The only time she had ever seen him was on the day of the wedding, and since it had only been a few months before, Addison knew her memory was sound. While elderly and weakened by illness, he had still been well-kempt, alert, and as she recalled, quite formidable; however, the man sitting before her seemed to be none of those things. Now, he reminded her of a gnarled old tree, bent and broken by the ravages of time. White stubble covered his cheeks and chin, and the thin strands of his gray hair were going in every direction imaginable. His pajama top was misbuttoned, and the bottoms were hiked up to his knees, displaying scrawny legs and bare leathery feet. But what struck Addison most were his eyes. She remembered them to be bright and challenging, but now they were dull and darting back and forth as if looking for a way to escape. As a businesswoman, one of Addison’s most valuable assets had always been the ability to read someone’s body language, and right now it was clear Joanna’s father was terrified.

Robert stole a quick look at Addison, trying to place her in his memory. Surely a beautiful woman with eyes the color of the sky could not easily be forgotten, but try as he might there was no flicker of recollection. He didn’t know her. He didn’t have any idea where he was, and quickly staring at the floor, Robert’s hands began to shake.

If it hadn’t been for the fact she saw his hands trembling, Addison would have taken the steps two at a time, found the nurse supposedly on duty and demanded she retrieve her charge, but as Addison stared at Robert, a memory of her own came flooding back.

A few days before her grandfather’s death, Addison had been summoned to his house. Sitting by his bed, she remembered wanting to reach out to him, to take his quivering hand and offer some sort of comfort, some assurance he would be okay, but she didn’t know how. Compassion was foreign to her, so Addison had left his room without so much as a kiss to his wrinkled brow, and three days later she was told he had died. It was the only regret she had ever had.

Addison took a slow, steady breath, her expression softening as she knelt in front of Robert. “Are you all right?”

Robert raised his eyes, but strangled by his fear, he could not find his voice.

When she saw his eyes glassy with tears, Addison lowered her tone to a whisper. “Are you okay, Mr. Sheppard?”

“Do...do you know me?”

“Um…yes,” Addison said, eyeing the man. “We’ve met before.”

“I’m...I’m sorry,” Robert said, running his fingers through his hair. “I...I don’t remember you. Do...do you work here?”