She Steps Out Of Betrayal's Shadow To Rebuild Her Broken Home novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: Ten Years Missing
Melinda wakes sure she is nineteen, learns she is a wife and mother, refuses to sign her family's land away, and finds forty-one missed calls from a man her husband barred from the hospital.
The first thing Melinda Harlow said when she woke up was, "Who cut down the maple?"
A nurse was changing her IV bag.
She stopped with the clear bag in her hand.
"Mrs. Crane? Can you hear me?"
"I'm Melinda Harlow," Melinda said. Her tongue felt thick. "I'm nineteen. I was under the maple yesterday."
The nurse pressed a button on the wall.
"Stay still for me, honey. The doctor is coming."
The ceiling was white and the room smelled of metal and lemon soap.
Through the window there was a city and no trees.
The doctor came in with a tablet and sat on the edge of a chair.
"You've been unconscious for eleven weeks," he said. "You were in a car accident. Do you know what year it is?"
Melinda told him.
He shook his head slowly. "It's ten years later than that."
She laughed once, because it had to be a joke.
He didn't laugh back.
"It's called retrograde amnesia. Some of the last ten years may come back and some may not. You're twenty-nine."
Melinda lifted her left hand off the blanket.
A thin gold ring sat on her finger. She had never seen it before.
"Who gave me this?"
"Your husband," the nurse said gently. "He's been here every day."
The only man Melinda had ever wanted to marry was Leland Crane.
Yesterday he had stood under the maple in the gold light and promised her forever.
For one second she was happy.
Then she looked at the window again and felt ten years sitting on her chest.
The door opened.
Leland came in with white roses and a face full of relief.
He was older. His jaw was sharper and there were lines beside his eyes.
A new pink scar cut through his left eyebrow.
"Mindy," he said. "Oh, thank God."
He kissed her forehead. He smelled of cedar and hospital coffee.
"What happened to your face?" she asked.
"A cabinet door at home. I wasn't sleeping." He laughed at himself and squeezed her hand. "None of that matters now."
A woman came in behind him, holding a little girl by the hand.
It took Melinda a moment to place her.
Bianca Westervelt had been her roommate in the dorms, with the same auburn hair and the same crooked smile.
Bianca's right wrist was locked in a black brace.
"Oh, Mindy," Bianca whispered, and her eyes filled. "We were so scared."
"What did you do to your arm?"
"Tennis. I'm hopeless." Bianca wiped her cheek with her good hand. "This is Posy."
The little girl had light brown braids and Melinda's grey-blue eyes.
She stayed pressed against Bianca's leg.
"Hi," the girl said, to the floor.
"Posy is eight," Leland said softly. "She's yours, Mindy. She's ours."
Melinda looked at the child and felt nothing she could name.
It was the worst moment of her life, and everyone in the room could see it.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know her."
Posy's mouth wobbled.
Bianca knelt and held her, and over the girl's head she gave Melinda a look of such tender sorrow that Melinda nearly apologized again.
"It's okay," Bianca said. "Give it time. You're home to us either way."
Leland sat on the bed with a leather folder in his hand.
"Mindy, I hate to do this today. The insurer has been difficult. They need two signatures before they release the funds for your care."
He opened the folder to a page of dense type.
"This moves the house and land into the family trust so the bills are covered."
He turned a second page.
"And this lets me sign for you while you recover. It's only paper. The doctor says you shouldn't be stressed."
The doctor and the nurse stood quietly by the door.
Bianca held Posy and watched.
Leland held out a pen.
Melinda read the top of the first page.
It named the Harlow estate. Her father's name was in the second line, and below it was the lot behind the house where the maple grew.
"This is my father's land," she said.
"It's our land, Mindy. We've owned it for years." His voice was gentle and perfectly patient. "I handle everything now. You don't have to think about any of it."
It was the kindest voice she had ever heard.
It was also the voice of a man who had practiced.
"I'd like to read it first," Melinda said. "With someone who isn't you."
The room went still.
Leland smiled and capped the pen.
"Of course. Take all the time you need."
He didn't look angry, and that frightened her more than anger would have.
"Then I'm not signing anything today," Melinda said.
She said it to the doctor, so there would be a witness.
The doctor looked down at his tablet.
Leland kissed her forehead again and left with Bianca and the girl.
At the door Posy looked back once.
The nurse came to straighten the sheets. When they were alone she opened the bedside drawer.
"Your husband asked us to keep this locked away, in case it upset you," she said quietly. "But it's your phone."
Melinda pressed her thumb to the screen and it woke.
Forty-one missed calls.
Every one was from Zach, and every one was from the night of the crash.
Zachary Maddox, the groundskeeper's son, her best friend since she was six.
She had seen him at the fence yesterday.
The last call came at 11:52 p.m.
"Who is Zach to my husband?" Melinda asked.
The nurse hesitated.
"Mr. Crane had him barred from this floor the first week. He keeps coming anyway."
She glanced at the door.
"He's down in the lobby most nights."
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