I dreamed of Sam.

When I woke up the next morning, I went downstairs to get some coffee and saw John sitting at the kitchen island counter.

“Knew you’d be up for some coffee. I turned the Keurig on already,” he said.

I smiled over at him. “Thanks, John. I think I have one of those crying headaches. A cup of coffee and glass of water with some ibuprofen is just what I need,” I said as I put my coffee cup under the machine’s dispenser.

John reached behind him, pulled the bottle of ibuprofen off the counter and slid it across the island to me. “There ya go, Peachy,” he said.

I winced when he called me Peachy. It used to make me feel good, and I would laugh at the antics between John and Emmett. But that morning, it made me feel empty. I didn’t want John to feel bad, so I just smiled.

“Thanks, John. So, was he okay . . . when y’all went back to the apartment?”

“Not really. He seemed very torn about the whole thing. He wasn’t himself. Well, he hasn’t really been himself since the accident, but you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know,” I murmured, taking a sip of my coffee. I grabbed my glass of water, and took the ibuprofen, praying to the crying headache gods to let it pass quickly.

Tamron walked into the kitchen with Alison closely behind her.

“You okay, hun?” Alison asked.

“No. I’m not. But I have to be. We were finally in a good place. Just started living together, and moving ahead with our future. Then this damn accident stole him from me. I’ll never forget what I felt when I realized he’d forgotten that Alec had died, that look on his face when Ms. Kisner told him. It was like experiencing Alec’s death all over again. It hurt my heart to see it. I thought maybe Emmett had recognized Dr. Shaw, because later, when we were home and talking things over, he said there was something very déjà vu about him. But he didn’t, and he should have. He was Alec’s on-call neurologist at the hospital the night he died.”

I set my cup down and swallowed back the ibuprofen with a drink of ice water.

“Then I noticed him drinking that damn whiskey in the evenings, and I found out he’d been dreaming about Alec, that he was alive, but out of reach. There were little things he’d do too, and I’d think he was remembering, but he wasn’t. I didn’t know what to do. I thought coming here would help. I guess I was wrong.”

I could feel the tears filling my eyes. I wiped them away.

“I have to go. I need to get home for Gage. When I woke up last night, I saw a text from Emmett saying he took care of him and had him set up for the night. But he’ll need to go for a walk, be fed and given fresh water,” I said as I rinsed my coffee cup and poured out the rest of my water.

“Sam, wait,” Tamron said.

“Tell me on my way to my car, Tamron. I need to head home while I still feel like I can.”

“Okay, Sam. Let’s go.”

We walked outside and I put my things into my car. “What’s up?” I asked her.

“Umm . . . well, I know now isn’t really the time to say this, but I know you’ll want to know, and I wanted to thank you for your part in talking sense into me the last time y’all were here . . .” she said then halted.

I motioned for her to continue.

“Quinn and I are moving in together. We’re going to see how it goes,” she said with a smile that reached her eyes.

“That’s fantastic!” I squealed. “And you’re welcome, even though I didn’t really do anything.”

“You and Alison talked sense into me, and that was exactly what I needed,” she said, hugging me.

“Will you tell Riley and Quinn goodbye for me?” I asked.

Alison came running outside just then, calling, “Wait! Give me a hug, you brat, and remember we’re here for you . . . always.”

I hugged Alison and Tamron goodbye and left. When I got home, I saw Emmett’s rental car in his parking spot and my heart leapt. I hurriedly parked my car and went inside. Emmett was just removing Gage’s leash.

“Umm . . . hi, Sam,” he said awkwardly while patting Gage’s head.

“Hey,” I replied.

“I just was stopping by to check on Gage. I didn’t know what time you’d be back. I sent you a text to let you know.”

“Oh, my battery must have died.” I held up my phone and walked over to plug it into the charger.

“Thanks. I appreciate it, and I know Gage does, too.”

“You’re welcome, Sam.”

“Look, I know it’s not much, but it’s something, and I wanted to let you know and ask you about it, too.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“I didn’t dream of Alec last night. I dreamed of you and beaches.” He told me about his dream, like it was something fictitious.

“That sounds like our trips to Panama City Beach and Hawaii.”

“We went to those beaches?” He asked with a shocked expression that hurt like a knife to my heart, because they were memories I cherished deeply.

“Yes,” I answered. “You took me to Panama City Beach when we were together the first time, before I knew about Alec being your brother. Then we went to Hawaii to say goodbye to Alec and have his memorial service. It was amazing by the way. We both finally found peace there.”

“Hmm. I didn’t think I would ever go back to Panama City Beach; it’s where my family went when Alec and I were kids. I always thought it would be too painful after our parents died. You know about that right?”

“Yeah, Alec told me,” I whispered.

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry. I’m still just trying to wrap my head around the fact that Alec and I have both been with you,” he said.

I felt sick to my stomach. He now questioned all of these cherished memories—and that we were together at all—because of the relationship I’d had with Alec.

“It’s okay.” I murmured. “Just take your time. I don’t think we should push your memory anymore. It’s clearly stressing you out, and you were right. It was upsetting me. Do you want to just start today over, maybe go and get some breakfast?”

“I’d love to, but I really think I should go.”

“Right, of course. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry. I need to drive over to Atlanta and see Mom and Dad anyway.”

“All right then, I guess I’ll see you around,” he said.

“Okay. See you around. Umm, thanks for stopping by for Gage.”

He nodded then left, and I leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. Gage came over and lay down next to me with his head in my lap.

“I know, buddy, I know,” I told him, petting his head. “I miss him, too.”

I drove over to my mom and dad’s house and parked my car in my old spot on the side of the driveway. I felt depressed as I climbed the stairs to the front porch. Opening the screen door and walking through the foyer, I heard my parents talking.

“No, Vance, I don’t think we should tell her. It’ll just make her feel worse, and he may remember at some point and wouldn’t want her to have found out that way.” Mom’s voice broke.

I wasn’t sure what that was about but I knew, if it had to do with Emmett, I didn’t want to hear anything about it anyway. Whatever it was didn’t matter anymore, because he was lost to me. I needed some happy time with my parents, and that was exactly what I was going to get. This was an Emmett Free Zone.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Mom and Dad sitting at the breakfast table, drinking coffee with their newspapers up in front of their faces.

“Hey Mom and Dad,” I said.