Last Chance - L. P. Dover Page 0,29

from the house?”

Evan smiled. “I’ll leave right now. It’ll give you two some privacy.” He waved at me and I waved back. If there was one thing I remembered, it was red velvet cake. It’d been my favorite ever since I was a little girl.

When the door shut, Summer reached for my hand. “I don’t know how to tell you this. It’s crazy because it happened so long ago.” Tears filled her eyes. “Austin died about four years ago now.”

Gasping, I closed a hand over my mouth, tears springing to my eyes. How could that be? “Oh my God. Are you okay? What happened?”

Summer was always the quiet and meek one between us, but something was different about her. She seemed stronger. “I’m fine, I promise. It’s a long story and if you don’t get your memories back, I’ll go into detail later. Right now, I want to concentrate on your life, not mine.”

“How do we plan on doing that?” I asked.

“By taking things one step at a time.” She cleared her throat. “Starting with the two hulking issues who were just in your room.”

I nodded, remembering the way Luke reacted when Grayson said he was my fiancé. Grayson was an extremely good-looking man, but when I looked at him, I didn’t feel a connection. How could I marry someone I don’t even know?

“Was I involved with both of them?” I asked.

She shrugged a shoulder. “To be honest, I don’t know. Grayson proposed to you a couple of weeks ago and you said yes, but now Evan and Luke claim you called it off the night of the accident. Grayson says you didn’t. It’s a mess.”

I felt like I was dragged into a bad soap opera. “Who am I supposed to believe? You’re the one who knows them.”

“I don’t know, sis. Luke broke your heart a while ago, and ever since then, he’s been trying to get you back. You’ve been with Grayson the past year and I assumed you were happy. My only concern is Evan. I trust him with my life, and if he’s backing Luke up, then I don’t know what to think. When Austin died, Grayson was there for us every step of the way. It’s hard to imagine him lying to me.”

My stomach ached just thinking about it. Not only were my memories taken away, but if Summer didn’t know who to trust, how the hell could I? “Gee, thanks. That helps me out so much.”

“I know, but I think it’ll be best if you figure it out on your own. It’s not going to be easy, but when you’re ready, you’ll need to spend time with both of them. Right now, you’re not the same person you were. Maybe you won’t be interested in either of them. I don’t know what’s going through your mind or how you feel, but being around those who care about you should help.”

“What if I don’t want to get married? What happens then?” I didn’t know Grayson very well, but from what I could remember, he was a great guy. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him.

A heavy sigh escaped Summer’s lips. “Then you won’t get married, Lara. Hearts are going to get broken, no matter who you choose.”

I wanted to go back to sleep and wake up with my memories. I’d hoped I was in a dream, but a quick pinch to my arm proved otherwise. I was stuck in hell until I could remember.

“Oh,” she squealed. “We have our own restaurant now. It’s been rated the number one spot in North Carolina. We call it Carolina Tavern.”

Eyes wide, I stared at her in shock. The last thing I remembered was her being a nurse and me finishing up my degree at the University of Georgia. How could we go from that to owning a restaurant? So many things had happened and I couldn’t remember a damn one of them.

Tears clouded my vision and I covered my face, angrily wiping at my eyes. “I feel so lost,” I cried.

Summer leaned over the bed and held me. “I know, but I promise your memories will come back. I’m going to do everything I can to make it so.”

“How?”

She stepped back and smiled. “By starting you off with the first person you ever met when you came to Charlotte.”

“Who?”

“Your best friend . . . Kate.”

I was going out of my fucking mind. It’d been two days since Lara was released from the hospital, and I hadn’t