24. Isabella
24
ISABELLA
B ella pinched the skin on the underside of her arm as a man she didn’t know led prayer for the congregation. The service had been a good one that kept her attention, but there was little she could do to withstand the pull of sleep right now.
When the prayer ended, Bella blinked rapidly. Her eyelids were heavy, and she had to pull on the pew in front of her to stand.
“You okay?” Anna asked.
“Yeah. Just tired.”
“Go home and take a nap.”
Camille appeared beside Anna with her son hanging onto her hand. “Hey, I meant to catch you before the service, but I had nursery duty this morning. I reached out to the investigator for an update on Friday, but he still hasn’t found much. He said it looks like you didn’t want to be found.”
The news wasn’t surprising. It had been months, and there hadn’t been any news about her former life. The police department had checked every county between here and Omaha, and there wasn’t a report of a missing person matching her description.
Bella yawned and covered her mouth with her hand. “Thanks for the update.”
Camille brushed a hand through her son’s hair. “I know I recommended this agency, but maybe we should try another company.”
Bella shook her head. “No, I don’t want to rack up any more bills. He knows what he’s doing, and if anyone can figure this out, it’ll be him. Well, I guess it could be me, but…”
The pressure to remember the last five years of her life was more crushing than ever. Forcing it hadn’t worked, and rest hadn’t worked either. She’d tried the doctor’s recommended mental exercises as well as the ones Camille had used to regain her memories, but nothing had worked yet.
Life without knowing who Bella had been before the injury was becoming the new normal. Instead of worrying about where she was supposed to be and who she was supposed to know, she was becoming content—happy even. It was tough to complain when she had friends who helped her through everything.
“Maybe I’m not supposed to remember,” Bella said.
Camille’s lips pressed together in a knowing grin, and she reached out to squeeze Bella’s arm. “It’s okay to be happy. I know this is stressful, and I’m glad you’re moving on. You have a second chance at life. Be who you want to be.”
Bella looked around the sanctuary and noted all the smiling faces. She knew most of them by name now, and many of them had come to her aid in one way or another since the incident.
Anna let out a big sigh. “I can’t believe you’re so hard to find.”
Bella shrugged. “I don’t know why.”
Anita Harding walked up behind Anna and Camille and wrapped her arms around her grandson. “Hey, ladies. Don’t forget the meeting in the choir room. We’ll start in about five minutes.”
Anna slapped a hand on her thigh. “I did forget. Thanks for reminding me.” She turned to Bella with a squinted grin. “I forgot I have a planning meeting for family day. Do you mind waiting?”
“I’ll take her home.”
Travis’s voice behind Bella sent a jolt of awareness up her spine. She turned and looked up at him, amazed again at the way her body reacted to the mere sight of him.
He wore a navy collared shirt that hugged the planes of his chest and arms and khaki pants, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. It was the tiredness in his eyes and absence of a smile that had her fighting the urge to reach for him.
“Are you sure?” Anna asked.
“I’m sure,” he said without emotion.
Bella hadn’t seen Travis in nearly a week, and her excitement at seeing him warred with concern. He’d called to check on her every day while helping out his parents in Seattle, but he’d carefully skirted any talk about how he was doing. When he got home, he went straight into a forty-eight-hour shift at the fire station.
Bella turned to Anna. “I guess I found a ride.”
Anna gave him a quick thanks and said her goodbyes before following Mrs. Harding to their meeting.
“Are you ready to go?” Travis asked.
“Sure.”
Bella stayed close behind him as he led the way to his truck. She slipped into the cab and took a deep inhale. The comforting smell of wood and leather had her melting into the seat.
Travis didn’t look at her as he settled behind the wheel. “How do you feel today?”
“Good. No sickness yet. How was your trip?”
“Fine. Mom and Dad were on edge the whole time because they didn’t want my help, but they needed it.”
“That’s awful. I’m sorry they didn’t appreciate what you did for them.”
Travis went out of his way for her on a daily basis, and she struggled to find ways to express her thanks. Hopefully, he knew exactly how much she appreciated everything he did for her.
“They weren’t happy to see Greg either. I’m not the only one they don’t like.”
“So, you’re from the Seattle area, but how did you end up here in Blackwater?”
Travis kept his gaze carefully focused on the road ahead. “I needed a change of scenery. I had a friend who took a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park, and he never stopped talking about it. I found a house online and drove out to see it. I closed on it four weeks later and moved out here.”
“Wow. That’s a pretty quick decision. Did you just want to get away from your parents?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t overstepping any invisible lines.
“That was part of it.”
Travis leaned forward slightly, and Bella turned her attention to the road ahead. An older car was stopped on the side of the road, and a woman bounced a squirming infant on her hip as she tried to press a phone between her shoulder and ear.
Travis slowed as they approached the car.
“Do you think she needs help?” Bella asked.
“Only one way to find out.” Travis slowly drove up behind the car and parked.
The woman straightened and held the baby tighter.
“I’ll go with you,” Bella said.
“It might make her feel more comfortable accepting help from a stranger.”
Bella got out of the truck at the same time as Travis and bunched the skirt of her dress into one hand. Tall grass brushed against her ankles as she stepped carefully in her low heels.
Travis slowed his steps to stay by her side as they approached the woman.
“Hey. Do you need some help?” Travis asked.
With the phone still pressed to her ear, she took a small step back. “I have a flat tire, but my husband is going to walk me through how to change it.”
“I’d be happy to do that for you. I’m Travis, and this is Bella.”
Bella gave her a small wave and a smile. The woman was wound up tight, and as much as she could use the help, she was terrified of accepting help from a man on a remote road without witnesses.
“Would you like for me to hold your baby while you talk to your husband? I’m sure Travis could have your tire changed out in no time.”
The woman held up a finger and spoke quietly to her husband on the phone. After a few seconds, she looked back up at Travis. “My husband wants to talk to you.”
Travis took the phone from her and lifted it to his ear. “Hello.”
Bella waited patiently as Travis talked to the man on the phone. A minute later, he handed the phone back to the woman.
Travis stepped behind Bella and opened the trunk. The woman ended the call and switched the crying baby to her other side.
“Travis knows what he’s doing,” Bella said.
The woman’s dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her eyes had shadows beneath them. Was it only a month ago that Bella had looked just as haunted?
“Thanks for stopping. I’m on my way home from visiting my parents for the weekend, and I still have a long way to go.”
Travis pulled a spare tire and a jack out of the back and came around the side of the car. “I told your husband I’d follow you to my friend’s garage where we could get you a new one put on. It’s not safe to drive that far on the spare. Bella, do you have Beau’s number?”
“I don’t think I do.”
Travis handed her his phone. “Can you call him and tell him we’ll be at the garage in about thirty minutes?”
Bella did as he asked and handed the phone back to him. “He’s there waiting for us.”
“I hate to make someone come in to work on a Sunday,” the woman said.
“My friend would hate to know someone was stuck on the side of the road when he could help,” Travis said.
“That’s true,” Bella confirmed. “And you’re guaranteed a good price. Beau is a good guy.”
The woman grinned and held out a hand to Bella. “I’m Stacy.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“I wish we were meeting under different circumstances,” Stacy said.
“Well, it’s not as bad as the way Travis and I met. He’s a paramedic, and he saved my life after I was hit by a car.”
Stacy gasped and covered her mouth. “Hit by a car? Are you okay?”
“I am now. They said I must have gotten out of the way and missed being hit directly. I had a head injury and lost a lot of blood.”
Bella glanced at Travis as he worked to loosen the lug nuts on the wheel. Bringing up her memory loss still seemed weird. Her life here in Blackwater was the only one she knew.
“That’s such a wild story! I’m so glad you’re okay… and that Travis was there to help us both.”
Bella blinked through tears that somehow kept sneaking up on her. “Yeah. I thank God for him every day.”
He could hear her, but she didn’t care. He needed to know how much she valued his friendship. How different would her life be if he hadn’t stuck around to help her when he had no reason to? Where would she be now if he hadn’t slowly picked her up and put her back on her feet?
Stacy bounced the baby a little more as the crying started up again. “Shh. It’s okay.”
“Can I see him?” Bella asked.
Stacy turned the baby around, and a pink face with a trembling lip looked up at Bella.
“Aww. He’s so cute. What’s his name?”
“Saul. He’s five months old and quite a handful. This was the first time I’ve been without my husband for more than a day, and let’s just say I’m so grateful for how much he does for Saul and me.”
“I’m sure you’re missing him a lot,” Bella said as she smiled at baby Saul.
“Do you want to hold him?” Stacy asked.
Bella’s eyes widened. “Can I?”
Stacy passed Saul to Bella and his gaze stayed locked on her face as she propped him on her hip. His dark-blue eyes relaxed as she smiled at him.
“Hey,” Bella whispered, unsure how to talk to a baby or even how to act. “I’m Bella.”
“She’s a good one, buddy. We like her,” Travis said without looking up from his work.
Saul’s little hand gripped Bella’s collar as he settled into her arms. Had she ever held a baby? Surely she had, but she couldn’t recall a single time at the moment.
It wouldn’t be too long until the baby growing inside her would one day rest on her hip. This would be a common part of her life.
There were so many things she still didn’t know. The fear of the unknown racing toward her threatened to choke her. All thoughts of her pregnancy came in waves of excitement and panic.
Minutes later, Travis stood with one arm wrapped around the ruined tire and the jack in the other hand. “You’re all set. If you’ll follow me and Bella to Blackwater Automotive, we’ll make sure you get a new tire and on your way home.”
Bella passed baby Saul back to Stacy and the two reluctantly separated.
Back in Travis’s truck, he started the engine and pulled out onto the road. “Thanks for that,” he said.
“For what?” She hadn’t done anything.
“I always try to stop and help people on the side of the road, but women are always terrified to see a stranger coming.”
It was probably a weird truth. Travis was a good man, and he would never hurt anyone. Still, how could he let a stranger know that?
“I’m glad there are people in the world like you,” she said.
He turned to her with the first smile she’d seen since he left to visit his parents. It was as much of a lingering glance as he could give her before he needed to turn back to the road, but she wanted more.
Travis was a good friend to her, but it was never enough. Every day, her heart wanted more.
She pressed a hand to her still-flat stomach. Whoever fathered her child was someone she didn’t know–at least not anymore. Travis was here, and she was quickly falling for him. It wasn’t fair to ask him to not only love her but also another man’s child.
Allowing any thoughts of what could be between them was dangerous, but ignoring her heart was becoming impossible.