Chapter 14 Stone
Stone
I’ve destroyed the ley lines. They’re weak and it’s all my fault.
It’s difficult to explain what losing your memory is like. I feel certain things innately—like when I said I seemed like a tropical island kind of guy. That’s me. For sure that’s me.
But people? I have no idea who’s important in my life. That’s terrifying. No doubt I’ve got a best friend out there who could walk me through this. If he’s out there, I’ll find him.
Right now, I’ve got Coco, and she feels like an anchor, like a way to ground myself, and more than anything, I need grounding.
But back to the ley lines.
They’re so obviously present. How could I have ignored them before? The glowing, milky-white streams run right under the site, and when they come out the other side, their pulse is nearly obliterated.
Coco said this is my construction. Well, what kind of man am I to see something so beautiful and pretend it doesn’t matter? Minimize it, ignore it, walk all over it, even when it’s staring me in the face?
My actions were on a path to destroy this town, and I feel awful about it, like I don’t belong here.
Coco moves to pick up Hercules. The lambicorn scampers away, hiding behind my leg. “He’s just shy,” I explain.
I pick up the baby and hand him to her. Our fingers brush, and my lungs do this very strange tightening thing.
“Thank you,” she says, her lips tipping up timidly.
“You are very welcome.”
She coos in the lambi’s ear, “Let’s wave to the town.” She lifts his hoof and the lambicorn bleats before it squirms, wanting down.
Watching her, I realize Coco belongs here. She didn’t ruin anything. She didn’t wreck ley lines. But I did.
Who was I this morning?
A feeling falls on me, dropping like a thousand gallons of water: Am I even likable?
I am now—I think. Maybe that’s all that matters.
Coco puts Hercules down, brushes her hands on her skirt, and walks over. “Everything okay?”
“No. I don’t recognize the man who okayed these plans.” My gaze sweeps over her, and her presence feels familiar. Her smile is warm. Her eyes are, too. So it feels right to say, “But I recognize something about you.”
Coco blinks. Her cheeks turn red.
“I mean, it’s very easy to be around you. Must be because we work well together,” I clarify.
She clears her throat and nods to the hideous monstrosity that’s supposed to be the beginnings of a resort. “It’s the materials.”
She’s so pretty. Yeah, I know. I’m supposed to focus on what she’s saying, but I can’t. Correction: I will focus in a moment.
For now, I drink her in. Coco’s got really dark hair and hazel eyes—green and brown rimmed in gold. She’s also got this adorable nose with a little bump on the bridge. And her curves are spectacular—she’s round and soft in all the right places. Just looking at her makes my chest seize.
Not to mention what another body part of mine does.
Are we more than two people working together? Whatever we are, I can’t mess this up like I nearly messed up the resort.
She nods to the foundation. “The materials,” she tells me again.
“What was that?”
She sidles up beside me, and I get a whiff of her scent. She smells so good, like lavender and cedarwood. Like a scent I should remember.
“The foundation is hampering the lines. Limecrete would be a better choice than concrete, and other materials can be used instead of the steel beams.” She wrinkles her nose. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Was I looking at you in some way?”
“Yeah.”
I cock my chin. “How? Do I have resting dickface or something?”
She throws her head back and laughs. The sound warms me, and I can’t help but smile. I may have screwed up the building, but I haven’t screwed up things with her. Good.
At least I’ve done one thing right. I’m here to build a resort, but maybe I need to build something else first. Something I lost.
Right then, my stomach growls and I realize I’m famished. “You hungry?”
She wipes tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, still laughing. “Yeah. Are you?”
“Starving. Let’s find someplace to eat.” I scan the site and see a white SUV. “Is that mine?”
“It is.”
“Great. I’ll drive. That, I can remember how to do. I think. We’ll find out. Come on.” I walk off but turn around, stepping backward. “And don’t think you’re getting off the hook from answering my question. I know I’ve got resting dickface. Be honest.”
She laughs again and a fissure of happiness spreads through me.
I do remember how to drive—and no, I don’t hit anyone or anything on the way to the restaurant.
It’s really strange. I can’t grasp anything solid about myself—no names, no faces, no history.
Just skills. I know how to drive but not who taught me.
Can quote movies but can’t picture watching them.
It’s like someone deleted my life but left the operating manual.
That’s about the best description I can come up with to explain what this feels like.
All those thoughts are set aside when I get my first glimpse of town.
I do a double take, in a good way. White buildings sparkle like sugar under the sun.
Painted rainbows dance on nearly every windowpane.
A unicorn statue stands tall in the square like a guardian of joy. It’s ridiculous. And perfect.
It seems like I’ve arrived in a place that only exists in dreams.
Or maybe a movie.
“I’ve been missing this place my entire life,” I murmur as we drive down Main Street.
Coco laughs again and my stomach does this whole constricting thing. It’s so easy to be around her. Plus, she was at the trailer bright and early this morning.
Did she stay over last night?
Oh my God. I have no idea where I sleep.
“Mystic Meadows is pretty special,” she says, sounding genuinely proud. “For a long time the ley lines were latent, but in the past few months they renewed, and we want to keep things that way.”
“And the unicorn?”
“There are unicorns here.”
I nearly slam on the brakes. “Get out.”
This shouldn’t take me by surprise since Hercules is a lambicorn, but you know, amnesia and all.
“No.” She drums her fingers on the door. “We really have them. Do you want to meet one?”
“Hell yes, I want to meet one. Who doesn’t want to meet a unicorn?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Will it have magical powers? Will it look into my soul and tell me if I’m a good witch or a bad witch?”
Coco’s face changes and her expression becomes worried. I grab her arm and lightly shake it. Her gaze darts up to meet mine and my pulse quickens. “I’m just kidding. I know that I’m a bad witch and you’re a good witch.”
She smirks and points for me to pull over.
“Where will we be dining today?” I ask, parking.
“At the best barbecue in town: Unicorn Tails.”
“Well, with a name like that, it’s got to be excellent.”
Do I like barbecue? I have no idea, but I’m about to find out.
Inside, the place looks like a herd of unicorns battled an army of cowboys and somehow they both won. Small statues of unicorns dressed in Western saddles and bridles are sprinkled throughout the place. There are even six-foot paintings of them. No lie.
I might buy one. Add it to my collection.
Wait. Do I have an art collection?
It seems like something I would have.
Dear God, I’m going crazy. This temporary forgetfulness should be over by now, but it isn’t. It’s staying with me.
Okay, Stone. Don’t panic. You are calm. You are cool. You are in control.
But I’m not, am I? There are no workers at the site. I’m destroying ley lines. The last thing I am is in control.
My heart shudders, and I breathe through it. No, I may not be in control, but that’s okay. Sometimes you gotta wing it.
“So what’s good here?” I ask as we sit.
“The barbecue.”
“I figured that.” I say it with a smirk and her lips slowly tip upward. “I mean, what should I order? Tell you what: You order for me. Get whatever you think I’ll love. You know me.”
She laughs nervously. “Sure. I’ll order.”
When the waitress walks up, Coco asks for two of the Unicorn Samplers and iced tea. Then I settle back in the booth and inhale the hickory smoke smell that permeates the place.
“I could never work here. I’d be hungry all day,” I confess.
“You think?” she asks, twisting her straw wrapper around her finger.
“I do.” I ball up my wrapper and drop it on the table. “All right, so the site. I’ve ruined the ley lines. What happened? Whoever I am . . . why did I do that? And do I have to move the resort? I feel like that’s a bad idea. I’m not using my own money, am I?”
She takes a long sip of her tea, drinking for so long that she empties the glass and starts sucking in air. “I need more tea. Do you want some? Let me call the waitress back.”
She lifts her hand to call the waitress, and I grab it gently and tug her arm down. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not answering me on purpose?”
I’m still touching her. Her gaze falls to her arm, and I slowly unhook myself. As soon as my hand leaves her flesh, it feels like I’ve lost something.
Yeah, you’ve lost your memory, you big moron.
Coco rakes her bangs from her face. “Well, you didn’t know.”
I frown. “What do you mean, I didn’t know?”
She pulls out her phone. “About the materials. I’ve mentioned the limecrete, and steel beams can be replaced with cross-laminated timber. It’s called CLT for short. It’s already been used successfully in high-rises. See?”
She taps her phone, and a moment later she’s flashing a picture of a sleek, glass-front building. “This is in Milwaukee. You can use CLT to build the resort and it won’t harm the ley lines.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because it’s more naturally friendly, which is what the ley lines need.”
“Huh. And your research?”
“I’ve done some. I don’t have all the answers, but I know a little.”
“A little? Don’t diminish yourself. You know a hell of a lot more than me. I’m just the guy ruining everything. You’re the one fixing it.”
She drags her teeth over her bottom lip in this absolutely adorable yet vulnerable gesture that makes my body harden.
She takes her phone back and taps again. “I can show you more. There are ley lines in a few other places in the world, and this is what they use to build, too.”
I hitch a brow. “Do they have unicorns?”
“No, they don’t. But they have ley lines.”
Coco gives me a pointed look. She’s earnest about this. I get the feeling, even though I’ve only just met her, that she wouldn’t lie.
“So what you’re saying is, I have to start over.”
“If you want to keep the ley lines healthy, then yeah. Look, I know it’s a big task, but it’s what the land needs if it’s to maintain and stay strong. Mystic Meadows just got its magic back, Stone. We can’t lose it again.”
No pressure.
But it’s not even a debate. As I mull over how to do this, our food arrives. My plate is gigantic, and food fills every square inch.
“Thank you,” I tell the waitress as she leaves to refill Coco’s glass. “Okay. You have to tell me what all of this is.”
“The yellow block is corn bread that they cook and then put on the griddle for a minute before serving. It’s amazing. Those are baked beans—they’re sweet, with bits of pork in them. Then there’s the actual pulled pork. There’s also macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and for dessert, banana pudding.”
“It’s a feast, and I’m starving.”
I take one bite of the corn bread and moan. “Oh my God. It’s so buttery and—”
A coughing fit overtakes me, and I swallow several gulps of tea to wash down the corn bread.
Coco grimaces. “I forgot to warn you. You’ve got to be careful with corn bread. It’s sometimes dry, which makes it easy to choke on.”
I tap a fist to my sternum. “Better late than never.”
For the next few minutes, I do nothing but eat gloriously amazing food and try to figure out a way to restart construction without killing the deadline, which I can’t remember but know exists.
Screw it, I decide. Protecting this land is more important than a deadline. I’ll take whatever heat someone throws at me. In the meantime, I’ve got to figure out how to get workers. Fingers crossed my memory returns by tomorrow.
As I dig into my second bite of pork, my phone rings. I pull it from my pocket and do a double take at the name flashing across the screen.
My stomach falls, but at the same time hope lifts within me.
“Do you know who it is?” Coco asks, peeking over to take a look.
“Yeah.” A slow smile spreads across my face. “It’s my brother.” I toss back my head and laugh. “I have a brother! I’m not alone!”