Nearly Broken (14 page)

I nodded, and let him
guide me out to the car. We were leaving the furniture and other
contents behind for Paul and Darla to do with as they pleased. Maybe
they could get a little money for it or hold onto it for the next
charity case to enter their lives.

A few minutes later I
was staring at the back entrance of Breenie’s Diner, my butt
seemingly glued to the passenger seat. Damn my paranoia and its
incessant need to scan every part of that alley. Would my mind never
cease?

With a hint of pity
and sorrow, I drearily asked, “Do they know?”

He understood exactly
what my vagueness entailed. “No. When I first got here,
I
didn’t even know what truly happened to you. Paul told us you’d
been burned, so I told him you were in a fire and it must’ve
been so traumatic that you walked away amnesic.”

Say what? Could that
even happen? “And he believed that?”

“He had no
reason not to believe it. We’re all hoping your memory loss
will be temporary.”

If there really was
memory loss to begin with…

Was it sad that part
of me actually wanted to be Claire? To be the girl Nick never quit
searching for? To have the family dynamic I thought I already lost?

“By the way,
only Paul and Darla think you’re Claire. Tish and Juan just
think we’re heading up to Portland to start a new life
together.”

I nodded my head. That
didn’t sound so bad. At least no one knew the truth. I’d
be horrified if they began looking at me funny after all this time.

I released my seat
belt. “Okay,” I tried to say with confidence. Time to say
goodbye.

We stepped through the
back door, me behind Nick. The lunch rush was already over, so it
didn’t surprise me that Paul was working in his office, Juan
only had two orders going in the kitchen, and Darla and Tish could be
heard talking on the opposite side of the pass-through. Never the
talkative one, Juan offered me a half smile and a wave and I
responded with the same. Nick went for the office while I stepped
into the front, where I was immediately accosted by Tish.

She wrapped me up in a
bouncy hug and blabbered so quickly that most of what she said was
incoherent. Something that included the words
you bitch
,
can’t
believe
and
so jealous
.

“Jeesh, Tish.”
Jesting, I said, “Lay off the caffeine a bit.” She
laughed, and like I reminded her of the soda on the counter, took a
sip before being called away to help one of her tables.

Darla gave me a more
motherly hug, soft and comforting. “Oh, honey. We sure are
going to miss ya’ around here.”

“I’m going
to miss you guys, too.” Especially Paul and Darla. They took me
in when I was nothing but a ragged stranger, still wrapped in gauze
from the fire, and got me on my feet again. Never even asked for
anything in return, but hopefully I’d be able to repay them in
some way one day.

“Don’t get
me wrong,” she warned, “I’m happy for you and I’m
glad you have someone like Nick watching out for you. I’m just
really happy you’re not going to rot away your life here.”

I pulled back, and
with a disapproving glare to her eyes, replied, “I like it
here. Even if I had stayed forever, I never would’ve considered
myself rotting away.”

“You know what I
mean,” she sassed, tugging once on my ponytail. “Paul and
I want to see you do something more than just wait tables the rest of
your life. Now don’t get mad at me for saying this, but I’m
sorta glad you were only here because you lost your memory.”
She waved her finger at me. “I always knew there was something
about you that didn’t make sense. I always figured you were
running from something, I just didn’t want to bring it up and
make you run again.”

I smiled and leaned in
to hug her once more. Darla had sort of been like a surrogate mother
in a way, and I was going to miss her sassy, sometimes overdramatic,
retorts. Nick was at the door, beckoning me with the wave of his
hand. As I pushed past him, Paul was there with waiting arms. His hug
was more of an arm around the shoulder squeeze, but he pulled so
tightly my shoulders rammed into my ears. Nick bailed to say his
goodbyes to Darla and Tish.

“Well, what can
I say?” I asked once he released me. Sarcastically, I added,
“Thanks for being suspicious of me enough to call the number on
the flyer?”

This was the second
Breenie family member to point at me in the last two minutes, and
Paul wagged his finger slow and heavy. “You know, when I saw
that flyer, I actually came to a dead stop. And after talking to your
sister and Nick, it all began to make sense. The fire, you keeping to
yourself and jumping every time you heard a weird noise.”

“I did that?”
I asked curiously.

“You were a
little nervous the first few months, yeah. Like you were always
afraid something was going to jump out and get’cha. We’re
just glad you’re beginning to remember where you came from.”

Well, not really. So
far I was just being
told
who I was and what happened. Nothing
was really coming out of my own head just yet.

“Thank you,”
I said sincerely, “for taking me in and watching over me. You
didn’t have to, and that means the world to me.” Screw
the awkwardness. I hugged that jolly, fat guy whether he felt weird
about it or not. He didn’t press into me like I did him, but he
did show his affection by patting the back of my shoulder.

Pulling away, I winced
as I guiltily asked, “So does this mean you’re back on
the nightshift again?”

“Most likely. I
still need to hire a waitress, so we’re going to close at nine
the next couple of nights.”

“I’m so
sorry we’re leaving without giving you notice.”

He waved me off like I
was being silly. “I never get notice from waitresses. Besides,
I’m grateful that Nick came in and gave me a break for a few
weeks. It was nice to actually be at home when the sun went down.
Don’t you worry about us. We’ll be back to normal around
here in a day or so.”

Nick came in with
Darla and the four of us chit-chatted a bit more before we said our
final goodbyes. I saw the flyer still on the bulletin board. I had no
idea why, but I left it hanging there.

Driving out of town
felt surreal. I’d only been hiding in Myrtle Creek for a year
and a half, but it felt like a lifetime. I didn’t have much of
a past to look back on, nor did I have any idea of what to expect in
the days to come. I was just thankful that the guy sitting next to me
seemed to have a grip on both for me, and for that, I squeezed his
hand just a little bit tighter.

“Oh, wow.
High-rise. Didn’t peg you for the type.”

He chuckled as he
pulled into the garage and headed for his assigned spot. “You’ll
like this place. Guests only have access to the street entrance and
they have to be buzzed in by the guard. Even if someone manages to
bypass the door and the guard, there’s the steel door to our
apartment to contend with. You should feel pretty safe when you’re
home alone.”

“Sledgehammer
through the drywall?” I challenged.

Turning off the
engine, he tilted his head in a manner that screamed
Really?
“All right. You’ve got me there, but you’ll have
plenty of time to call building security before anyone gets through.
They’ll be upstairs within a minute. Not to mention, they’ll
probably spot the guy with a sledgehammer on a camera long before he
gets there.” Narrowing his eyes, he added, “Safe enough
for you?”

Playfully, I replied,
“Eh. I guess it’ll do.”

He unlocked the doors
and lightly shoved me sideways. “Just get out of the car.”

Truthfully, all those
extra security measures did make me feel a little safer, but it still
couldn’t keep me from scanning the garage’s shadows and
memorizing the cars that took up the spaces nearest Nick’s.

I met Chuck, the day
guard, on our way to the elevators. Nick introduced me so he would
know to let me through without questioning from now on. He also left
a note for the night guard, Daniel, but unless I was with Nick, it
was doubtful I’d be leaving the apartment at night anytime
soon.

“Wow,” I
cooed, impressed over the view I saw the moment we stepped inside his
living room. We were high enough up that you’d have to step
close to the window to actually see most of the cityscape. From the
front door, the view was mostly trees and the snow-capped Mount Hood
in the distance.

The weight cramping
the muscles in my neck, I let the bag fall off my shoulder to the
hardwood floor and stepped into the kitchen. There was a small island
that matched the dark wood cabinets and countertop granite in shades
of beiges, browns and golds. All of his appliances matched and had
some kind of nickel coating, and what I assumed were expensive pots
and pans hung from a rack on the ceiling. “Is this what they
call a gourmet kitchen?”

“You know it.”

“Why am I not
surprised?” I gaffed.

“Come on. I’ll
show you to your room.”

Grabbing my bag, I
followed him down the hallway to the first door on the left. “
My
room?”

“Well, the guest
room.” He dropped my extra bag on the hardwood by the dresser,
and I did the same. Maybe he took my dumbfounded expression as a bad
thing. And maybe it was. We’d spent the last two nights wrapped
up in each other’s arms. I hadn’t really thought about
living arrangements because I assumed we were sort of together now.
Catching my confusion, he was quick to add, “We can still share
a bed, if you’re comfortable with that. I just thought you
might like your own space.”

“Oh. Okay.”
That made me feel a little better.

Nick definitely liked
dark woods, as the house was filled with them. This particular room
had a dark walnut colored sleigh bed and a matching chest of drawers
and bedside table. The linens were tan and the walls a creamy beige,
so I literally felt like I was swimming in frothy coffee. And for
some strange reason, I actually found the masculine colors and
furniture comfortable. The only thing in this room that hint of
gender neutrality were the charcoal sketches of flowers that were
framed on the wall, but they were so simple there was nothing girly
about them.

“Uh, just so you
know, there’s already some clothes in here for you.” He
pulled open the door to the walk-in closet and stepped inside. I
followed, eyeing the amount of clothing hanging on the racks.

“Why? Was Claire
here before?”

“No. I didn’t
get this place until after I began this job. But I won’t lie.
After what happened, I chose this place because of the extra effort
they put into security here.”

“Then why all
the clothes?” I asked, thumbing through the shirts.

“Mrs. Whitaker
dropped them off this morning. She wanted you to have them.”

They were all long
sleeved, so Nick must’ve told her about my dressing habits.
There were also jeans, shoes and a few purses hanging on the end. No
doubt this all came from Claire’s closet. I checked the shoe
size purely out of curiosity. Surprise, surprise, another similarity.

“You don’t
have to use any of it if you don’t want to. We can bag it all
up and give it to charity.”

“No. It’s
alright. A little weird, since we haven’t scientifically proven
I’m Claire, but I could really use the extra clothing.”
Mine were donated to begin with and were really beginning to look
their age. I owed Mrs. Whitaker a big thank you, because Claire’s
clothes were far nicer than anything I could afford. “Is she
still here? Are we seeing them soon?”

“We agreed she
should head back home. Give you a chance to get settled. But they did
invite us over for lunch next Sunday. Whether or not we go is up to
you, because no one’s looking to rush you.”

“It’s not
that. I’m sure they’re nice people, I’d just rather
know for sure first. I don’t want to lead them on if the test
says I’m not Claire.”

“Alright. Sounds
fair. I’ll call Philippe later and see if we can meet up with
him tomorrow.”