Who's The Father Of Jenny's Baby?
Donna Clayton
JUNE BRIDESMother & ChildJoin award-winning author Donna Clayton as she explores the loving ties that bond a mother to her child–and the perfect man who helps them all become a family!"Whose child am I carrying?"Jenny Prentice woke without her memory…only to be told she was pregnant. And two men were claiming to be her baby's father!Luke said he was her loving husband. Though Jenny felt passion for this quiet, attentive man, she sensed that their marriage had been far from perfect. For Luke's own brother stated Jenny's baby was his….The truth lay hidden in Jenny's lost memory…and in the tender touch of one special man….Celebrate a month of joyful marriages with Silhouette Romance!
She had amnesia. And the doctor was saying she was pregnant. (#u409caa0c-87fc-576b-a39c-53de7fddfaef)Letter to Reader (#u62f143a2-eade-5aef-b16e-0b35e92a7642)Title Page (#u015f8e53-01ea-5b0d-9963-2628cce81906)Dedication (#uee3949ec-4948-5c5c-9e4d-52962be05752)About the Author (#u1df89ac1-398c-56e6-8b41-6b40abb53570)Chapter One (#u5b66628b-f19a-5c7e-a5d7-11e8f11564f5)Chapter Two (#uf4688ccc-47fd-517d-a623-c8e31e2272f4)Chapter Three (#uf81dbd4e-1b44-50e3-b473-75ef34f638d8)Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
She had amnesia. And the doctor was saying she was pregnant.
Her name was Jenny Prentice. She repeated it silently, slowly. A man named Luke claimed she was his wife. And she had a baby growing inside her. The weight of all this staggering news had her reeling.
Baby. Instinctively, she smoothed a protective hand over her abdomen.
“Jenny,” Luke said, disbelief in his eyes, “why didn’t you tell me?”
All she could do was look at him helplessly. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of woman would keep such wonderful news from her husband.
“I might be able to shed some light on this situation.”
All eyes turned to Luke’s brother, Chad, as they waited for him to explain himself.
“I’m sorry you have to find out like this, Luke,” Chad continued. “But I think Jenny didn’t tell anyone about the baby because...well, to put it bluntly, I think I may be the baby’s father.”
Dear Reader,
Traditionally June is the month for weddings, so Silhouette Romance cordially invites you to enjoy our promotion JUNE BRIDES, starting with Suzanne Carey’s Sweet Bride of Revenge. In this sensuously powerful VIRGIN BRIDES tale, a man forces the daughter of his nemesis to many him, never counting on falling in love with the enemy....
Up-and-comer Robin Nicholas delivers a touching BUNDLES OF JOY titled Man, Wife and Little Wonder. Can a denim-clad, Harley-riding bad boy turn doting dad and dedicated husband? Find out in this classic marriage-of-convenience romance! Next, Donna Clayton’s delightful duo MOTHER & CHILD continues with the evocative title Who’s the Father of Jenny’s Baby? A woman awakens in the hospital to discover she has amnesia—and she’s pregnant! Problem is, two men claim to be the baby’s father—her estranged husband...and her husband’s brother!
Granted: Wild West Bride is the next installment in Carol Grace’s BEST-KEPT WISHES series. This richly Western romance pairs a toughened, taut-muscled cowboy and a sophisticated city gal who welcomes his kisses, but will she accept his ring? For a fresh spin on the bridal theme, try Alice Sharpe’s Wife on His Doorstep. An about-to-be bride stops her wedding to the wrong man, only to land on the doorstep of the strong, silent ship captain who was to perform the ill-fated nuptials.... And in Leanna Wilson’s latest Romance, His Tomboy Bride, Nick Latham was supposed to “give away” childhood friend and bride-to-be Billie Rae—not claim the transformed beauty as his own!
We hope you enjoy the month’s wedding fun, and return each and every month for more classic, emotional, heartwarming novels from Silhouette Romance.
Enjoy!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor Silhouette Romance
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Who’s The Father Of Jenny’s Baby?
Donna Clayton
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Dorothy B. Montgomery My Aunt Dot With Love
DONNA CLAYTON
is proud to be a recipient of the Holt Medallion, an award honoring outstanding literary talent. And seeing her work appear on the Waldenbooks Series bestsellers list has given her a great deal of joy and satisfaction.
Reading is one of Donna’s favorite ways to while away a rainy afternoon. She loves to hike, too. Another hobby added to her list of fun things to do is traveling. She fell in love with Europe during her first trip abroad recently and plans to return often. Oh, and Donna still collects cookbooks, but as her writing career grows, she finds herself using them less and less.
Chapter One
She came awake slowly, as if she’d been ensnared for an eternity in the deepest of sleeps. The warm fuzziness threatened to pull her back into the protective depths of slumber; however, the flurry of activity she sensed taking place around her was too disturbing, too confusing, and she was forced to shrug off the dreamy hands tugging at her, enticing her back into oblivion.
With great effort, she raised her eyelids and was immediately blinded by the powerful light shining down from directly overhead. A small unbidden moan passed her lips. Turning her head away from the bright light, she immediately regretted the movement as a giant wave of nausea washed over her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to move.
“She’s coming to. Get the doctor in here. Now.”
The man’s voice sounded unfamiliar to her, but the intense, barely suppressed emotion lacing the rich resonance of his words sent a shiver coursing down her spine. She couldn’t help but wonder who he was.
The query, innocently whispered through the foggy haze in her brain, seemed to pry open a floodgate through which other questions tumbled and churned, one on top of the other.
Where was she? What was happening? What had brought her to this place? Why was every muscle in her body throbbing like an abscessed tooth? And why didn’t someone turn off that glaring light?
“Jenny? Come on, now, wake up.”
A different voice, her mind deciphered. Male, also. But softer than the first. Less angry. However, this one, too, was tinged with emotion. The edginess pervading the second man’s words nearly made her skin crawl, and for the first time since awakening, she felt fear.
It was purely her survival instinct that had her forcing her eyes open once again. If danger was coming, she wanted to see its approach.
What a strange idea to enter her head, she thought, lifting her hand to shield her gaze from the bright light. The dark sensation that she was somehow in jeopardy dissolved, like valley mist burned off by the rising sun, as she focused all her energy on making out the gray shapes moving beyond the light.
“Can’t you see she’s being blinded?”
She knew it was the first man, the angry one, who batted the overhead light fixture aside so it no longer shone directly into her face. Her senses were momentarily overloaded as she tried to take in everything at once.
White. Everything was white. The walls, the bed linens, the uniformed-clad nurses...
A hospital. She was in the—
“Hospital.”
The murmured word, rusty and trembling, came from her lips, but the sound of it was so strange. As if she was hearing it for the very first time. This was bizarre. Why wouldn’t she recognize the sound of her own voice?
Seeds of panic and confusion sprouted in her chest, her heart pounding against her ribs in unison with the pain pounding in her head. She pressed her fingertips to her lips. In an effort to curb the rush of anxiety flooding through her, she forced her eyes to focus on the first object on which they landed.
A face.
The man stood at the foot of the bed, directly in front of her. He was dark, tawny, a man who most assuredly worked outside in the sun. He was handsome, in spite of the tension tightening his hawklike features. The artificial light glistened on his raven hair, and his coal-black eyes were etched with intensity—an intensity that told her, in no uncertain terms, that this was the owner of the first voice she’d heard upon awakening.
“There was an accident,” he told her. “You took a tumble.”
“Ha! Luke, only you would describe what happened to Jenny as a tumble.”
She allowed her gaze to leave the dark, angry man’s face, but not before noting his name.
The man who addressed Luke was standing at her bedside. His was the voice that had induced in her that odd feeling of peril only moments ago, but as she looked at him, she couldn’t help but wonder why she would have had that reaction. He certainly didn’t seem like a person who would invoke fear in anyone.
His sandy hair looked tousled, and a cheery smile lit his brown eyes as he turned his gaze on her. “You slid about two hundred feet down the mountainside, Jenny,” he said. “We didn’t find you for hours. You had us all scared to death.”
There it was again, she noted. That nervous, jittery quality in his voice. Why should that frighten her so?
Without warning, a renewed panic blossomed inside her, shooting forth like a wild, fast-growing vine. The trepidation curling in her belly was hot and terrifying. Her eyes widened with this seemingly irrational dread, and for some odd reason, her gaze fled to the face of the dark, angry man—Luke, she remembered—for some sort of comfort, or protection, or something, even though it made no sense to her why she would feel afraid or why she would seek help from this complete stranger.
Evidently, the man named Luke noticed her emotional state because he tossed an irritated glare at the sandy-haired man.
“Shut up, Chad,” he said.
But Chad didn’t shut up. In fact, his nervousness seemed to increase until it no longer showed just in his voice, but in his eyes, too.
“You’ll be fine, now,” Chad went on. “You’ll come home, and everything will be just fine. Won’t it, Jenny?”
She opened her mouth to speak, to ask one of the dozens of questions buzzing like so many bees in her throbbing head, but before she could, Chad snatched up a cup that had been sitting on the bedside table.
“Would you like a drink of water, Jenny?” He offered her the cup.
The confusion swimming in her brain was more than she could bear. Pressing her palms to her temples, she ignored the painful protest of her aching body as she inched away from both men to the far corner of the bed.
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
The question burst from her in a fit of near hysteria, making her head thud all the more. She was vaguely aware that the one nurse who had been in the examination room had slipped silently out the door.
“Calling you what?” Chad said, seeming totally surprised by her outburst. “Jenny? Why, it’s your name, of course. What’s wrong with you, silly?” He then tossed her a knowing look, as though he were on to her. “All right now, this is no time for pranks.”
His thin, jittery chuckle seemed to smack her across the face. Didn’t he see the turmoil she was experiencing? Couldn’t he understand that her whole world had turned upside down?
“Would you shut up, Chad!”
Luke’s sharp order made the younger man go silent, but it only succeeded in frightening her more than ever. She felt like a small, helpless animal, cornered, with nowhere to run.
“Now, listen to me...”
Her attention was drawn by Luke’s calm, commanding tone. Through the drumming agony in her head, she noticed that the anger in his black eyes had been replaced with what looked like deep concern as he gently coaxed her with his soft words.
“The nurse has gone for the doctor.”
He placed his hand on her shin. The thin cotton blanket between her skin and his was inadequate protection against his burning touch. She was unable to keep the panic from her eyes, her gaze darting to his fingertips, and it took every ounce of her control to hold back the whimper threatening to escape from her throat. He immediately removed his hand from her leg.
“I’m Luke,” he continued smoothly, quietly. “Luke Prentice. Your husband. And this is my brother, Chad.”
Her husband? Had he really said that? Why didn’t she know him? She didn’t remember being part of a wedding. She didn’t remember having a honeymoon. She would never forget the happiness of a wedding day! This was some sort of cruel joke. Her eyes welled with tears of confusion and her hands trembled violently.
“This is crazy, Luke.” Chad ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. “She knows who we are—”
“Would you look at her?” Luke’s chin snapped up as he frowned at his brother. “She’s scared witless. She doesn’t even know her own name. She’s looking at us like we’re total strangers.”
He inhaled deeply as he studied her face, evidently forcing himself to calm down.
“It’s okay, Jenny,” he told her, his face filled with concern. “The doctor’s on his way. He’ll help you. You’re going to be okay.”
She felt he was chanting the positive affirmation for his own benefit almost as much as for her. Even though her entire existence had suddenly turned to utter chaos, she still had enough of her wits about her to realize that he, too, was experiencing a shock. And for one quick moment, her heart went out to him as well as to the other man, the sandy-haired man. Chad was his name, she reminded herself.
Then Chad said, “Of course she’s going to be okay.”
The tone of his voice changed to such a degree that she was astounded. The flustered quality that she’d found so frightening disappeared so swiftly, so thoroughly, that she was left wondering if she hadn’t imagined it from the beginning. Or was it that the flash of sympathy she felt for him had made her lower her guard?
Was the fear she had felt illogical? she wondered. Darting a fleeting look at his face, she again saw nothing frightening in Chad’s friendly smile. She crossed her arms, hugging herself tightly, and let her gaze light momentarily on Luke. What made her think she was any less vulnerable to this onyx-eyed man?
Her head whirled with pain and bewilderment. Smoothing her fingertips across her forehead, she murmured, “My head hurts.”
“Where the hell is the doctor?” Luke turned and took a step toward the door.
“He’s coming,” Chad assured them both.
An elderly man came into the room, his lab coat pristine white but terribly rumpled.
“It’s about time,” Luke growled at him.
“Hey, Doc Porter,” Chad greeted him breezily.
The doctor ignored both men and moved directly to her side.
“Well, Jenny Prentice,” he said, “the nurse tells me you’re having a little trouble with your memory. Seems you might be suffering from a touch of amnesia.”
A touch of amnesia? If her head hadn’t been thumping like the devil was dancing a drunken jig on her brain, she’d have laughed right out loud, despite the jumbled state of her memory.
“Let’s have a look at you.” The doctor took a small penlight from the pocket of his coat and proceeded to shine it first in her right eye and then in her left. “Good pupil reflex,” he said. Tucking the pen away, he leaned back and looked into her face. “So what can you tell me about yourself, Jenny Prentice?” he asked.
She got the distinct impression that he’d stated her full name twice in order to get her used to the sound of it. But everything around her seemed so foreign, so unfamiliar, that she simply remained mute.
“Can you tell me how old you are?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“The name of our town?”
Again she shook her head.
“What state do you live in?”
This time she didn’t bother to answer. She just drew her bottom lip between her teeth in an effort to keep her tears at bay. How could her memory be so... empty?
“How about these rascals here in the room with us?” With a small jerk of his head, the doctor indicated the two men standing at her bedside. “Do you recognize them?”
Her breathing grew shallow, and she felt sure she would lose all control. Using every ounce of determination she could muster, she forced back the anxiety.
“I know their names are Luke and Chad,” she said slowly, her voice a grating whisper. “And Luke told me—” Her breath caught in her throat. She took a moment to steel herself, then began again. “He said he was my husband.”
“Well,” Doc Porter said, patting her shoulder in gentle consolation, “that’s a start.” He turned his attention to Luke. “I want to keep Jenny overnight. I want to keep an eye on her.” His face wrinkled with a smile. “I’m happy to report some good news. The X-rays show no sign of concussion, and the fall she took doesn’t seem to have hurt the baby.”
The room grew utterly still and quiet.
“The what?” Luke’s features had gone lax with pure, unadulterated astonishment.
She sat motionless. The doctor was saying she was pregnant. This was all just too much to take in.
Her name was Jenny Prentice. She repeated it silently, slowly. She was married. And she had a baby growing inside her. The weight of all this staggering news had her reeling. It was a wonder she didn’t faint dead away. But she didn’t.
Maybe it was a strong sense of survival, maybe it was a deep, innate maternal instinct, but whatever the cause, she found herself zeroing in on one single word.
Baby. Instinctively, she smoothed a protective hand over her lower abdomen. She was going to have a baby.
“My God, Jenny,” Luke said, disappointment in her showing plainly in his eyes, “why didn’t you tell me?”
All she could do was look at him helplessly. This was all news to her, too. But as she looked at his devastated expression, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of woman would keep such wonderful news from her husband?
“Maybe I didn’t know.” Her tone was weak, even to her own ears, and she looked at the doctor, hoping for a confirmation.
The old man shook his head. “You came to my office for the test two weeks ago, Jenny. You’ve had the results for a while.”
“I don’t understand,” Luke said.
His midnight gaze threatened to bore a hole right through her. But she couldn’t help him, because she didn’t understand any of this, either. She could give him no answers, offer him no solace, not when she was so overwhelmed by the total blank that was her memory.
“I might be able to shed some light on this situation.”
Every eye in the room was on Chad, and they all waited, seemingly breathless, for him to explain himself.
“I’m sorry you have to find out like this, Luke,” Chad continued. “But I think that Jenny didn’t tell anyone about the baby because...” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his tan shorts, heaving a sigh before continuing. “Well, to put it bluntly, I think I may be the baby’s father.”
Jenny Prentice slipped into the pair of well-worn jeans. She’d have sworn on a stack of Bibles that she’d never laid eyes on them before, yet as she fastened the metal stud and zipped the zipper, she couldn’t deny the fact that the soft blue denim fabric fit her body to a T.
Everything felt so strange. Every action seemed new and never-before-performed. Her whole world was an alien place.
Yet, she knew what blue jeans were when the nurse’s assistant brought them to her, telling her the clothes had been left for her by her husband. She’d known what the toothbrush was used for. And the brush and comb. However, even though she’d been told these items belonged to her, she’d felt as if she’d been seeing them, using them, for the very first time.
Her overnight stay at the hospital had turned into four days. After the horrible scene that had taken place between the Prentice brothers the day she had awakened after the accident, Jenny had begged Doc Porter to give her some time. Alone. And thankfully, the elderly doctor had complied.
The truth was, she’d been frightened witless by the argument Luke and Chad had had after her pregnancy had been made known. Not that the men had come to blows. Doc had made himself a physical shield between the brothers before that could happen. But the anger and hurt and accusations that had flown back and forth between them had painted a terrible picture in her mind.
What kind of woman would have an affair with her husband’s brother right under—
Don’t think about this, she urgently ordered herself. But the trouble was, there was nothing else in her brain on which to focus her thoughts. Her memory was simply... gone. So her mind kept coming back to the hideous insinuations made by the brothers. But she just couldn’t make herself face the situation, so she’d used that same silent order over and over during these long, lazy days. Don’t think about it.
Every day, Doc came to visit her. He checked her scratches, her bumps and bruises. Then, every day, he’d ask her if she had any questions about herself, her life, her existence before the accident. And every day she’d answered firmly, negatively.
Jenny wasn’t ready. She didn’t want to know who she was, what she’d done, who she’d hurt. The implications she’d gathered from the fight the brothers had had were enough to make her terribly afraid of learning the truth. No, nothing was said outright, but the fact that Chad had declared that he was her baby’s father had been more than enough.
Realizing she’d once again become lost in dark dread, that she hadn’t yet finished dressing, she reached into the bag that contained her clothes. The white, sleeveless top she tugged over her head smelled faintly of honeysuckle. Tucking the hem into the waistband of her jeans, she was extremely aware of the soft fragrance wafting around her.
Was this delicate, flowery perfume what she normally dabbed on her wrists and behind her ears? Was it a fragrance that Luke found alluring?
The unbidden question startled her. She shouldn’t be concerning herself with what Luke Prentice might or might not find desirable. Not with so many unanswered questions bombarding her every second since she’d awakened into this new, unknown existence. Like an unconscious sleepwalker, she found herself moving toward the large window, staring out at the view.
Her gaze traveled to the farthest point on the horizon. The mountains in the distance were covered with a thick layer of dense, green trees. She didn’t know the name of those mountains. Hadn’t even allowed herself to ask Doc or the nurses that simple question, let alone any of the others that plagued her constantly. All she did know was that the mountains calmed her, and she’d spent hours standing here, thinking of nothing, taking solace in the sight.
Staring off at the horizon, she hugged herself and waited for that comfortable, serene feeling to overtake her. But her racing thoughts refused to be arrested, despite the lush green of the mountains. How could she have thought they would, she wondered, when she’d been told just this morning that she would no longer be allowed to take refuge here?
Jenny pressed the flat of her hand against her stomach to quell the rising panic as she pictured in her mind’s eye Doc Porter’s gaze as he’d accused her, in his gentle, fatherly manner, of using the hospital as a hideout. She hadn’t been able to refute Doc’s accusation.
Doc had gone on to recommend firmly that she return to Prentice Mountain, saying that the once familiar surroundings of the ski resort might help to jog her memory. Of course, he hadn’t been able to promise anything with regard to her amnesia. Brain injuries, he’d explained, were peculiar things that continued to stump modem medicine.
So, Jenny Prentice—as she’d learned to call herself over the past few days—was forced to realize that she might never recover from her amnesia. However, she did have to admit that Doc’s parting statement had intrigued her.
“You were never one to hide your head under the covers, Jenny,” he’d commented. Then he’d left her alone, intent on finishing his hospital rounds before going to his office to begin his full schedule of patient appointments.
Doc had told her, in no uncertain terms, that the old Jenny was no coward. And as she stood gazing out the window, she knew she liked the idea that she was strong. However, the thought wasn’t enough to spur her into any kind of rush to find out more about herself. What might she discover? That she was an adulterer? A betrayer of trust? Someone who lied to and deceived the man with whom she’d chosen to spend the rest of her life?
The questions were daunting. Almost as daunting as the painful expression Luke had leveled at her during their last meeting. Never in a hundred million years would Jenny forget the hurt reflected in her husband’s black, staring gaze as Doc had ushered both of the brothers from her room.
She hadn’t seen either of the Prentice men since then, at her own request. But that request was no longer being honored. She was being forced to face herself, her life and her past behavior. It didn’t matter that she remembered none of these things. There were still deeds that someone needed to be held accountable for.
For the thousandth time in the past four days, her baby came into her thoughts. Her stomach felt flat and firm as she slid her hand across it. Who had fathered the delicate life growing inside her? The question prompted the vivid image of Luke, and his tormented gaze.
His agonized expression had been clear evidence that he’d never even suspected that his wife and his brother might have slept together, let alone the fact that Chad would claim to be her baby’s father. Her eyelids closed as she ran headfirst into a solid wall of guilt. What kind of woman would do such a thing? What kind of woman could do such a thing?
Don’t think about it, she silently ordered herself.
If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Luke wouldn’t be the one who came to pick her up. It would be a wonder if the man ever spoke to her again.
“Jenny.”
She recognized the sound of Luke’s voice, its rich resonance causing her eyes to fly open with surprise as she turned to face him.
Well, he was here, she thought. Surprise number one.
Then she noticed something else. He didn’t look angry. Or hurt. In fact, Jenny didn’t think anyone would ever be able to tell that, just four short days ago, he’d been totally humiliated by her. Surprise number two.
Surprise number three came when he actually smiled at her. It was small, as smiles went, but at the same time it was staggering. Way down deep inside, she felt a spark strike to life.
When she noticed that he was staring at her feet, she asked, “What is it?”
His dark eyes found hers. “Doc said that bump you took on the head might have taken away the old Jenny for good. But she’s not far off.”
Jenny was surprised by the hope that spurted up inside her. But there was an undeniable dread there, too. Unable to stop herself, she softly asked, “What makes you say that?”
“Your bare feet.”
His smile widened into an all-out grin, and the spark grew hotter, licking and dancing deep within her.
“I never could get you to wear shoes,” he explained further. “Especially in summer.”
Identifying the pure, unadulterated physical attraction for what it was, Jenny was stunned silent. How could this be happening? Why would she feel such a strong pull to Luke when she was supposed to be having an affair with his brother?
The implications made her face flame, made her avert her eyes from his.
Did the old Jenny Prentice have such loose morals that she could sleep with two men? Her insides churned with disgust. What kind of woman was she? she wondered yet again.
“Come on, Jenny,” Luke said.
The tightness in his voice told her he’d noticed her embarrassment. She cast him a furtive glance. Sure enough, his smile had disappeared, and his eyes were cool chips of shiny coal.
“Put your shoes on.” He moved to the bed and picked up the small bag that contained her meager personal belongings. Turning his back on her, he said, “Let’s go home.”
She had no choice but to follow him.
Chapter Two
Home. The word should conjure up feelings of security and warmth, happiness and laughter. Togetherness. Sharing. Family. But Jenny felt none of these things. Dread sat in her stomach, heavy as a concrete block, as she contemplated going to a place she didn’t remember, living with a man who was a stranger to her.
When she exited the hospital, sunshine warmed her cheeks and she paused long enough to close her eyes for an instant and lift her face skyward. She’d only had a scant moment to enjoy the warm, sunny day before Luke urged her forward, settling his palm on the small of her back.
It was an innocent movement, she was sure. One he’d probably made hundreds of times as her husband, but the jolt that ricocheted up her spine at his touch made her eyes go wide and her knees turn weak.
“We’ve got a thirty-minute drive ahead of us,” he told her, directing her further into the parking lot.
She was relieved that she was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other in a normal stride. The heat of his hand against her back seemed hotter than the summer sun, scalding her, yet she didn’t find it uncomfortable. To the contrary, she found his touch strangely pleasing in a purely physical sense. Before she even realized it, warm tendrils curled down deep in her belly. The low curve of her back seemed like such an unlikely spot for an erogenous zone to be located.
She quickened her pace, hoping to get a step or two ahead of him, and the feel of his hand against her. The last thing she wanted was to let this stranger, no matter how good-looking he might be, see her react to him in such a blatantly physical manner. He might be her husband, but she didn’t know this man.
With just a few quick steps, she was able to put some space between them.
“Whoa,” he called out.
She stopped and turned to face him.
“You walked right past our Bronco.”
Her cheeks were warm and rosy, a leftover reaction to his touch, she knew. His brow wrinkled with a frown as he noticed, and that mortified her.
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “How could you know?”
She let the tiny, self-conscious smile tug at one comer of her mouth. However, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt because she allowed him to believe her embarrassment was caused by having missed the car and not by the fact that her insides had nearly been melted by the mere touch of his hand. She was just relieved that her response had been, for the most part, internal, and all that had surfaced to draw his attention had been a little heated color on her face.
Luke held open the passenger door of the big, four-wheel-drive vehicle, and Jenny had to use the running board to step up into the cab. He went around to the other side and slid behind the wheel.
“It’s so strange,” she said, latching the seat belt securely around her waist. “I remember I need to wear a seat belt...but I haven’t the slightest idea what town I’m in.” She straightened. “I know that that’s a rosebush, and that’s a pine tree, but I can’t remember the name of that mountain range.” She pointed toward the horizon.
Turning the key in the ignition, Luke looked her way. “Doc didn’t offer to fill you in on that kind of stuff?”
She looked contrite. “Oh, he offered,” she said softly. “He made himself available every morning for any questions I might have.” Her gaze wandered out the window and her tone dropped to a whisper as she went on. “I was too afraid to ask.”
The Bronco sat motionless, the engine idling smoothly.
After a silent moment, Luke softly commented, “That sure doesn’t sound like the Jenny I know.”
Frustration reared up inside her. First Doc Porter had chastised her, telling her she hadn’t been the kind of person to hide from the truth. And now Luke was rebuking her, too. Something in her snapped.
“Don’t you understand?” she cried, her eyes welling with tears of defeat and confusion. “The woman you know isn’t in here.” She tapped her index finger twice against her temple. “I don’t remember her. I don’t know her. I’m not sure I even want to—”
“Jenny, stop.” He reached out toward her, his strong fingers gently encircling her wrist.
“Don’t,” she whispered pleadingly, and pulled her arm from his grasp. His touch did things to her. Made her feel a hunger that was both confusing and exciting.
Why was that? The question slipped into her consciousness before she could stop it. Why did she react so strongly to him when—
Jenny shoved the thought aside. She wasn’t ready. There were simply too many other, more fundamental, questions that needed answers. Questions like—who was Jenny Prentice? And is that woman ever coming back? And what was everyone going to do if she didn’t? Who was this man sitting next to her? What kind of marriage had they shared?
That thought brought another startling question. What was he going to expect of her as his wife?
I can’t have sex with a total stranger. A flash of panic swept through her.
The idea of sex brought another question rolling into her mind. Who had fathered the baby she carried?
At the thought of the child growing inside her, she settled her hands, one overtop the other, low on her belly. To Jenny, that last question was the most important of all.
Suddenly, honest emotion flooded from her. “I don’t understand why you’re even here,” she told him. “You should have sent someone after me. After what I’ve done to you. To our marriage.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember what we had together. I don’t have one single memory of our life. But it’s got to hurt you to think I might have slept with your brother.”
She clamped her lips shut. It hadn’t been her intention to reveal so much of the self-doubt she was feeling. Not in such an in-your-face manner, anyway. She had no idea how he might react to such candor.
Her chest seized with guilt as she saw his dark gaze cloud over with pain.
“Look,” he said, “first of all, I want you to know that I don’t believe you and Chad had an affair. I’m the father of the baby you’re carrying. I said it four days ago when you first woke up from your fall, and I’m saying it now.”
Yes, he was making the declaration. Jenny heard it plain and clear. But there was doubt in his onyx eyes—doubt she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t noticed.
“But why would Chad—”
He silenced her with an uplifted hand and a slow shake of his head. “There’s plenty of time to work it all out,” he told her. “You’re still battered and bruised. You need to take time to heal.” He put the Bronco into reverse and pulled slowly from the parking spot. “We’ll find answers to the complicated questions later. For now, let’s stick with the simple things.”
“Simple things?” she asked, wondering if there really was anything simple in this frighteningly complicated situation.
“Yeah.” He nodded, driving to the parking-lot exit and then onto the road. “You can’t get much more simple than where we are. So that’s where we’ll start. We’re in Olem, Pennsylvania. On North Street, to be exact. And that mountain range you were asking about? Those are the Pocono Mountains.” He reached toward the windshield, pointing to the northwest. “See that one? The one with the jagged top? That’s Prentice Mountain. It’s where we’re heading. That’s where we live.”
For nearly half an hour, Luke drove the curving back roads, taking every opportunity to point out to her all the interesting spots and the people on the outskirts of the town.
Olem was a small community in the summer, he’d told her. However, the ski season brought home the winter residents who loved the sport, and the already booming tourist industry was growing even more with each passing year.
He pointed out two other resorts along the road weaving toward Prentice Mountain. Jenny noticed that Luke didn’t seem threatened by the neighboring businesses, despite the fact that these other resorts must compete for his customers. The way he talked about the other owners, people who should have been his competition, as if they were his friends, made her feel light, almost buoyant. And for the first time all morning, she felt a small smile playing on her lips. Jenny didn’t understand what she was feeling, or why she was feeling it. That really didn’t matter, she decided, relaxing in her seat to enjoy the rest of this mini tour.
Jenny found herself enjoying the rich rhythm of Luke’s voice. His tone sounded mellow and serene, so very different from the angry one she remembered hearing four days earlier in the emergency room.
That was it, she realized. The fact that the harshness had disappeared from his voice had lulled her into this wonderful state of light and easy calm. Luke seemed like a completely different person now than he had four days ago.
She felt the desire to ponder this a little further, but Luke pulled off the road in front of a small farmhouse.
“Bud and Mary live here,” Luke told her. “You and I both are addicted to the fresh tomatoes Bud sells. I thought I’d buy us a few. For dinner.”
He opened his door, and instinctively, Jenny reached to open hers.
“Sit still,” he told her. “The stand’s right over there.” He pointed. “I’ll only be a minute.”
Luke went to the produce stand and Jenny heard the friendly murmur of his voice as he greeted the farmer. As if she’d heard the Bronco arrive, a woman came out of the house, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Hi, Jenny,” the woman called out across the yard to her, waving. “Glad to see you’re okay.”
Jenny’s body flushed with a wave of anxiety. She was supposed to know this lady. Tentatively, Jenny raised her hand in greeting and tried to smile.
The woman walked across the yard to the produce stand, joining Luke and Bud in conversation. Jenny frowned. It was so obvious from the pitying glances the woman kept tossing toward the Bronco that the three of them were talking about her, and that made her feel self-conscious. Like an outsider.
Didn’t they realize that they were the strangers? Not her.
She closed her eyes and sighed shakily. Who was she kidding? she silently asked herself. She was the one who had changed.
Luke pulled open the door and slipped in beside her, startling her.
“Mary’s going to bake us a lemon meringue pie,” he said, tucking a brown paper bag filled with ripe, red tomatoes in the space between the front seats. “It’s your favorite,” he went on.
She darted a quick, covert look at the couple as Luke pulled away. “What did you say to them?” she blurted, unable to hide the defensiveness she felt. “They were looking at me like I have some kind of, of terminal disease.”
“That’s silly, Jenny,” he said, gently. “Of course, they weren’t—”
“I’m not being silly!”
His jaw tensed with what she took to be irritation. Well, he’d just have to suffer through it, dam it. A little annoyance was nothing compared to the sheer torment she ran headlong into around every corner she turned.
“Look,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road ahead, “Bud and Mary are our neighbors. Our friends. They’re your friends, Jenny. They care about you. I had to tell them something.”
“So what did you say?” she rushed to asked. Not giving him an instant to respond, she went on. “‘Poor, poor Jenny. She bumped her head and poof—’” she snapped her fingers in the air “‘—life as she remembers it just disappeared.’”
She felt herself losing control. Heard the high-pitched quality of her voice as her tongue rushed ahead of logical thought. But like a fast and dangerous avalanche, her emotions seemed to take hold of her and send her, bumping and scraping, over a steep and all-consuming cliff of pure panic.
“I didn’t say anything like that,” he told her. “But, Jenny, I had to tell them about the amnesia. I had to.”
“They think I’m a freak,” she cried. “‘Take pity on the poor little idiot.’”
Jenny knew what she was saying was nonsensical. She could hear the ridiculousness of what was bubbling up from inside her. Still she was totally helpless to stop it.
“It’s not like that at all.”
He was keeping his tone gentle in an effort to calm her. But the fact that what he was really feeling was exasperation only inflamed her agitation.
“Mary had to know,” Luke went on. “Especially since I’ve asked her to come help out in the afternoons. She’ll do the cooking and cleaning until you’re feeling better.”
“I don’t want Mary to come.” Jenny’s eyes grew wider, and wilder. “I don’t want any help. I’ll be just fine on my own.”
“Jenny,” he murmured.
“I can do my own cooking,” she said, not even hearing him. “I can do my own cleaning. I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me. I’m not helpless. And I won’t stand for being treated as if I am.”
Through the frenzied haze of her ranting, she was vaguely aware that the Bronco had turned off the main road, that the engine had been switched off. Swiftly, Luke unlatched first his seat belt, and then hers. Then he pulled her against his chest.
She didn’t fight him. She couldn’t have, even if she’d wanted to. The circle of his arms felt too much like the safe haven she desperately needed to feel grounded and sheltered. Those were the things she’d been missing since she’d awoken in this living nightmare.
“I don’t want any help,” she said against his chest, but the insistence and creeping hysteria that had been evident in her voice just moments before was all but gone.
“Shhh.” He held her tightly. “It’s all right. You’re okay.”
His heart beat against her ear, steady and strong. She inhaled deeply, slowly. He must think she’d gone mad. Crazed out of her head.
“I’m scared.” She whispered the explanation, feeling drained and exhausted.
“I know,” he told her.
Her body trembled all over, and she sat there for quite a while, pressed against the warm, solid mass of him. Even though it was the middle of summer, a bright and sunny day, she desperately needed the heat that radiated from him. It seeped into her bones, thawing the chill of fear inside her.
He didn’t smooth his hands over her face or hair. He didn’t croon soft words. He simply held her, offering her his strength.
She was actually relieved that he remained silent, and finally, she became aware of the chirping of the birds in the trees, the sound of cars passing them every now and then. And when she felt strong enough, and calm enough, she gently pushed herself away from him.
The embarrassment she felt was almost too much to bear as she looked at this stranger who was her husband. But she forced herself not to avert her eyes from his.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
His dark gaze was so intense it almost felt like a physical touch on her face.
“It’s okay.”
There was deep emotion in his answer, but Jenny was unable to decipher exactly what he was feeling. He was probably embarrassed for her after that god-awful tantrum she’d just thrown. And she couldn’t blame him.
“I have to insist on Mary coming to the house,” he told her, quietly, firmly. “I have work to do on the resort. We’re cutting trees for four new ski slopes that have to be ready before the first snowfall. Chad and I have to oversee the work crews. I’ll be worried if you’re alone at the house all day. You understand that, don’t you?”
She hated that he was explaining the situation to her as if she were a child. But after the way she’d just acted, how else would she expect him to treat her?
Jenny nodded silently.
“Good.” He inhaled, studying her face. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” she assured him. But not quite reassured herself, she repeated, “Better.”
He rubbed his fingers over his chin and then rested his hand on the steering wheel. “You think you feel up to taking another step forward?”
An anxious shiver coursed across her skin. “Another step?”
He shifted in his seat and looked out the windshield. “Yes,” he said. “We’re home.”
She let her gaze follow his, and there at the base of the paved road onto which Luke had turned was a big wooden sign that read Prentice Mountain Ski Resort.
Jenny steeled herself. Gripped the edge of the soft, cushioned seat with the effort of it. She wanted to be strong. Wanted to face all the questions that were waiting for her. Wanted to confront the frightening answers hiding up there on that mountain. But for the life of her, she couldn’t help but feel that Luke had just asked her to buckle herself in for another wildly careening roller-coaster ride.
The asphalt road carried them up the mountain for a couple of miles, the densely broad-leafed trees that lined it casting shadows in the late morning sun. Then the woods seemed to fall away and the ski resort stood before her.
She read the signs that directed skiers to the large parking lot to the left, and then Jenny marveled at the huge building sitting a little further up the mountain.
“Does any of this look familiar?”
Luke’s soft question drew her gaze. She silently shook her head.
“The original lodge, the portion constructed from rough logs,” he said, “was built by my dad and my grandfather. Dad and I added the stone addition about ten years ago.”
“Your father and grandfather,” she said. “Will I meet them? Are they here?”
“No,” he told her. “My grandfather died when I was just a kid. My dad passed on three years ago.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Her attention was drawn to the beautiful lodge. “I’d like to go inside.”
But Luke turned onto a small, narrow lane marked Private Drive.
“Let’s go to the house first,” he said.
She gazed at the resort until it was out of sight, straining her mind for some glimmer of recollection, but failed. Absently, she asked, “So we don’t live in the lodge?”
Luke tossed her a smile, and a tiny lightning bolt of thrill shot straight through the anxiety she was feeling over actually facing her homecoming.
“No, we don’t,” he said. “The business takes a great deal of attention, especially during the height of the ski season. But a person’s got to have a place to get away. Even if it is just a quarter mile up the mountain.” His smile widened. “Like my dad always said, it’s the Prentice way of doing things.”
“I see.”
“I guess I should warn you,” he said. “It’s the Prentice family home. Chad lives there, too.”
She’d be living in a house with both Prentice brothers. She tried to take in the thought without allowing the idea to overwhelm her.
Jenny didn’t say a word. She was too afraid to speak. Afraid that if she opened her mouth she might burst into another fit of pure panic.
“It’s a big house,” he assured her. “You’ll have plenty of privacy.”
She didn’t care if the house was a massive medieval castle, it still wouldn’t be big enough to contain this tangled mess of a situation.
They drove in silence for the few moments it took to reach the house. And Jenny needed every single second to come to terms with the fact that she’d be seeing both of the Prentice men. Every single day.
In the span of what seemed like a short breath or two, the Bronco was parked and Luke was opening the passenger door for her. He clutched her small carryall in one hand and settled the other, in that most familiar manner, on the small of her back.
She hadn’t taken three full steps before those dark and sultry swirls began churning deep in her belly. Yet at the same time, the idea of crossing the threshold of this strange house, with all the questions hiding inside, had her heart pounding a furious beat.
She needed to be free of his touch! She needed to find some excuse not to go up those porch steps! Trepidation jumbled her thoughts beyond recognition.
Jenny stopped dead. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m not ready.”
Thankfully, Luke’s hand swung to his side and she was free. The heated tendrils subsided somewhat, but she still couldn’t seem to get her leaden feet to move one inch closer to the front door.
She knew there was pleading in her eyes as she looked up into his face. She wanted him to understand. She wanted him to realize how afraid she was.
“I know this isn’t easy for you,” he said. “But waiting isn’t going to make it any easier.”
Jenny blinked. She darted a quick glance at the ground, and then back up to his eyes. He was right. Excuses and postponing weren’t going to make her homecoming any easier.
Filling her lungs with a huge, steeling breath, she turned toward the house.
Luke opened the heavy oak door for her and then motioned for her to enter. With her bottom lip tucked firmly between her teeth, she went through the doorway and looked around.
Pennsylvania bluestone covered the floor. Rather than describe the area as a foyer, she would have called it a hallway that ran the length of the front of the house. A gallery, she supposed it was, with tall, narrow windows that let in lots of light. One end of the hall opened onto what looked like a library, a small, cozy room lined with bookshelves. The Queen-Anne-style table and chairs she saw peeking from the room at the opposite end told her that was a formal dining area.
“Well,” Luke said, “this is it. Home Sweet Home.”
She gazed into the living room in front of her. The lush, dove-gray carpet butting up against the bluestone lent a formal feel that Jenny wasn’t sure she liked. She stood there, listening to the quiet.
Luke’s hand on her shoulder gave her a start.
“You okay?”
It wasn’t until that moment that she noticed she’d been holding her breath, waiting. For what? she wondered.
“Fine,” she answered, distracted. The smile she offered him barely curved her lips.
What had she been waiting for? The question continued to niggle.
Had she expected the sight of the house to bring some onrush of memories? An overwhelming flash flood carrying on its swift and turbulent current years and years’ worth of mental pictures from the past?
Jenny realized she actually felt disappointed. Again, she found herself looking all around her, just listening and wondering. Hoping that she would feel some small nuance of familiarity. But she felt no recognition whatsoever. She might as well have been standing in Buckingham Palace, as foreign as this place felt. This house that was supposed to be her home.
“Give it time,” Luke said, smoothing his hand over her shoulder and down her arm to her elbow.
He must have read the disappointment on her face. Must have understood her wild, crazy expectation to miraculously regain her memory.
“This might not feel like home to you now,” he went on, “but you’ll make new memories. You’ll have new experiences. Experiences that will turn this house into your home again.”
You’ll make new memories. You’ll have new experiences. Jenny studied her husband’s face, acutely aware that he hadn’t used the word we.
He smiled then, and every dark and dire message she imagined he was sending faded into oblivion as the heat of his hand on her elbow seemed to wash across her skin to her forearm, and then her wrist, and then further, until it reached the very tips of her fingers.
This was the first time his body had ever contacted hers, flesh to flesh, skin to skin. Well, the first time in her mind, anyway. She’d thought his touch was hot when he’d placed his hand on the small of her back where the fabric of her shirt had been between them, but this...
This was fiery. Blistering.
The heat radiating from him became an element with a life of its own, flowing up over her shoulder like some flammable, intoxicating liquid and cascading sensuously down both her back and her chest.
“Do you want me to give you a grand tour?”
Surely he must see, she thought. Surely he must recognize how his touch ignited something in her. Something mysterious. Something frighteningly erotic.
Fearing she was about to burn completely to ashes, or embarrass herself beyond belief, she took a backward step. She moistened her parched lips, her mind whirling as she contemplated a response.
“If you don’t mind,” she said, surprised by how normal her voice sounded, “I’d like to wander around on my own.”
Luke nodded, but his mouth firmed into a straight line. “Whatever you wish.” He glanced down at the bag he still carried. “I’ll take your things upstairs, and then I’ll park the Bronco around back.”
His tone wasn’t quite clipped, but Jenny could tell her desire to explore the house alone had offended him.
“Well, there she is!”
She looked up and saw her brother-in-law standing by the library door. He’d obviously come from the hallway that led to the back of the house.
Before Jenny could speak, Luke said, “Chad, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be overseeing the work crews up on the mountain.”
“Relax,” Chad told his brother, tossing out an easy smile. “You’re too focused on work. The stress alone is going to give you a heart attack.”
“If someone doesn’t focus on work, and on getting those trees cleared, the ski runs aren’t going to be ready, come winter,” Luke shot back.
Irritation emanated from Luke in palpable waves. Jenny watched his jaw tense as he stared at Chad, and she couldn’t help but notice how the annoyance he felt turned his features sharp and hawkish.
“They’ll be ready,” Chad said, seeming not the least disturbed by Luke’s anger. His gaze glittered warmly as he turned it on Jenny. “I just had to be here to welcome you home. How are feeling? You doing okay?”
Jenny was surprised. She’d been dreading seeing Chad again. She’d been confused by the fear she’d felt of him when she’d first awoken in the hospital. But there wasn’t a nuance of anxiety in her now. And he seemed so genuinely concerned about her.
“I’m—”
“How do you think she’s feeling?” Exasperation was clearly evinced by Luke’s question. “She’s scraped up and bruised. The last thing she needs is to be barraged with a bunch of questions.”
Although Chad looked wounded, there was an argument brewing in his brown eyes. “Look, Luke, I only came home to see how she was—”
“But the point is,” Luke said, “you weren’t supposed to come home at all this afternoon. Someone should be up there minding those men we hired. They’re costing us a bundle of money.”
“You know they won’t take orders from me.”
“That’s because you don’t spend enough time up there—”
“That wouldn’t make any difference,” Chad said. “They look to you, and you only.”
Her gaze bounced back and forth from one man to the other until the bickering made her mind spin.
“It wouldn’t be that way if you’d show them—”
“You should have let me go to Olem to pick up Jenny—”
“Please!” She pressed her fingers to her temples.
Silence fell around them like a heavy wool blanket, the sheer weight of it thick and awkward. She hadn’t realized how loudly she’d spoken.
A frown planted itself in her brow as she looked, first at Chad, then at Luke. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I seem to be coming down with a headache. Is there some place I could lie down?”
“Of course.”
Both men answered and simultaneously took a step toward her, then froze. The brothers stared, each refusing to back down. Jenny was afraid another shouting match was about to ensue, but then Luke acted. He reached into his pocket and lightly tossed his keys to Chad.
“Please park the Bronco in the garage,” he said, his request courteous but edged with steel. “I’ll take Jenny upstairs,. Then we can go back to work and she can rest. I’ll meet you around back at the pickup truck.”
She didn’t think she could take another round of quarreling, and her expression must have conveyed just that because her brother-in-law’s eyes softened.
“You have a good rest,” he said. “I’ll see you later on at dinner.”
Smoothing her hand wearily over her hair, she nodded at him. He left through the front door, and Jenny turned to follow Luke down the hallway to the stairs.
This sudden fatigue sapped her desire to see the house, to explore the rooms for answers to the dozens of questions that had been haunting her for days. All she wanted to do was close her eyes, and escape.
The bedroom was large and had its own sitting area with a plush and inviting couch and matching chair, a small television set, a cherry bookcase and a writing desk. The floor was covered with carpet the color of sea foam, the pale green hue lending a calm feel to the room.
“It’s lovely,” she said.
Luke set her small bag by the closet door. “No one ever complained about your taste.”
“I decorated this room?”
“Uh-huh.”
Jenny eased herself down on the very edge of the mattress, smoothing her palm over the pristine white bedspread. She glanced up at Luke and saw that he’d grown utterly still, his eyes riveted to her hand as it slid across the fabric.
The thought hit her like a stone right between the eyes. The bed. She was sitting on the bed they must have shared as husband and wife.
Snatching her hand to her chest, she quickly jumped up. His gaze flew to her face, a mask sliding down over his expression, but not before she glimpsed his pain.
She and Luke had slept together in that bed. Had she taken his brother into this bed, too? The very idea sickened her. Just as, she was sure, it sickened her husband.
“Jenny.”
Luke’s voice startled her. She looked at him, hugging her arms across her chest. His muscular body was taut and he looked as if he had something on his mind, but couldn’t find the words to express himself.
What must he think of her? She was helpless to stop the question from whispering across her thoughts.
“I wish things were different,” he said at last. “I’d hoped your homecoming would be...”
He pressed his lips together, letting the rest of the sentence trail off. Reaching up, he raked his fingers through his hair. The breath he expelled was shot through with frustration. “You rest,” he told her. “Mary will come later to check on you. I’ll see you at dinner.”
Then he turned on his heel and left her alone in the peaceful room.
She slipped off her shoes and stretched out on the bed, her chaotic mind a direct contrast to the serene colors and soft fabrics surrounding her. Her greatest wish at this moment was to close her eyes, fly away on the gentle wings of sleep. But her conscious mind had other ideas—ideas it refused to let her ignore.
There were brothers in this house, snipping and snarling like two dogs with one bone. There was a marriage, tattered and torn. And there was a child. Instinctively, Jenny’s hand moved to her stomach. A child that two men claimed.
The pivotal point of all these problems was her...a woman who had no memory of how any of these situations had come to be. Lord above, she sent the silent prayer heavenward, how am I ever going to untangle the mess I’ve made of all these lives?
Chapter Three
Jenny’s eyes fluttered open and a sleepy sigh escaped her lips. The room was illuminated with the soft mauve and gray hues of twilight. She’d slept away the entire afternoon. Her muscles felt languid and heavy, yet her mind was keen, her thinking clear, as if something was about to happen.
Sitting up, she swept back the tangle of hair that had fallen over her face, and before she even had time to draw a deep breath, Luke pushed open the door a crack and peeked in.
His brow creased in an apologetic frown. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I only wanted to check—”
“I was already awake,” she told him, marveling that she’d awoken with a such a strong feeling of expectation just seconds before Luke had come into the room. Did she have some kind of psychic connection to this man? Some sixth sense that had alerted her to his imminent arrival?
The questions were so silly, they embarrassed her. “I can’t believe I slept so long.”
There it was again. That devastating smile that sent a jolt of soul-stirring electricity shooting through her. The same smile that softened the harsh planes and hollows of Luke’s face, making his handsome countenance even more attractive.
“But you were supposed to be resting,” he pointed out, his obsidian eyes warm and mellow in the dusky light filtering through the windows.
The concern she read in his gaze made her blood heat. She wanted this man. In a purely carnal sense. The thought shocked her. And at the same time the realization made her feel terribly conscious of her disheveled appearance.
“I’m a mess,” she murmured, averting her face and combing her fingers through her hair.
“You’re beautiful.”
The compliment had been whispered so softly, she couldn’t even be sure she’d heard him correctly. Jenny lifted her eyes to his and saw a sincerity there that stole her breath away.
She didn’t know what to say, how to act, and the silence swelled until it seemed to swirl and pulse with some mysterious energy. Jenny was sure he must hear the thunder of her heart in the utter stillness.
Finally, Luke came further into the room, stopping a few feet from the bed. “How’s your headache?”
“Gone,” she said, realizing that, for having fallen asleep with such worrisome thoughts, she felt well-rested. “Actually, I’m feeling pretty good.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
The silky baritone of his voice sent shivers coursing down her spine. He was close enough to her now that she could smell the warm scent of him, an appealing mixture of woodsy cologne and the clean smell of shower soap. His black hair glistened damp in the fading, rosy glow.
Feeling desperate to break this tense allure threatening to overwhelm her, she reached over and switched on the bedside lamp. But the artificial light did nothing to dissipate the sparks that snapped and crackled in the air.
“Are you hungry?”
How could he ask such a mundane question with all this electricity throbbing in this suddenly-too-small room?
Whether he was conscious of the underlying current or not, his pretense of normal behavior was probably the best way to handle the situation, she decided. She’d simply follow his example.
“I’m starved,” she told him, proud of the confident smile she was able to offer him.
Absently, he slid his palm across the front of his shirt. “Mary fried some chicken and made a bowl of potato salad. Oh, and there’s baked beans and biscuits, too. And she didn’t forget that lemon meringue pie she promised.”
She sensed rather than saw his grin as he listed the dinner menu, her gaze glued to his hand where it rested on his broad chest. Even though she knew it was the last thing she should be doing, she couldn’t help but imagine how his pectoral muscles might feel under her own fingertips.
Hard and hot, she was sure.
Blinking, she realized that Luke’s eyes held an expectant look, as if he’d asked her a question and he was waiting for an answer. Heat suffused her cheeks as she said, “Um, I beg your pardon?”
He chuckled. “I guess the sandman still hasn’t let you completely loose.”
“I guess.” She didn’t mind jumping at the excuse he’d given her for her lack of attention, even though her brain was quick and keen, and had been since the instant she’d opened her eyes.
“I asked if you’d like me to bring you a tray,” he repeated. “Or would you rather join us downstairs?”
“I’ll come down,” she said, sliding to the edge of the mattress. But then she stopped, remembering that Luke had mentioned Mary. “Is she still here? Mary, I mean?”
He shook his dark head. “She had to go fix Bud’s dinner.” After a moment, he softly added, “Mary was disappointed that she didn’t get a chance to talk to you.”
Relief flowed through her when she realized she didn’t have to deal with yet another new experience. What do you say to people who know more about you than you do yourself?
Evidently, Luke recognized what she was feeling because he said, “It is going to be okay, you know. We’re just going to take it one day at a time.”
She smiled at him, his use of the plural pronoun making it seem as if she wasn’t in this all alone. But she didn’t let down her guard completely, remembering how, just a few hours ago, he’d acted irritated, almost standoffish toward her. Luke wasn’t going to be an easy man to figure out.
“I don’t mean to be timid about meeting Mary. It’s just that...” She let the sentence trail, knowing from the look on his face that he understood she wasn’t quite ready to take on the whole world.
His black gaze took on a note of warning. “Chad’s downstairs. You’re all he’s talked about today. He wants to see for himself that you’re really okay. I hope he won’t overwhelm you.”
The concern biting into his brow made Jenny feel secure for some reason. After her reaction to Luke and Chad’s bickering this afternoon, she didn’t feel that her husband would allow the situation to get out of hand.
Her husband. Thinking of herself as married gave her such an odd sensation. A sensation filled with a multitude of emotions. A sensation she really didn’t have time to ponder in depth at the moment.
She hitched up one shoulder a fraction. “I won’t lie to you,” she said. “I am a little apprehensive.”
“There’s no reason to be.” His smile faded as determination overtook his expression. “You can trust me on that.”
This fiercely protective side he was showing made her grow silent, thoughtful. It put her at ease and melted some of the anxiety jittering inside her. She liked the feeling, she decided.
Drawing her spine straight, she didn’t smile as she told him, “I do trust you, Luke.”
He held her gaze for only a moment, then stuffing his hands into his pockets, he looked away. Was he embarrassed by her admission? she wondered. The thought was heartwarming.
“Let me run a brush through my hair,” she told him. “And I’d like to splash my face with a little water. I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes, okay?”
Luke nodded silently and then left the room.
Padding into the master bathroom, Jenny pulled a clean washcloth from the shelf, moistened it and smoothed it over her face. She scrubbed her teeth and brushed her hair.
Finally, she stared into the mirror at the image that was no more familiar to her now than it had been when she’d regained consciousness four days ago. Jenny Prentice was an unknown entity. As strange to her as Luke and Chad, as Mary and her husband Bud. But in order to get to know the woman staring back at her from the mirror, Jenny knew she needed information. She turned to the door, straightening her shoulders. It was time to come face-to-face with the two men who could give her the facts she desperately needed.
The fried chicken was juicy and tender, and Jenny didn’t realize just how hungry she was until she took that first bite.
“This is delicious.” she said.
Luke nodded. “Mary’s a good cook.”
“But so are you, Jenny,” Chad told her. “You always loved working in the kitchen.”
Jenny tossed her brother-in-law an awkward smile, his compliment making her wonder what kind of meals she used to prepare. Did she favor fancy dishes such as fettuccine Alfredo and seafood paella? Or did she cook simple fare like franks and beans, hamburgers and fries?
“Baking bread was your specialty,” Luke said, scooping up a forkful of chilled potato salad.
Chad chuckled. “We always knew when Jenny was upset, didn’t we, Luke? She’d be in the kitchen, up to her elbows in flour, bashing the heck out of some bread dough.” He grinned at her. “You called it kneading, but Luke and I knew you were imagining one or the other of us under those pummeling fists of yours.”
So, Jenny mused, she worked out her aggressions by baking bread. Interesting.
She looked up when Chad chuckled again. “And let me tell you, you baked more bread around here over the past couple of months than you have in—”
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