He Lost His Memory In A Crash, Then A Small-Town Woman’s Kindness Changed His Life
Chapter 3
A week later, Emma took Alexander to the lake.
Winter had turned it silver.
They sat on an old wooden bench overlooking the water.
“Do you miss your life?” Emma asked.
Alexander thought.
“I miss knowing who I am.”
“That’s different.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think you were like?”
He laughed.
“Probably difficult.”
“Why?”
“I feel like I was.”
Emma smiled.
“You’re not.”
“How do you know?”
“You’ve helped Mrs. Carter carry groceries twice.”
“That was because she yelled at me.”
Emma laughed.
“She does that.”
Alexander smiled.
Then his expression changed.
A sudden headache.
He closed his eyes.
“I saw something.”
“What?”
“A building.”
“What kind?”
“Glass.”
“Office?”
“Maybe.”
He rubbed his temples.
“There’s a woman.”
Emma waited.
“She’s angry.”
“What does she say?”
He frowned.
“She says…”
He stopped.
“What?”
“Don’t leave me.”
Emma looked at him.
“Do you know her?”
“I don’t know.”
That evening, a black sedan stopped outside Emma’s house.
A man in an expensive coat stepped out.
He knocked.
Emma opened the door.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Alexander Reed.”
Emma glanced behind her.
“Who are you?”
“Michael Grant. I’m his attorney.”
Alexander appeared.
Michael’s eyes filled with relief.
“Alex.”
Alexander stared.
“I know you?”
Michael hesitated.
“You don’t remember?”
“No.”
Michael looked devastated.
“We’ve been searching for you for eight days.”
Emma stepped aside.
Michael entered.
He showed Alexander photographs.
Business meetings.
Luxury offices.
Private planes.
A penthouse.
Alexander recognized nothing.
Michael explained that Alexander was the founder and CEO of Reed Meridian, a major investment firm based in New York.
Emma stared.
The stranger living in her spare bedroom was a billionaire.
Alexander looked at her.
“I didn’t know.”
Emma smiled.
“I didn’t either.”
Michael urged Alexander to return to New York.
“The company needs you.”
Alexander shook his head.
“I can’t go back if I don’t know who I am.”
Michael looked frustrated.
“We can get you the best doctors in the country.”
Emma said quietly:
“He needs time.”
Michael turned toward her.
“With respect, Ms. Hayes, this isn’t your decision.”
Alexander looked up.
“It is partly mine.”
Silence.
Michael sighed.
“I’ll return tomorrow.”
After he left, Alexander sat at the kitchen table.
“You should go,” Emma said.
He looked at her.
“You want me to?”
“I want you to know who you are.”
He stared down at his hands.
“What if I don’t like who I was?”
Emma sat beside him.
“Then you can decide who you want to be.”
He looked at her.
“Would you help me?”
Emma smiled.
“Yes.”
“You don’t even know me.”
She laughed softly.
“Apparently, that’s becoming a theme.”
That night, Alexander couldn’t sleep.
He stood outside on the porch.
Emma joined him.
“Cold?”
“A little.”
She handed him a blanket.
“Thank you.”
He watched the stars.
“Do you think memory tells us who we are?”
Emma thought.
“No.”
“What does?”
“What we choose when nobody is watching.”
Alexander smiled.
He didn’t know why.
But those words felt familiar.
