Free Twin Flames: Soul Memory by Alix Richards

family, they were also best friends. More pieces
slowly fell into place, even when she wasn’t expecting
it.
    “ Just under two weeks.” Joy opened the cupboard and lifted a
couple mugs from within.
    “ Still.” Stacy crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the
counter. “I’m serious. You were driving around town and you didn’t
bother to call me? Your family?”
    “ It’s not that simple.” She poured the steaming brew into the
ceramic and set the pot back in the maker. “If I told you, you
wouldn’t believe me.”
    “ Why not try me and find out?”
    Joy removed the creamer from the refrigerator and added a
couple splashes to the coffee. After returning the container, she
faced her cousin.
    She still remembered no one. She was relying on her senses and
intuition.
    “ I woke up in a Miami hotel room without my memory.” She
picked up the heated cup and brought it to her mouth, her gaze
locked on Stacy over its rim. “After spending a couple days trying
to recall the reason I was there, I bought a ticket and left.
Arriving in Denver, I drove here.”
    Her cousin’s jaw dropped. Joy couldn’t stop the smirk, instead
she covered it by sipping the hot liquid. Stacy’s eyes widened and
even darkened. Her mouth moved but no sound came out. Images
fluttered through her mind, as if she’d seen the other woman do
this often.
    “ She’s pulling my leg as pay back for that prank I pulled on
her over the holidays. That’s what this is.”
    Words bounced around inside her head, they weren’t hers but
Stacy’s. She blinked.
    “ I got on I-25 and just drove. I figured eventually I’d reach
the place I live.” Covering her own shock at the newest bit of
information, Joy nudged the other mug closer to her cousin’s white
knuckled hand gripping the edge of the counter as if Stacy was
about to pass out. Or would Stacy deny what was said? “I pulled
into the parking lot here at the condo and that’s where I’ve been.
Other than a couple times I went out to stock my fridge and
cupboards, I’ve been here.”
    “ You’re pulling my leg aren’t you?” Stark disbelief reflected
on her face.
    “ I wish I was, but no.” Joy watched the faint shake of Stacy’s
hand as she lifted the mug to her lips. “I guess I bumped my head
when I climbed into a taxi at the airport and woke up two days
later not remembering a thing about myself, why I was there or
where I came from. It’s not the greatest feeling in the world let
me say.”
    “ No shit?” Shock and a silent knowing registered on Stacy’s
features making Joy wish she had remained silent. “We’re blood
cousins and best friends, like that would’ve happened. We share
everything.”
    “ We also read each other’s minds it appears.” Joy blew on the
steam and took a small drink to cover the sense of sadness and
loneliness.
    “ Not really. I can, as you don’t have the walls we were taught
to keep built around our thoughts, which would make it easy. But as
family, we respect each other’s privacy.” The corner of Stacy’s
lips tipped up and she lowered the mug. “It’s not all that hard to
know what another is thinking without being trained or taught. It’s
easy to read people’s expressions and body language. It’s called
awareness. You just need a refresher course, that’s
all.”
    Joy motioned for her cousin to follow, she wanted to sit down.
Now that she had “let the cat out of the bag,” she had to make
certain she understood herself to the best of her
ability.
    She did not need any more confusion.
    “ You’re not going to tell your folks about the accident?”
Stacy folded a leg up under her and sat on the sofa.
    “ No.” She shook her head as she sat. “I hadn’t planned on
telling anyone.”
    “ You told me.” Stacy quirked an eyebrow.
    “ Only because you stood outside my apartment pounding the hell
out of the door and threatened to call the police.” She set the mug
on the end table.
    “ I would’ve, too.”