She was in the small parlor, tapping away on her laptop. She barely glanced at me as I came in and sat on the plum-colored sofa.

“Hey, Doc, I thought you wanted a session before the Council director arrived.”

She stopped working and said, “You shouldn’t even be here. You should be in a professional treatment center. Our family has a place in Geneva where you could get the best care to resolve not only your amnesia but your long-term behavioral disorders.”

“Lily, I’m sure if I did some digging around your psyche, I’d find some unpleasant little corpses. Why can’t we just accept each other as we are?”

She looked annoyed and said, “You have amnesia, Milagro. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get this report done. I’m leaving as soon as my meeting is over.”

“Don’t go away mad, Lily! People come from all over the world to vacation here.”

“I was brought here to help you. You’re fighting your treatment, and Oswald has put his own interests ahead of your well-being.”

I moved to the chair next to hers, took off my gloves, and took her hands in mine. “Oswald is looking after my well-being by offering marriage. The engagement will prove to the Council director that Oswald believes in my innocence. Even though I don’t intend to marry him until I fall in love with him, or when I remember my love, I appreciate how gallant and noble he is to make this offer.”

She was taken aback “That’s the reason he asked you to marry him?”

“Yes, I think so. That’s the kind of man he is. How could any woman resist a man like that? Especially one as sexy as Oswald.”

She dropped her head and looked down at our hands. “I don’t know. He’s wonderful, isn’t he?”

“He’s certifiably fabulous.”

She raised her hazel green eyes to mine. “And you promise me that you won’t marry him until you’re better and only if you both love each other?”

“I promise.” I had a feeling that the falling-in-love process could be expedited with some hot sex, but I didn’t need to share that with Lily.

My psychiatrist said, “All right. I’ll work with you through the rest of my vacation and try to find someone to take over your treatment.”

It was an odd day. Oswald and Gabriel made phone calls in the study, and AG took off to meet with his assistant, Nettie, at the rental house in town.

While Lily was finishing her report, I went to visit Edna in her cottage.

She didn’t answer the door at first, so I knocked again. After another five minutes, I shouted, “I hope you haven’t fallen and can’t get up!”