The Sound of Consequence (Puget Sound ~ Alive With Love Book 1) (28 page)

Once the programs had been removed, he checked activity on the built-in web cam. Greg being a computer programming teacher, he probably knew how to activate the camera remotely and spy on Stacie that way too. The web cam log was extensive. Owen printed it up, then set a password for the webcam, noting it on the pad, and went into the control panel to set a password for her log in. She needed spyware and a firewall, but he would take care of that later. He logged off the computer, unhooked all the cables, and packed everything into his backpack, just in case Stacie wanted it. He also packed the printouts and the note pad.

It had been two hours since Owen had left the hospital. When he returned, Stacie’s parents, Greg, and Jenny were all sitting in the waiting room. The open area had standard hospital seating and tables with magazines spread all around. Stacie’s parents faced the direction of Stacie’s room, which was only two rooms down, and they were both flipping through magazines. Jenny sat perpendicular to them, typing away on her computer. Greg slouched in the corner, reading a technology magazine.

Owen sat next to Jenny.

“Hi,” she said. “They brought Stacie back to her room about an hour ago. The nurse won’t allow anyone to see her until after the results of the CT scan come back. Dr. Kam’s with her now.” Owen just nodded, reluctant to bring attention from her parents to himself by speaking.

“How did things go with you? Did you get that thing done for Stacie?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah, I got it done. There was a lot to clean up.” Owen said, taking Jenny’s cue and keeping his response generic as well. As much as he wanted to thrash Greg for spying on Stacie, he was going to let Stacie handle it. Unless she asked him to get out a can of whoop-ass, then he’d be happy to oblige.

Owen stood when Dr. Kam came out a few minutes later. “The CT looked fine. Stacie still needs to rest, so only one visitor at a time.” He made eye contact with everyone in the group. “I also need to stress the importance that no one upset her. No conversations that might cause her blood pressure to elevate.”

He turned to Owen and rested a hand on his shoulder. “She wants to see you.”

Relief from the news was quickly replaced with excitement that Stacie wanted to see him.  Before he jumped for joy like a little boy in a candy store, he reminded himself of the mission Stacie had sent him on. Perhaps she just wanted the results. Then Owen remembered the way she’d touched him before he left the hospital. She may not remember him, but the spark still existed between them.

Stacie was sitting up in bed, drinking from a large cup. A smaller bandage covered her head and though her complexion remained pasty, she looked beautiful.

When Owen leaned in to give her a quick kiss, Stacie pulled him to her, turning it into a longer, more sensual kiss. Owen didn’t want stop, but the doctor’s warnings echoed in his mind so he forced himself to back away.

“I thought we should finish the kiss that got interrupted earlier,” she said.

“The doctor said we shouldn’t do anything that’ll elevate your blood pressure.”

Stacie sighed. “Then I guess ripping your clothes off right here is out of the question.”

Owen looked at her, hopeful that her memory had returned. “Do you remember?”

“No,” she said, still smiling. “I just have this overwhelming need to do that.” She paused, a question furrowing her brow. “Have we…” Stacie’s voice trailed off on the question and her cheeks blushed, so Owen knew what she was getting at.

“Made love? Yes, we have.” He kissed her again. He pulled away only slightly, his lips still brushing hers as he spoke. “And it is always amazing.”

“Tell me,” she said.

“Tell you what?” Owen asked.

“Tell me about us. About the first time we met.”

Owen smiled as he remembered the first time he’d seen her.

“I had just come back from Missoula with my buddy Bryan. He restores old cars and I had gone with him to look at a ’67 Mustang. If the price was right, we were going to buy it together, I’d pay for the restoration, then it’d be mine when it was done. I like Mustangs. Anyway, when we got back to the city, we hit Starbucks. You were there. You spilled your coffee all over me.”  It’d been a few weeks ago, but Owen remembered it like it was yesterday.

“The spark between us was immediate, like being struck by lightning. I wasn’t sure you felt it, because you got out of there as fast as you could.”

Owen caressed her cheek. Her skin was incredibly soft, so smooth. He’d kiss her if it wouldn’t ignite the fire between them. Just one kiss would lead to more wanting and she’d just had brain surgery.

“Well, with all this craziness going on with my brain, I was probably embarrassed about the coffee. Plus, I’ve never really felt a spark before. Greg asked me out on a dare and I was bored, so I said yes. We’d been together a long time.”

“Do you feel it now?” he asked, still stroking her soft cheek.

She kissed him, her tongue sweeping across his lips before it plunged into his mouth. The delicious dance went on for who the hell knows how long. Owen was ready to unravel, to say to hell with doctor’s orders and take her right there. Fortunately his better judgment had him pulling away from her.

“I guess that’d be a yes?” he asked.

“Then we met at the club,” Stacie said.

Owen wasn’t sure how she knew that and she must have seen the confusion on his face. “Jenny told me. So tell me about the club.”

“You practically jumped me right on the dance floor.”

Stacie laughed. “That’s so unlike me. Tell me more. I want to know everything.” She seemed intrigued, like Owen was telling her about a movie he’d seen.

Owen told her everything, starting at the club and ending with the moment he found her passed out in the hallway.

“I think that I knew I was in love with you the moment I spotted you on the ferry. Your eyes were closed. You were smiling, breathing in the morning air. Your hair was blowing around. You were beautiful. When you opened your eyes, you just stared at me. It was almost as if you knew I was there. I guess you probably did, if you have this neck tingle thing.”

“So tell me about your daughter,” Stacie urged.

Owen had been anxious to talk about Hailey, but the time was never right. “Her name is Hailey. She’s twelve and lives with her mother in Louisiana.”

For the next hour, he rambled on about Hailey’s love of painting, how she read the entire Harry Potter series in a month, that she swims like a fish, and can’t wait to get braces so she won’t have a gap between her front teeth anymore.

“How come you don’t see her more often?” Stacie asked.

“Terms of the divorce, which you already know about. Of course, you don’t remember.” He sighed. “I’d prefer to give your memory time to come back before I rehash that part of the story.”

Stacie nodded.

“So I have your computer.” Owen said, feeling now was as good a time as any to tell her what a douche bag her ex was.

“What did you find?” she asked, as if she knew there was something that shouldn’t be there.

“There were quite a few spyware programs,” he said as he handed her the papers he’d printed and made notes on. “It looks like your webcam had also been activated remotely several times. Here are the activity logs. Oh, and I set up a password for your log in and for your webcam. I wrote them down in the notebook as well. You will probably want to change them.” He handed her the notebook and the printouts of the logs.

Stacie read Owen’s notes and asked questions. When had Greg confronted her on the pier, when had she met Owen on the ferry, had they ever used the web cam, maybe to Skype or something?

Owen laughed. “Actually, we’ve never even talked on the phone. I couldn’t get you to give me your number.”

Stacie looked at him apologetically. “Well, as soon as I remember it, I’ll give it to you.”

Stacie awoke the next morning
to find Owen watching her from the chair next to the hospital bed. She couldn’t explain why she was so happy to see him or why seeing him sitting there across the room made her heart race, especially since she couldn’t remember anything she knew about him. It just felt right to see him there.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Good morning,” he responded, moving to the bed to kiss her. “How are you feeling?”

“My head aches a little, but other than that, I’m fine.”

“The nurse asked me to call her when you woke up. She needs to check your vitals. Are you ready for all that? Maybe some breakfast?”

Stacie pulled Owen close and kissed him. His lips were better than any breakfast the hospital might have to offer. “Now I’m ready.”

Owen hit the call button and a few minutes later a heavyset nurse in purple scrubs arrived. The blonde hair pulled tight into a clip really emphasized the woman’s round face, bright and cheery with a warm smile and pink cheeks. She hummed as she took Stacie’s blood pressure, temperature, and pulse.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“My head aches a little,” Stacie replied.

“We can take care of that with a little painkiller. No point in suffering,” the nurse added. “Since it’s Saturday, Dr. Kam won’t be in today, but one of the residents will pop around to examine you. In the meantime, ready for some breakfast?”

“Starving,” Stacie said.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” the nurse replied. “Here’s the menu, hon. Simply call in your order and someone will deliver right up to you.”

Stacie ordered big so she could share with Owen. He didn’t say anything, but he had to be hungry too. While they waited for breakfast to be delivered, her parents and Greg barged in to the room.

“Oh, honey, you look so much better today. You have color back in your face,” Stacie’s mom squealed in her shrill voice, pushing Owen out of the way.

At least her dad acknowledged him. “Good morning, Owen,” he said, reaching out his hand.

“Good morning, sir.” Owen shook her dad’s hand, then nodded at Greg, who did the same with a snarl on his face.

“How are you feeling, honey?” her dad asked.

“I’m fine, Dad.” Stacie wasn’t sure that they should all be in there, but she knew her mother would cause a scene if she asked them to leave. And Stacie wasn’t ready to deal with that, so she hoped her mother would be friendly this morning.

Stacie’s father wasn’t much of a meddler. He was more of a follower. He usually sided with Stacie’s mother, but Stacie suspected that was more of a way to keep the peace with her than it was in actual support. Stacie had been surprised the day before when her dad had attempted to quiet Marion. She was also impressed with him for being friendly with Owen. She was sure that her mother would ream him out later for that, if she hadn’t already.

Stacie looked at Greg, who stood at the foot of the bed staring at her with no emotion at all on his face. He was cold. There was nothing warm, nothing loving about him. Greg was nothing like Owen, that was obvious even if she didn’t remember much about her time with Owen. Her instincts told her that she was right to want to pursue things with him.

It was time to confront Greg and put their relationship behind her. She wanted to move forward with the new life she had started forging. Even if she couldn’t remember what had gotten her to Seattle, she knew that she didn’t want to go back.

“I need to talk to Greg,” she  announced, turning to her parents. “Mom, Dad, could you wait outside?” She turned to Owen and smiled, relieved when he took the cue to leave without her having to ask him.

Owen kissed her forehead and set the backpack with the computer and notes on the bed with her. As he was walking away, he turned to Greg and spoke softly, but Stacie could still hear his words.

“You upset her and you’ll have to answer to me.” Greg just stood there, that cold, emotionless expression still on his face, waiting until after everyone had left to move around the bed.

“Man, I thought that guy would never leave.”

He slouched in the chair that Owen had occupied when she woke up. Owen had looked like he belonged there. Greg just looked out of place in his usual khaki slacks and simple shirt.

“Stace, I know you’ve been through a lot. And I forgive you for everything. I want to take you home. I can pack up your car now and as soon as you’re discharged, we can be on the road.” Stacie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was he really this delusional?

“Greg,” she started, her voice soft and low. “Ten years is a long time. We were just kids when we got together. A lot has changed since then. I’ve changed.”

“I know that Stace, and I know I wasn’t willing to accept that. Now, I am. I can change too, if you want me to.” She’d never heard him sound desperate before. Greg was controlling, mildly demanding in his passive aggressive manner. Pleading wasn’t something he’d ever done.

“I don’t want you to change,” Stacie told him. “I just want you to move on. I’ve been unhappy for a long time. But now I’m happy.”

“With this guy? Owen?” The contempt wasn’t just in Greg’s voice, it showed on his face, too.

“Owen is part of it.” Even though Stacie couldn’t remember the last couple months, Greg didn’t need to know that. She felt happy. Even being in the hospital, with Owen at her side, she was happier than she could remember feeling in years. If ever. She didn’t want Greg to think that it was simply this man making her happy. All of the other changes she’d made obviously played a part too.

Greg stood up and paced the room. “Do you know how humiliating it was to hear from Glen that you’d resigned? Ten years, Stace, and you just walk out without a word. You owe me more than that.”

She’d left without a word? That didn’t seem like something she would do, but Greg’s fury was real. Whatever she’d done to end their relationship, however she had left, it was obviously a huge blow to his ego. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“I’m sorry, Stace. About what happened that day. We can fix it. You have to give me a chance.”

About what happened that day? Before Stacie could think of an intelligent response, she blurted, “What happened? What day? The day of the accident?”

Greg gave her a measured look and Stacie knew she’d just shown her cards. She had no memory of the accident, of that entire day. Or of the last two months. Suddenly, without any specific reason, thoughts of Greg filled her with fear.

“You don’t remember, do you?” he asked, his furrowed brow quickly relaxing as he answered his own question.

“What exactly are you sorry about?” she asked, unwilling to admit what Greg now knew.

A smile spread across his face, but it was far from friendly and warm. He had the upper hand now and he knew it.

Greg stood in the corner and leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed. He was obviously contemplating his answer, probably formulating some lie now that he knew the secret Stacie had unintentionally given up.

“The accident Stace. I didn’t want you to go out with Audrey that night. We fought and you left anyway. If you’d stayed, Audrey wouldn’t have hit the moose. She’d still be alive.”

Tears filled Stacie’s eyes. Was this true? Had she caused the accident?

“You’re lying,” she said, though she wasn’t convinced. He’d made the statement with a confidence he never showed when he lied. He’d taken his time, thought carefully about his answer.

“I’m not lying and you know it.”

A vision of Greg’s hand flashed through her mind and the anxiety she felt would have knocked her over if she wasn’t already lying down. Oh, Gatsby. Had he hit her? In her heart, she knew he had. Why else would he apologize? He’d never once apologized for a fight, not in ten years. He was always right, at least from his perspective. And if he was right, there was no cause for apology. Her hand lifted to her left eye, as though it recalled on its own what Greg had done. From across the room, something flickered in Greg’s eyes. It was his own fear.

He had hit her.

“Get out,” she demanded. Without an actual memory, Stacie wasn’t confident enough to accuse him of anything, but there was enough familiarity, between her hand and his eyes, to make her fear being alone in the room with him.

Greg stormed over to the bed where Stacie lay, pinned her arms down, and kissed her. She’d never known him to be aggressive. Never. Not in bed, not out of bed. Their sex life had been as boring as every other aspect of their relationship. There was never any passion between them. That Stacie remembered. So why would he try to be passionate now?

She tried to turn away from his kiss, but he was strong and forceful, keeping her hands pinned, his body a heavy, unrelenting boulder weighing on her chest. When she finally managed to free an arm, she pushed him away. “Enough!”

“I thought that’s what you wanted. More excitement. More passion. That’s what you told Jenny.”

Had she told Jenny that? She supposed it was possible. How would Greg know? Stacie decided to confront him about her computer. She pulled it out of the backpack.

“I know what you did to my computer.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, backing away. She couldn’t help but notice how his voice had gone up an octave when he looked away from her.

“That was definitely a lie.”

Greg glared at her and Stacie felt like she had the advantage in this round. Now it was her turn to lie. “I asked my brother about the legality of it. He told me that I have a pretty strong case if I want to press charges. You could go to jail.” While she had no intentions of pressing charges against him, she did want him out of her life.

“Stace, I love you.”

“No you don’t, Greg. You love the idea of me. High school sweethearts, teaching at their alma mater, living happily ever after with two point three children and a dog. That’s what you’ve always wanted.”

“It’s what you’ve always wanted, too.”

“No, actually it isn’t.” Stacie had allowed herself to believe it was what she wanted. It was what everyone else wanted for her. She wasn’t ready for marriage, for children, for that kind of life. Even if she was, she didn’t want all that with Greg. Shaking her head, she focused on him. “We can’t make each other happy, Greg.”

“Yes we can.”

“No, we can’t.” Stacie used her high school teacher voice, the one she needed when some unruly teenager was getting out of hand. Playing nice wasn’t working, so it was time to crank it up a notch.

“I want you to leave Seattle. I want you to leave me alone. And I want you to move on. If you bother me again, I’ll consider going to the police with your hacking. I’ve got enough evidence to press charges. Think about what that would do to your career.”

Stacie knew that last statement would hit him hard. Teaching at the school was everything to him. It was an easy job. He had his lesson plans perfectly organized so that he didn’t have to bring a lot of work home with him, not many assignments to correct outside of the classroom. He wasn’t a great teacher, but he could hold his own. The kids liked him because they did most of their work in the classroom. Any teacher who didn’t give a lot of homework was popular. Greg was comfortable at the school, and he wouldn’t jeopardize his position.

Greg scowled, probably weighing whether or not Stacie would follow through with her threat. “This isn’t over, Stace. Have your little fling. Get it out of your system. But the longer you wait, the harder it’s going to be to pick up the pieces.” He skulked across the room, scowled at her one more time, then left.

Stacie let out a sigh of relief. The feeling dissipated when moments later, her mother stormed in, followed by her dad and Owen.

“Greg just left. What did you say to him?” Stacie was so relieved to have Greg gone that she didn’t care how upset her mother was.

“Mom, I’ve told you before. It’s over between me and Greg. I’m with Owen now. You can be happy for me or you can leave.”

“Well, I…” Marion obviously didn’t know what to say. No one ever talked back to her. The woman always had to have her way and Stacie had learned as a teenager that disagreeing with or talking back never got her anywhere. It had always been so much easier to let Marion think she’d won. Stacie braced for a fight and was relieved when her mother turned on a huff and stomped out, making her own dramatic exit.

Stacie’s dad smiled as he moved across the room. Opening his arms, he pulled Stacie against his chest in a strong embrace. Stacie couldn’t remember the last time she’d hugged her dad. Really hugged him. Maybe when she’d graduated from college. It had been years, but she welcomed the warmth of her father’s arms.

After a long while, he let her go and simply stood next to the bed and held her hand between both of his. He was tall and slender, a complete mismatch physically compared to her mother. His light brown hair was neatly trimmed, as Stacie had always remembered it, but there was contentment in his smile, something Stacie had never noticed before. “I’m going to try to get that woman back on a plane today so that you can get some rest and recover. But, honey, if you need anything, you call. OK?”

Stacie nodded, happy that her father had finally taken her side.