She laughed again and grabbed my hand, pulling me deeper into the water, our arms wrapping around one another again. It wasn’t warm enough for us to stay in long, and we soon headed back to our belongings, where we sat shoulder to shoulder on one of the rocks, watching the waves creep closer, her hand in mine.

“I haven’t felt this happy since before you went missing,” she said, pushing her wet hair out of her face, leaning in to me. “I didn’t think I’d ever feel like this again.”

I knew what she meant, except it wasn’t only happiness, but excitement about the future, too. Although she and I had barely spent any time together it seemed Dr. Adler had been right, Lily could well hold the key to my memories, more than anything or anyone else. While I didn’t want to put that kind of burden on her, I didn’t want her to leave Newdale, either, and not only because of her potential to unlock my mind. I wanted to spend more time with her, get to know her again, but last night she’d said she’d have to go back to Brookmount soon because she was running out of cash. I couldn’t go with her. Lily had told me I’d recently been made redundant from my job, and I wasn’t about to take off for Maryland without any kind of income, or a place to stay. And then there was my being unable to abandon Maya again, but the thought of Lily leaving Newdale, and me being stuck here out of obligation more than anything else made my jaw clench.

Oblivious to everything that was going on inside my head, Lily pulled out her phone. “Let me take a picture of us,” she said, pressing her cheek against mine, “so we can remember this day as a new beginning.” I leaned in, feeling her soft skin against my stubble as she took a photo. “Crap, I blinked,” she said, swiping her finger across the screen, and I put my hand over hers as I stared at the photo of a blue Dodge Charger.

“Is that yours?” I said, my heart racing, throat running dry.

She shook her head. “No. It kept driving past your apartment one day...”

Her voice trailed off as a new memory surged into the forefront of my mind. I was in a parking lot by a beach, sea salt filling the air, a steady breeze blowing. When I heard a yell, I turned around to see a man coming toward me. Tall and wiry with a scar above his eyebrow.

“You cheated, you motherfucker,” he shouted.

“You lost, pal. Deal with it.”

“I want a rematch. I need to win my money back.”

“No chance. I told you from the beginning, one game only and I’m out.”

He took another step toward me, snarled, “That’s not how this works.”