I knew he loved the feeling that accomplishing something gave him, and the rush he felt from being physically active, but there seemed to be more to it than that. He wasn’t just worn-out from working, and when I pressed him, he let slip that sometimes his mind felt befuddled and cloudy, and he worried he’d stopped progressing, or worse, was going backward. I reminded him how Dr. Adler had phoned from vacation the day before to say he’d received Ash’s blood-work results, and everything was fine. The news had done little to appease Ash’s frustration. It was understandable, he wanted his memories, and to feel normal again, but with the way things were going, he worried it might never happen.

Things between Ash and me weren’t tense, not exactly, but in comparison to the day at the beach his mindset had definitely taken a more negative turn, and every evening when I drove back to the motel, I wondered if my being there was really such a good thing after all. We’d kissed a few times, but I hadn’t pushed for things to go any further, and neither had he, and I promised myself I’d take things slow despite wanting more.

At least Maya had been chirpy, pleasant even. We’d chatted about our mutual passion for art, how we’d both had dreams of studying it at college. When she’d told me how her ambitions had evaporated after Brad had been killed and she’d lost focus, I made up an excuse about the impossible cost of the tuition being my biggest barrier. At that point she’d said degrees were overrated in her opinion, led me to the garage and showed me her sculptures, detailing all the ideas she had for the wood she’d collected and stored. She asked me my opinion, listened intently as I described how I’d wanted to revamp the website for Beach Body, and told her I’d be happy to help with hers. I no longer felt anxious when she was due to finish work, and when she arrived at the house one evening, about a week after I’d arrived in Newdale, she walked around the garage with a massive smile on her face.

“This is amazing, guys,” she said, gesturing to the plasterboard we’d put up in her new room. “Really, it’s fabulous. I can’t believe how much you’ve done.”

“I’ve got a cracking coworker,” Ash said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “With her help we’ll be finished in no time.”

“Ah...” Maya pulled a face. “What if it took a little while longer...?”