He Said He Loved Me When He Forgot Me

Four years ago, I pulled a man with no memory out of the freezing sea. I took him back to my motor inn and named him Jay. He carried himself with effortless grace, and he spoke fluent French.

The lobstermen on the peninsula warned me: “He isn't one of us. Don't go falling for him.”

I asked him whether he would leave me once his memory came back.

He stroked my hair and said, gently:

“Everything I want is in this inn. All of it is in you. I will never leave.”

Then, one day, six black SUVs came up the drive.