She smiled as some memory lit her face, and he was struck by the thought that he could watch her forever. He felt his own lips curve in response. Perhaps it could be worthwhile to follow her up as a possible means of prodding his subconscious, if his memory didn’t come back by the time he left here.

‘Think about it,’ she said. ‘I’ll be in town for another day or two. I need to organise new transport. If you’d like to, we’ll arrange for you to stay with us later. It might help you remember. Anyway, get well.’ Then she left, with her back straight and her head high.

Zac stared at the empty doorway and his heart pounded, but he didn’t know why. Although he couldn’t remember her face, there was something about her voice that stirred those deep memories he was only allowed glimpses of.

She was beautiful, and he wondered if he’d been tempted to make a pass at her while working with her. That would be out of character for him, and unlikely given his recent loss, but it would be dreadfully bad manners not to remember if he had.

Zac sighed and a wave of tiredness engulfed him. This was becoming more complicated than he’d bargained for. The anxiety came creeping back, building, rising in his throat and tingling his arms and legs with stress. He couldn’t pinpoint the source.

His head began to throb, so he manoeuvred himself awkwardly down in the bed and closed his eyes.

Chapter Fifteen

Ava

Ava walked slowly back to the hospital room that they’d made her sleep in overnight under observation. The blank look in Zac’s eyes when he’d regarded her hung cold around her like a damp fog that was worse than any lingering effects from the accident. His memories of her were lost. What did you do when the love of your life forgot who you were?

It had to be transient. Temporary. Surely. He was awake and functioning, so that was the most important thing. That was what really mattered when it could have been so much worse. The dread she’d felt when she’d watched over him at Yulara chilled her skin again. Thank God he was awake.

But he didn’t remember her. Didn’t remember them.

Had it all been a glorious dream to be grabbed back like a child’s longed-for Christmas toy? That incredible instant connection to the man she’d given her heart to after only a few days. The love she’d never believed would find her after Jai’s betrayal.

They’d been pushed off a bank by a stupid campervan and now he didn’t know her. At all. Their last week together had evaporated from his heart like rain in the desert. Without a trace.