“What do you say about a hotel?” Tav pressed. He caught the look of relief on Lora’s face, and she nodded gratefully, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
This is all too much for her. She must be out of her head with stress right now.
“There’s a Best Western in Alamosa,” Tav continued when Oliver didn’t respond. “I can make the reservations if it’s too much trouble for you.”
“You never did tell me your name,” Oliver said suddenly.
“Octavius,” Tav said simply. He did not want to give the man any more information than absolutely necessary.
“Octavius what?”
The suspicion in Oliver’s voice grew, but Tav was done answering questions. It was bad enough that he had to give up the woman with whom made him feel something unknown, like she had awakened a part of himself that he never knew existed. He was not going to be subjected to a round of twenty questions also.
“I just booked a room for Lora,” Tav told Oliver. “Check in is 4 p.m. today. Can you make it to Alamosa thereafter?”
“Yes! Yes, I can,” Oliver said quickly. “Tell Lora I can’t wait to see her. Is she there? I’d like to talk to her—”
“We’ll see you at 4,” Tav said firmly, disconnecting the call. He had ensured that his number appeared as private when he called out, but he had no way of knowing how resourceful Oliver Church could be.
He looked at Lora who returned his gaze warily.
“What did he sound like?” she asked nervously. “Did he say anything about…about my husband?”
“His name is Adam,” Tav said slowly, looking away in embarrassment. “He won’t be there, but I think that might be better. It will give you more space to figure out who you are and what happened.”
“And Oliver?”
“What about him?”
“Does he sound okay?”
Tav hesitated, unsure if he should say what he was really thinking, that he wasn’t sure about Oliver at all.
Then again, how can anyone be sure about anyone in a situation like this? I’m sure Oliver is just as suspicious of me.
Tav didn’t remind himself that Oliver had every right to be suspicious.
That wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t have known.
Tav realized that Lora was still staring at him, and he forced a smile.
“He sounds very eager to see you. I booked a room for you to stay at the Best Western.”
“I heard. Thank you, Tav…for everything.”
Her eyes gleamed with sincerity, and again, Tav was overcome with the desire to tell her the truth about being turned but couldn’t bring himself to do it.
She’ll learn about herself with her husband and brother. I just happened to be someone to come along and help her, but I really don’t have any place in her life, painful as it is. And I can’t force my place into her world.
“I’m sure being around your family and friends will help bring your memory back,” he said with his exaggerated confidence, but he couldn’t be sure if that was true. Over the years, he had heard of humans being turned into shifters and losing their memories, but he had no idea if they were easily recovered or under what circumstances that might happen. He knew that it was illegal to turn humans without explicit approval from various counsels. Dragons simply could not do it, so it was not a matter that Tav had ever spent much time thinking about.
Suddenly, however, he wished he had.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lora asked, snapping him out of his reverie. He looked away and exhaled.
“I’m just thinking that we better start getting you ready to go,” he said, even though there was a few hours until check in. “We wouldn’t want to keep your family waiting.”
He rose from the sofa, half-expecting Lora to stop him, but to his chagrin, she didn’t try. Whatever they had shared, whatever bond he thought they had together, it was done. Lora was about to be out of his life as quickly as she had come in, and there was nothing he could do to stop that.
6
Her eyes trailed over the rugged terrain because she worried that Tav might catch her staring directly at him. Not that she hadn’t caught him doing the same, but it was different now, knowing what they had just discovered over the past few hours.
I’m married. How could I have possibly forgotten that? What’s wrong with me that I would ever let that escape my mind and fall into bed with a stranger?
She found herself wondering if she had children that she had forsaken also, and the notion made her nauseous.
What will I do if I have kids running to me calling me mom?
Shivering, Lora turned her head fully to stare down the mountain road, her ears popping slightly as they moved along.
“Look, Lora,” Tav said after a few minutes of pure silence. “No one is going to force you to do anything you’re not comfortable with but…”
He stopped speaking, and Lora cast him a look through her peripheral vision.
“But what?” she demanded in exasperation. “But I have to go home with these strangers even though I have no idea who they are?”
“They know who you are,” he reminded her gently. “And that’s a start.”
Lora sighed and nodded, knowing that she was reacting poorly toward a man who had done absolutely nothing wrong.
“You’re right,” she agreed quickly. “And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
A smile quirked at the corners of his lips.
“Oh…was that you snapping?” he asked teasingly. Lora grunted, but she couldn’t resist a laugh of her own.
“This is all so weird,” she sighed as they descended. “I mean…shouldn’t I remember something? Anything?”
Tav shrugged.
“I don’t know,” he replied quietly. “I guess that depends on what happened to you.”
“I don’t even remember living in Denver. I mean, I feel like I wouldn’t live in Colorado. It just seems weird to me.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his hands curl tightly around the steering wheel.
“Are you remembering something then?”
She shrugged and shook her head.
“No.”
They fell back into another silence, and Lora sighed heavily, her attention fully fixed out the window.
They found themselves on the 160 heading into Alamosa, but as they neared the town, Lora’s shoulders stiffened. A feeling of dread overcame her.
I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to stay here, she thought, panic overwhelming her. As if sensing her discourse, Tav shot her a quick look, steering the Hummer into the lot of the Best Western.
“Are you okay? You look really pale.”
She nodded, swallowing the bile forming in her mouth.
What is he going to do? What can he do? He’s doing everything right.
Yet as they stopped, it took every fiber of Lora’s being not to bolt from the SUV and run down the street screaming.
“Do you want to wait in the car?” Tav asked, eying her nervously. “I’ll get the room for you.”
“No, I’ll come,” she replied. “There’s no reason for you to stick around any longer than you need to. You’ve already wasted enough time on me, and I’m sure you have more important things to do today.”