Luke felt like a teenager in love when he woke up the next morning. Any doubts about his previous feelings seemed so insignificant now. He was in love with his wife. He almost felt jealous that she had loved those parts of himself he couldn't remember – as if he himself had been another man.
So what if she'd been involved with someone else for that matter? As long as they saw this as a fresh start for the people they were now, Luke was willing to forget his suspicions as long as she vowed to be faithful to him from this point on. That had been his last thought before falling asleep last night, and it still seemed like a good one, he decided.
Despite his feelings of euphoria, Luke had a strange feeling come over him at that thought, as if he didn't want to regain his memories anymore because they might make him feel differently toward Sarah. He shook himself of it and decided to focus on his feelings of happiness as he got out of bed. He grimaced, feeling a bit like he'd been hit by a bus – perhaps he'd overdone it yesterday after all. His arm was hurting like hell, and so was his back, but maybe that was to be expected. He could smell the breakfast Sarah was cooking from the kitchen and smiled, feeling his appetite stir.
Sliding on his jeans and a shirt, he walked barefooted down the hall and snuck up on his wife, who was in front of the stove in nothing more than her robe. With a smile, he slid his arms around her from behind and told her, "Something smells good, and I'm not just talking about the food."
Sarah laughed softly and turned her head to give him a sweet kiss. "Good morning."
"Mmm." He kissed her neck as she tried desperately to focus on getting the eggs onto a plate. Despite lots of kissing and touching, she finally had the table set and begged him to leave her alone long enough for them to eat. He would have really enjoyed bending her over the table for breakfast, but in all honesty, his body probably wasn't up to the task just yet.
After chit-chatting about nothing for a few minutes, Sarah reminded him, "We really need to talk about some things, Luke."
He almost told her it wasn't that important, that he knew everything he needed to know, but he was realistic enough to realize the doubts would creep in again if he didn't squash them now. "I know," he agreed with a sigh. "I have some questions I'd like to ask."
Sarah looked almost apprehensive, but she was a strong woman. He saw her body language change as if she were willing it not to cower. "I'm sure you'll have even more when I'm finished talking. Please," she pleaded when he went to interrupt, "let me go first."
Luke wondered where she'd begin. His money, and her lack of it. His license. Her late night phone calls?
If she had another man, she would have a choice to make. Tell Luke the truth so they could try to work things out, or just tell him she wanted to be with someone else. He didn't want her to stay with him out of pity. He wanted her to stay out of love, but he would not share her either way.
As if Sarah were reading his mind, her first words were, "Since you came home, I've been keeping something from you," she said, adding, "Or more appropriately, someone."
"Is his name Jack?" Luke questioned calmly, a little amazed she'd breached this subject so abruptly.
"How do you..?" She looked at him as if he'd suddenly grown horns. He watched her swallow hard then take a deep breath and say, "I have to show you something. And if you can forgive me after that…"
Grasping his hand, she somberly led him down the hall toward their bedroom, only she stopped long enough to retrieve her keys along the way. Sarah went to the locked door he had wondered about the first day she'd brought him home, the one he felt certain was a storage closet of some sort.
She hesitated before unlocking it, but when she opened it and pushed the door wide, he couldn't believe what he saw. It was a room, a small one, but it was definitely a bedroom. A child's room judging by the small bed and scattering of toys all about. Without a word, Sarah walked over to pick up a framed photo sitting on a shelf over the bed.
"Luke, I want you to meet Jack," she said and handed him the photo. As he gazed at the photo of Sarah hugging a small little boy who looked so much like the pictures Luke had seen of himself at that age, she leaned against him and whispered, "Meet your son."
If she'd punched him, it probably wouldn't have winded Luke harder than this revelation. In shock, he stared at the photograph, pouring over every little detail of the small face, the blue-bright eyes full of laughter, the freckles on his nose, the sandy brown hair combed neatly to the side, the wide, mischievous grin.
"I have a son?" he said in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me? Where is he? I mean—how is this possible?"
"He's been on vacation with my parents since you came home," she explained quickly, calmly. "As for why I didn't tell you, Luke, it's because I didn't want him getting hurt. He's so fragile, and I didn't know if you would…" she stopped and swallowed, unable to meet his eyes as he completed the thought for her. She hadn't known if Luke would remember his own son, and if he hadn't, that would have probably hurt the child beyond words.
Luke didn't like it, but he understood. "How old is he?"
"Almost three," she answered. "I've almost told you a thousand times, but I was afraid to. After a while, it almost seemed easier to forget about him just for a little while, just long enough for us to fall in love again. I thought if you could accept me as your wife, it would make it easier for you to accept Jack as your son. Does that make sense, Luke, or do you hate me for this?"
"I don't hate you," he reassured her. He couldn't stop staring at the photo though, wondering what the child's personality was like, hoping some memory of him would come along to ease the shock of it all. It didn't. "Why didn't you at least tell me I had a son when I first woke up in the hospital?"
"You didn't remember me," she said, emotionally. "I wasn't thinking right. The doctors told me to be careful what I said, because they didn't want you upset. I wasn't thinking right…god, Luke, there were so many reasons."
He acknowledged that. "When will he be here?"
Sarah hugged him from the side and confessed, "He can't stay with my parents forever. Right now they're on a cruise in the Bahamas, but they're due back in two weeks. Besides, he wants so badly to come home and see you, he can hardly stand it."
He had a son. Luke couldn't believe it. "Are there any other children I should know about?" he asked almost cruelly. Thinking better of it, he said, "I'm sorry, this has just been sort of unexpected."
"I'm sorry," she told him, holding him tight. Pulling back, Sarah asked, "Would you like to see more pictures? I've got a ton."
With a watery smile, he nodded and followed her into the living room, putting at least part of the puzzle together in his mind. The late night calls. They had been to her parents in another state, checking on her son. Luke flipped through pages of photos detailing his son's life and had to fight back tears of pride. The little guy really was something else. But—
"Why aren't I in any of these pictures with the two of you?" He flipped back through some of the pages and said, "I'm not in any of them."
"There's the other thing I have to tell you. I had to tell you about Jack first because—"
Just then the doorbell rang, and Sarah clutched the front of her robe and wondered out loud, "I wonder who that could be."
"You go get dressed," he told her. "I'll get it."
It turned out to be yet another insurance investigator wanting to talk to Luke about the accident at the construction site. He'd told everyone he couldn't help them because he couldn't remember anything, but they still kept calling and stopping by. Sarah was usually with him and helped fend them off, citing his health as a concern and that they should come back later. Well, at least this guy was fairly easy to talk to. They chatted about the Braves for a few minutes before the man got down to business. He told Luke the construction company he'd worked for had been cited as negligent in the accident, and it was his job to either prove or disprove that theory before the case went to trial.
"The strange thing is," the man said, pulling out some documents, "I went over the site myself right after the accident, and I'm almost a hundred percent certain someone had tampered with the support beams."
"Really?"
"Is there anyone you can think of who might want to hurt you? Anyone you worked with who might have had a grudge against you personally?"
"Me?" Luke almost laughed. "Even if there were, I couldn't tell you because I can't remember a damn thing."
"Perhaps I could speak to your wife," the man said. "I understand from your co-workers that the two of you were separated at the time of the accident, but you might have told her something…?"
Separated.
As if he'd had one too many blows delivered to him in one day, Luke felt his head sway and the room go dizzy. What did the man mean by separated? Surely Sarah would have told him. Then again, she hadn't told him he had a son until today. And she'd said there was more…
"Luke?" he heard Sarah's voice ask, and he looked up to see her approaching from the hall, fully dressed. "Who's our visitor?"
"He was just leaving," Luke said adamantly, shooting the investigator a hard look.
The man left his card and a promise to call again in a few days when Luke "was feeling better."
"What's wrong, Luke?" Sarah asked. "You're so pale all of a sudden. Do you need some medicine? Should I call the doctor?"
"No, I need some answers," he said, probably a bit too harshly. "What were you going to tell me before we were interrupted?"
She looked at him carefully for a few minutes before saying, "I'm not sure you're up to hearing what I have to say. Maybe we should wait until later…"
"We'll talk now," he told her, making her sit down beside him on the sofa where she couldn't get away. "Tell me."
