Finding Carrie (12 page)

“Well, maybe she is starting to remember something,” she said to reassure him.

“I don’t think she is remembering anything. This morning I had to tell her how to tell her daughters apart. I still have trouble sometimes,” he said, leaning against the piano for support.

“Well, maybe she is starting to fall in love with you again and not realizing it,” she said with a smile.

“I think she might.” He smiled. “She told me that she had a dream that I was going to leave her,” he said, thinking about this morning.

“That’s it; it’s coming back to her,” she said, smiling so wide that she showed her teeth. She loved Carrie and was secretly jealous of the love they shared. Their love was a once in a lifetime kind of love. “I hope things get better. So what about your mother. Do they have any idea where she is?”

“No, I called my brother this morning on my way here. They still don’t know where the guy is who took my mom. Oh, guess what? Carrie dug the crap out of the man, and they found skin and blood in her fingernails. That’s my girl, you know, always trying to keep everyone safe.” He smiled to himself, proud of his wife, but sad at the same time that she didn’t remember anything.

“Gosh, I hope they find her soon, safe and alive.” Maggie patted him on his arm.

“Me too,” he said, straightening up at the directors call to start the half dress rehearsal.

Without him knowing, a girl named Nikki came around the inner curtain. She had had a secret crush on Isaac for a few months. She knew he was married—she had been there—but she thought maybe this was her chance to get him to look at her. She would wait until after rehearsal, and then she was going to make her move on him. She watched him get to his spot on the stage with a huge smile on his face then went to her spot.

Carrie sat in the chair at the restaurant, looking around the room. “Do you remember this place?” Amy asked, watching her look around.

“No,” Carrie said. It looked familiar, as everything did, but she didn’t recognize anything.

“Oh, well, this is one of your favorite places to eat. You just love the salad they have here,” she said, pointing to the salad on the menu.

“Well, if that is what I like, then that is what I’ll have,” Carrie said, looking up at Amy. The waiter came and took their order. They sat in silence for a few moments. Amy was watching Carrie’s face as she took in her surroundings. She was beginning to miss her friend with her bubbly attitude and sense of humor. This person sitting in front of her looked like her friend and talked like her, but it wasn’t her friend. Something was missing, and that was the part of her friend that she missed.

Without warning, Amy heard music coming from Carrie’s purse. “Carrie, your phone is ringing.” Carrie looked at her like she didn’t know what she was talking about. “Your purse.” Carrie looked down at it. Her purse was sitting on the floor. She bent down to pick it up. She reached into it take the thing that was making noise out of it. “It’s Isaac; I can tell by the music,” Amy said. Carrie held it in the air. “Answer it.” As Amy said that, she reached and pushed the button. Carrie put it up to her ear.

“Hello,” Carrie said into it.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Isaac answered. Something about the way he talked to her sent tingles down her spine.

“Hi, Isaac,” she said.

“How are you? Are you at lunch with Amy?” he asked.

“Yes we are at…” She broke off, waiting for Amy to tell her where they were.

“Déjeuner,” Amy supplied in a whisper.

“Day-june-ay—something like that,” she said into the phone.

“Oh, Déjeuner, that is one of your favorite places to eat. Are you having the salad?” Isaac asked.

“Yes, how did you know?” she asked, looking at Amy with surprise.

“Well, I guess I just know my wife,” he said. “You know, it means lunch in French.”

“
French
? I’m trying to deal with Japanese, now there is French?” Carrie asked, shocked.

“Yeah, there is. I just wanted to call to see how you’re doing. I have to get back to rehearsal,” he said.

“Okay,” she said.

“I’ll see you soon,” Isaac said.

“Bye,” she said.

“Bye,” he said. He heard her hang up the phone. “I love you,” he whispered. He slipped the phone into his pocket. He wasn’t wearing his costume anymore, but his director wanted to go over some more things before the show opened tomorrow and to go over the whole show just one more time. He turned around and almost ran into Nikki. “Oh, sorry,” he said as he tried to walk past her.

“It’s okay. Wait,” she said, getting his attention.

“What?” he asked. He didn’t really know her, but now she wanted to talk to him.

“I heard about your wife. I just wanted to say how sorry I am,” she said, batting her eyes at him.

“It’s okay,” he said, starting to walk again. She grabbed his arm. He looked down at her hand and raised an eyebrow to look at her.

“I was thinking that maybe you would like to get a drink with me or something, since she’s out of the way,” she said, her fingers walking up his arm to stroke a finger down his face. He grabbed her hand and pushed her away. The sexy look she was giving him was wiped away.

“Nikki, my wife has amnesia. She’s not dead,” he said, walking away to get to his spot. Nikki watched him go. She was close to tears, rejection filling her body. Maggie came up behind her and tapped her shoulder. Nikki jumped with guilt.

“What did you expect? Even if she was dead, he wouldn’t
want
to have a drink with you. He loves her, and that kind of love, no one, not even you, can destroy,” Maggie said and disappeared. Nikki sulked for a minute. Then she realized that he was really in love with his wife and that she was just wasting her time. She went to her spot on the stage.

“Are you sure you are going to be okay for an hour before Isaac gets home?” Amy asked as she stood in the doorway of the apartment that Carrie shared with Isaac.

“Yes, I’ll be fine. I’m a little tired. I thought I might take a nap.” Carrie was trying to get some alone time, but Amy wasn’t getting the hint very well. She was tired. With the night that she had and waking up to the agony of pain that Isaac accidently inflicted on her, she felt weak and tired. The medicine made her feel that way too.

“All right, you have my number in your phone. All you have to do is call,” Amy said, stepping more fully into the hall. “See you at dinner then.”

“Dinner?” Carrie repeated. She knew that Isaac was taking her somewhere tonight but wasn’t aware that anyone was going to be there too.

“Yes, Isaac invited everyone to be there: me and Dave, Matt, and Kyle. Chrissie will be there and, of course, Chris and Missy,” Amy said.

“Chris and Missy are my brother and sister-in-law? But who are Matt and Kyle?” Carrie asked, leaning on the door.

“Matt and Kyle are our friends too. They are, well, how do I say this?” she asked, tapping her finger on her cheek trying to find a good way to put it. “Um, lovers. Well, they are gay, but they are good people and we love them. They are our really good friends, and they are anxious to see you and see if you remember them.”

“Oh, okay,” Carrie said, nodding.

“Okay, we’ll see you later,” Amy said, turning to the stairs. Carrie closed the door and turned to look around the room. She saw all the pictures surrounding her.

“I must love pictures, or maybe it is Isaac who loves pictures,” she said to herself.

She went over to a bookshelf that held books and more pictures. She saw a picture of Isaac down on one knee, and her hand was in his. He had a guitar around him and he was looking up at her. She wondered if that was when he proposed to her. They were on the beach with water on the other side of them. She went through the kitchen to walk down the hall, and there were more pictures lining the walls. She noticed a plaque of some sort on the door to her daughter’s room. She tilted her head at it and studied it.

“I wonder what this is?” she asked. She looked toward the room she shared with Isaac. There was another plaque hanging on the door there. “I wonder what they mean,” she said as she traced the symbol with her fingers. She dismissed it for now. When Isaac got home, she would ask. She then went to the pictures on the wall. There were many pictures of her all dolled up. One in particular caught her eye. She was wearing a light purple dress, and she was standing up on a stage, smiling and waving. She sighed and wondered what she was doing. She returned to the living room and back to the bookcase. She touched all the books with the name that Isaac said she wrote under. There were at least five books with that name on it. She picked up the first one on the left.

“Her Undying Love,” she read the title out loud. She opened it and went over to the couch. She sat down, curled her legs under her, and began to read it. It was about a girl who loved a man so much that she had to let him go to survive. Carrie only read a few pages and yawned. She laid the book over her chest, lay down on the couch with her legs crossed, and stretched out so she was fully lying on the couch. She fell asleep almost immediately but was somehow still alert, listening to the silence around her until she was fully asleep.

Chapter 13

I
saac and the girls came through the door. None of them noticed that Carrie was asleep on the couch until Isaac looked up and saw her. “Take your things to your room, girls,” Isaac said, walking over to her. She had been reading. One of the books she had written lay upon her chest. The sight of her took his breath away. He sat down next to her legs because it was the only place with room. She had her legs crossed and her arm across her stomach. He reached for the book and lifted it gently from where it laid. He closed it and placed it on the glass coffee table. He gazed back at her beautiful face then down to the necklace that she had been wearing around her neck since he gave it to her. He shifted his eyes to her hand with the beautiful wedding ring on it.

He reached with his hand and picked up her hand. She stirred. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it as she opened her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes half-closed, she peered at him through her lashes. He kissed her wedding ring, and she smiled. He turned her hand over and placed a kiss in the exact center of her palm. The kiss sent tingles down her arms. “How was your lunch with Amy?” he asked. He closed her fingers around the kiss and placed it over her heart.