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She dropped her gaze to the gnawed thumbnail.
‘Did I flirt with you?’
Max recalled the amazing chemistry of that night. The glittering harbourside venue and that first heart-zapping moment of eye contact with Carrie. Her shining dark eyes and dazzling bright smiles … the electric shock of their bodies touching the first time they danced.
He couldn’t suppress a wry grin. ‘I reckon we could safely claim all of the above.’
The Husband
She’d Never Met
Barbara Hannay
www.millsandboon.co.uk
BARBARA HANNAY has written over forty romance novels and has won the RITA® award, the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award, as well as Australia’s Romantic Book of the Year.
A city-bred girl, with a yen for country life, Barbara lives with her husband on a misty hillside in beautiful Far North Queensland, where they raise pigs and chickens and enjoy an untidy but productive garden.
Thank you to all the wonderful readers who have helped me to turn a hobby into the happiest of careers.
Contents
Cover
Introduction
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EPILOGUE
Extract
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
THE SUITCASE WAS almost full. Carrie stared at it in a horrified daze. It seemed wrong that she could pack up her life so quickly and efficiently.
Three years of marriage, all her hopes and dreams, were folded and neatly layered into one silver hard-shell suitcase. Her hands were shaking as she smoothed a rumpled sweater, and her eyes were blurred with tears.
She had known this was going to be hard, but this final step of closing the suitcase and walking away from Max felt as impossible and terrifying as leaping off a mountain into thin air. And yet she had no choice. She had to leave Riverslea Downs. Today. Before she weakened.
Miserably, Carrie surveyed the depleted contents of her wardrobe. She’d packed haphazardly, knowing she couldn’t take everything now and choosing at random a selection of city clothes, as well as a few pairs of jeans and T-shirts. It wasn’t as if she really cared what she wore.
It was difficult to care about anything in the future. The only way to get through this was to stay emotionally numb.
She checked the drawers again, wondering if she should squeeze in a few more items. And then she saw it, at the back of the bottom drawer: a small parcel wrapped in white tissue paper.
Her heart stumbled, then began to race. She mustn’t leave this behind.
Fighting tears, she held the thin package in her hands. It was almost weightless. For a moment she pressed it against her chest as she battled painful, heartbreaking memories. Then, drawing on the steely inner strength she’d forced herself to find in recent months, she delved into the depths of the suitcase and made a space for the little white parcel at the very bottom.
There. She pressed the clothes back into place and snapped the locks on the case.
She was ready. Nothing to do now but to leave the carefully composed letter for her husband propped against the teapot on the kitchen table.
It was cruel, but it was the only way she could do this. If she tried to offer Max an explanation face to face he would see how hard this was for her and she would never convince him. She’d thought this through countless times, and from every angle, and she knew this was the fairest and cleanest way. The only way.
At the bedroom window, Carrie looked out across paddocks that were glowing and golden in the bright Outback sun. She smelled a hint of eucalyptus on the drifting breeze and heard the warbling notes of a magpie. A hot, hard lump filled her throat. She loved this place.
Go now. Don’t think. Just do it.
Picking up the envelope and the suitcase, she took one last look around the lovely room she’d shared with Max for the past three years. With a deliberate lift of her chin, she squared her shoulders and walked out.
* * *
When the phone rang, Max Kincaid ignored it. He didn’t want to talk, no matter how well-meaning the caller. He was nursing a pain too deep for words.
The phone pealed on, each note drilling into Max. With an angry shrug he turned his back on the piercing summons and strode through the homestead to the front veranda, which had once been a favourite haunt. From here there was a view of paddocks and bush and distant hills that he’d loved all his life.
Today Max paid the view scant attention. He was simply grateful that the phone had finally rung out.
In the silence he heard a soft whimper and looked down to see Carrie’s dog, Clover, gazing up at him with sad, bewildered eyes.
‘I know how exactly you feel, old girl.’ Reaching down, Max gave the Labrador’s head a good rub. ‘I can’t believe she left you, too. But I s’pose you won’t fit in a city apartment.’
This thought brought a sharp slice of the pain that had tortured Max since the previous evening, when he’d arrived from the stockyards to find Carrie gone, leaving nothing but a letter.
In the letter she’d explained her reasons for leaving him, outlining her growing disenchantment with life in the bush and with her role as a cattleman’s wife.
On paper, it wasn’t convincing. Max might not have believed a word of it if he hadn’t also been witness to his wife’s increasingly jaded attitude in recent months.
It still made no sense. He was blowed if he knew how a woman could appear perfectly happy for two and a half years and then change almost overnight. He had a few theories about Carrie’s last trip to Sydney, but—
The phone rang again, interrupting his wretched thoughts.
Damn.
Unfortunately he couldn’t switch off the landline the way he could his cell phone. And now his conscience nagged. He supposed he should at least check to see who was trying to reach him. If the caller was serious, they would leave messages.
He took his time going back through the house to the kitchen, where the phone hung on the wall. There were two messages.
The most recent was from his neighbour, Doug Peterson.
‘Max, pick up the damn phone.’
Then, an earlier message.
‘Max, it’s Doug. I’m ringing from the Jilljinda Hospital. I’m afraid Carrie’s had an accident. Can you give me a call?’
CHAPTER TWO
‘GOOD MORNING, MRS KINCAID.’
Carrie sighed as the nurse sailed into her room. She’d told the hospital staff several times now that her name was Barnes, not Kincaid. More importantly she was Ms, or at a pinch Miss, but she had certainly never been Mrs.
Now this new nurse, fresh on the morning shift, removed Carrie’s breakfast tray and set it aside, then slipped a blood pressure cuff on her arm. ‘How are we this morning?’
‘I’m fine,’ Carrie told her honestly. Already the headache was fading.
‘Wonderful.’ The nurse beamed at her. ‘As soon as I’m finished here you can see your visitor.’
A visitor? Thank heavens. Carrie was so relieved she smiled. It was probably her mum. She would set this hospital straight, sort out the mistake, and tell the staff that her daughter was Carrie Barnes of Chesterfield Crescent, Surry Hills, Sydney. And most definitely not, as everyone here at this hospital mistakenly believed, Mrs Kincaid of the Riverslea Downs station in far western Queensland.
The blood pressure cuff tightened around Carrie’s arm and she resigned herself to being patient, concentrating on the view through the window. It was a view of gum trees and acres of pale grass, flat as football fields, spreading all the way to low purple hills in the distance. There was also a barbed wire fence and she could hear a crow calling...
Carrie experienced an uncomfortable moment of self-doubt.
The scene was so unmistakably rural, so completely different in every way from her home in the busy Sydney suburb of Surry Hills. She was used to trendy cafés, bars and restaurants, small independent bookstores and funky antique shops. She had no idea why she was here. How had she got all the way out here?
‘Hmm, your blood pressure’s up a bit.’ The nurse was frowning as she released the cuff and made notes on the chart at the end of Carrie’s bed.
‘That’s probably because I’m stressed,’ Carrie told her.
‘Yes.’ The nurse sent her a knowing smile. ‘But you’re sure to feel much happier when you see your husband.’
Husband?
Carrie flashed hot and cold.
‘But my visitor...’ she began, and then had to swallow to ease her suddenly dry mouth. ‘It’s my mother, isn’t it?’
‘No, dear. Your husband, Mr Kincaid, is here.’ The nurse, a plump woman of around fifty, arched one eyebrow and almost smirked. ‘I can guarantee you’ll cheer up when you see him.’
Carrie felt as if she’d woken up, but was still inside a nightmare. Fear and confusion rushed back and she wanted to pull the bedclothes over her head and simply disappear.
Last night the doctor had told her a crazy story: She’d fallen from a horse, which was laughable—the closest she’d ever been to a horse was on a merry-go-round. A couple called Doug and Meredith Peterson had brought her to the hospital after this fall, apparently, but she’d never heard of them, either. Then the doctor told her that she’d hit her head and had amnesia.
None of it made sense.
How could she have amnesia when she knew exactly who she was? She had no trouble rattling off her name and her phone number and her address, so how could she possibly have forgotten something as obvious as the doctor’s other preposterous claim—that she had a husband?
‘I’m sure I’m not married,’ she told the nurse now, just as she’d told the other white coats last night. ‘I’ve never been married.’ But even as she’d said this, hot panic swirled through her. She’d seen the pale mark on the ring finger of her left hand.
When had that happened?
How?
Why?
When she’d tried to ask questions the medical staff had merely frowned and made all sorts of notes. Then there’d been phone calls to specialists. Eventually Carrie had been told that she needed CT scans, which were not available here in this tiny Outback hospital. She would have to be transported to a bigger centre.
It had all been so crazy. So frightening. To Carrie’s shame she’d burst into tears and the doctor had prescribed something to calm her.
Obviously the small white pill had also sent her to sleep, for now it was already morning. And the man who claimed to be her husband had apparently driven some distance from his cattle property.
Any minute now he would be walking into her room.
What should she expect?
What would her husband expect?
Carrie wondered what she looked like this morning. She should probably hunt for the comb in the toiletries pack the hospital had provided and tidy her hair. Then again, why should she bother to look presentable for a man she didn’t know? A man who made such discomfiting claims?
Curiosity about her appearance got the better of her. She reached for the bag and found the comb and mirror inside.
The mirror was quite small, so she could only examine her appearance a section at a time. She saw a graze on her forehead and a bluish-black bruise, but otherwise she looked much the same as usual. Except...when she dragged a comb through her hair it was much longer than it should have been. Not a neat bob, but almost reaching her shoulders.
When had that happened? And her hair’s colour was a plain brown. But she’d always gone to Gavin, the trendiest hairdresser in Crown Street, to get blonde and copper streaks, with the occasional touch of aqua or cerise.
Carrie was still puzzling over this lack of colour when footsteps sounded outside in the corridor.
Firm, no nonsense, masculine footsteps.
Her heart picked up pace. She shoved the comb and mirror back in the bag and felt suddenly sweaty. Was this her supposed husband, Max Kincaid?
When she saw him would she remember him?
Remember something?
Anything?
She held her breath as the footsteps came closer. Into her room.
Just inside the doorway, her visitor stopped.
He was tall. Sun-tanned. His hair was thick and dark brown and cut short, and despite his height he had the build of a footballer, with impressively broad shoulders, his torso tapering to slim hips and solid thighs.
His eyes were an astonishing piercing blue. Carrie had never seen eyes quite like them. She wanted to stare and stare.
He was dressed in well-worn jeans and a light blue checked shirt that was open at the neck with the long sleeves rolled back. The whole effect was distinctly rural, but most definitely, eye-catching.
Max Kincaid was, in fact, quite ridiculously handsome.
But Carrie had never, most emphatically, never seen him before.
Which was crazy. So crazy. Surely this man would be impossible to forget.
‘Hello, Carrie.’ His voice was deep and pleasant and he set a brown leather hold-all on the floor beside her bed.
Carrie didn’t return his greeting. She couldn’t. It would be like admitting to something she didn’t believe. Instead, she gave the faintest shake of her head.
He watched her with a fleeting worried smile. ‘I’m Max.’
‘Yes.’ She couldn’t help speaking coolly. ‘So I’ve been told.’
Frowning, he stared frankly at her now, his bright blue eyes searching her face. ‘You really don’t remember me?’
‘No. I’m so—’ Carrie almost apologised, but she stopped herself just in time. Max Kincaid didn’t seem too immediately threatening, but she certainly wasn’t ready to trust him. She couldn’t shake off feeling that he had to be an impostor.
She sat very stiffly against the propped pillows as he moved to the small table beside her.
She watched him, studying his face, searching for even the tiniest clue to trigger her memory—the shape of his eyebrows, the remarkable blue of his eyes, the crease lines at their corners. The strong, lightly stubbled angle of his jaw.
Nothing was familiar.
‘Are your belongings in here?’ he asked politely as he lightly touched the door to a cupboard in the bedside table.
Carrie found herself noticing his hands. They were squarish and strong, and slightly scarred and rough, no doubt from working in the outdoors and cracking whips, or branding unfortunate cows, or whatever it was that cattlemen did. She saw that his forearms were strong, too, tanned, and covered in a light scattering of sun-bleached hair.
He was unsettlingly sexy and she scowled at him. ‘You want to search my belongings?’
‘I thought perhaps...if you saw your driver’s licence it might help.’
Carrie had no idea if her driver’s licence was in that cupboard, but even if it was... ‘How will I know the licence hasn’t been faked?’
This time Max’s frown was reproachful. ‘Carrie, give me a break. All I want is to help you.’
Which was dead easy for him to say. So hard for her to accept.
But she supposed there was nothing to be gained by stopping him. ‘Go on, open it,’ she said ungraciously.
Max did this with a light touch of his fingertips.
If he really is my husband, his fingertips—those very fingertips—must have skimmed beneath my clothing and trailed over my skin.
The thought sent a thrilling shiver zinging through her.
There was something rather fascinating about those rough, workmanlike hands, so different from the pale, smooth hands of Dave the accountant...the last guy she could remember dating.
She quickly squashed such thoughts and concentrated on the contents of the cupboard—a small, rather plain brown leather handbag with a plaited leather strap, more conservative than Carrie’s usual style. She certainly didn’t recognise it.
Max, with a polite smile, handed the bag to her, and she caught a sharp flash of emotion in his bright blue eyes. It might have been sadness or hope. For a split second, she felt another zap.
Quickly she dropped her gaze, took a deep breath and slid the bag’s zip open. Inside were sunglasses—neat and tasteful sunglasses, with tortoiseshell frames—again much more conservative than the funky glasses she usually wore. Also a small pack of tissues, an emery board, a couple of raffle tickets and a phone with a neat silver cover. Sunk to the bottom was a bright pink and yellow spotted money purse.
Oh. Carrie stared at the purse. This she definitely remembered. She’d bought it in that little shop around the corner from her flat. She’d been bored on a rainy Saturday morning and had gone window shopping. She’d been attracted by the cheery colours and had bought it on impulse.
But she had no memory of ever buying the plain brown handbag or the neat silver phone. Then again, if the phone really was hers it could be her lifeline. She could ring her mother and find out for sure if this man standing beside her bed in jeans and riding boots truly was her husband.
Or not.
‘I need to ring my mother,’ she said.
‘Sure—by all means.’ Max Kincaid’s big shoulders lifted in a casual shrug. ‘I’ve already rung her to explain about the accident, so she’ll be pleased to hear from you.’
This did not bode well. He sounded far too relaxed and confident.
Carrie’s stomach was tight as she scrolled to her mum’s number and pressed the button. The phone rang, but went straight through to the voicemail message.
At least her mother’s voice sounded just as Carrie remembered.
‘Mum, it’s me,’ she said, trying to keep her own voice calm. ‘Carrie. I’m in hospital. I’m OK, or at least I feel OK, but can you ring me back, please?’
As she left this message Max waited patiently, with his big hands resting lightly on his hips. He nodded when she was finished. ‘I’m sure Sylvia will ring back.’
Sylvia. Max Kincaid knew that her mother’s name was Sylvia.
Feeling more nervous than ever now, Carrie picked up the familiar purse. While she was waiting for her mother’s call she might as well check the driver’s licence.
Please let it say that I’m Carrie Barnes.
The usual spread of cards were slotted into the purse’s plastic sleeves, and right up front was the driver’s licence. Carrie saw immediately that, while the photo was typically unflattering, the picture was definitely of her face. There could be no doubt about that.
And then her gaze flashed to the details...
Name: Carrie Susannah Kincaid.
Sex: Female.
Height: 165 cm.
Date of birth: July 8th 1985.
Address: Riverslea Downs station,
Jilljinda, Queensland.
Her heart took off like a startled bird.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
Her headache returned. She sank back against the pillows and closed her eyes. This was either a huge hoax or the hospital staff were right. She had amnesia and had forgotten that she was married to Max Kincaid.
‘I don’t understand,’ she said.
‘You’ve had an accident, Carrie.’ He spoke gently. ‘A fall from a horse. A head injury.’
‘But if I can remember my name, and my mother’s name, why can’t I remember anything else... Why can’t I remember you?’
Max Kincaid gave an uncomfortable shrug. ‘The doctor is confident you’ll get your memory back.’
The problem was that right now Carrie wasn’t sure that she wanted her memory to come back. Did she really want to know that it was all true? That she wasn’t a city girl any more? That she lived on a cattle property and was married to this strange man?
It was far too confronting.
She wanted the reassuring comfort of the life she knew and remembered—as a single girl in Sydney, with a reasonably interesting and well-paid job at an advertising agency and a trendy little flat in Surry Hills. Plus her friends. Friday nights at Hillier’s Bar. Saturday afternoons watching football or going to the beach at Bondi or Coogee. Every second Sunday evening at her mother’s.
It was so weird to be able to recall all these details so vividly and yet have no memory of ever meeting Max Kincaid. Even weirder and more daunting was the suggestion that they hadn’t merely met, but were married.
Did she really live with this strange man in the Outback?
Surely that was impossible. She’d never had a hankering for the Outback. She knew how hard that life was, with heat and dust and flies, not to mention drought and famine, or bushfires and floods. She was quite sure she wasn’t tough enough for it.
But perhaps more importantly, if she was married to this man...she must have slept with him. Probably many times.
Involuntarily Carrie flashed her gaze again to his big shoulders and hands. His solid thighs encased in denim. She imagined him touching her intimately. Touching her breasts, her thighs. Heat rushed over her skin, flaring and leaping like a bushfire in a wind gust.
For a second, almost as if he’d guessed her thoughts, his blue eyes blazed. Carrie found herself mesmerised. Max’s eyes were sensational. Movie star sensational. For a giddy moment she thought he was going to try to lean in, to kiss her.
On a knife-edge of expectation, she held her breath.
But Max made no move. Instead, he said, matter-of-factly, ‘I’m told that you can check out of the hospital now. I’m to take you to Townsville. For tests—more X-rays.’
Carrie sighed.
He picked up the holdall he’d brought with him and set it on the chair beside her bed. ‘I brought clean clothes for you.’
‘My clothes?’
His mouth tilted in a crooked smile. ‘Yes, Carrie. Your clothes.’
He must have gone through her wardrobe and her underwear drawer, making a selection. Invading her privacy. Or was he simply being a thoughtful husband?
If only she knew the truth. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘Do you need a hand?’
Instinctively her gaze dropped to his hands. Again. Dear heaven, she was hopeless. ‘How do you mean?’
‘With getting out of bed? Or getting dressed?’
She was quite sure she blushed. ‘No, thanks. I’ll be fine.’
‘I’ll be outside, then.’ With the most fleeting of smiles, Max left.
* * *
In the hospital hallway, Max dragged in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he tried to ease the gnawing anxiety that had stayed with him since his initial panic yesterday, when he’d heard about Carrie’s accident. He’d never experienced such gut-wrenching dread.
In that moment he’d known the true agony of loving someone, of knowing his loved one was in trouble and feeling helpless. He’d wanted to jump in his vehicle and race straight to the hospital, but Doug had warned him to hold off. Carrie was sleeping and probably wouldn’t wake before morning.
Now, Max felt only marginally calmer. Carrie was out of danger, but he was left facing the bald facts. Two days ago his wife had walked out on him. Today she had no memory of ever meeting him.