Forgive and Forget(10)

“Yes.” Joe held his hand out. “Have we got a deal?”

Joe stood stock-still as strong, muscular arms squeezed him tight. That, along with the feel of the guy’s breath against his skin, sent an unexpected tingle through Joe’s body. His new friend pulled away, his timid smile catching Joe off guard.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to get all touchy-feely on you. I’m just really grateful.” He headed back to the couch and the warmth Joe felt went with him. “Are you all right?”

Joe looked at him blankly. “Huh?”

“You were humming something, and you got this sort of faraway look in your eyes.” Despite the concern in his voice, the guy looked rather amused.

“Oh uh….” Fudgebunnies! It’s a little early for him to find out you’re a nutcase, Joe. Keep it together. “Sorry, my mind just wandered. It does that a lot. Don’t worry about earlier. Say, uh, we should probably think of what to call you, until you can remember your name.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Me?” Joe looked him over. Tall, handsome, rugged, thick biceps, and a nice full bottom lip. A name suddenly popped into his mind, making him smile. “Chris. Like that actor. You kinda look like him. Darker hair, though, and uh, not Australian.” He motioned to his bicep. “It’s the arms.” Wait, did he just say that? Now that he thought about it…. He cocked his head to one side and frowned. “Except you don’t look like a Chris. You look more like a Tom. Yeah, I like that better.”

“Um, okay. I remind you of Chris but look like a Tom. Tom it is, then.” Tom let out a husky laugh. He looked amused.

What had he gotten himself into? Joe felt himself grinning like an idiot. “All right, Tom. You sit tight and stay awake. I’m going to go downstairs to check on Bea and the kids, then I’ll get you something to eat, if you think your stomach’s up to it.” He’d started toward the door when Tom called out to him.

“I hate to be a pain, because you’ve done so much for me already, but can I ask a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Would you mind if I shaved, maybe had a shower? I don’t like looking like I just crawled out of the gutter. Even if that’s sort of what I did.”

At least Tom had a sense of humor.

“Right. Sorry, with everything going on, it slipped my mind to offer.” Joe crossed the living room into the hall to the small closet. He grabbed a couple of towels and tossed them at Tom on his way to the bedroom. He returned with a pair of pajama bottoms and the loosest T-shirt he owned. “Here you go. I’ll see about getting your clothes washed. We’re roughly the same size. Except for the shirt.” He motioned the span of his own far less muscular chest. “That’s the biggest size T-shirt I own, so it should fit.”

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay?” Tom asked, looking uncertain.

“Positive.” Joe went back into his room unable to understand why he was being so accommodating. You keep telling yourself that, Joe. He promptly told himself to shut it and pulled out a warm blanket and fluffy pillow. Walking back out into the living room, Joe set the bedding on the couch. “There you go. I’ll be back in a few minutes, after I check on the shop and send everyone home.”

“Okay.” Tom beamed. The guy really had one hell of a smile. It was hard to associate that with the evidence of violence marking the man’s skin. “And thanks again. This is really decent of you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

To think this day started like any other. This morning had been like any other morning, this afternoon like any other afternoon, and now? Now he had a tall, dark, handsome stranger in his bathroom, wearing his pajamas. Under normal circumstances, that alone would have been cause to celebrate. Except these weren’t normal circumstances, and Tom wasn’t upstairs on account of Joe taking him up on his flirting. As if a good-looking guy like Tom would even flirt with someone like him. Not that he was interested or anything, he was just—Joe didn’t get a chance to finish the thought. The moment he stepped foot into the empty café, he was ambushed.

“So who is he?” Donnie asked, trembling with anticipation.

Definitely time to cut back on the kid’s caffeine intake.

“Ah, now there’s the question we all want to know the answer to,” Joe replied, looking around the shop, happy to see everything was in tip-top shape and ready for the next day. Not that he had expected any less from his motley crew. He could always count on them to man the ship while he was away. Beside him, Elsie wrung her hands nervously.

“He didn’t tell you?” Elsie asked him.

“He didn’t know.” Joe sighed and leaned against the door.

The three exchanged glances before Bea peered at him. “What do you mean he didn’t know? Didn’t know what?”

“Anything. Poor guy can’t even remember his own name.” Joe walked over to one of the two large glass windows and pulled down the heavy canvas shade, securing the small ring over the tiny hook in the wooden frame. “Guess he got whacked a little harder than we thought.”

The two youngsters’ eyes widened, and it was like he’d walked into some Broadway production. He went to the next window to pull the shade down on that one.

Donnie looked a little too excited for his own good. “You mean… he’s got amnesia? I read about that.”