Unexpected Hope (Book 2 in the Red Valley series)

Chapter 22

Levi slowly made his way to the kitchen. Shock, that's what he felt. The past two days had been full of extreme highs and lows. He had been so worried, at first about Hope, then the baby, no babies, that it never crossed his mind that she could lose her memory. He'd heard of people losing their memory before, but he didn't know anybody personally.

Harold was in the kitchen. It looked like he had just finished making breakfast when Levi entered the room. The older man smiled. "I heard the two of you talking a little while ago. I figured she'd be hungry, so I'm attempting to make breakfast. How is she? Is she, wait a minute, I don't like that look on your face." Harold said as his smile was replaced with a worried frown.

"She can't remember."

"Well it's not uncommon to forget an accident or traumatic event."

"No." Levi said shaking his head. "She can't remember anything prior to coming here. Nothing. I don't know what to do, Harold."

"Wow, I hadn't thought about that. How is she dealing with it?" The frown on the older man's face increased as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"She was beginning to really get upset, but I think I got her to calm down. I told her to just breathe and rest, and that we would talk about what she did and did not remember after we ate breakfast." Levi ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it a disheveled mess as he leaned against the counter with his ankles crossed.

"Didn't you tell me that her father had been horrible to her, and that he'd tried to marry her off to pay off his gambling debts? Maybe this is a good thing. She obviously didn't have a happy life before she came here, so now all the memories she has are good ones."

"You know Harold, you just may be right. I think one of the reasons that she is so upset is because she doesn't know that she's only forgotten bad memories. Here, I'll fix her a tray of food, and we will talk while she eats."

Feeling optimistic, Levi fixed a tray of food and began walking to the door but stopped. He turned around to face the older man. "Thank you Harold."

"You don't have to thank me, boy, but you're welcome. Now, go feed the poor woman and find out what she remembers. Then tell her what she's forgotten. I'll get one of the men to go and get Doc Baker.

"No, I do need to thank you. I let you come for a visit, and then move in here permanently, but you have become a very important member of this family. You have helped each one of us so much. You're a wonderful grandfather to Ellie, and you have become a very good friend to me, and I know that Hope feels the same way. I want you to know that I appreciate everything you do and have done, and that you are welcome to stay here as long as you want to." Harold, not sure what to say, simply nodded as Levi turned to leave the kitchen.

In all the time Hope had been there on the ranch, he'd never seen the woman eat like this. She'd been asleep when he'd gotten back to the room; however the aroma of the bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee quickly woke her up. Hope ate every bite of food that he'd put on her plate. He wasn't even sure that he could have eaten that much.

Groaning, Hope laid back on the pillows and rubbed her belly. "I can't believe I ate it all."

"Well, you haven't eaten since yesterday morning at breakfast." He moved the tray from the bed, and then sat back on the bed in front of her. "Okay Love, let's talk about what you remember." The pitiful look on her face at the mention of her losing her of memory, almost made him wish he hadn't brought it up.

"I – I remember almost everything since I've been here. But before that, it's just nothing."

"Okay, do you know little things like, how old you are and when your birthday is, and where you grew up?"