Liberty by Ginger Jamison

settling on her breasts. That wasn’t the way you looked at another man’s wife. Jealousy flashed through him.
    “How are you, Sexy Lexy? You’ve been hiding from me.” Georgie went over and kissed her cheek. Ryan watched as Lexy stood frozen, inwardly recoiling at his touch.
    “Don’t call her that,” he found himself telling Georgie. His fists were clenched. The urge to punch the stocky blond giant was overwhelming.
    “He don’t remember,” Lance supplied. “Not a damn thing. Not even Mexico.”
    “Is that true, Mad Dog?” Tom asked him.
    Ryan nodded. “The only thing I remember seeing is my wife.” He emphasized the final two words, letting them know exactly where he stood.
    Don’t mess with Lexy.
    Even from a hospital bed he was itching to knock their heads together.
    “Well, ain’t that some crazy shit.” Tom exhaled. “I thought we was gonna go back to old times when you got back, like before you quit drinking. But hell—” he wiped his hand across his face “—if you can’t remember, we’ll have to start making new good-old times.”
    “I quit drinking?” He was a drinker?
    “Yeah, we was surprised, too,” Georgie said. “You could out-drink any man in town. I’m surprised you made it home and never killed anybody.”
    “You let me drive home drunk?”
    “We didn’t let you,” Lance said. “Nobody can make you do anything you don’t want to. You was a mean drunk before you went in the service.”
    He didn’t want to hear anymore, and if he could cover his ears with his hands without looking like a three-year-old he would have. His friends were assholes and he was a reckless drunk. The tales didn’t coincide with the man he knew himself to be. He couldn’t have been such a creep. He looked at his wife for confirmation, but she wouldn’t look at him.
    “Lex?”
    “I’m going to find your mama.” She still wouldn’t look at him. “Catch up with your friends.”
    “Honey,” he appealed to her, not wanting to be left alone with these idiots. Finally he caught her eye. Her face was washed with sadness even though she smiled at him.
    “Have fun,” she said before she rushed out of the room.

Chapter Six
    I t was too much for her and so she escaped. Seeing them, all of them, in that room together brought back memories of her marriage that she wished she could destroy. Intoxication was a constant companion to all the men she left behind in that room and she refused to live through it again. With Ryan’s friends hanging around she would have no qualms about walking away from him. Injured or not. Memories or none.
    “Are the boys there?” Mary found her in the outdoor meeting area the hospital had set up for families.
    “Yep,” she said with false cheerfulness. “Reminiscing about good-old times, except for Ryan, that is, who can’t remember anything.”
    Mary pursed her pink-coated lips. “I can’t believe he doesn’t remember a thing.”
    “I can’t, either.” Lexy laughed humorlessly. “I bet you he forgot on purpose. Who wants to remember being a drunken wife beater?” She looked down at her hand, her voice taking on the heaviness her heart held. “I won’t go back to that life, Mary. I won’t make it.”
    “He’ll be better this time. He promised.”
    “I can’t risk my life on Ryan’s promises. How can he learn from his mistakes if he doesn’t remember them?”
    “He’s not the same man,” Mary insisted. “I barely recognize him. Besides, Lexy, you can’t leave him now. He’s got no memory. He’ll be lost without you. If you go, them boys will get to him and we’ll be right back where we started.”
    Lexy sighed deeply. Mary was right about that. She was still going to leave him, but she had promised to stay until he was better. If nothing else, she had her word. She blamed Maybell for her conscience.
    God gives blessings to those who deserve them. Be one who deserves them .
    A few more weeks, she told herself. A few more weeks and then she