August Unknown (5 page)

He grinned as he entered the room, pulling a paper bag from
behind his back as if it were a surprise. “You look a lot better.”

“I feel a lot better, thanks to the toothbrush you brought me
yesterday.”

He set the bag down on the tray table. Stenciled in turquoise blue,
a smiling mermaid sat on a rock encircled by the words “The Mirthful Mermaid.”
The logo didn’t bring even a hint of recognition.

He shifted her unfinished meal tray to the small clothing
cabinet and removed a paper to-go bowl from the bag, which he set on the utility
tray jutting over the bed. “Boston clam chowder. I like the white better, too.”

The delicious scent of seasoned chowder and fresh sourdough
bread rose around her, wiping away the stringent hospital odors. Her stomach
rumbled with renewed hunger.

“You’re so nice to me.” She used her good arm to push herself
up taller. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to sue you. Unless I find
out my father is a lawyer.”

He froze, plastic spoon in hand.

“That was a joke.”

Geoffrey relaxed, chuckling. “You had me going there for a minute.”

“Really, you shouldn’t feel you have to spend so much time here.
Your family must miss you.”

He shook his head. “It’s just me and Jocelyn up at the house.
My father went back to Portland last week. Mike and Paige live up in Agate.”

“What about you?” she asked in a hesitant voice. “No wife?”

A somber shadow passed over his features. “My wife passed away
last year.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She suddenly felt pathetic. She realized how
much worse her situation could be, and understood she had a lot to be thankful
for.

Geoffrey served up a spoonful of chowder. She closed her eyes
and let him feed her, savoring the creamy broth on her tongue. “Wow, that’s
good. I may not have my memory, but I’m pretty sure that’s the best I’ve ever
had.”

“It’s my grandmother Millie’s secret recipe. She owns a
restaurant. That’s where we were headed when...”

“That’s what Jocelyn said. Where is that, in Portland?”

“Yep.” He nodded as he spooned up another mouthful. “I drove
all the way to Portland to get you clam chowder.”

“Don’t tease me,” she scolded. “I have no idea where I am.
I’ll believe anything.”

He stopped and took on a humble expression. “I’m sorry. I keep
forgetting. I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through.”

“It helps to talk to people. Tell me more about your family.
Are you originally from Oregon?” The question wasn’t so much to help jog her
memory, but to learn more about her handsome visitor-protector.

“Actually, we’re from right here in Newport. The Mirthful
Mermaid has been in our family for seventy years. My grandmother has run it for
thirty-five.”

“It sounds like quite a landmark. I’ll have to go see it.
Maybe it will help spark my memory.” She accepted another mouthful of chowder.
“Mmmm. Anything to get another bowl of this.”

“Does that mean it’s okay for me to come back?”

“I’d like that. But I meant what I said. You have to stop
blaming yourself.” She leaned back against the pillow. “Until I know why I was
out there, the whole thing is just one strange mystery.”

Geoffrey set the spoon down and August could tell he was
looking for the right words. When he looked up, his warm brown eyes were like
melted chocolate. “Are you still worried someone tried to hurt you?”

The seriousness of his question slithered across her skin like
the slow, oily traverse of a snake. “I don’t know. But I’m almost afraid of
what your brother-in-law is going to find.” She forced a smile that felt thin.
“You haven’t heard of any bank robberies in the news, have you?”

He laughed as he picked up the spoon again. “That’s another
joke, right?”

“I honestly don’t know.” She swallowed another mouthful. The delicious
chowder brought renewed strength with every spoonful. “I don’t feel like bank
robber material.”

“It may seem hard to believe now, but sometimes people panic
when they get caught in bad weather. Maybe your car broke down. You were
probably just trying to get home and didn’t expect a car to be coming around
the bend.” Geoffrey dropped the spoon in the empty container and bundled it all
up in the paper bag. “Mike went to question the late season stragglers in the Chalets
today. I’ll bet you’re traveling with a sweet old aunt who’s just frantic about
you.”

It was too good to hope for. “You really think so?”

The second of hesitation before he opened his mouth to reply
told her he didn’t.

“Don’t placate me.” She leaned back and frowned. “I’m not made
of glass. I can handle the truth—I just wish I could remember it.”

“You will.”

“But until I do, I don’t know who I can trust.”

His expression changed then. She felt guilty for even implying
as much after all he’d done, but in truth, she couldn’t rule anyone out.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t even know you. All I have is your
story that I stepped in front of your car.”

“I understand.”

He took a step back. She’d insulted him.

“Wait, I’m sorry, Geoffrey. I don’t think you tried to hurt
me.” She patted the mattress by her hip. “Please, come back and sit.”

He returned a half smile and sat at the edge of the bed. She
met his eyes and held them, content to stare into their warm depths. She had
nothing to fear from this man; she knew it in the deepest part of herself.

But someone
had
tried to hurt her, of that she was also
certain.

“Something bad happened to me,” she finally said. It was hard
to find her voice. “Maybe your brother-in-law should suspend the search until I
remember exactly what happened that night.”

* * *

Geoffrey saw Dr. Carlson as he signed the visitor’s roster Friday
morning. “How is she this morning, Doc?”

“No better, no worse,” the doctor said. “But it’s only been four
days. I don’t expect a miraculous recovery, and neither should you.”

“She can’t stay here indefinitely. What’s going to happen to
her tomorrow when you check her out?”

Dr. Carlson slipped his pen into his pocket and made his way
over. “Any number of things. There’s a women’s shelter in Corvallis where she
can stay without charge for seven days. If she needs a place longer than that,
they’ll put her in a temporary job or she can do administrative work to earn
her stay. August seems like a pretty smart cookie. I don’t think it’ll be a
problem.”

There was no chance Geoffrey was going to let her stay in some
shabby women’s shelter. Not if someone might be after her.

“You can’t just kick her out onto the street,” he told his
longtime friend.

If someone did want to bring August harm, turning her out on
her own would be turning her into a sitting duck. She wasn’t safe until she
remembered what had happened to her, and if someone had indeed tried to hurt
her, who that person was.

“I’m sorry, Geoffrey, once she’s healthy enough to leave, we
can’t make her stay.”

“So you’re just going to turn her loose tomorrow.”

“If her family were here, I’d discharge her today.” The doctor’s
brows inched up his forehead. “Care to share your thoughts?”

“What if I take her to the summer house? Would you release her
into my care today?” Even as he asked the question, Geoffrey knew August would
refuse. She didn’t know him, and would probably see the gesture as pathetic and
desperate.

“Are you sure you want to get involved in this? You’ve already
done all you’re expected to in paying her bill.”

“Why not? Everyone’s gone back to Portland. It’ll just be me,
Jocelyn, and Leah when she returns next Tuesday. It’s no imposition, and it’s
better than some shelter full of strangers.”

Dr. Carlson considered him for a minute. “Well, if she agrees,
I can’t see why not. She can continue her appointments with Dr. Lohman if she
stays nearby.”

A rush of triumph cooled the hot tension that had wound
Geoffrey up tight these past few days. Somehow, he believed protecting August
would make up for his failing Christina. He knew that was irrational, but at
the same time he couldn’t live with himself if something happened to August
simply because he didn’t lend his help.

The sliding doors opened and Officer Mike walked through, hat
in his hand. “Good morning.”

Geoffrey’s heart gave a strong kick against his ribs. His
brother-in-law would only be here if he had found something. Maybe August
wouldn’t need his hospitality, after all. A tiny, selfish part of him hoped
that wasn’t the case.

I’m scum
.

“Good morning, Mike,” Dr. Carlson greeted him. “Have you
learned anything about our mysterious guest?”

“I’d like to see her, if I may.”

“We were just headed there now.”

August emerged from the bathroom as they entered the room. Her
platinum hair spilled over the royal blue robe. Freshly washed, it shimmered in
the morning sun. Renewed vitality colored her cheeks. Dr. Carlson had replaced
the bandage at her head with a smaller one which was nearly obscured by her
wispy bangs.

“This looks official.” Her expression grew somber as her gaze
found and held Mike. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all,” Mike assured her. “I came by to tell you we were
unable to identify you by your thumbprint. I wanted to relay the news in
person.”

Her shoulders dropped. Geoffrey relaxed with a sigh of relief.
At least they hadn’t found she was a criminal on the run. He doubted she was,
but it would be just his luck to have a woman like August literally dropped in
front of him—only to find out she was a fugitive.

“I had a feeling that scar on the pad of your thumb would be a
problem.”

Eyes downcast, August climbed back onto her bed. She rubbed
her thumb against her first two fingers.

“It’s a fairly new scar, at least it looks to me.” Mike
glanced at Dr. Carlson. “The doc can say for sure. What that tells me is you’re
probably not yet twenty-six. In Oregon, you’re required to renew your driver’s
license in person at the DMV, at which time you would have updated your
fingerprint. Of course, if you live in California or Washington, that theory
flies out the window because you’d be able to renew online if your driving
record is clean.”

She glanced at her thumb.

“But you don’t look much older than twenty-six to me.” Mike
cleared his throat. “One of my officers questioned the remaining renters in the
cottages near where you were found. No one is missing anybody.”

“So I just fell out of the sky.”

An uncomfortable silence stretched.

“How about some good news?” Dr. Carlson cut in, trying to
sound cheerful. “Geoffrey has offered the guest room at his house. If you
accept, I can release you today.”

She glanced up with a wary expression. “That’s very generous,
but you’ve already done too much for me.”

Geoffrey shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other,
embarrassed by being rejected in front of an audience.

“The other alternative is the woman’s shelter in Corvallis,”
Dr. Carlson went on. “But in that case you’ll be released into your own care,
and I can’t authorize that until tomorrow.”

August’s blue eyes were as pale as the sky as she watched the
doctor, chewing her lower lip.

“It’s just me and Jocelyn rattling around in that big house,”
Geoffrey told her. “I’m sure she would love to have you if you change your
mind.”

“You’ve been absolutely wonderful to me, Geoffrey.” She
hesitated. “But I can’t go home with a strange man I don’t know. You could be
an axe murderer or something.”

Dr. Carlson chuckled, then fell silent when he realized no one
else was laughing. Geoffrey thought back to their private conversation
yesterday when she’d gently accused him of sinister involvement in her
accident.

“I can vouch for him,” Officer Mike said with a playful punch
to his shoulder. “His axe collection is purely for display.”

August wouldn’t meet his eyes. She didn’t like being
pressured, Geoffrey could tell. “She said ‘no,’ guys. Let’s not make her feel
uncomfortable about it.”

“All right, then.” Dr. Carlson pushed his glasses up his nose.
“I’ll make arrangements with the shelter to expect you tomorrow. It’s called
New Start Foundation.” He turned to go.

“Wait.” August sighed. “Can you vouch for him, too?”

“My wife delivered all six of the Barthlow children, and
Jocelyn.” The doctor hesitated in the doorway and gave her a wink. “But I’ve
never seen the axe collection, so I can’t say for sure what he does with it.”

Hope lodged in Geoffrey’s throat as a long second ticked by.

“Hold off on that call,” August said slowly. “I’ll take
Geoffrey up on his offer. Hopefully my memory will come back within a few days
and I’ll be out of his hair quickly.”

Geoffrey’s mood soared, even as he called himself a fool for
it. Still, it would be nice having her pretty smile in his world for a few more
days, and he would take any opportunity to make up for turning her life upside
down.

Dr. Carlson scribbled on his clipboard. “One call, held off.
I’ll send up a nurse to discharge you.”

When the doctor left them alone, Mike went to the cubby where
her clothes were neatly folded. “Is this what you were wearing the night of the
accident?” He picked up her sweater.

She nodded.

Mike brought the bundle over and set it on the bed. He picked
up one of her white canvas Keds. “Any of this look familiar?”

“None of it.”

He thumbed through the layers. “They washed everything?”

She nodded again. “Why?”

“Brilliant.” He scowled. “There may have been DNA evidence on them,
or at least something that might indicate where you’d been that night. Like
salt water, for instance. Geoffrey did find you on the beach road.”

“I thought we’d already established that I didn’t fall
overboard.”