Chapter 12 #2
Jaxon Calloway edges Hudson aside. “Good to see you, buddy. We were all so torn up.” He glances at me. “Especially your lovely bride. Glad to have you back.” He eyes his old friend up and down. “And in a T-shirt?”
Jaxon looks at me. I give him a slight shake of my head.
Now is probably not the time to tell Trevor he never would have been caught dead in a T-shirt at a party, or even out in public unless he was running the trails.
Button downs and khakis were his attire of choice.
Or, at the very least, collared polo shirts.
There’s an awkward silence when Trevor has no idea who Jaxon is. Jaxon laughs and holds out his hand. “Jaxon Calloway.”
“Calloway?” Trevor looks at me then back to Jaxon. “As in Calloway Creek?”
Jaxon briefly explains how the town bears the name of his family, but that’s the extent of it, and there’s no ownership involved.
“And we’re… friends?” Trev asks.
“Went to high school together,” Jaxon says. “I work there now, teaching math and science. And I coach football.”
Patrick clasps Jaxon’s shoulder. “This guy led the Cavaliers to the state championship.”
“Oh, that’s nice.”
There’s near silence in the room. I think most people just don’t know what to say. My friends mostly hang back and let the others introduce themselves. I suppose they’re simply reading the room and giving Trevor the space he seems to need right now.
When the last person pulls away, Trevor runs a hand through his hair. He looks frustrated. At them? At himself? At me for allowing this?
He addresses everyone. “It’s nice to meet… see… um…” His jaw clenches. “Fuck, I don’t know how this is supposed to go.”
I don’t miss how many brows are raised at his choice of words. Glances are exchanged, but nobody says anything.
Dawn motions to the large banquet table set up with food. “Please everyone, help yourselves.”
That seems to break the tension and people start chatting amongst themselves, bringing the volume up to a healthy level of noise one might expect from a social gathering.
Chuck and Dawn invite Trevor to see his old room, and as soon as the three of them are down the hallway, my friends swarm around me.
“My god, he looks so different,” Regan says. “I’ve never seen him with as much as a five o’clock shadow.”
“I think it makes him look roguish,” Maddie says. “It’s a good look on him.”
“Yeah, but he’s so…” Regan glances down the hall, unable to say what we’re all thinking.
Maddie’s arm comes around my shoulder when tears start to flood my eyes. I swallow hard. “He looks at me like I’m a stranger. I finally have him home after all these years, but he’s a million miles away.”
“Maybe being here and seeing everyone will jog his memory,” Regan says.
I nod. “I hope so, because this is killing me.”
A few minutes later, the trio return from Trevor’s room. I look at Dawn expectantly, but she shakes her head sadly.
Trevor peruses the buffet, skipping the sushi altogether. Just like he refused the Snickers bar I tried to get him when we landed. I swear it’s almost like he doesn’t want us telling him who he is.
Maybe showing him would be better.
“Trevor?” I sit on the couch and pat the space to my right. “Will you sit with me?”
He brings his plate of food over, sets it on the coffee table as if completely uninterested in eating it, then he sits on the cushion adjacent to mine, leaving much more physical distance between us than I was hoping for.
I try not to take offense that my husband doesn’t want to be close to me.
I understand why, but it doesn’t make it any easier on my heart.
Dawn has stacked a large pile of photo albums on the table in front of us. He realizes what they are and eyes them like he’s not sure he wants to even go down this road. But it’s what the doctors said to do, so I pick up the first one, set it on his lap, and open the cover.
It’s his medical school graduation. What a wonderful day that was. I close my eyes and recall every moment of the day as I hope to take him on a trip down memory lane.
He’s silent the whole time. His expression is unreadable, his lips pressed together in a thin line as I lean over and turn the pages.
Next, I show him our wedding album.
Please remember.
My eyes are glued to him as the pages turn. He has zero reaction. He doesn’t even look over at me.
I can’t stand it anymore, so I get up and go into the kitchen, feeling sick to my stomach. Standing over the sink in case I throw up, I rub my flat stomach, knowing a secret that only three other souls know.
I tell myself over and over that this is only temporary. That Trevor will regain his memory. He’ll go back to being the man he was. And he’ll be over the moon about the baby.
There’s a bit of commotion in the other room. I go to the kitchen doorway and see the photo albums strewn across the floor. Then I see the back of Trevor’s head as he stomps to the front door, hand running through his hair. “I have to get out of here.”
“Trevor!”
I race after him, but Carter catches me before I get to the door. “Ava, let me. He’s overwhelmed. I know what he needs. Give me some time with him.”
“Please, Carter.” There’s a hitch in my voice as I struggle to hold back more tears. “Help me do whatever it takes to bring him back.”
He smiles sadly and nods. Then he yells, “Trev! Brother, wait up!”