Last Chance: A Second Chances Novel (13 page)

“You don’t know anyone here?” Summer asked. Lara shook her head and tears formed in her eyes. Summer placed her hands on Evan’s shoulders. “This is Evan, my husband. You have a niece named Emma-Grace.”

Lara gasped. “What? That makes no sense. You’re married to Austin. Isn’t that his brother?” She pointed at Grayson and I felt even sicker. She remembered that cocksucker but not me? How the hell could that be possible?

“You recognize me?” Grayson asked. A smile lit up his face, but it disappeared quickly.

Lara nodded. “I met you once at one of Austin’s fights.”

“What about Luke?” Summer asked, pointing at me.

Lara’s eyes met mine and it killed me to see no recognition in those blue eyes of hers. I kept waiting, but in the end, she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I wish I did, but I don’t. It’s all so confusing.” Then she turned to Summer. “What’s going on?”

Evan started for the door. “I’m going to get the doctor.”

Summer looked desperate, her gaze darting from mine to Grayson’s. But we were too distraught to be of any help; I was in my own hell and so was he. “I don’t know what to do,” she cried.

“Lara,” I murmured, turning her cheek toward me. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Panic built in her eyes. “I don’t know. I can see my parents’ house in Georgia . . .” Her words trailed off and she shrugged.

Evan marched back into the room. “The doctor will be here in a minute.”

Grayson moved up beside Summer and leaned down. “Please tell me you remember more than just that night at the fight. I’m your fiancé.”

The second he said it, all I could see was red. I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the floor. “You lying son of a bitch!” I reared back to punch him in the face. Evan grabbed my arm and held me back, as Grayson got to his feet.

Summer gasped and stepped between us. “Everyone, out!”

Grayson stormed out and so did Summer. “Can I let you go now?” Evan asked.

Nodding, I took a deep breath as he let me go. “I’m not going to let him get away with it anymore. It ends now.”

He pushed me toward the door. “Just control yourself, and we’ll deal with this.”

Lara stared at me, her expression lost.

I felt terrible for losing my temper in front of her. “I’m sorry, Lara.”

When we left the room, it took all I had not to go after Grayson again. Luckily, the doctor was there, trying to figure out what was going on. “So she can’t remember anything from the past five years or so?”

Summer nodded. “That’s what it looks like. She still thinks I’m married to my late husband. He died four years ago.”

He sighed. “I’ve seen it with many head trauma patients. Sometimes their memories come back, and sometimes they don’t. It could take months or even years for that to happen,
if
they come back at all.” He opened the door and peered inside. “Let me take a look at her.”

As soon as he was gone, Summer hit my arm. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Angrily, I thrust a finger at Grayson. “Lara broke off the engagement the night of the accident. She told me on the phone, right before she was hit. She was on the way to my house, to give us another shot.”

Summer stared at me, then turned to Grayson, her gaze narrowed. “Is that true?”

He looked at her and didn’t answer. Then Evan spoke up. “Lara came by the house that night and we talked. She wasn’t happy with him. I don’t know how we all couldn’t see it.”

She shook her head. “She would’ve told me.”

Evan rubbed her shoulder. “She knew you would disapprove if she went back to Luke.”

“Did she specifically tell you she was breaking up with Grayson?” she asked him.

Evan closed his eyes and sighed. “Not exactly in those words, but it wasn’t hard to gather.”

“So basically,” Grayson cut in, “it’s my word against Luke’s.”

If there was ever a time I wanted to kill someone, it was then. There was no way in hell I was going to let Grayson make Lara believe they were still engaged. “If you were still engaged, where’s the ring? She wasn’t wearing it after the accident.”

Summer waited for Grayson’s answer, but the doctor walked out. “Looks like Ms. Jacobs has what we call Retrograde amnesia. It’s everything I told you about already. When you take her home, make sure to follow her usual routine, so it can spark some memory. I want to run some more tests, but by the weekend, she should be good to go.”

Summer nodded and shook his hand. “Thanks, Dr. Prince.” Once he was gone, she glared at us all. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, or who to believe, but this stops now. Lara needs our help to get her memory back. If she doesn’t, then it’s up to her to decide who she wants in her life.”

“You can’t be serious,” Grayson grumbled.

She held up her hands. “I don’t want to hear it. No one is going to pressure her, got it? I want her to get her memories back, and that involves
all
of us standing here. We’re going to take turns with her, whether everyone likes it or not. And that’s final. For now, both of you need to go home, and make sure to stay away until I get her home from the hospital. After that, it’s up to her who she wants to see.” Huffing, she walked away from us and entered Lara’s room.

Evan cleared his throat and patted me on the back. “Looks like you both get a clean slate.” Then he shook his head at Grayson, disappointment written across his face. “I just hope she gets her memories back, soon.” He followed behind Summer and shut the door.

This was the last I was going to see of her for a few days, and it was all because of fucking Grayson. “You’re such a dick,” I growled.

He scoffed. “Me? What about you? The whole time I was with Lara, you kept trying to steal her away from me. Karma’s a bitch, Collins. Let’s see how you like it when the situation’s reversed.”

I pushed him against the wall, the nurses gasping. “You kept feeding garbage into Lara’s head about how you’d never hurt her. Well, look what you’re doing now. When she gets her memories back, she’ll know what a dirtbag you are.”

“And when she doesn’t, she’ll be my wife, and there’s nothing you can do about it. May the best man win.” He pushed me off and marched down the hall.

If Lara couldn’t get her memories back, I was screwed. All she’d have to do is look me up on the internet; all of my exploits were out there for her to see. The only thing giving me hope was she’d chosen me just before the accident. I had to believe she’d do it again.

T
here was a big, dark hole where everything in my mind should be, and the more I tried to access it, the more frustrated I became. It was completely maddening. And what made it worse was, my body felt like it’d been hit by a tractor trailer. The doctor said I had amnesia from the head trauma I received during the accident, and that I might possibly never retrieve the last few years of my life. I guess I was thankful I didn’t lose
every
memory, but there were people I was hurting with those lost years. I could see it on Luke and Grayson’s faces when I said I didn’t remember them.

Summer walked in and I could tell she didn’t know what to say, especially when her new husband followed behind. She’d never answered me on what happened to Austin, but I could only assume it didn’t end well.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” she said, sitting down beside me.

My stomach growled, and her eyes went wide. We both laughed. “I think my stomach’s saying I’m hungry.”

“You’re still the same Lara in that aspect.” She glanced back at Evan. “Do you mind getting her something to eat, and maybe bringing her a piece of red velvet cake from the house?”

Evan smiled. “I’ll leave right now. It’ll give you two some privacy.” He waved at me and I waved back. If there was one thing I remembered, it was red velvet cake. It’d been my favorite ever since I was a little girl.

When the door shut, Summer reached for my hand. “I don’t know how to tell you this. It’s crazy because it happened so long ago.” Tears filled her eyes. “Austin died about four years ago now.”

Gasping, I closed a hand over my mouth, tears springing to my eyes. How could that be? “Oh my God. Are you okay? What happened?”

Summer was always the quiet and meek one between us, but something was different about her. She seemed stronger. “I’m fine, I promise. It’s a long story and if you don’t get your memories back, I’ll go into detail later. Right now, I want to concentrate on
your
life, not mine.”

“How do we plan on doing that?” I asked.

“By taking things one step at a time.” She cleared her throat. “Starting with the two hulking issues who were just in your room.”

I nodded, remembering the way Luke reacted when Grayson said he was my fiancé. Grayson was an extremely good-looking man, but when I looked at him, I didn’t feel a connection. How could I marry someone I don’t even know?

“Was I involved with both of them?” I asked.

She shrugged a shoulder. “To be honest, I don’t know. Grayson proposed to you a couple of weeks ago and you said yes, but now Evan and Luke claim you called it off the night of the accident. Grayson says you didn’t. It’s a mess.”

I felt like I was dragged into a bad soap opera. “Who am I supposed to believe? You’re the one who knows them.”

“I don’t know, sis. Luke broke your heart a while ago, and ever since then, he’s been trying to get you back. You’ve been with Grayson the past year and I assumed you were happy. My only concern is Evan. I trust him with my life, and if he’s backing Luke up, then I don’t know what to think. When Austin died, Grayson was there for us every step of the way. It’s hard to imagine him lying to me.”

My stomach ached just thinking about it. Not only were my memories taken away, but if Summer didn’t know who to trust, how the hell could I? “Gee, thanks. That helps me out so much.”

“I know, but I think it’ll be best if you figure it out on your own. It’s not going to be easy, but when you’re ready, you’ll need to spend time with both of them. Right now, you’re not the same person you were. Maybe you won’t be interested in either of them. I don’t know what’s going through your mind or how you feel, but being around those who care about you should help.”

“What if I don’t want to get married? What happens then?” I didn’t know Grayson very well, but from what I could remember, he was a great guy. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him.

A heavy sigh escaped Summer’s lips. “Then you won’t get married, Lara. Hearts are going to get broken, no matter who you choose.”

I wanted to go back to sleep and wake up with my memories. I’d hoped I was in a dream, but a quick pinch to my arm proved otherwise. I was stuck in hell until I could remember.

“Oh,” she squealed. “We have our own restaurant now. It’s been rated the number one spot in North Carolina. We call it Carolina Tavern.”

Eyes wide, I stared at her in shock. The last thing I remembered was her being a nurse and me finishing up my degree at the University of Georgia. How could we go from that to owning a restaurant? So many things had happened and I couldn’t remember a damn one of them.

Tears clouded my vision and I covered my face, angrily wiping at my eyes. “I feel so lost,” I cried.

Summer leaned over the bed and held me. “I know, but I promise your memories will come back. I’m going to do everything I can to make it so.”