“Thanks. So … did you make it in the room to see Fisher? I hear he might go home in a few days. What’s it been? Three weeks now?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I heard he’s going home soon. And I did see him once.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Did he recognize you?”
My head inched side to side. “But at least I’m not his fiancée.”
“Oh my god! Right? I feel so bad for Angie. Like … what if he never gets back those lost memories? And will he be able to work? He doesn’t remember anyone from work except his dad and uncle. Does he remember his skills?”
I shrugged. “Hard to say. He might not. Or he might get all his memories back tomorrow. But what does Angie do? Wait for them to come back? Or settle into the possibility that he won’t remember her, and she needs to see if they can fall in love again?”
“Not Fisher.” Hailey shook her head. “I’m not saying the accident hasn’t possibly changed other things about him, but I can see him just doing it. Like … his family telling him how much he loved Angie. How they had gone through so much over the years to finally be together. And how he was all in, ready for that life. I see him nodding and just … marrying her. Figuring the rest out later.”
“That would be…” I wrinkled my nose “…interesting. It would feel like an arranged marriage on his part. The whole ‘Trust us, you’re perfect for each other.’ I couldn’t do it. I was engaged to the wrong guy for a day, and I couldn’t go through with it.”
“Wait, you were …”
I put my finger to my lips. “And Rory doesn’t know. Nobody knows. I don’t know if he told anyone. Since I broke it off, I highly doubt he told anyone.”
“A day?” She laughed. “What happened?”
He wasn’t Fisher Mann.
“It was impulsive. On his part and mine. And I still hadn’t made a clear decision on the direction of my future, so I couldn’t say yes to marriage and a family. Not yet.”
“Smart girl.”
“How are things here? Who’s in charge now that Fisher’s recovering?”
“Me of course.” She winked. “His dad and uncle have been covering things. He has great guys working for him. There’s not a lot to worry about. Houses are still getting built.”
“That’s good.”
“So when do you go home? You’ve been here for weeks, right?”
“I don’t have a job at the moment, so there’s been no rush to get back home. It’s been nice spending time with my mom and Rose. But I’ll probably head back to Michigan soon.”
After Fisher goes home.
“Sure you don’t want to stick around here?” She tilted her head and gave me a goofy smile.
“Actually, I’m not ruling it out, if I can find a good job. And I’d need to look into the master’s program. But …” I shrugged.
“Do it!” She giggled. “I’m a little biased, but DO IT!”
I laughed. “I’ll see what happens in the next month with job prospects. Rory and Rose are already on top of looking for things around here. When I get back to Michigan, I’ll see where things stand with a few openings that were available before I came here.”
Before I skipped out on an interview because my heart was more mature but still just as foolish as ever when it came to the naked fisherman.
“Well, don’t be a stranger. Five years is too long.” She winked.
“Agreed.” I hugged her again. “Good to see you.”