Chapter 43
—Kasey—
Out on the street, I hesitated with my fingers wrapped around the car door handle instead of sliding into the backseat of the car. I couldn’t stop staring back at Reed’s house in utter shock.
Nostalgia had hit me square in the chest, punching my breath from my lungs. I’d managed to make it out of his sight where he couldn’t see me falter before pressing a hand to my chest.
The cocky smirk tipping one corner of his mouth plus his finger raised triggered an unexpected and strong sense of familiarity. A memory—it had to have been. The first among a magnitude of missing ones, and it struck me like a bolt of lightning on the darkest of nights.
While nothing more than a fleeting snippet, the stark mental video was enough to validate Reed’s stories of our whirlwind romance. Reed had stood at his open front door, smirked, and flipped me off just like now. Instead, this time, he had a baby in his arms.
“Hello, Earth to Kasey.” Mom flapped a hand at me through her open window.
“Uh, yup, I’m coming.” My head weighed heavy on my neck as I tried to sort through the rush of emotions. My fingers struggled to engage the seatbelt, and when it finally clicked, I let out a puff of air. Then a second, and a third, but still my erratic pulse wouldn’t settle.
“Are you okay, hon?” Mom asked, eyeing me through a suspicious squint. “What happened back there?”
I fought back tears and swallowed around the new wedge taking up space in my throat. “I…” The singular word snagged until I coughed. Despite clearing my throat, my words still came thick and gritty. “I just had a memory come back.”