Hers To Remember

Chapter Three

“Of course she loves you,” Casey assured him.

Sam appreciated his brother’s loyalty, but he was practical enough to face reality. Amy hadn’t recognized him. If she told the doctor her name was Amy Delaney, it wasn’t because she’d remembered. And if she didn’t remember being Amy, she wouldn’t remember loving him either. A deep anger stirred inside him. He’d be damned if he’d allow one stupid accident to take his wife away from him!

He picked up a newspaper he found lying on a table, turned and left the room.

“Sam, wait up!”

Ignoring his brother’s call, he strode down the hall toward Amy’s room.

Casey caught up to him outside. “What are you going to do?”

Unable to discount the alarm in Casey’s voice, Sam took a couple of calming breaths before answering. “I have to tell her who she is.”

“You don’t know who she is, Sam,” Casey reminded him.

Sam shook his head in denial. “She’s my wife. She’s carrying our child. No matter what happened in her life before I found her that night, that will never change.”

“Maybe you should wait until the doctor gets back,” Casey said reasonably. “She thinks Amy has a simple case of amnesia. Even you and I don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with. Amy might need a doctor nearby.”

Sam seriously considered his brother’s suggestion. He didn’t want to make things worse for Amy. She was already scared enough. That thought decided him. “I have to tell her now, Casey. If the danger she’s so afraid of did happen three years ago, she has a right to know it’s long in the past.”

Casey nodded his understanding. He put a supportive hand on Sam’s shoulder. “You want me to go with you.”

Sam shook his head. “Wish me luck,” he said and pushed open the door to his wife’s room.

Adrienne watched Sam warily as he walked into the room. The doctor had left to talk to him. What had she said? Had she seen through her act?

Sam set the newspaper on the side table, then pulled up a chair and sat. “Hi.”

Adrienne returned his greeting, but left it at that. For now, she would let Sam lead the conversation. Once she knew what he’d been told, she’d handle it from there.

“You must have gotten some rest. You look a lot better.”

She nodded. “Thanks, I feel better.” It was obvious he was stalling. She wondered why.

Sam cleared his throat. “The doctor says you have amnesia.”

Adrienne nodded again, then, to avoid his intent gaze, looked down at her hands. Her fingers were clenched together, an obvious sign of nervousness.

He reached over and separated her hands. “Relax, honey, everything is going to be just fine.” Laying them gently on the blanket, he touched her left ring finger. She’d taken off her ring before she left Boston, but the mark from it remained. “Dr. Yamana said you only remember that your name is Amy Delaney and that I’m your husband.”

She opened her mouth, but she couldn’t think of a thing to say.

Sam smiled. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk.” His smile faded. “There are some things you need to know about your accident.”

His comment surprised her. “I was running, and I fell.” It seemed simple enough.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Into the road, right in front of my truck. It scared the hell out of me. Thank God, my brakes were good or I might have hit you.”

The anguish in his eyes touched her. She reached out to him. “I’m sorry.”

He took her hand in his and smiled. “You’ve more than made up for it in the last three years.”

Shocked, she drew back. “Three years? What are you talking about?”

“The accident you remember took place three years ago,” he said gently.

“But…” She reached up and touched the bandage on her head.

“This was caused by something entirely different. You were vacuuming. You slipped on the cord and hit your head on the vacuum.”

“I was vacuuming!” This had to be a joke. She hadn’t vacuumed in years. She and Vaughn had always been too busy for housework.

Vaughn. This had something to do with him. Was he trying to prove her insane? Crazy people weren’t reliable witnesses. The police wouldn’t believe a word she said.

She looked at Sam, deeply disappointed. She’d hoped he was different, that his gentleness was genuine. Now it seemed he was just someone Vaughn had sent to do his dirty work. Maybe he was the one she’d heard coming after her the night of the accident.

She hoped Vaughn had paid him well. His acting ability appeared to be top-notch. He’d almost had her fooled.

Well, one thing was clear. She couldn’t let him know she’d figured out their plan. She decided to test him.

“Where was I vacuuming?”

“At our house.”

That threw her. “Our house?”

“Yes, yours and mine.”

“We live together?” She’d never seen this man before in her life. How could he possibly claim they lived together? How could Vaughn believe he’d get away with such an outrageous lie? How did they plan to prove it?

Her stomach dropped when she realized she might actually have helped them prove it, when she’d told the doctor she was Amy Delaney and Sam was her husband.

“Yes, we do live together.” Sam looked at her closely, as if waiting for a reaction. “We’re…married.”

Adrienne saw red as anger overwhelmed her. She’d told the doctor this man was her husband, and now he was actually trying to prolong the charade. This man wasn’t here to protect her. He was using her.

She stared at the man who claimed to be her husband, trying to figure him out. What made him think he could get away with this?

What she saw in his expression confused her. His blue eyes held more than a hint of concern. In fact, he looked almost afraid.

Which was just as ridiculous as everything else that had happened in the past couple of hours. What did he have to be afraid of? She was the one who didn’t know what the hell was going on!

“Amy, are you all right?” Sam asked, reaching out.

She jerked her hand back before he could touch her again. Anger and confusion warred inside her. Anger won. “I’m just ducky. I love being called by somebody else’s name. I never saw you before today and you’re claiming I’m your wife. On top of that, you’re actually trying to tell me that I fell in front of your truck three years ago and I got this bump on my head tripping over a cord in ‘our’ house. How could I not be all right? I’ve stumbled into some damn rabbit hole!”

Sam stared at her as if she’d turned into the rabbit. “You don’t believe me.”

Trying to rub away the pain once again pounding against her forehead, Adrienne felt suddenly weary. “Of course I don’t believe you.”

He reached over and retrieved the newspaper he’d brought with him. He laid it on her lap. “Look at this.”

She glanced down at the paper. The headline dealt with some foreign political problem. “Look at what?”

“The date,” he said.

She read the date. She read it again. “This can’t be real.” Frantically, she searched each page for some sign this was a mocked-up version of the newspaper.

She looked at Sam. “Tell me this isn’t real.”

“I can’t, honey. It is real.”

“How can it be?” Her head began to swim. Tears threatened. She swiped them away. “How can I have forgotten three years of my life?”

“Oh, sunshine.” Sam gently wiped the tears that refused to be stayed. “You did more than that.”

Adrienne felt so tired she couldn’t even raise a protest at this intimacy. “What do you mean?”

“Until you woke up in the hospital today, you’d forgotten everything about yourself and your past.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know who you were or where you came from. You had identification that gave us your name and your address, but—”

“Wait!” she interrupted. Putting her hands over her burning eyes, she tried to think. She’d had identification? That couldn’t be right. She’d been running away. She’d left her driver’s license and credit cards behind, she knew it. A vague memory prodded her brain. A man handing her something, her handing him a thick envelope in return. She looked at Sam. “What name was on the ID?”

Sam gazed at her searchingly before he answered. “Amy Nichols, from Los Angeles, California. Casey tried to find your phone number, but it was unlisted. He had a friend go to the address listed, but they had never heard of Amy Nichols.”

Of course they hadn’t, Adrienne thought. Because she had never lived in Los Angeles, and she wasn’t Amy Nichols.

“We ran your picture in the L.A. Times, as well as the local paper,” Sam continued, “but no one came forward.”

“No one?” She needed the clarification. She needed to know the fake ID had worked.

Sam shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

The words were so simple and heartfelt, she knew they were the truth.

I’m safe!

The words burst into her brain. He hadn’t been following her that night. The accident had been just that. Vaughn hadn’t insisted on seeing her in the hospital for no other reason than he wasn’t here. She laughed out loud. She was safe.

Adrienne could hardly believe it. Because of the ID she’d bought before she left Boston, they’d only run her picture in California. Vaughn never would have seen it in Boston. Of course, that’s why she’d chosen the Golden State. Vaughn thought it an intellectual wasteland. It never would have occurred to him that she would choose to live here.

Fast on those thoughts came another, more fantastic than the ones before.

“The baby?”

Sam nodded.

“It’s yours?” Please, God, let him say yes. Let it be anybody’s but Vaughn’s.

Sam smiled.

Again, Adrienne laughed, then immediately burst into tears.

Sam moved to sit on the bed. Putting his arms around her he held her tight. “It’s all right, sunshine. I promise. I’m a great guy once you get to know me. You don’t have anything to be afraid of.”

Adrienne heard his crooning words and knew she had to tell him. “You don’t understand.”

“I do understand. This has all been too much for you. Finding out about the amnesia. Learning you’re living with a stranger, and pregnant on top of that. I know how upset you are.”

Adrienne’s tears turned back to laughter. The poor man was so intent on comforting her he didn’t understand at all. She pulled away. “I’m not upset!”

Sam looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.

“And I’m not hysterical, either.”

His expression turned skeptical.

She didn’t blame him. If what he’d told her was true, and it seemed it was, her head and her emotions had been playing tricks on her for a long time.

She smiled wryly. “All right, maybe a little hysterical, but wouldn’t you be, under the same circumstances?”

Sam returned her smile. “I’d be a blithering idiot.”

Adrienne doubted that. In spite of all that she’d put him through during the past few hours, Sam’s actions had been sure and steady. She suspected she was very lucky to have Sam as her baby’s father. “I’m just so glad the baby’s not Vaughn’s.”

“Vaughn?”

“He has no hold. He can’t hurt us.” As long as she and the baby belonged to someone else, he couldn’t do a thing.

The truth was he probably never had. She’d been so careful. It was only once she’d arrived at her destination that she’d become afraid again. One strange noise had sent her running. How foolish!

“Amy.”

And how wonderful to know that the noises she’d heard on her walk had been only that. Not Vaughn. Noises. But that night, the fear had been so real, it had sent her flying through the trees and onto the road where she’d fallen.

“Amy.”

Even now, some of the fear remained. She’d lived with it for so long it was hard to let go. But she would, now she knew three years had passed. Three years in which she’d met a man, fallen in love, gotten married, gotten pregnant, and she remembered none of it! Incredible.

“Amy!”

It took her a few moments to realize he was talking to her. “I’m sorry. There is just so much to take in.”

“I understand that, but there’s something I have to know.”

She looked at him curiously. His tone seemed almost angry. “What is it?”

“Who’s Vaughn?”

She grimaced. “My husband.”

Sam scowled. “Your husband?”

“Actually, my ex.” She guessed. “It’s been three years. I’m sure he went through with the divorce.”

Sam’s eyes went blank. He moved off the bed and walked over to the window. He stood for a moment staring out. “You’re sure he went through with the divorce,” Sam repeated as if by rote.

Adrienne watched him shake off whatever he’d been thinking. He turned back to her. “Why would your ex-husband want to hurt you?”

She shrugged. What use would it be to go into all that now? “He’s probably forgotten all about me by now.” At least, she hoped he had.

He held her gaze. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

The intensity in his blue eyes made her shiver. In the last few hours, she’d seen him gentle, concerned and hurt, but this fierceness surprised her.

“Amy, why would he want to hurt you?”

The husbandly sternness of his question reminded her he had a right to know. “Because he’s a cold selfish son of a—” Anger flared in Sam’s eyes, and she stopped. “What does it matter? I’ve obviously made a new life for myself. I’d rather talk about that.”

“So would I,” Sam said. “But if you’re in danger…”

“I’m not!” If Vaughn had known where she was, he wouldn’t have waited to do something about it. But he hadn’t. So that meant she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. Now all she wanted to do was forget him. Selective amnesia. I wonder how that works.

She looked at her “new” husband. “Sam, sit down, please.” She waited until he sat in the chair by the bed. “I feel funny asking this since we’ve been married for…”

“We celebrated our second year together three months ago,” Sam informed her. “Around the same time the baby was conceived.”

A blush warmed her cheeks. “Oh.” She’d never been a shy person, but the thought of making love with this virtual stranger unsettled her. Her brain certainly worked in mysterious ways. First she’d forgotten her first husband. Now she’d forgotten her second.

“Are you okay?” He leaned forward and reached for her hand.

“I’m fine,” she said, although it seemed an anemic word to use for how she felt.

Sam was so big and strong. Sitting so close, he made her feel almost delicate. Yet, he hadn’t tried to intimidate her physically like other men had. He’d made her feel safe and protected. That’s what had scared her so much when she’d believed he’d been sent by Vaughn, that he could have taken her in so easily. When she’d finally accepted that not only wasn’t he involved with Vaughn, but that he was her husband and the father of the baby she carried, she’d felt relieved and somewhat vindicated.

Now she felt curious. Not only about him, personally, but about her life with him. She moved restlessly. “Sam, for all intents and purposes, we’ve just met. I know nothing about you beyond these last few hours.”

He released her hand and sat back, as if reading her need for a little space. “I’m not sure I know where to start.”

Start with why you married me. The thought came full-blown to her mind, but she didn’t voice it. She’d asked Vaughn that once, and he’d answered with the required pretty words. But it hadn’t taken her long to realize pretty words meant nothing. Or that she wouldn’t have wanted a man like Vaughn to love her, even if they had.

Sam seemed like a good, honest man. But she wanted to know him a lot better before she asked him a question whose answer she’d have to analyze. So, she decided to start with something simple.

“I know your name is Sam Delaney. How old are you?”

“I’ll be thirty-five April third. That’s about three months from now.”

It seemed impossible so much time had passed. Like some modern Rip van Winkle, she’d gone to sleep and woken up over three years later. But old Rip hadn’t gotten married and pregnant during his nap! Thinking about the time that had passed, another thought occurred. “I missed my thirtieth birthday,” she said. There were probably women who’d rejoice at such a fact, but she only felt strange to have missed such an important milestone.

“When is your birthday?” Sam asked. “We’ve been using October seventeenth, the day of the accident.”

“December thirty-first.”

“Well, we didn’t know it was your birthday, but we did celebrate.”

She laughed. “Us and the rest of the world. It is New Year’s Eve.”

His blue eyes sparkled. “I bet when you were a kid you thought the celebration was all for you.”

“You win.”

But that hadn’t lasted long, she thought. People had been quick to tell her the celebration had nothing to do with her. Just like Vaughn had been quick to tell her their success had nothing to do with her. It was his work, his brains that made their advertising company a huge success. The campaigns she’d designed, he’d told her, would never have gotten off the ground if it hadn’t been for him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Sam interrupted her dismal thoughts.

Adrienne rubbed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt very tired and emotional. “What could be wrong? I’ve forgotten three years of my life. I’m pregnant with a child I don’t remember conceiving with a man I don’t remember marrying.”

Seeing the stricken look on his face, she regretted snapping at him. “Look, I’m sorry. My head is aching again. Would you mind if we postponed this question-and-answer session for a while?”

For a moment she thought he was going to refuse. There was a stubborn look on his face that told her he wanted to. Instead, he got up and moved the chair he’d been sitting on back next to the wall.

Grateful for his compliance, she felt a need to reassure him. “I just need a little rest, Sam. It’s been a big day.”

Sam managed a smile. “That’s putting it mildly. Get some sleep. I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”

“You don’t have to stay.”

He looked a little hurt. “Yes, I do.”

Adrienne was glad. She liked the security she felt knowing he would be near. Even though she knew Vaughn lived a couple thousand miles away, in blessed ignorance, she couldn’t quite shake the fear that he’d come running should he ever learn of her circumstances. Then, she suspected, there would be no more safety. No matter how big and strong Sam was.

SAM LEFT THE ROOM reluctantly. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what. He walked down the hall toward the waiting room, though he already hated the sight of those rose walls and cranberry couches.

He understood that Amy had been through a lot. She probably just needed some time to assimilate what she’d learned so far. He certainly did.

But he also suspected there was something she hadn’t told him. Something about her ex-husband. Why else would she be worried about whether he had a hold on her and the baby?

Once in the waiting room, Sam found it difficult to keep still. He sat. He stood. He paced, then sat again. Had he made a mistake letting her distance him like this? What else could he have done?

He picked up a magazine and leafed through the pages, but never saw one. His mind never left the woman lying in the hospital room down the hall. He couldn’t force her to talk to him. He knew that. So he stayed where he was, knowing also that if he pushed, she’d run. She’d already done it once.

Twice, if what he suspected about her arrival in California had any validity.

So, he’d wait. Because next time he might not find her so easily. Frustrated by his own logic, he threw the magazine across the room.

Casey strode in as the magazine settled itself on the floor next to the couch. “Hey, big brother, what are you doing here?”

“Amy needed some rest.”

“Told her you were her husband and she kicked you out, huh?”

Sam glared at him. “That’s not funny.”

Casey sat down beside him and slapped a hand on his back. “It ain’t gonna happen, either. So quit worrying. You’re much more interesting than that stiff she left in Boston.”

That got his attention. “Her ex-husband’s dead?”

Casey laughed. “Not that kind of stiff. You’ve been hanging around cops too much.”

“How did you find him so fast?” He’d just found out the Vaughn she’d kept mentioning was related to her himself.

Acting insulted, Casey moved to the chair across from him. “Will you ever stop underestimating your little brother? I put the names Vaughn and Winston together, called a friend who’s good at tracing people. Winston’s in advertising. Has a big company in Boston called Advon Inc. He and Adrienne started it five years ago. Right after they got married.”

“So the ID was fake,” Sam said, only surprised that Amy hadn’t made that clear when he’d talked about trying to find her next of kin.

“Yep,” Casey said. “A good fake, too. She must have paid a bundle for it.”

Restless, Sam picked up a magazine, then put it back down. “I can’t believe Amy has her own advertising company. Why would she leave it to run to California?”

Casey sat forward. “Had. She signed it over to him right before she left town.”

“What?” That made less sense than her running away from it. “Why?”

Casey shrugged. “Maybe that’s the price she had to pay to get rid of him.”

Remembering his own comment about survival skills earlier, Sam felt a shiver of fear. “She must have wanted to do that pretty badly to give up a company she founded.” That fact should have made him happy. After all, it was easier to deal with an ex the woman you loved hated. You never had to see him. But the desperation of it made him uneasy. “What else did you find out?”

“Not much. Actually, what I did find was pretty weird. Nobody seemed to know she’d been missing.”

“A woman disappears for three years and nobody notices?” This was getting stranger by the moment.

“She has no family. Nobody filled out a missing-person’s report. All she had was Winston, who evidently didn’t care if she disappeared. The private detective suggested that Amy might have wanted to be lost, so he’s being very discreet. We don’t want to alert the wrong person to her presence.”

Sam’s fear took form. How would they know who the wrong person was? Of course, it was probably her ex. If so, what had he done to make her turn over her half of their company and run all the way to California?