She wouldn’t make eye contact with Rose, let alone acknowledge her comment. Rose nodded several times in acceptance as she bowed her head and headed out the door, gently closing it behind her.
“What have you done?” Rory whispered.
“I moved to Colorado to reunite with my mother after she got out of prison. Then she left me for a month. She left me alone in a new state, in a house with a stranger, and with complete trust in said stranger to watch out for me. And I did what you asked me to do. I trusted him. And then I fell in love with him.”
Rory slowly lifted her gaze, a map of confusion distorting her pretty face. “W-when …” It was like I’d knocked the air out of her lungs for a second time. “When did this start? Did this start then? Has this been going on for years?” She started to get worked up again.
“We haven’t been together for years. So, no. It hasn’t been going on for years. It wasn’t the right time for us then. So I left. I pursued my dreams. And I let him go. I never imagined coming back here to him this way. Him not remembering me, not remembering us. And I never imagined the side note to the tragedy would be him having a fiancée who he also doesn’t remember.”
“Jesus … Reese … were you … were the two of you …”
I shook my head. “Don’t. Don’t ask that. The answer isn’t so black and white. And the truth that you don’t want to hear is that whatever we did, we did as two consenting adults. He didn’t take advantage of me.”
She wiped her eyes before her tears fell. “Did he h-hurt you?”
I gave her a sad smile. “No. Well, just my heart. He hurt my heart, but only because I was too young and stupid to guard it a little better.”
“When did you tell him?” She made her way to the kitchen table and eased into a chair as I remained propped up against the wall by the fridge.
“Tell him what?”
“Well, he didn’t remember you. So when did you tell him about the two of you? About whatever went on between the two of you five years ago.”
On a tiny head shake, I murmured, “I haven’t told him.”
Rory squinted. “You haven’t told him anything?”
I shrugged. “I told him that I lived with you in his basement for a while. I told him I worked for him. I told him we were friends. When you were in California, we went to one of Arnie’s concerts. I met up with a friend from school and her boyfriend. Fisher went and took Angie because she was in town and his family insisted he take her to the concert. A triple date of sorts.”
“Who was your date?”
“Arnie.”
“Were you and Arnie also—”
“No.” I chuckled. “It was a front because Fisher and I couldn’t tell anyone because we knew nobody would understand or approve, least of all you.”
Rory started to say something, then she clamped her mouth shut. She knew I was right. She threatened something along the lines of castration if Fisher so much as looked at me the wrong way.
“And Rose?”
“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, depending on how you look at it. She walked in and saw Fisher and I close. Maybe kissing. I honestly don’t remember. She gave me a huge lecture and told me to end it. And we agreed it would be best not to tell you … especially if there was no longer anything to tell. Unfortunately, she’s been caught in the middle yet again. And for that, I truly am sorry. I don’t want what’s happened between Fisher and me to affect your relationship.”
Rory ran her hands through her hair and blew out a long breath. “Reese … Fisher fell back in love with Angie during those five years you were gone. And they got engaged. Yes, he had an accident and has temporarily lost his memories of her, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get them back. And when he remembers her, I don’t know what it will mean for you.”