15. Isabella
15
ISABELLA
C amille tilted her head, and her smile didn’t waver. “I don’t think we’ve met, but maybe I’m wrong.”
Anna clasped her hands in front of her chest. “You think you remember her? This is so exciting.”
Bella continued to stare at Camille. “I’m sorry. I was hit by a car about two weeks ago, and there are a lot of things I don’t remember from my most recent past.”
Camille’s jaw dropped open. “Are you serious? I was in a wreck a few years ago and lost a lot of my memories too.”
Anna slapped her palm against her forehead. “Here I was thinking Camille would use her attorney sleuthing skills to help us dig up your past, and I forgot she went through something similar.”
Bella reluctantly released Camille’s hand. Knowing she wasn’t the only one who’d gone through something so strange and difficult was comforting. “Did your memories come back?”
Camille’s smile widened. “They did! It took a while, but I believe I’ve remembered everything. It was actually a blessing in disguise because the incident and the recovery forced me to move back home to Blackwater. I’m still an attorney, but I ended up changing my focus from corporate law to family and civil law. Oh, and I married Noah, my best friend from high school. I’m not sure I would have come home if not for the wreck.”
Hope welled thick and warm in Bella’s chest. What could have been the most difficult time in Camille’s life ended up being the best. Just knowing someone else had pulled out of the mental block made her own recovery seem possible.
Anna rested a hand on Camille’s shoulder. “Bella doesn’t remember much of anything from the last five years or so, and she doesn’t even know how she got here. If she’s seen you before, maybe she lives around here.”
Camille’s smile melted. “Is there a chance you would have seen me at Blackwater Hope House?”
Anna’s tone lowered. “The women’s and children’s shelter?”
A wave of cold rushed down Bella’s face. Could she have been homeless before the incident? “I don’t know.”
Camille held up a finger. “I’ll find out. Give me just a moment.” She pulled out her phone and stepped away.
Anna faced Bella and rested her hands on Bella’s shoulders. “This could be our lead.”
“Yeah. A lead that could still leave me without a home or a job,” Bella pointed out.
“Stop it. Camille is fantastic at what she does. Her life’s mission is helping people get back on their feet. The Lord meant for us to run into her today. Trust me.”
The Lord organized this shopping trip? Anna said a lot of things about the Lord and belief, but she never gave Bella enough information. It was highly unlikely that the Creator of everything cared about her little problems.
Well, they weren’t little problems to Bella. They were huge, but in the grand scheme of things, her life didn’t matter.
“You want to ask her to have dinner with us tonight? She could tell you about getting her memories back. She might even have tips for how to get yours back faster.”
Could it be that simple? Could this familiar stranger be the key to piecing together the fragments of her life?
Camille removed the phone from her ear as she walked back over to Bella and Anna. “There isn’t a record of you checking into the Hope House. You did say your name is Isabella Young, right?”
“As far as I know. We didn’t find a marriage license,” Bella said.
Camille pocketed her phone. “We’ll figure this out. You could have used an alias. A lot of women do that if they’re afraid someone is following them, even though we offer the best security and confidentiality. I asked if there was any indication that someone had gone missing lately, but there haven’t been any instances that we’ve noticed. We keep up with women even after they move out, and our representatives have been in touch with most of them within the last week.”
“Maybe she wasn’t at the shelter,” Anna said. “Could you have represented her in a court case?”
Camille shook her head. “I remember all of my clients’ faces. I know it’s not that. I have access to some resources that might bring up some information, though I’m sure Anna has already helped you with that.”
“I did. She hasn’t had mail delivered in her name to any address in the last five years other than her parents’ house. Maybe you can find something I didn’t,” Anna said.
“Are you opposed to a private investigator? I know a few who could probably help.”
“I definitely don’t have the money for that.” The bills were piling up already.
Anna pressed her fingers against her temples. “We’re so close. I know it.”
Camille gently patted Bella’s back. “Don’t force it. My memories started returning when I relaxed. It also helped that I had Noah. He’d known me my whole life, and he helped keep me on the right path.”
“I don’t know anyone. My parents are in Omaha, and they claimed not to know me when Travis called them.”
“Travis Monroe? He’s worked with my husband before,” Camille said.
Bella shook her head. “Wow. This really is a small town.”
“Small world, apparently,” Camille said.
Anna’s phone rang, and she pulled it out. Her excited smile faded. “Sorry. This is my mom. I’ll be right back.”
As Anna stepped away to have a private phone conversation, Camille clasped her hands in front of her chest. “First things first. What brings you in today?”
Bella held out her arms, showing off her jeans and simple T-shirt. “I need a few outfits.”
Camille’s smile returned, and she gestured toward the circular racks of clothing. “This is my favorite thing to do.”
Anna returned a few moments later back in her usual happy mood. “Camille is great at finding cute outfits. We’ve done a few collabs on social media, and she truly has a gift.”
“Collabs?” Bella asked.
“You know. I promote boutiques and small businesses, and she offers a low-cost fashion option.”
“You don’t have to have lots of money to look good!” Camille said over her shoulder as she led the way through the store.
After trying on dozens of outfits, Bella carefully avoided looking at the screen as Camille scanned the tags. The clothes were cute and fairly cheap in general, but everything was too expensive when you didn’t have two pennies to rub together.
Camille pressed a button on the register and started folding the clothes. “Your total is zero dollars.”
Bella’s head jerked up. “No. That’s not right.”
Anna pointed at the screen. “Looks like it is.”
“Camille, you can’t do that,” Bella said, helplessly watching her new friend slide the clothes into bags.
“Yes, I can.” She pointed at her chest. “Owner, remember?”
Bella’s breaths came quick and shallow. “I–”
“Just say thanks and forget about it,” Anna said. “Camille doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to.”
Bella sucked thick air into her lungs and blinked rapidly. People weren’t this nice. “Thank you,” she whispered past the tightness in her throat.
“You’re welcome,” Camille said without looking up from her task. “Don’t think about it again. I have the means to help, and that means I’m going to.”
There was a gap between Bella and Camille as big as the Grand Canyon, but a new goal took root in Bella’s heart. She wanted to be able to help someone else one day. She wanted to give back this gift Camille had given her.
Anna wrapped her arm around Bella’s shoulder and turned her toward the door. “Thanks, girl. We might be back over the next few weeks.”
“See you soon. Anna, give Bella my number in case she has questions.”
“And I’ll get with you about your resources,” Anna said.
Bella followed Anna through the rest of the morning in a fog. Maybe the Lord Anna always talked about was helping her. Maybe she already knew Him but couldn’t remember.
When Anna placed a phone in Bella’s hand, it jolted her out of her daydreams.
“What do you think about this one?”
Bella turned the phone over in her hands. “Is it cheap?”
Anna let out a long huff. “It’s the cheapest one they have. I’ve been paying attention.”
Bella nodded and handed it back to Anna. “Okay. I’ll take that one.”
“You don’t need a plan, so it won’t be too expensive.”
“I really need a job. Could you help me…”
Anna stopped and looked back at her. “Help you what?”
“Well, I was going to say help me put together a resume, but I don’t have anything to put on it.”
Anna stood in the middle of the store and propped her hands on her hips. “I know this all seems impossible, but we’re just going to take it one thing at a time. You’ll have a phone now, so that’s one thing checked off the list.”
Bella spotted a bench near the checkout and pointed to it. “I think I need to sit down.” Her head was spinning, and the lunch they’d eaten had threatened to come back up more than once.
“Sure. We’ll go home after this so you can rest. You look tired.”
A heavy weight hung around her neck like a ball and chain. The exhaustion that accompanied a concussion zapped every ounce of her energy.
With the phone in hand, Bella rode back to Anna’s house in silence. How was she supposed to get a job when she couldn’t spend the morning shopping without falling asleep?
Thinking about the obstacles standing in her way only drained her mental capacity. It was a dangerous cycle from bad to worse.
Anna’s mom called her again, and Bella tried to tune out the conversation. She’d met Anna’s mom, and the two had an interesting relationship–one where her parents wanted to be very involved in her adult life.
When the car engine turned off, it roused Bella from her sleep.
Anna touched Bella’s arm. “Go inside and take a nap. We’ll unload the stuff later.”
Bella nodded and walked inside in a haze. When she stepped into her temporary bedroom, she crawled into the bed and wrapped the covers around her, immediately sinking into sleep.
“Bella. Bella,” Anna whispered.
Opening her eyes, Bella blinked past the blurriness in her vision.
“Hey, you slept a long time. I’m just checking on you because Travis won’t stop calling.”
Bella rolled over and squinted against the light streaming through the thin curtains. “What time is it?”
“Eight thirty.”
Bella blinked again. “In the evening?”
“No. Morning.”
Sitting up and propping her arms behind her, Bella sucked in a deep breath. “I slept all day and night?”
“Yeah. You needed the rest though,” Anna said.
Bella rubbed her eyes. How had she lost so much time? “You’re going to be late for work.”
Anna grinned. “Nope. Travis is on his way. I’m leaving now, and I’ll be at the office before nine.”
Anna’s words took a second to sink in. “He’s coming now?”
“Should be here in a few minutes,” Anna confirmed.
Bella flipped the blanket off her lower half and placed her feet on the floor. “I’ll be ready in just a few.”
“Don’t rush. He said he’s off work today and has nothing to do.”
“Except babysit me,” Bella added low.
“Hmm. I guess he isn’t looking forward to that since he’s called me three times this morning.” Anna flashed one of her cutesy smiles and tossed a phone onto the unmade bed. “Oh, and I gave him your number. He calls me way more than Dean ever has, but he really wants to talk to you.”
The phone on the bed buzzed.
“Oh good grief, please tell that man you’re alive,” Anna said.
Bella strode back to the bed and picked up the phone. A message waited.
Travis: Hey, this is Travis. I’m bringing breakfast, so don’t eat until I get there.
Anna leaned over Bella’s shoulder to read the text. “Oh man. He’s got it bad.”
Anna could be right, but Bella was in just as much trouble as Travis. Being the center of his attention was causing her heart to race past all warning signs and straight for the unknown ahead.