Page 89 of Goldilocks

“Hey.” Laurence sat on the bedside next to Sam. “I know your memory is fuzzy,” he whispered. “But I wanted to let you know that I’m taking care of Jasper at my house.”

“Jasper. Right.”

“So you don’t have to worry about him.”

Confused, Sam just nodded.

Laurence glanced at Connor, clearly waiting for some sort of cue from him.

“Dad’s out front,” Connor said. “Can you go get Adonis and show him the way here?”

Laurence left, pulling the door shut behind him.

“In case you don’t remember, we’re good friends again,” Connor told him. “We hang out pretty often on the water.”

The last time Sam had been on the water with Connor, he’d been on the yacht of a guy who’d laughed in Sam’s face at his abandonment. And they were friends now? How had that happened? And Sam remembered swearing off ever dating anyone again, but apparently, he’d found someone even better looking than Connor and jumped right back into a relationship?

“Are you all messing with me?” Sam asked, but he didn’t even believe that for a second. Mary wouldn’t join in with something like that. It was too mean-spirited for Connor, though Mary would probably argue he was capable of it. Then there was Eric, Sam’s brother.

“We’re not messing with you,” Connor said. There was concern in his eyes. “I’m here. Even if you don’t remember it, we’re friends. Anything you need, I’ll give.”

Sam frowned. “Why don’t I remember Eric?”

The door opened as he asked, and Eric heard the question. He frowned at Sam and entered the room. His hands jittered at his sides as he walked to the end of the bed, and his mouth was a flattened line until he opened it to speak. “That’s not a new thing. I came back for the first time in years last week, and you couldn’t remember me. Anything at all. Maybe we can have the doctor give your head a proper scan while we’re here.” His voice turned gruff, a scowl twisting his features the longer he spoke. “You were ten. I have tons of memories of being ten.”

“You were giving him a hard time?” Connor cast Sam a sideways grin. “Glad you’ve learned to be mean.”

“I don’t…” Sam looked between the two of them, his confusion growing.

“It’s alright,” Connor said, his tone relaxed and soothing. “Don’t stress out. It’ll come back to you.” He fixed Eric with a pointed look.

Eric cleared his throat. “Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to put any pressure on you. I mean, you did just start to remember me. We were talking on the phone and…guess that’s gone again.” His voice was all disappointment.

Laurence re-entered the room. A tall man with white-blond hair followed behind him, wearing another of Connor’s hoodies, and after a disinterested glance at Eric and Sam, his gaze fixed on Connor, and his expression brightened. He strode across the room and wrapped his arms around Connor from behind, digging his cheek against Connor’s. “Trevor,” he huffed.

“I know, I know,” Connor murmured back.

The stranger looked at Sam, and Sam couldn’t help but stare at his peculiar pointed ears.

“Eric,” Laurence said. “The doctor is waiting to talk to you.”

Eric, in the middle of frowning at the newcomer, looked over. “He is?”

Laurence nodded.

“Sam, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Eric hesitated in the doorway, casting a look over his shoulder at Laurence who was standing in the middle of the room with his hands clasped behind his back, Connor who sat relaxed in the bedside chair and the newcomer who had stopped rubbing his cheek to his and was instead looking over Sam again. Eric’s expression was one of suspicion.

“Why are you all giving me the feeling you’re about to do something?”

“Something like what?” Laurence asked with a perfectly innocent smile.

And at that smile, Sam was suddenly feeling the same suspicion as Eric.

Eric frowned at Laurence, hesitating again. “Come with me,” Eric said.

“Okay,” Laurence agreed.