The Memory of All That - Nancy Smith Gibson Page 0,20
sharply. “I evidently don’t know anything at all about myself. I would have said I like children and would be a good mother. Wrong. I would have said I was a faithful wife. Wrong. I would say I’ve always liked mustard on my hamburger. Wrong. I can’t imagine what’s next.” She sighed heavily as she reassembled the now-acceptable burger. “I only hope it’s more like the last thing instead of the first two. I can’t take many more surprises like those.”
They ate in silence for a while and then Marnie spoke. “So, I worked here. Is this where we met?”
“Yes, but I think I’d rather talk about that when we get home. I’d like more privacy when we discuss it.”
“Why? Are you afraid I’m going to throw another crying fit like I did this morning?”
“Maybe. Mostly I just don’t want anyone overhearing us.”
“I’m finished and ready to go any time you are,” she told him.
He took out his wallet and tossed a few bills on the table. “Let’s go.”
They took a different route back. She thought he was testing her memory, trying to show her places she might remember, or that he was trying to get her to blurt out something that would prove she was faking her amnesia. After a few minutes, she saw they were on the street by the park where her memories started.
“Wait, David.” She placed her hand on his arm. “I remember this. Right there,” she pointed at a small copse of leafless trees. “I was standing there. The rain stung my cheeks. That’s the first thing I remember.” He pulled over to the curb. “I crossed the street here and walked down to the next corner.”
“Think hard. Can you remember anything before that? Where you were? Where had you been? It’s important, Marnie. You took something when you left, and it’s important that I get it back, if it’s not too late. Where were you before this park?”
“I don’t know. I’ve tried and tried to remember, but I can’t. Believe me, David, this is not fun, not fun at all. I would remember if I could.”
He turned off the engine. “Let’s walk up on the slope to where you were standing. Maybe your billfold and iPod are buried under the leaves, or maybe being there again will jog your memory.”
They searched through the snow-covered leaves to no avail. There was no sign Marnie had been there before. The snow was still covering a good portion of the ground, and although some of it had melted, objects might still be hidden from sight.
“I remember how I felt when I discovered I didn’t know who I was. It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach . . . hard. Everything was spinning, and I had to hold onto a tree to stay standing.” He put his arm around her and pulled her closer, as if he thought she might have the same reaction now.
“Let’s go back to the car,” he suggested. “We need to come back and look again when all the snow is gone.”
When they were in the car being warmed by the heater, he asked, “Where did you go next?”
“I walked down to that corner”—she pointed—“and I turned left.”
He put the car in gear and followed her directions.
“I looked in that café and thought about going in, but I had looked in my purse by then and knew I didn’t even have enough money for a cup of coffee. I thought about going in and asking if anyone knew me or knew where I lived, but I was too embarrassed to do that.”
David’s face was serious, but his look was different than before. She thought maybe he was beginning to believe her.
“What then?”
“I put my hands in my coat pockets and found the receipt from Nicole’s. It had the address on it, and when I walked a bit farther”—she waved her hand to the front and David inched the car on down the street—“I saw that street sign, so I walked until I came to 1532. I couldn’t have gone another step.”
“Alice said she was vacuuming by the window in my bedroom when she saw you coming up the drive and rushed out to meet you.”
“If she hadn’t, I probably would have passed out right there in the drive.”
“Well, she did, and you’re home safe and sound.”
“I guess I’m safe enough, but sound is another matter. Mentally I don’t feel so sound,” she said. “David, am I going crazy?”