Free The Memory by Barbara Kaylor

and build up to entice summer crowds.  Geneva got excited.  She gave her input, but it really wasn’t necessary.  Elliot knew what he was doing.  His ideas were brilliant.  Geneva ended up agreeing with all of them.
    “I’ll help you all I can during the weeks,” she offered. 
    Elliot nodded.  “Thanks. I’m going to start tomorrow, but I’ll still come around and help you, too.”
    “You don’t have to do that, Elliot,” Geneva insisted. She covered her eyes to shield them from the bright afternoon sun. “You did so much for me last week.  I think I can do without you for a while.”  Geneva swung her gaze around the grassy park.  “This is going to take some time.  Just work on this.  I used to swim in this lake when I was younger. It used to be buzzing.  Giving it a new lease on life will help the entire town.”
    Elliot and Geneva returned to the picnic table and sat down.  He shared his thoughts about feeling in touch with his old business side while putting together plans for the beach.  Geneva couldn’t hide her despair when Elliot explained that the project could prompt a breakthrough.  A part of her didn’t want him to remember his old life.  She didn’t want him to go back to Orlando.
    “You don’t seem too thrilled that I might regain my memories.” Her sluggish expression puzzled him.
    “I’ll miss you when you leave,” Geneva confessed with a shy smile.  He deserved the truth.
    To her surprise, Elliot regarded her comment with a smile of his own.  “That’s nice to hear, coming from the woman I fired.  Does this mean you forgive me for being so horrendous to you?”
    “Why is my forgiveness so important to you, Elliot?”  Geneva asked, directly.
    “Because I don’t want any obstacles between us, Geneva,” Elliot heard himself say.  The honesty was bold and surprising. 
    Geneva squared up.  “The firing isn’t the only obstacle between us, Elliot.  You have a life in Orlando—and you have Olivia.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    “I don’t love Olivia!” Elliot blurted, rocking the table under them.
    “That’s the amnesia talking.” Geneva lassoed her emotions.  It wasn’t fair to Elliot or Olivia to get involved even though her heartstrings pulled her toward Elliot.  “You must have loved her in your old life or you wouldn’t have asked her to marry you.”  Her reminder was gentle and sincere.
    Elliot propped his elbows on his knees and shoved his hair back with frustrated hands.  “Doesn’t right now count for anything?  Do I put my whole life on hold until every single memory returns?  What if none ever returns?  What then, Geneva?  Should I just go through the motions with Olivia in hopes that one day I’ll eventually love her again?”  It was the same question he’d posed to Rick.
    “Maybe you should spend more time with her,” Geneva suggested, kicking herself.  She was falling in love with Elliot.  Sending him back to Olivia was like throwing him to the wolves.  She’d rather protect him, but he wasn’t hers to protect.  He belonged to Olivia.  Geneva would have to send him back sooner or later.  Believing they’d have a life together was just a schoolgirl fantasy. 
    “You really think that way?”  Elliot’s hopes that Geneva cared for him were dashed.  He’d been so sure the memory was an indication of more between them.  Had he been wrong?  Had the accident messed up the wiring in his head so that he only thought he loved Geneva, not Olivia?
    Geneva scooted her misty glance to the water.  “It doesn’t matter what I think or believe, Elliot.  I’m not part of your life, not the one you’ve lived in Orlando.   I’m not the woman you’re engaged to.  My feelings don’t count right now.  Olivia’s do.  You can’t just ignore her.”
    “You’re right,” he agreed, suddenly convicted by the whole matter.  He couldn’t leave