9. Kaci

Three sets of beady eyes turn to stare at me as I unlatch the door to the chicken coop.

"Hey, ladies."

I try to keep my voice steady the way I've heard Hunter speak to the chickens. There's a big one with russet red feathers, and she cocks her head at me. Her sharp beak opens and closes, and she gives a low squawk that sounds like a warning.

"I've got your breakfast."

I sprinkle a handful of feed over the ground and the other two peck at it obligingly, but not Big Red. She kicks up her spindly legs, and the sound of her claws scratching on the ground makes me shiver.

"Bawwwwk." She stares at me while kicking her feet up as if to say, "Who the hell invited you into my chicken coop?"

"Easy." I step carefully toward the nesting box, keeping my eye on Big Red.

My hand searches in the straw, and I pull out an egg with a downy feather attached to it.

"Bawwwk," says Big Red as she steps closer to me, her head moving in and out of her body in the way chickens do.

"You got any more eggs for me?"

I'm trying to keep my voice steady, but the other chickens have come up to see what's going on, and now I'm surrounded.

There are two more eggs, and I carefully extract them from the laying area and add them to the basket.

"Thank you for these," I say to the chickens, but my gratitude only earns me more feet scratching and beady eye action.

Big Red steps boldly toward me, and she comes up to my knees. Even though I'm wearing sweatpants, her beak's a little too close to my skin for comfort.

"I'll just take these inside…"

I edge toward the door to the coop, and one of the smaller chickens flaps her wings in protest as I accidentally stand on her foot.

It's the transgression that Big Red has been waiting for. She lunges at my legs, her wings flapping as her beak bites into my sweatpants.

I let out a yelp, which does more to anger them than scare them away. Three chickens come at me in a flurry of beaks and feathers. I frantically pull at the latch, but not before there's a tearing noise in the sweatpants and Big Red shakes her head triumphantly with a piece of grey fabric in her mouth.

I dash out of the chicken coop, shutting it firmly behind me. There's a cacophony of angry chicken noises, and Big Red throws herself at the chicken wire door.

"Jesus…" I mutter to myself. "That's one angry chicken."

Big Red stares angrily at me through the chicken wire.

"I'll turn you into a casserole," I mutter.

I take the eggs into the house, and Hunter laughs when I tell him what happened. At least it's one more item I can add to my list.

Not good with animals / chickens

We're finishing up breakfast when a car pulls into the driveway. A perky young woman gets out with her silky auburn hair tied up in a bouncy ponytail. Hunter smiles when he sees her, and a stab of jealousy pierces my heart.

I didn't even ask if he had a girlfriend.

"It's Izzie," he says. "The Assistant Fire Chief's daughter. He told me he'd send her around to keep you company."

"Oh," is all I can say. I was hoping to spend the day with Hunter, but I suppose he's got his own life to be getting on with.

Izzie comes in weighed down with a cardboard box which Hunter takes off her. She flashes him a wide smile, showing perfect teeth framed by a perfect round face. I look away as jealousy courses through me.

"You must be…" She stops and confusion crosses her face. "Sorry, do you remember your name yet?"

She's embarrassed by her blunder, and her cheeks tinge pink.

"I still don't remember anything."

"Is there a name you want to go by?" she asks.

Hunter's been calling me angel, and I like that. But I want that to stay between him and me. I don't want to share that with anyone. But I suppose I must have a name. People need to call me something.

I rack my brain to see if there's anything more in there than there was yesterday. Some clue to my identity. But it comes back a big blank.

"I'm not sure."

Hunter has put the box in the living area. He doesn't even give Izzie a second glance as he heads to the kitchen to make coffee. I decide she's not his girlfriend and that I like her easy smile.

"I know." She takes her phone out of her purse. "Let's look at some name sites and see if any of the names trigger anything."

We sit on the couch, and Izzie nudges the box out the way with her foot.

"I brought you some clothes, since Dad said we were about the same size, and some other things that might help. But first up, we need to find you a name."

She pulls up a names list on her phone and frowns. "These are all too modern. I guess you don't remember the year you were born?"

I rack my brain and come up with a big fat nothing. "No. I don't even know how old I am."

She looks sympathetic, but it's gone in an instant. "Right. I'm nineteen and you look…" she purses her lips, looking at me critically. "…maybe a few years older. Definitely Gen Z rather than millennial. Let's start with the top 100 girls names of the late nineties."

She's smart, and I like her. I didn't think to try this last night.

Izzie starts reading names out, glancing at me between each name to gauge my reaction.

"Jessica, Ashley, Emily, Sarah…"

I close my eyes and let each name wash over me, waiting to feel something. Anything.

"Samantha, Amanda, Britany, Elizabeth…"

She continues through the list.

"Kelsey, Chelsea, Anna…"

Something stirs in my gut, and my eyes fly open. Izzie stares at me and repeats the name.

"Anna."

There's something familiar about the name, and it's on the edge of my memory. I'm not sure if it belongs to me, but I can't grasp what it is.

"Is it Anna?" Izzie clasps her hands in front of her excitedly. "Anna? Is that your name?"

I hold my breath, trying to get the message my body is telling me. There's definitely something familiar about the name Anna. Izzie's looking at me expectantly, so I nod.

"I think so." My eyes widen, and I laugh with relief. "Anna." I repeat the name, settling into it. "I'm Anna."

Izzie squeals with delight and bounces up and down on the couch, making me laugh.

Hunter comes into the room, and I leap off the couch.

"I'm Anna," I say, grabbing his hands excitedly. "My name's Anna."

He looks confused and frowns at me. "Are you sure?"

A sliver of doubt cuts through the excitement. Of course I'm not sure. But it's all I've got to cling onto, and I don't know why he's not happy about it.

"I think so."

He smiles, but there's a flicker of something else I can't read in his expression. "I'm happy for you, Angel."

I write Anna at the top of the list of things I know about myself.

Hunter heads out to do some yard work while Izzie pulls bottles of nail polish out of the box.

"I thought some pampering might cheer you up."

She takes my hands and examines them, a frown appearing on her forehead.

"Something tells me you're not a girly girl."

I snatch my hands back and examine them. The nails are bitten short, some of them are cracked, and there's dirt under the fingernails.

"I think you're right."

I add it to my list. Then Izzie does her best to give me a manicure.

Over the next few hours, she pulls different activities out of the box and I give them a try. By the time she leaves, I've added more items to my list.

Can't knit

Can't draw

Can't do origami

Not artistic?

Can read

Good at Scrabble

Likes words?

Izzie stays for most of the day, and when she leaves I offer to cook. I'm feeling stronger today and less sore, and Hunter has done all the cooking so far. But after wrestling with pans in the kitchen, I can confidently add another item to my list.

Can't cook

The kitchen is strewn with pans, the smell of burnt meat hangs in the air, and Hunter sits across from me at the table, his jaw working overtime on the tough piece of dry chicken he's chewing.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been so ambitious."

I chose a recipe from a cookbook he has since, I've got plenty of time and he had all the ingredients. But by the way my stress levels elevated in the kitchen and the poor excuse for roasted chicken breasts we have in front of us, I should have stuck to spaghetti on toast.

"What did I eat in my real life?"

I wonder for the hundredth time. If I'm a useless cook, did someone cook for me? Or did I eat everything out of a tin or plastic tub?

"I'll cook from now on." Hunter points his fork at me. "You stick to dishes."

Which sounds good to me.

We clean up together, then settle on the couch for a movie. Hunter's got a DVD collection and I scan the titles, but none of them are familiar. Maybe I'll get to rediscover my favorite movie all over again.

He's mostly got action movies and war flicks. I choose one called Bravo Two Zero and hold up the cover.

"Any good?"

Hunter sits himself on the couch. "It's that movie that made me want to enlist."

My stomach fizzes, and I look up at him. It's the same feeling I had looking at the photos yesterday. There's something about the military in my past, I'm sure of it.

"How long were you in for?"

"Eight years."

I'm surprised he answered and I don't move, not wanting to break the spell as I ask the next question.

"Why did you leave?"

I hold my breath hoping he'll answer, hoping it might trigger something that helps me remember. But he expertly changes the subject again.

"Let's stick to something less intense."

He reaches forward and selects a DVD from the pile: The Princess Bride.

The cover has a young couple staring dreamily at each other. I grab it and turn it over to check out the back. There's a picture of a huge man and another wielding a sword.

"It looks like a children's movie."

Hunter doesn't seem like the type to watch kids' films. Unless he has a child somewhere.

My eyes go wide. "Are you a dad?"

He chuckles. "No. Just watch the damn movie, you'll see."

Two hours later I've got tears streaming down my cheeks as the credits run, and I'm curled into Hunter's side with a blanket around us on the couch.

"Told you you'd like it."

He's not wrong. "It's the best movie I've ever seen."

He chuckles at my joke, which makes his eyes dance. I want to stay wrapped in the blanket with him where it's safe and warm. I don't want to go upstairs to the dark where I'll be on my own with my own blank mind.

"Can we watch it again?"

"What, now?" His eyebrows raise in surprise, and I nod.

Hunter pushes a button on the remote.

"As you wish..."