Forget Me Not

Absidee could tell from the time she picked Beau up on her way home that something was bothering him. At first she wanted to wait for him to say something, but he was more or less silent during the car ride.

"Are you hungry?" Absidee asked. "I can start dinner, if you want."

Beau shrugged. "I'm all right. You should go check on your grandfather."

Absidee nodded, leaving him at the kitchen table with the newspaper in hand. She went down to Mac's bedroom, hoping Julie was in there, too.

"Oh, you're home," Julie smiled. "I thought I heard the front door."

"Yeah, Beau's here, too. How's Grandpa doing?"

"Not bad at all. Still sleepy from the sinus infection, I think. He's been napping most of the day."

Absidee sat on the bed and watched her grandfather sleep. A trace of a sad smile curved her lips and she remembered a time when he was younger, before his hair had turned gray and before his mind started to go. She remembered him picking her up from school, sitting her down with a bowl of popcorn and watching The Little Mermaid countless times in a row, just to make her happy. She remembered bike rides and afternoons at the park. She didn't remember when he had become an old man.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Julie asked, putting down the book she had been reading.

"Something's up with Beau, I think. I just can't tell what it is."

"Did you try asking him?" Julie chuckled.

"No, but I guess I could." An idea struck her. "Actually, do you mind staying a couple more hours, since he's just sleeping? I have an idea."

"Sure, no problem. Glad to help along your love life," Julie teased with a wink.

Absidee just laughed, not bothering to correct her. Her almost-kiss with Beau had not only filled her thoughts before she went to sleep, but the scene had replayed over and over in her head all day while she worked. How wonderful he had smelled had made her weak at the knees more than once while she worked. She didn't want to give in and start dating someone when she couldn't make the kind of commitment a girlfriend should, but she could no longer deny that she only wanted friendship with Beau. She had also given up on convincing herself that those feelings would fade any time soon. She would stand firm that nothing could start, but she would just have to let her crush play out.

"Hey," Absidee said, leaning over the back of the chair and causing him to jump. "Listen, I have an idea. I want to take you somewhere."

"Where?" Beau asked.

"It's a surprise," she smiled. "Please?"

"Okay, sure."

Absidee didn't say anything or ask any questions while she drove them to the track. Beau didn't offer any conversation, but she didn't mind. He did, however, take on a confused look when they parked.

"This is the surprise? I've seen the track." The got out of the truck and Beau met her behind the tailgate.

"I know," Absidee said. "This isn't the surprise. Come with me."

She took his hand in a moment of courage and led him past the track, into the clearing of trees that surrounded the property on one side. They had to walk for a couple of minutes, but finally they came to a clearing. It didn't look like there was much there anymore, except for the semblance of a few hills and a rhythm section that had once been present.

"What is this, like the original track or something?" Beau scoffed.

Absidee smiled. "When I first started riding, I was really little. I mean, I was about four, but I was small. There were other girls that rode, but they were a few years ahead of me. Anyway, the boys were pretty rough on me during practices, so my dad found this space and built a practice track for me. I come here sometimes, to think or just to … breathe."

"Wow," Beau breathed. "That's amazing, actually. You and your dad are really close, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Me and my dad and Grandpa Mac were always kind of a trio. My mom left when I was really little and so that was just all I had. I didn't even think I ever wanted anything else until about three years ago. And, when I did decide I wanted more, they made it happen for me."

"Why'd you come back?"

"Grandpa got sick. We thought at first that he would be okay on his own, but about six months ago, it just got to the point that my dad checking in on him every day wasn't enough. So, I quit school and came down here." Absidee took a deep breath. "Anyway, now you know my story, too. You want to tell me what's going on with you?"

Beau glanced at his arm, and she could see the marks scribbled there. "Heather called me today."

"Heather?" Absidee repeated.

"She's coming to visit here in a couple of weeks. She wants to talk things over, try and fix 'us.'"

Well, that put a stop to the whole crush issue. It had been Absidee's general experience that when you were infatuated with someone who was already taken, it never turned out well.

"You okay?" Beau asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Yeah, sorry. So, how do you feel about it?"

Beau shrugged, taking a seat on one of the corroding hills. "I don't know. I mean, we were together for eight years. When I left Carolina, I gave up on ever even seeing her again. Then she just calls me out of the blue and wants to come out here. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that."

Absidee sat next to him, nudging him with her shoulder. "Hey, maybe this is how it's supposed to be. Maybe she just needed some time to realize what life would be like without you and she knows now that she made a mistake."

"Maybe," Beau agreed, but not necessarily with any sense of optimism. "Does it bother you that she's coming?"

"Why would it bother me?"

"Just because … you know. You and me, I mean I know we're not dating, but we're friends. If Heather comes out here, that could change."

She could see by the concern in his eyes that Beau knew exactly how she was feeling about him. He was worried that Heather coming would hurt her feelings because he knew that she felt more than just friendly about him.

"If that's how it's got to be, then that's how it's got to be. We'll just have to make the most of our time until then, won't we?" Absidee replied, trying to put on a smile. "Come on, let's go walk the big track. It's good excercise."



Beau couldn't help but notice that Absidee was overly cheerful the rest of the evening. There was a small surge of hope in his heart that maybe she was masking disappointment over Heather's visit, but that made him feel a little guilty. Still, he couldn't help but notice the extra sparkle in her eye when she looked at him. There was no doubt in his mind that she was attracted to him, but he knew she wouldn't act on it - especially not now.

He tried to keep the conversation light over the pizza they shared for supper, watching old race tapes on the television set in Mac's room. The old man wasn't up for getting out of bed, so Absidee brought him a tray and they all had good conversation. Mac remembered all the races from even before Beau and Absidee were born and talked on and on before growing tired and falling back to sleep.

Beau helped her quietly gather everything from the room and return it to the kitchen. She placed the dishes in the washer and set a full trash bag by the back door so she would remember to take it out in the morning.

"Here, let me call my dad," he offered.

"No, it's okay. I can take you. I doubt he'll wake up any time soon."

"Really, it's fine." Beau made the call and then turned back to her. "You worry about your grandfather a lot, don't you?"

She shrugged. "I gave up my whole life to come back down here, if that's any indication. Like I said, my grandpa and my dad are all I've grown up with. I mean, I had friends and riding and everything, but they raised me. They made me who I am. It just wouldn't be me to turn around and drop them when they need me the most."

Beau smiled. "I have only known you for a few weeks and I can already tell how true that is."

"Thanks," she smiled back at him. "Should we wait on the porch again?"

"Yeah, that would be good."

Beau followed her out to the porch, finding himself fearful of a time when he not remember these moments with Absidee, or remember her at all, really. Dr. Turner had warned him that even if they were successful in the treatment of the cyst, it would take time for the memory part of his brain to recuperate, and there would be some memories he would lose and never get back. The worry over not remembering her hurt him enough that he became once again torn over Heather's visit.

"You look tense again," she prompted him.

"Yeah," Beau sighed. "I'm just worried about this Heather thing."

"It'll work out how it's supposed to, Beau. Obviously she cares about you or she wouldn't be flying halfway across the country to try and make amends."

"It wasn't that part I was worried about. I was thinking more about you."

"Me?" Absidee frowned.

"You," Beau confirmed. "Even the friends I've known the longest in Carolina don't listen as well as you do. They don't know how to say the right thing to make me put my life in perspective. You're really great."

Owen's headlights lit up the street, and Absidee stood. "I appreciate you saying that. The things is, Beau, if you're supposed to be with Heather and she doesn't want us to be friends, I can't interfere with that. All the years you guys have behind you? That has to come first."

She made a good point, and he couldn't argue it. He hugged her instead, promising to text her the next day and thankful that she had become enough of a constant in his life that he didn't have to look at his notebook to remind him to call or text her everyday. Once he stopped seeing her as much though, would that change? Telling himself he would just have to find out, he buckled himself into the passenger seat of his father's truck and tried to let it go for now.



Three days before Heather was set to arrive, Beau sat in Dr. Turner's office, awaiting his latest brain scans and test results. He chewed nervously on his fingernails; while he'd diligently taken the medication that was supposed to shrink the size of the cyst, his short-term memory was becoming even worse and he found that there were some things his parents would try to remind him of that just never came back to his mind. He feared that the thing had grown and wondered what that would do for his prognosis.

Not to mention the stress he was feeling over Heather's visit. She'd called him a few times and they chatted casually, both seemingly avoiding the conversation about getting back together or not. He figured it was best to do it in person anyway, but he had hoped for a little less awkwardness when she came. He had tried to talk to Absidee about it a few times, but the tension in her shoulders and the disappointment in her eyes kept him from bringing it up often. He just couldn't stand to see her hurting - which was a whole other dilemma in itself.

The more time he spent with Absidee - still having lunch or supper with her every day for almost a month now - the more he grew to adore the petite girl who had a passion not only for her family but for motocross. Her sense of humor matched his, and her laughter was now one of his favorite sounds. He went as her cheering section at the last race, and was impressed when she placed first. Beau went back to her house that night and they talked for hours about their childhoods, the dreams she'd had for after college, how badly she had wanted to race professionally at one point. Her face lit up when he talked about the beaches in Carolina, and he promised to go there with her one day. She looked as though she didn't believe him, but smiled nonetheless. More than that, he seemed to remember more when he was around her, as though her calming presence was therapeutic for his brain.

He didn't get to dwell on the two girls for much longer, as Dr. Turner announced her presence and asked how he'd been feeling.

"Not bad, I guess," Beau shrugged. "What's the verdict?"

She set the scans and results in front of her and took a deep breath. "There's some improvement, Beau, enough for us to see on the scans."

"But not enough to operate yet," Beau finished. He didn't need more than look on the doctor's face to tell him that the situation wasn't looking good.

"This isn't the end," Dr. Turner made sure to tell him. "It isn't. We're going to put you on a higher dose of the new medication, and we'll give it another few weeks, maybe even a month. I want to check on you at two weeks and we'll decide from there."

"All right. Thank you, Dr. Turner." Beau got up, happy that his mother had elected to wait outside for this one. The wear of his condition had been evident in the lines in her face lately, and he wanted to be able to lead with the continuing prescription before letting her know that cyst hadn't deteriorated by much. "Can I ask you a kind of ridiculous question?"

Dr. Turner nodded. "Of course. Anything."

"It's just that, there's this girl I've been hanging out with for about a month now. Not dating, or anything, we just hang out and talk. I meet her for lunch or she picks me up for supper at her house every day. I told her about the seizures, but not about the cyst or my memory, and she hasn't seemed to notice when I do forget things. The thing is, I feel like I remember more when I'm with her. That's not just me being all mushy, right?"

"Not necessarily," she said, giving a hint of a smile but keeping her features serious. "The brain is a complex, mysterious organ, Beau. Compared to what we know about other organs, like the heart or the liver, we're really just scratching the surface of possible knowledge on brain activity. It may be that if this friend of yours helps you relax, your brain gets to take a deep breath and maybe not reproduce some of that damaged memory tissue, but because it doesn't have to work as hard on other things when you're with her, more of that energy can be directed to your memory. Not a scientific theory, mind you, but therapy comes in numerous forms."

Beau nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Dr. Turner. I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"Beau," Dr. Turner called before he could leave her office. "I'm not trying to be mushy either, but if this girl makes you feel that good about yourself, maybe it's a good idea to open up to her more and explain what you're going through."

"Yeah, maybe." Beau gave her one last wave before joining his mother in the hallway and doing his best to tell her the truth about the appointment but still sound optimistic.



Absidee was enjoying a day off, catching up on cleaning the house until it was spotless. She went through all of her laundry and Mac's, folding everything and carefully putting it away. She was just deciding what to make for supper when her phone rang.

"I wondered if I'd hear from you today," she said with a hint of teasing in her voice. In truth, part of her productivity for the day had been to distract her from the possibility that Beau would be preoccupied with Heather's arrival and wouldn't call.

His soft laughter floated through the phone line, causing her to grin even more. "Of course, I had to call, Sidee. How was your day off?"

"I've been a busy bee today. Cleaned the house from top to bottom and did more laundry than I've ever done at once, I think."

"Good for you. How's Mac?"

"He's good. Finally feeling better, I think." What had started with the sinus infection evolved to strep throat and then to bronchitis, one on top of the other. Absidee had worried a lot over the last few weeks, knowing that pneumonia was the next step in progression, but was thankful when the bronchitis began to clear up with no signs of turning into anything else. Beau had been at her house as much as possible so she could be with Mac, and she appreciate his help more than she could express. The more time she spent with him and the more compassion he showed towards her grandfather, the more she cared about him. She hadn't been able to pinpoint the exact moment that she fell in love with Beau, only knew that her heart had completely ignored her attempts to push him away when he was still just a crush.

"That's good to hear. His cough didn't sound nearly as bad when I was there yesterday."

"That's true," she agreed. "So, are you, uh, on your way to get Heather?"

"My dad's taking me up to the airport in about thirty minutes, actually."

She knew him plenty well enough by now to hear it in his voice. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

"As hell," he agreed, letting out a deep breath. "I just don't know what to say to her, or even how to act. I mean, do I hug her, kiss her, put my arm around her? She's not my girlfriend, but she might be. It's a weird in-between to be at."

Shuddering at the thought of him kissing someone else, Absidee tried to remember she was his friend and he needed encouragement. "I think it'll just be natural when you see her. You've known her for so long, Beau, she can't be a complete stranger."

"That's a good point. I don't know if I'll be able to call you later or anything, but maybe I can bring her by the shop sometime so you can meet her."

"I'd like that," Absidee agreed. If nothing else, she wanted to see this girl for herself. "Good luck at the airport, Beau."

"Thanks, Sidee. I'll talk to you as soon as I can."

She disconnected the call and threw her head back, looking at the ceiling. "Good job, Absidee. First time you fall in love, and it's with the guy you can't have. Way to be."

The mental chastising continued as she opted to just order Chinese and take it easy for the rest of the evening.