6. Bella

6

BELLA

Dale strokes my cheek as he wakes me up. "Come on Bella, time to wake up. The storm has stopped."

"Huh?" I'm groggy and I still have a headache, but it's so nice and warm on the couch. I slowly open my eyes and frown as I realize Dale isn't on the couch with me. He's crouched next to me instead and I don't like it.

It hurt when he wouldn't kiss me last night, but I understand why he didn't. He's right. There are too many unanswered questions and we can't go there, but my body screams at me that he's the one. He's the one for me, and I need to embrace him.

The only thing stopping me from pursuing it further is the pain and struggle in his eyes. He wants me as badly as I want him and him to be the strong one for my sake makes it so I don't want to make things harder for him. More importantly, if I remember everything, I'm afraid of what I'll find and how it can hurt him. He's the last person in the world I want to hurt. I can't do it. He's too important. Too amazing. Too special.

"The storm has stopped, and I want to get an early start and see if I can move that tree. We need to get you to the hospital, okay?" His thumb strokes my forehead as his hand rests on the top of my head on the pillow. He keeps his head cocked to the side as his eyes roam over my face like he's taking in every inch of me. Like he's snapping a mental picture, so he doesn't lose any part of me.

It makes me warm and tingly in all the right places. The fantasy of his hands roams down my body as he gazes into my eyes and brings me pleasure, has me shivering and I bite back a moan.

Dale frowns as concern appears on his face. "What's wrong? Are you hurting?" He drops his hand on my forehead. "You don't have a fever. Shit, I should've tried to move the tree sooner."

I grab hold of his wrist to stop him from fretting. "Dale, I'm okay. I promise. It's smart to have waited. I'm just going to use the restroom real quick and then we can head out."

Dale nods, stands, and helps me off the couch untangling the mountain of blankets wrapped around my legs. He watches me as I shuffle to the bathroom with a full bladder.

Dale picks me up at the front door and I gasp. "What are you doing? I can walk," I protest, only to save face, though. I want him to continue to hold me, which is shocking. With my curves, I've never been one who likes to be held.

Hmmm…another new tidbit about myself.

"You only have socks on your feet, and you'll be walking in snow. I'm not letting your feet freeze for any reason."

I wrap my arms tighter around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder, enjoying the rare moments of his concern that might be the last moments we share.

The sorrow builds in my chest at the idea alone. I don't want this to be the last of our time together, but I'm realistic enough to recognize this might very well be it.

Dale settles me into his truck and wraps a throw blanket he brought with us around me, even though the truck is toasty warm. It appears he came out earlier and warmed it up and cleared it of all the snow. He must've taken care of it while I was asleep. Another sign he's caring and considerate.

He buckles me in and leans over to kiss the top of my head, but he stops himself. Clearing his throat, he ducks his head and shuts the door, and I slump against the seat. This restraint he has against me is admirable but extremely annoying.

Dale hops in and takes off at an insanely slow rate. I giggle. He glances at me. "What?"

"You can go a little faster, you know."

He shakes his head. "Nope, I'm not familiar with this area, and I'm carrying precious cargo that needs to be at the hospital. I can't have you getting even more hurt. Not on my watch."

The butterflies in my stomach flutter around while I fight back a smile, as I've never been so cherished by a man before. I freeze as the recognition hits, and I gaze out the window over the snow-covered landscape— appreciating everything I have around me in the moment and hoping I can keep it forever.

The beach is radiant with the crashing waves and the snow edging the water. I swear the snow glistens like glitter as the sun shines on each particle. The world looks clean as there are no tracks and it makes me believe I'm inside a painting. A part of me wants to keep the rest of my memories at bay so I can be frozen here in time with Dale, just like this.

Dale brakes to a stop and I look ahead and a large tree lays in the road. Dale looks it over and says, "I don't see a way to get around it right now, but I can drag it with my truck. It will just take us a little longer."

"Okay. I'll help." I move the blanket and unfasten my seat belt when Dale's hand lands on mine and shocks radiate up my arm.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I frown. "I'm going to help you."

"No, you're not. You're going to stay in the truck, continue to rest, and I can get it on my own. I just need to wrap the chain around the tree and move it off to the side. You need to take it easy."

"But…"

"No, buts. You need to be taking it easy and until I get a clearance from a doctor you are doing the absolute bare minimum." He lifts his hand when I'm about to argue with him again. "Nope. We don't know what's going on with you until we get you checked out. What if you fall and hit your head again? We can't take the risk."

We. I love the sound of we coming from his lips.

It's irritating that he has a point, and I want to argue with him, but I don't have a leg to stand on, so I nod and sigh as I rest my head on the seat. "Fine but be careful."

Dale relaxes after he prepared himself to fight with me, but he explained to me why he didn't want my help. He didn't just demand it and that goes a long way with me because it's been so long since anybody has treated me with such respect and in a partnership.

I frown as I watch Dale pull a couple of large chains out of the back of his pickup and I try to piece together the new sporadic bits of information I'm gaining. It's surreal to know the tidbits, but not know why I feel and think this way. It's like I'm watching a movie, but they have the scenes out of sequence and I'm dying to get to the end so I can see how it all plays together.

I remain sitting in the truck and watch Dale work and smile when he gets the road cleared, and he gets out of the truck to undo the chains, and I can't help watching him work. He's so capable, and it's extremely attractive, and I wonder if it's a trait I've always been drawn to.

He bends over to undo the chain around the trunk of the tree, and I lick my lips as I take in his tight ass, and I can't help but want to drool a little. Whether or not I remember my past, one thing I know for sure— no man has an ass as glorious as Captain Dale Mitchell. He clearly works out, but he must spend extra time on that ass because it is so delectable I can stare at it all day.

Hmmm…have I always been attracted to asses?

I giggle as I don't stress over it because now I know there's no other competition in the world. Dale has everybody beat, hands down. I giggle harder until something catches my attention from behind a sand dune, or more like a snow dune now.

I squint to get a closer look and a tall, slim man with torn clothes, and a weather worn appearance, shuffles toward the road. Something about him is off and I can't place my finger on it, but I study him closely.

Dale hasn't noticed him quite yet as he's wrapping the chains up.

I glance back at the man and there's an angry sense about him that has my body shaking, and my breathing labors as something pounds in my head like a flashing neon sign.

My body tenses and I'm geared to run or to huddle in on myself.

The man tries to straighten his clothes as he walks toward Dale, who lifts his head as he hears something. He looks off and spots the stranger walking our way. My eyes land on his hands as he works to straighten his hair, and a whimper falls from my lips.

I've seen the action a million times and my jaw drops. Memories flood into my mind and our constant fighting over money, him flirting with other women, and the way he always put me down had me wanting to leave him, but the past few weeks he's been dragging me out onto the road, and I didn't have a dime to my name.

The man's action lodges something in my brain like a light switch going on and I begin to remember.

"Pack up, Amelia, we're leaving."

"Leaving. What do you mean we're leaving? There's a big storm coming in. The news people are saying we need to shelter in place. Getting on the road is dangerous."

"Screw the news, people. I'm a good driver and we need to get going." Wayne's face glared at me as his stiff jaw and pursed lips showed me once again there was no getting out of the argument. "If you're not in the car in five minutes, I'm leaving without you."

Desperate and afraid, I scurried around the room and grabbed my meager belongings and stuffed them into my one bag. I stopped for a second and watched as the weatherman showed the storm brewing and my nerves rattle more.

Several loud honks sounded from outside the motel door and I sighed, running to the car. The rain poured and I was soaked, wishing I had time to change into warmer clothes but I washed them in the motel bathtub and only had the shorts and t-shirt as I had to pack my clothes wet. I wrinkled my nose thinking about how I was going to need to wash them again because they were bound to get a bad smell to them.

"Wayne, what in the world? Why couldn't we stay? Why are you constantly pushing us onto the road? It's been weeks and still you won't tell me what's going on."

Wayne's jaw jutted out and he ignored me.

Sighing, I leaned over to turn on the radio so I could listen to the weather reports, but Wayne shut it off.

"Why did you do that? We need to know what's happening."

Wayne growled and accelerated on the gas. "Amelia, shut up. I need to concentrate, all right?"

I grabbed the handle and panicked as we passed a sign saying "Thank You For Visiting Forbidden Falls. Please come again."

I closed my eyes as Wayne took the curves dangerously close to the edge as we moved around the mountain.

"Wayne, slow down. You're going to get us killed."

"Fuck, Amelia. Be quiet. I swear, you're annoying the shit out of me."

I huffed as I braced my hand on the middle console of the car and clutched the handle of the ceiling as I stared wide eyed at the road.

"Well, then, if I'm so annoying, I'll leave at the next stop. We're through, Wayne. I can't take this anymore. I'll figure something out." I had no clue what I'd figure out, but I'd find my way because any way was better than this.

Wayne's head snapped toward me and off the road. I swallowed hard. What did I do?

"Wayne!" I screamed, as the car didn't turn fast enough.

Pain, panic, and fear consumed me as I battled to hold on to anything.

My chest pounds as the car accident flashes to my mind and the memories of my life invade my mind at rapid speed, and then confusion as I wake up in the car with nobody else in sight and I stumble my way to Dale.