, and the only thing I know is that I regret it more than I ever would have thought possible.”
“What are you saying?”
