Wanting to Remember, Trying to Forget (Meet the Shepards, #1)

May

Danny closed her eyes as two cucumber slices were placed on her lids. After a good massage and a thirty minute facial, she felt amazing. Lauren and Amber were trying to get her back into a normal routine and a beauty treatment at Madame Fouche's Day Spa was apparently something they tried to do at least once a month. She was grateful to get out of their tiny apartment. Max was at work all day, which left her with nothing to do most of the time. Amber had taken her out for coffee a few times, but she was becoming bored at home and this outing was a welcomed break.

Max had been right about Amber. She did take a little getting used to. She could be so rude sometimes but for some obscure reason, Danny liked that about her. Lauren on the other hand, was completely the opposite. She was poised and lady-like, never speaking out of turn. She was much older than the two of them yet somehow they all got along.

"How are you doing, Danielle?" Lauren asked from the bed next to hers.

"I'm doing well," Danny replied. "I mean, I'm in no better position than I was last week when it comes to my memory but I'm feeling a lot better, more positive and you guys have all been so great and so accommodating."

"And how are things between you and Max?" came Amber's voice from the other side of her.

"Great," Danny replied almost instantaneously. "He's amazing, Amber. He's so patient. He answers all my questions. He holds me when I cry. He makes it easier to deal with everything. He puts me at ease and I feel...comfortable around him. I like him. I...really like him but—"

"But what?"

"I just have this weird feeling that he's hiding something from me."

"What could he possibly be hiding, dear?" Although Lauren's tone was light, she sounded a little nervous.

Danny sat up, removing the cucumbers from her eyes. "I don't know. He seems very guarded."

"That's just how Max is," Amber offered. "He has to start from scratch again and at the moment he has a lot more invested in the relationship than you do. He's probably just a bit skeptical about how all of this is going to play out."

Danny nodded. "I guess that makes sense." She laid back again but did not replace the cucumber slices back on her eyes. "Sometimes it feels as though our relationship is completely platonic."

Her statement made Amber snap up on the bed. "What makes you say that?"

"He's very affectionate," Danny explained, "but I have been living with him for three weeks and he hasn't even...tried to...kiss me yet. I mean, I'm not really sure if I'm ready for that but...he hasn't even tried." She shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't find me attractive anymore. I don't blame him. Look at me. I'm hideous."

Lauren sat up then, too. "You are not hideous, Danielle."

"Trust me, Danny," Amber said. "That isn't the reason why he hasn't tried to kiss you yet. He will wait as long as it takes until you feel ready to move forward. I'm not sure how you're going to take this, but if and when you do feel ready, you're going to have to make the first move."

Danny was not sure what she was feeling. All she wanted was to restore some sense of normality, but nothing was normal to her. In which normal scenario could a woman ever say she was crushing on her boyfriend? And she was crushing in a big way.

She hadn't lied to Amber when she said she really liked him. He was a very likeable guy, but that's what it felt like. A crush. Their light hand holding had progressed to hugs and a casual arm around her shoulder, but nothing more. There was a boundary he didn't overstep. There were times when she thought he might cross the line, but he never did and she was at a point where she didn't know what she really wanted anymore.