The Tin Man (Inner Circle #1) - Kailin Gow Page 0,1

up a bit more.

“There’s someone here who would like to see you,” Meecham said. “Are you up for it?”

“Sure,” Summer said with a grim expression on her face. “Why not? I have nothing else to do.”

I took a few steps to enter the room but kept my distance.

“Who is he?” Summer said.

The question never failed to destroy me.

“A new doctor?” she went on. “A nurse? He seems kind of young.”

“No, honey,” Meecham said. She looked lovingly at Summer. “You know, we were wondering what you might remember about the day of this accident you had.”

“I’ve told you already, Mom,” Summer said, her brow creasing into an unhappy frown. She picked up the colorful cushion at her side and hugged it. “You know I don’t remember anything.”

Meecham glanced at me. “The doctors say the concussion can make her a little testy from time to time.”

I nodded my understanding.

“Honey,” Meecham said turning back to her daughter. “There is a possibility that you’ll remember what happened to you at some point. I know it’s a bit annoying, but I have to ask you.”

Summer looked down at the cushion she was hugging and played with the fringe around the edge. “I know,” she said more gently. “I’m sorry.”

She glanced at me then back at her mom. “I don’t remember what happened.”

“Do you want to try to backtrack to see what happened just before it?”

Summer shook her head.

“I was gone for a year before your accident,” Meecham nonetheless said. “Do you remember anything about what you did while I was gone?”

“Where did you go?” Summer said with a childlike tilt of her head.

“Well,” Meecham said with a soft chuckle. “I can’t tell you exactly where I went, but it was a very important mission… something that I had to take care of personally.”

“Mission?” Summer said. “Mom, I don’t remember which mission. I know you have several. But for what?”

Meecham smiled. “Remember what I told you yesterday? That I’m in the military. I’m a strategist.”

Summer nodded heavily. “Oh, yeah. Right. You’re a high ranking officer or something.”

“Right.”

“And you left me here alone?”

“No, sweetie,” Meecham said. “You weren’t alone. You went to live with my sister, Sookie, remember… in Malibu. You even sent me messages telling me how much you loved being there… the beach house, the ocean…. You love living with your Aunt Sookie. She is a wild one and I think you liked that. I think you liked the fact that she let you do things that you knew I never would.”

“Sounds like fun,” Summer said in a disheartening flat tone.

“Sookie even calls her house ‘the Pad’ as if she were still in the 70s.”

Summer shook her head. “I don’t remember, Mom. I mean, I know who Sookie is, and I do love her. But I don’t remember living with her. I don’t remember being in Malibu.”

“What about the private school Aunt Sookie enrolled you in?” Meecham said. “Do you remember anything about Hidden Falls High? Any of the teachers? Any of the students? Any of your friends?”

Again, Summer shook her head.

I couldn’t take it any longer. I knew that Meecham disapproved of my pushing the issue, but I nonetheless stepped forward. “What about me?” I said, my heart pounding as I looked into Summer’s big hazel eyes. “Do you remember me? Dante Black. Remember?”

She looked up at me and furrowed her brow.

“Look carefully at me, Summer,” I said. “Look at me.”

Smiling, she looked deep into my eyes, and for a moment I felt an optimistic stirring in my gut.

She recognizes me, I thought. Her mind has finally cleared, and she knows who I am.

“You do have beautiful and, dare I say, unforgettable green eyes,” she said. “The contrast between your eyes and your jet black hair is startling. Very attractive. I’m sure you’re very popular with girls.”

I waited for the inevitable ‘but’.

“You seem like a great guy,” she went on. “But, I don’t know you. I don’t remember knowing you.”

Even a few months after the accident… I thought as I swallowed the tears that threatened to stream down my face. I closed my eyes to hide my frustration and pain. But, damn it, every time I came, every time I hoped and every time that she told me she had no idea who I was… it was like losing her all over again.

“We were at Black Biotech,” I said softly, once again hoping the name would spark something. “We’d gone up to my office. My father showed up…”

She just looked at me, completely blank.