reiterate,” English said. “I took Easton to ride at your family’s home with your brother, Landry. The accident happened on the drive home.”
“There are more details than that, but it sums it up. The police are investigating why the brakes went out.”
She mumbled, “The brakes went out. The brakes went out.” Her fingers snapped and she said, “Oh, my God. Not only that, someone ran me off the road in a silver Mercedes!”
My sister owned a silver Mercedes.
Chapter Forty-Eight
English
Three days after I woke up, they moved me to a regular room. I begged them to set me free, to unchain me from my prison, but they weren’t quite ready yet. Hospitals were the worst for getting sleep. Every little noise awakened me and then the nurse came in every few hours to check my vitals. If I didn’t go home soon, they’d be sending me to the nuthouse instead.
On the positive side, my memories were trickling in. I had yet to remember getting married but every once in a while a steamy sex scene would pop into my head and I knew it was a memory fragment. I’d get all sweaty and hot, and would force myself to think of something less dirty. If this was any indication of what we’d done together, I was ready to get back in the saddle. Or hop on the pony. Or ride the man-stick. Or whatever you wanted to call it.
“What is wrong with you? Do you have a fever?” Tristian reached for my forehead. “You are a red as a beet.”
In an attempt to change the subject, I said, “I never could figure out that analogy. Aren’t beets purple?”
“Whatever. Are you okay?”
“Perfect, thank you.”
“Why are you flushed?”
“It’s hot in here.”
“It’s only sixty-eight. I’m chilly.” Then a salacious grin spread across his face. “English, what were you thinking?”
“Nothing exciting.”
“Great, then share.”
I crossed my arms. “Nope. Let’s watch TV.”
“Okay, but after you tell me what you were thinking.”
“Fine. I think I’m getting more memories back.”
“Fantastic! Which ones?”
“Sexy ones.”
“Even better.” A wicked chuckle from him knocked into me. Damn his voice.
“No, it’s not. They leave me all hot and sweaty.”
“It’ll be great when you get out of here, then. I can, erm, help you out with those.”
Someone cleared their throat and we glanced over to see Mom and Dad in the doorway with Easton. These visits were uncomfortable as I didn’t remember everything about my daughter yet, which disturbed me. She must’ve known because whenever she came to visit, she was always tentative. I had vivid memories of her being very inquisitive and exuberant. She had yet to show me that side of her personality, but it came out with flying colors for Tristian.
“Daddy!” She ran to him with her arms out. One of them had a cast on it from the accident, but it must not have bothered her as she didn’t act cautious about it. After Tristian set her down, she looked at me and waved. “Hi, Mommy.”
“No hug for me?”
“I, uh, don’t want to hurt you.”
“Easton, you won’t. I’m getting better every day and I might be coming home soon.”
“Does that mean I can sleep in my bedroom again?”
“Yes, it does,” I said. A toothless grin appeared. “Hey, is that a big tooth trying to poke out up there?”
“Yep. It’s coming out. Wanna see?”
“You bet,” I said. She came over and opened her mouth. The rough and jagged edges of the new tooth were seen breaking through the gum line. “Wow! That’s an awesome tooth. Good job!” I held out my fist and she bumped it, like we’d done this forever. Maybe we had and I just couldn’t remember.
“And look!” She wiggled a lower tooth to show me it was loose.
“Oh, boy. Looks like you’ll be getting more money from the tooth fairy soon.”
“Yep, and I’m putting it in my piggy bank. I’m saving up for a big princess bike with pink and silver sparkly streamers.”
“Sounds like the best idea.”
“And guess what else? Geepa found us a little Bucker.”
“What’s a little Bucker?”
“Our new puppy. He’s only going to be this big.” She held out her hands about six inches apart. I guessed little Bucker was the smallest dog in the world. I laughed at my own funny joke.
“So the little Bucker is a little bucker.” Heehee.
Easton stared at me, not getting the joke.
Dad piped up, “Your Geepa said it should only weigh twenty pounds. He found it at the pound and showed us all a picture. He took Easton a while back