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She waited for the punch line. The name meant nothing to her. It should. And he obviously thought it would.

“Okay.” What was she supposed to say?

“No memory of it?” he asked her, sincerely hoping it would trigger something.

“Nothing.”

“They didn’t know her last name?” Ace finally spoke up.

“Jess remembered her; they had talked a couple times. But no, nothing else. She’s searching through every guest’s name now, as well as going through the camera feeds. She couldn’t remember the man’s name that Pepper was with, only that they checked in under his name.”

“That’s something, I guess.” Ace was clearly contemplating the lack of information.

Pepper.

Pepper.

Pepper.

She kept repeating the name in her head in the hopes of remembering who she was. Why she was there, and most importantly, who she was with.

Nothing came.

It meant nothing to her other than: “I was named after a spice?”

Both men looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. She should be focused on the fact they had, at least, gotten some information, but instead, they understood focusing on something trivial was keeping her from falling apart.

They had a big, fat zero where their info was concerned. To Snow, she was still no one. A nameless face in the big bad world. How was she supposed to be happy about that? What if she never remembered who she was or where she was from?

“I need air,” she choked out, climbing from Nick’s lap. His warmth and comfort escaped her immediately as she was once again assaulted by the fresh mountain air. Only this time, she couldn’t enjoy it as she had before. She was so lost. Alone, yet not. Her biggest fear was never knowing who she was.

She had these amazing men on her side, men who she was insanely attracted to, and she was positive that they would do anything for her. That they wanted to be with her, and the feeling was entirely mutual, but until she found out who she was, none of them could act on it.

“Pepper?” She heard Nick call her name, and she cringed. She didn’t feel like a Pepper.

“How can that be me when it doesn’t feel like me?” Did she even make sense?

They obviously had no idea what to say to her. All they’d been doing the last few days was trying to figure out who she was and where she belonged. Now, they finally had a name for her, and it just didn’t feel right. She didn’t feel right.

“What is wrong with me?” she whispered, more to herself than them.

Heat at her back cocooned her in warmth as hands rested on her hips. “Nothing’s wrong with you,” Ace whispered from her right side.

“This won’t be easy,” Nick told her from her left. “Right now, you’re a new woman. The old Pepper, the Pepper of a week ago, is gone.” The truth of his words had her breath stalling in her chest. “This new Pepper, though, she’ll show you her strength, her weakness, the real her. She’s going to amaze you…us.” He turned her to the side to face him, strength in his eyes, the sincerity of his words washed over her. “The new Pepper will never be who she used to be. You’re going to have to turn her into what you want, not what you think she has to be.”

“I can’t just change who I am.” Could she?

“Says who?” Ace scoffs.

It was a lot to take in. With no idea of her past identity, would it really be so bad to become the person she perceived herself to be?

“Crap,” she murmured aloud.

Lying in bed later that night, Nick still couldn’t shake the pain he’d seen lingering in Pepper’s eyes when she heard her own name. He couldn’t begin to imagine how it felt to not feel like himself. Not recognizing his name was unimaginable.

The lack of answers was getting to her. He could see her frustration increase the more time that passed. The dream she’d had about her parents’ death had really been what impacted her, though. The pain in her voice as she’d explained it to him had him restless. He couldn’t sit around and do nothing. They had to find new information soon, or he had a feeling they would all be going crazy. Spending some time away from the cabin might raise their spirits some, too.

As Sheriff, he was never off duty, but he figured taking a few personal hours in the next day or two couldn’t hurt, and he and Ace could take Pepper on a hike. Show her the real beauty of the mountains after a fresh snow storm. If her happiness at seeing Rox run around like a fool was any indication of how she might feel, he figured observing the wildlife enjoy mother nature’s power might cheer her up as well.