Unforgotten(69)

She pulls me into a hug, a greeting that still confuses me, but I manage to return the gesture with a clumsy pat on her back. She releases me and holds me at arm’s length. “I’m Ella.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

“Would you like something to drink? Water?”

I nod. “Yes, please.”

Ella retrieves a glass from a cabinet and fills it with water from a thin spigot installed on the sink. When she hands it to me, the first thing I notice is how crystal clear it is. I’d grown so accustomed to the slightly brownish color of the water we drank on the Pattinsons’ farm. My first sip is glorious. It’s so fresh and clean. Like I’m drinking directly from the sky. I finish the entire glass in a single gulp.

Ella laughs and takes the glass from me. “Thirsty?”

“I guess so. It’s been a long day.”

Ella gives me a pitying look from the sink as she runs the spigot again. “I do hope your friend is better soon.”

“Me, too,” I say quietly.

“Well, you must join us for dinner,” she says, handing me the refilled cup. “Cody is an excellent cook.”

I raise my brows at Cody. For some reason, I simply can’t picture the thirteen-year-old boy from my memory, who did nothing but read science magazines and play video games, cooking a meal. “Really?”

Cody chuckles. “It was a matter of necessity. Either learn how to cook or be forced to eat takeout every night.” He walks over to his wife and tenderly kisses her shoulder.

She shrugs. “Guilty as charged. Cooking is just not in my DNA.”

Cody and I share a quick look before he clears his throat. “Let’s eat.”

“Sweets,” Ella says to Cody, “will you call Reese down?”

Cody walks over to a staircase off the living room and yells, “Reese! Dinner!”

“I thought you were working late tonight?” Ella asks her husband.

“I was planning to. But something more important came up.” He shrugs and gives me a wink.

Working late?

I automatically flash to the memory. The one that takes place at two in the morning tomorrow. But my thoughts are interrupted by the patter of excited, tiny footsteps as a red blur comes whizzing down the stairs. I’m fairly certain he’s moving as fast as I do. He skips the last two steps and leaps energetically into Cody’s arms.

Cody laughs and swings the boy back and forth. “Hey, kiddo.”

“Daddy,” the boy says, and then he starts talking so rapidly, I can barely follow. “You’ll never guess what happened today at school.” He doesn’t give Cody a chance to guess; he just keeps talking. “This one girl, Rhi, she brought her frog to show-and-tell and Mrs. Beecher doesn’t like frogs. She thinks they’re slimy. But Rhi’s parents said she had to let her bring it anyway because Mrs. Beecher can’t say who can and can’t bring things, unless they’re dangerous things like knives and snakes. So Rhi brought the frog and this boy, Brayden, he was supposed to put the frog back into its aquarium, but he didn’t close the door all the way and the frog got loose and it climbed into Mrs. Beecher’s hair and she was screaming and flapping her arms so crazy.” Reese is waving his hands in the air to demonstrate his story and Cody has to continually duck his head to avoid being slapped in the face. “And everyone was laughing, except Mrs. Beecher, who was screaming, and no one would help her because it was too funny.”

When the boy finishes his story, he draws a long breath. I think he used up all the oxygen in a five-mile radius.

Then he turns and seems to notice me for the first time because he lets out a small yelp and goes very quiet. “Who’s that?” he whispers to Cody.

Cody laughs and takes a step toward me. “This is my friend Seraphina. Seraphina, this is my son, Reese.”

I paint on a bright smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Reese.”

But Reese, miraculously losing his ability to speak, turns and buries his face in his father’s shoulder.

“Aw, c’mon,” Cody coaxes. “Don’t be shy. She’s very nice.”

It takes a moment, but eventually Reese emerges from his hiding place in Cody’s shirt and turns to look at me. He stuffs two fingers in his mouth, but Cody immediately pulls them out.

“Do you know how to play Super Suds Sub?” Reese asks.

“Uh.” I look to Cody for help.

“It’s a virtual sim game,” he tells me. “His favorite.”

“You get to drive a submarine,” Reese explains eagerly.

I look to Cody for a definition of the word submarine. He seems to understand my silent request. “A vessel that travels deep underwater.”