Remember When... E-Book

Scarlett Finn

• Herausgeber: Moriona Press
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Her wedding day.
The happiest day of her life.
At least it is until her husband shows up.

Ginger doesn't recognize the man standing in the aisle, but why would she? Her life only began sixteen months ago when she woke up in hospital with amnesia.

Shane, the man claiming to be her husband, is determined. They're married, he wants her back. He'll do whatever it takes to put their life back together, whether she remembers it or not.

Warning: Contains explicit language and imagery. Suitable only for ages 18 and over.
 

Leseprobe

Copyright © 2017 Scarlett Finn

Published by Moriona Press 2017

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

First published in 2017

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. It may not be used to train AI software or for the creation of AI works.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Original cover by Najla Qamber Designs

www.najlaqamberdesigns.com

www.scarlettfinn.com

For other titles from Scarlett Finn, please read on after the story.

Click here if you’d like to leave a message for Scarlett.

Enjoy!

contents

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FIVE

THIRTY-SIX

THIRTY-SEVEN

THIRTY-EIGHT

THIRTY-NINE

FORTY

ONE

“IF ANYONE KNOWS of any reason, lawful or otherwise, that this couple should not be legally wed, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

That part of the ceremony was supposed to breeze past quickly. Claire didn’t expect to hear anything and neither did her groom, Calvin. He smiled at her and took a breath like he was ready to move onto the vows.

“I object.”

The booming voice echoed through the church. Murmurs rose in the congregation as she and Calvin turned to look for the source of the interruption. At the other end of the aisle stood a guy who had to be six four. Muscular and rugged with dark hair and stubble, he was imposing and unmissable. Despite his confidence, Claire only saw a stranger. She didn’t recognize him at all, and he wasn’t the type to be easily forgotten.

Two other men rushed up behind him, forcing the daunting man to take a step forward.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Calvin asked, edging her backward as he moved a few inches down the aisle. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m her husband.”

The room gasped.

Claire took a reflexive step backward.

Her husband?

***

THE NEXT FEW minutes were a blur. Someone took her hand to lead her from the altar to the wings and into the large room where she’d donned her gown. The screen in the far left corner covered the spot where she’d changed her clothes. Not so long ago, she’d stood back there believing her marriage was about to begin. She could never have anticipated such a different turn of events.

Couches lined the far wall under the tall intersecting tracery windows. Full-length mirrors stood in a semicircle by the door she’d just been put through. Claire fixated on the sight of herself in a flowing white dress. Her wedding dress.

It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. So far, it wasn’t going that way.

Others piled into the room behind her, interrupting her reflection.

“Just what the hell is this?” Calvin demanded.

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward the couches, urging her deep into the corner of the room. His mother and best man, Diane and Boyd, came over to flank her. Protecting her, maybe. Claire wasn’t a fan of the tension pulsing through the beautiful space.

The interrupter and his two cohorts came in and closed the door. The three of them stayed close to the mirrors, ten feet away.

“Shane Warren,” the interrupter said and offered her groom a hand.

Calvin refused it with a snort. “I don’t think this is the time for introductions. You just ruined our wedding day.”

“I know,” Shane said.

The man to his left spoke up, “That couldn’t be helped. What alternative did we have?”

Claire kept her head down. She and large groups didn’t agree with each other. Everything was beginning to feel overwhelming.

After a short silence, she glanced up to catch Shane looking at her, straight past Calvin. He and the other two men were fixated on her.

“It’s good to see you, Gin.”

That shook something loose. “You know my real name,” she said and tried to move closer.

Calvin put out an arm to prevent her from passing him. “How do we know these people are who they say they are?” he demanded.

“That’s true,” Diane said, going to her son’s side. “You’re not the first people to claim to know our Claire.”

“Her name isn’t Claire,” the man on the left said. “Her name is Ginger.” Ginger. That didn’t sound familiar. Not that anything did. “She went missing sixteen months ago, after a boating accident.”

“Boating?” Calvin snickered and took her hand. “Claire hates the water.”

The man on the left spoke up again. “Actually she doesn’t. She’s a strong swimmer. She’s always loved the beach.”

Calvin was shaking his head. Shane frowned and turned to whisper with the most vocal man on their team. They exchanged some words that she couldn’t make out and the third turned to murmur along with them.

“We should call the cops,” Boyd said.

Claire didn’t want anyone to call the authorities. Though it was distressing to be in the current situation, she wanted to know where she’d come from. She wanted to know who she was during the big blank space that was her life before Calvin.

Except while watching the three men talk to each other in secret, she realized that knowing more about them was important too.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

Everyone in the room stopped talking to look at her. Finding her voice had taken time and it sounded meek in comparison to the strong male tones that had dominated so far.

“We never stopped looking,” Shane said, leaving his group. Calvin wouldn’t let him get too close and kept himself in front of her. “I’ve been looking for you for sixteen months.”

“What happened? I mean, I…”

“What do you remember?” the guy to the left asked. She took a breath, at a loss again. “It was this, your wedding that brought us here. We have a program that’s been running, searching the internet for mentions of you.”

Calvin blustered. “Mentions of her, we don’t know her real name, she knows nothing about her past, how could—”

“Everyone thought she was dead,” the man on the left said, getting emotional. “Four bodies were pulled out the water, hers was never found and this guy.” He hit Shane’s back. “He wouldn’t give up. He wouldn’t give up on my sister until—”

“Your sister?” Diane said.

Claire’s jaw fell. “You’re my brother?”

Nodding, he smiled, though his eyes were wet. “Yes, I’m Owen. Your big brother.”

“And he’s a lawyer,” the third man said.

“This is Murphy,” Shane said, introducing him. “He’s my brother.”

Despite her wedding being a bust, it was still a momentous day. It had always been supposed to be memorable, just not in that particular way.

“And we’re here to tell you all to back off,” Murphy said, looking meaner than his brother, something she hadn’t thought possible. “You don’t know the first thing about Ginger and she’s not marrying anyone today.”

“That’s not for you to say,” Diane said.

“Actually it is,” Owen said, putting his briefcase on a side table to open it up. Inside were a bunch of files and folders, but he only took one out. “This is a copy of their original marriage certificate.”

He opened the folder and handed it over to Calvin. Claire, or as she’d been revealed to be, Ginger, peeked past Diane and Boyd. There it was, with their names on it. Ginger Leyland was her maiden name. Their wedding had been witnessed by Owen Leyland and Murphy Warren.

“Do I have a mother?” she asked, looking to Owen for an answer.

Losing some of his professional edge, he glanced at Shane. “You do. She’s been sick. She’s in the hospital. I told her… I told her you’d visit, when we found you, when you were ready. I said we’d let you know where she was.”

“And a father?”

“Your dad died when you were fourteen, Bit,” Shane said, edging nearer.

Calvin tensed. “This is all lovely but complete bullshit.”

“We have no way to prove if any of it is true,” Boyd said, supporting his friend.

Ginger’s head was spinning; she didn’t know what to think. For sixteen months, she’d been an amnesiac. Calvin and his family had gotten her through; they’d supported her even through the toughest of times. But she couldn’t dismiss these men until their veracity had been proven.

Another more pressing matter had to take precedence. “We have two hundred guests out there.”

“Want me to talk to them?”

Instead of the groom asking the question, it was Shane. She inhaled and opened her mouth, even without a clue how to respond. It didn’t matter because Calvin got there first.

“Our wedding has nothing to do with you!” he exclaimed. “You don’t know a single person out there. Why the hell would we let you talk to them?”

“I think it’s wrong for you to let Ginny worry about them,” Shane said. “Someone should already be out there telling those folks it’s not gonna happen.”

“Shane,” Owen said, taking his turn to calm the man. “I’m sure he wasn’t going to send his bride out there to talk to them.”

“Ginger hates talking to large groups,” Murphy said.

She made eye contact with the man she’d just been told was her brother-in-law. What he’d said was true and something she hated about herself. Turned out something from her past had carried forward into the present.

“I can excuse them,” she said, though she didn’t have a clue what to say.

The people out there were Calvin’s friends and family. Most of them knew about her history, or lack of one, but she didn’t like to talk about it.

“I’ll excuse them,” Calvin said.

“You’re getting married today,” Diane asserted. “You have to get married today.”

“You can’t get married if she’s already married,” Boyd said and glanced at everyone. “It’s illegal for her to be married twice. Your marriage would be void.”

“Boyd is Calvin’s lawyer,” Ginger said and got glared at. Why that would be a secret was a mystery.

Everyone went back to talking amongst themselves and at each other until voices were raised and the whole room was filled by the din.

When she’d woken up in hospital, doctors told her that her amnesia may be temporary. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been. Calvin had been the one to find her at the side of the road. He’d stood by her through everything and encouraged her to make a new life for herself instead of chasing the old one.

There in the room was not just one man from her old life, but three of them. In addition to their presence, they’d brought paperwork that could prove she’d made different choices in the past.

“I want to talk to Mr. Warren alone,” Ginger said, her voice loud enough to silence the others although she hadn’t shouted.

Every person was again focused on her, so it was important to be confident. Her anxiety wouldn’t let her look at Shane, so she focused on Calvin. That didn’t help because her request wasn’t going over well according to his expression.

“No!” he said. “I cannot allow—”

“You have to tell the guests to leave anyway,” Owen said.

Murphy closed in behind Owen. “And this is just beginning,” he said. “You’re not going to get rid of us easily… You can’t come between a man and his wife.”

Calvin leaned closer to them, turning his back on her, blocking her from their view. “They’re not married, not really. She’s my bride, not his. I won’t leave him alone with her. If he feels entitled… if he touches her—”

“She said she wanted to talk, not fuck,” Shane said, his voice deep and husky. “I swear I’ll keep my cock in my pants.”

Her mouth fell open. She was glad that Calvin was giving her cover from the room because her cheeks warmed, suggesting they reddened. Calvin and his family didn’t talk that way. They were a nice family, a rich family; one who made their money in chemicals. They were traditional and conservative. Well-dressed and proud of their affluence.

In comparison, Shane wore a crumpled shirt over a dark tee-shirt and worn jeans that hadn’t seen a washer for a while. Maybe he was used to trash talk, but she’d barely heard a curse word in sixteen months.

“Unless she begs,” Murphy muttered. Ginger covered her mouth to conceal her shock. “He never could say no to her… on anything.”

She peeked around Calvin to see Murphy nudge his brother. Shane threw a smile at him but was serious when he turned back.

“I’ll say no this time,” Shane said.

“If you even think about touching her…” Calvin said and began to move.

Ginger ran around him to prevent the men from coming to blows.

Spinning around, she faced Calvin. “Just a few minutes, please.”

Calvin wasn’t happy, she could tell from how his jaw popped to the side.

He inhaled. “I’ll tell everyone there’s been a change of plan… Boyd will stay right outside the door. If anything happens, scream.”

It took a minute of whispering and shifting expressions for everyone to get out the door in an orderly fashion. Diane took some convincing, but eventually left.

Murphy was the last one still present. Hanging in the door with one hand on the handle and the other on the frame, he made eye contact with his brother. “We’ll be right out here too, bro.”

He glanced at her before he went out.

Ginger was alone with Shane. Her husband, apparently. Her palms began to sweat, stealing all the moisture from her mouth it seemed because it was dry as a bone all of a sudden.

“I won’t bite,” Shane said. She took her time to lift her chin. “You were never into that.”

When his hand rose as though he intended to touch her face, she backed away, hit by another surge of worry. “I… I don’t like to be touched.”

Not only did he stop his advance, but he bobbed his head and put his hands in his pockets.

“Okay,” he said. “Whatever you need, Bit.” His smile slid upward. “I’m just grateful to see you again… You look beautiful.”

Well it was her wedding day, people were supposed to say that to her. Except as she peered into him, she sensed he was looking at something other than the dress or her figure.

“Tell me more about how you found me.”

He swallowed, getting more business-like. “As Owen said, we had a program running continuously. It picked up stories about women who had unusual pasts, who’d been in accidents or been found in unusual circumstances. Amnesia was an idea floated by one of the doctors we had on the case, so the program flagged those stories too. As you can imagine, we would get several hits a day. Not too many that we couldn’t eyeball them… Then we got the story of your wedding, it was run in a local paper. A business tycoon like Calvin, his wedding was big news around here.”

She remembered the local media interviewing Calvin. She’d been around but hadn’t said much. It was hard to answer questions when your life’s narrative was filled with blanks.

Instead of being agreeable, she kept her guard up, remembering what Boyd had said. “How do we know you are who you say you are?”

There was one obvious way she could find out but wasn’t ready to go that route yet.

“Damn,” he said, but was smiling like he enjoyed this. “You never did take people at face value… For one thing, Owen will submit to a sibling DNA test. Believe me or not, he is your brother.” It would be helpful to find out if Owen was indeed her brother, but it wouldn’t prove Shane was her husband. “Why would I lie?”

He must have sensed she didn’t buy it yet.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I… this is just so… unusual.”

He gestured to the couch. “Why don’t we sit down and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“Everything?” she asked.

The swish of her gown as she turned toward the couch reminded her what she was wearing. A pointless garment given she wasn’t going to get married and one she couldn’t sit in. The dress even stifled her breathing, which was why she pressed her hands to her abdomen, trying to help her taxed lungs.

Shane was on his way to sit. “I’m an open book.”

“Do you mind if I get changed?”

He shook his head after sitting on the couch and stretching his arms along the back of it. “Go right ahead.”

The clothes she’d worn that morning were behind the screen to her left. Back there she’d be able to change concealed from his view. Except she couldn’t get out of the dress alone. Awkward as it was to ask a stranger to undress her, there weren’t any other options. If she called someone else in, she’d never get the chance to vet this man.

Going toward him, she turned her back and pointed to the lace at her lower back. “Can you unlace me, please?”

Looking over her shoulder, she expected him to be shocked, but he wasn’t.

One corner of his mouth curled upward. “Sure,” he said and sat up to pull the lace at the bottom. “I’ll even do it without touching you… I expect points for that.”

But he was touching her, even if there was no skin-to-skin contact. She was asking him to do something intimate and although her heart was pumping, her head was too overwhelmed to read too much into it.

“There’s a hook under the satin and the lace is—”

“I know,” he said. “I took you out of the first one. I remember how it works.”

Oh, right, that made sense if he was her husband. Course, he could be married to any woman. Helping someone remove their wedding dress didn’t prove he’d married her and taken hers off. His gentleness surprised her, she’d have expected such a bold guy to be more ham-fisted, but he was delicate about freeing her.

“Thank you,” she said when the bodice loosened.

“No worries,” he said and sat back again.

Ginger went behind the screen to slip out of it. After tucking the gown back into the dress bag, she bent to retrieve her clothes from the bag put there for her essentials.

“You cut it fine, didn’t you, Mr. Warren?” she asked. “When did you see the article?”

“It was published two days ago but hit our system yesterday. I’ll be honest, Bit, this is further out than we’d expected you to be. You’re a long way from home.”

Home, wherever that was. “Have you never heard of a phone?”

“The picture in the article was small, although we were sure it was you, we weren’t a hundred percent. And I know how pissed I’d have been if someone stopped my wedding day on a whim. Anyway, Calvin isn’t an easy guy to get on the phone and you’re not listed.”

“I live at the house with him and his mother, Diane,” she called out, zipping her strapless dress beneath her arm. “You’re right, it’s not listed. I don’t have a cell phone… who would call it?”

Coming around the screen, she tucked a ringlet behind her ear. When he saw her, he sat up, leaning forward with a look on his face that suggested he’d forgotten how to breathe.

“Damn, baby…”

So the simple short dress did more for him than the wedding dress? When she glanced down to try figuring out what got him so interested, she noticed the top of her garter belts peeking from beneath it. There she was trying to be more conservative and have a normal conversation and she’d just asked him to undress her then given him a glimpse of her lingerie.

Instead of being embarrassed, she laughed and relaxed further when he joined in. “I didn’t mean to—”

“You’re making it hard for me to keep my promise.”

“Your promise?” she asked, wondering if he’d made some promise to her while they were together.

“About keeping my cock in my pants.”

“Oh,” she said and suddenly wasn’t so amused anymore. “I’m not… I’m not comfortable talking about sex.”

He got serious as he sat back. “Okay, but I figure you didn’t ask to talk to me alone so we could discuss your phone number.”

Shaking her head, she went over to join him on the couch. Luckily, it was long enough that she didn’t have to sit too near to him.

“This is awkward,” she whispered.

“Not awkward,” he said and moved closer. When she tensed, he stopped and held up his hands in apology. “Bit, there’s nothing you can ask me that I won’t answer. I’ll tell you anything it’s in my power to tell you. We don’t have to talk about sex, but if you want me to prove I am your husband… I can tell you that you have a freckle on your pussy, right at the edge of—”

She held up a quick finger at the same time her chin dropped again. “That’s too much.”

“Okay, you tell me what you want to know… Anything personal, you won’t remember. Physically, I can tell you everything about your body… I can tell you that you make a little squeaking noise when you orgasm, is that easier?”

Much as she was mortified, a smile faded onto her lips. Ginger let herself peek up at him though she couldn’t raise her chin. “Do you enjoy making me uncomfortable?”

Leaning in, he lowered his voice. “I don’t mind seeing you blush.”

“I’m not blushing,” she argued, though knew it was a lie.

He held up his thumb and forefinger. “A little… just a tiny bit, Bit.”

As she became more comfortable, her chin began to rise. “You could’ve started with the freckles on my feet.”

“You don’t have freckles on your feet… and that would prove I’ve seen you in strappy shoes.”

“What about my breasts?”

His eyes dropped. Their obvious interest made her teeth seek her lip.

“Sure, we can talk about those,” he said. “They’re perfect… what else is there to say?”

Okay, talking about them wasn’t any easier. Odd but Ginger was more relaxed now that they were pushing boundaries. Although he was interested in her figure, he wasn’t sitting close enough to intimidate or threaten and he wasn’t leering.

They couldn’t make jokes all day. Someone had to keep them on point.

“My doctors told me my memories might come back one day,” she said. “They said I could talk about what I know, but… if anyone from my past came into my life, they said I shouldn’t… that I shouldn’t ask too many questions or hear too many stories. They said there was a risk of false memories.”

He didn’t argue her gear change, just listened. “So you can’t ask questions and I can’t offer information… Doesn’t that make it hard for you to learn about where you came from?”

It was frustrating and confusing and exhausting. Her impulse was to run her hand through her hair so she could find a tendril to curl around her finger. Problem was, her wedding do was up and her hair was drenched in so much spray it was crispy. All she could do was brush her hairline with her fingertips.

“I don’t know the rules here,” she said.

He came an inch closer. “Bit, you and me were never very good at playing by the rules.”

Reaching over, he took a ringlet from behind her ear and laid it over her finger like he knew she’d needed hair to play with.

“Thank you,” she whispered, lost in his gaze.

“Giving you what you need,” he said. “It’s what I’m here for.”

The door opened. Calvin came back in with his mother and the others who’d been outside the room. All of them paused when they saw her and Shane on the couch. Sitting close, his hand was suspended near hers, but there was nothing untoward going on.

“What’s wrong with your faces?” Shane asked, maybe pissed off, his tone was certainly abrupt.

Murphy grinned and Owen leaned in to say something to him.

Calvin marched forward. “You took off your dress?”

Oh, that was why everyone was surprised.

Ginger smiled and stood up, pulling her dress down in an attempt to cover her garter belts. “I changed behind the screen,” she said, pointing at it.

Diane approached behind her son, displeasure all over her expression. “You can’t get out of that dress alone.”

Murphy laughed. “I think you’re safe. We were only out the room for five minutes. Sex between those two always took longer than that.”

“I don’t know,” Owen said, folding his arms. “It’s been sixteen months for him, at least. He probably went off like a rocket.”

The two men laughed.

Embarrassed and terrified, her cheeks were aflame. “I didn’t have sex,” she said to Calvin, appealing to him as Diane and Boyd glared. “I promise you, I’m sorry I—”

“She’s not on trial,” Shane said. Although he was tense and probably meant well, his coming to her defense didn’t help. “You trust your woman or you don’t.”

“And not to be blunt, but they’re married… he has seen her naked before. They have been intimate, were intimate for years,” Owen said. “Shane’s clocked more miles on my sister than you have.”

Wasn’t that a lovely analogy? Ginger cringed, but it didn’t matter, no one was looking at her anymore.

“Yes, but she doesn’t remember it,” Diane said. “So it never happened.”

“Is that the rule around here?” Murphy asked. “You don’t remember, it didn’t happen? Is that why you never encouraged her to find out the truth about who she was?”

Everyone started to talk again. There were too many strong opinions in the room; it got overwhelming fast. She didn’t know what to do or how to handle the situation. There were still considerations that she hadn’t even begun to deliberate yet.

Going to Calvin, Ginger took his hand, which calmed him enough to stop arguing with the others. “We can’t stay in the church all day. Did you tell everyone to leave?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And the reception? What should we do about that?”

For once, no one had anything to say.

Someone had to break the silence. “You paid for dinner for two hundred,” Owen eventually said. “I don’t think the staff would mind reducing that to a seven cover, right? We’re not going away. Sitting down to dinner like civilized people seems to be the best course of action. We can make a plan… We don’t want to turn this into a legal battle.”

“Custody over a grown woman,” Diane sneered. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Squeezing Calvin’s hand, Ginger wished she had him alone. He was always more pliable without his mother around. She just had to hope he was focused.

“Please,” Ginger said. “We can’t just forget this happened. Let’s have dinner with them. Dinner can’t hurt.”

TWO

SHANE WAS AT the bar with Owen and Murphy. They had arrived at the country club ahead of Ginger’s group and the possibility of being stood up still existed. It didn’t matter if they didn’t show, he’d found his wife and wouldn’t let her go without a fight. If he had to track her down again, it would be easier to do with the narrower search area… and the confirmation she was alive.

Calvin Bishop had called ahead to the wedding reception venue, so the staff knew what to expect. Being the only three people to walk into a room set for three hundred was odd. Turned out more guests were invited to the dinner than the wedding. People were probably looking forward to being there for the celebration that his arrival had shot to shit.

They’d given staff permission to clean up the places that wouldn’t be used. So the employees were scurrying around the room putting silverware and linens away while he and his posse drank at the bar.

“What do we do if they disappear?” Owen asked. “They could take Ginny out of the country.”

“Then we leave the country,” Murphy said. “We did it. We found her. We know she’s alive. Do you think we would give up now?”

“No,” Owen said. “But they have the means to take her anywhere.”

“And we have the means to follow them,” Murphy said. “We know who has her now.”

Shane sipped his scotch and kept his eyes on the glass door. It opened onto a second-floor deck that acted as the main entrance to the function room they were in. Before they came inside, the Bishops and Ginger would have to park and ascend the stairs to the deck that wrapped around the upper floor.

Owen and Murphy carried on their conversation. Shane was listening, he was just more interested in anticipating his wife’s arrival.

“Has her?” Owen said. “You say that like they kidnapped her.”

“Didn’t they?” Murphy asked. “She’s been staying with them. This Calvin guy convinced her to marry him and she doesn’t even know who she is. Who does that? You think if you found a woman at the side of the road you’d lock her in your parent’s mansion and make her marry you?”

“You think he forced her?” Owen asked.

“I think he didn’t try to heal her. He should’ve helped her find out who she was.”

“At the side of the road,” Owen muttered. “I hate that… reading that article gave me chills. It can’t be right though, right? I mean how did she get from the ocean to a road two miles from shore? It makes no sense.”

“None of this makes sense,” Murphy said and hit Shane’s shoulder. “What did she say when you were alone?”

Shane couldn’t take his eyes from the door; he was desperate to see her again. It felt odd to leave her with another man, to drive away from the church and wait there without her. He’d always taken care of her… until that night on the boat when he’d let her down. He’d promised himself that if he found her again, he’d never let her out of his sight.

But Ginger was adamant about him going ahead from the church without her. She said they would meet there and he’d believed her sincerity. She’d fought for them to have the dinner. Still, from the level of her obvious anxiety and how she’d avoided looking at him, he felt like she was hiding something. He couldn’t begin to guess what it was and he didn’t care. He’d accept her no matter what.

“I love her,” Shane muttered.

“Did you think you didn’t?” Owen asked.

Still, watching the door, waiting for her to come to him, Shane was consumed by her. She was all he thought about. All he had thought about since… as long as he’d known her. He couldn’t lose her again. Being apart caused him pain, actual physical pain.

“I’ve always loved her,” he said. “But today… I don’t care who this Calvin guy is, I won’t leave her.”

“We wouldn’t expect you to,” Murphy said, patting his back in a consoling gesture.

The sound of a car engine approaching piqued his attention. Although they couldn’t see the car, he closed his eyes, listening for it to go off. A second later there were footsteps ascending the stairs and then he saw her.

The bar where they were in the back corner had a lower ceiling than the rest of the space. The lighting was dim too, so although Calvin and the Boyd guy looked around inside, they didn’t seem to notice the trio at the bar.

Outside, Calvin stopped his group to address his mother and Boyd, leaving Ginger alone a few feet behind him.

“You see the way he turns his back to her,” Shane muttered. “He shouldn’t keep her out in the cold. They should’ve strategized in the car.”

Owen and Murphy were enjoying their own drinks, but came into his periphery, signaling they were intent on those on the outside deck too.

“She looks nervous,” Owen said. “Look at the way she’s twisting her own wrist.”

“You think he makes her nervous?” Murphy asked.

“I think this whole thing makes her nervous. Remember, we’re being discreet. We’re not going to overwhelm her,” Shane said, registering Ginger’s isolation. “He should be comforting her. He shouldn’t leave her standing there on her own.”

She was in the corner of the deck, three feet away from the huddled group. Her eyes darted around as she curled her hand around her wrist and shifted her feet. She was cold. She was anxious. And she was alone.

“She looks small,” Owen said.

She did and it pissed Shane off as much as it hurt him. “She said she doesn’t like to be touched.”

Murphy scoffed. “You two could never keep your hands off each other.”

“Have you noticed that he doesn’t touch her? They hold hands, but that’s it. He doesn’t put an arm around her, doesn’t touch her arm, or her body,” Shane said, analyzing what he was witnessing.

“Are you complaining?” Murphy asked. “You used to hate any guy touching her, even me or Owen. You were always selfish with her.”

He was and had no intention of changing that. Throwing the rest of his liquor into his throat, he slammed the glass onto the bar and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I’m going to get her.”

Owen caught his arm and his attention. “They’ll argue she’s not yours to get.”

That truth infuriated him. He whirled around to aim that rage at the wrong person. “If he was doing his job, I wouldn’t have to do it for him!” he said. Owen was stunned. Damn, Shane knew he shouldn’t be taking out his stress on his friend. Pulling his arm away, he slapped a hand onto Owen’s shoulder to lean down and look him in the eye. “I looked you in the eye like this on the day I married your sister. I told you I would never let anything bad happen to her. I promised you. Remember?”

“Yeah.”

“I failed… It doesn’t matter how many times I say I’m sorry, it means shit. I’m going to spend my life making it up to her… and to you… Until she tells me to go to hell, I’ll be on her… I’d give my life for hers, you know that, right?”

Owen nodded.

Murphy nudged them both. “My brother the romantic… who knew?”

“Ginny knew,” Owen said, but Shane barely heard him because he was heading for the door.

Before he got there, Calvin came inside with everyone else in his wake.

“Okay, we’re going to sit down and talk,” Calvin said.

“Yeah,” Shane said, noticing how Ginger’s head was down, though she kept stealing glances at him. She had to be curious. He couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be for her not to have a clue who she was or what she’d been through. Yet, there he was, stomping into her life with her brother and his, telling her he was her lover. “That’s why we’re here.”

“We’ve called a specialist doctor for Claire,” Calvin said. “He’s the best. He’s going to meet us at his offices tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Shane said and chose to look at his wife instead of the guy doing his best to keep her in the background. “Bit, if you want docs here now, I’ll get you docs here now.”

“You can talk to me,” Calvin said. “And stop calling her Bit, she’s not your Bit anymore.”

It was habit. Shane would stop as soon as Ginny told him to, not a minute before. “Ginger, do you want medical help?”

“I said you should talk to me,” Calvin said, crowding in closer.

Shane wasn’t known for keeping his cool when pressed. He’d had an even tougher time holding onto his temper since he’d been without Ginger. His wife always knew how to calm him down. This guy was asking for it, standing between him and the woman he loved. Shane had never let anyone do that. No one ever dared stand between him and Ginger. It just never happened; he didn’t like that he might have to get used to it.

“And I’m asking my wife if she wants medical help, what’s wrong with that?”

“Don’t call her your wife,” Calvin snapped.

Murphy came in closer, angling his shoulder in front of Shane’s. He knew his brother and everyone had to be sensing the tension.

“Please,” Ginger said. The gentle tone, that she couldn’t know she’d used to calm him before, was immediately soothing. “I’m asking a lot of all of you, I know. I could decide to forget my past and ask you gentlemen to leave.”

“Ask away, Bit,” Shane said. “Won’t make me walk out that door.”

Curiosity seeped into her gaze and it wasn’t broken even when Calvin blustered. “Uh, we’ll call the police if you think about outstaying your welcome.”

Shane sensed a shift in her mood when she next spoke. “I could also accept that I should belong with my brother and my husband and leave with them now. Relieving those in my current life of the burden of caring for me.”

Oh yes, there was his Ginger. Although he tried to restrain it, his lips contorted to a smile. Nothing would make him happier than if she asked him to take her home. And he’d just like to see this Calvin guy try to get in his way.

“You would never do that,” Calvin said and tugged her hand to get her attention back on him. “Would you, dearest?”

Shane scrutinized the look they exchanged. Yes, there was something in that. If Ginger was hiding something from him, Calvin knew what it was.

“Should we sit?” Owen asked, doing his own bit to diffuse the tension.

The circular table had been set for seven. Calvin took Ginger over to seat her at the table between him and his mother. That was fine with Shane because he was directly opposite her and could catch every one of the glances she stole at him. She might not want him to notice, but he did. He wanted her to notice him, wanted her to look her fill.

Wine was poured for everyone at the table, starting with Calvin.

When the server got to Ginger, she put her hand over the top of the glass. “No thank you,” she said and the server left.

Ginger picked up the water jug to pour some out for herself.

“Do you want something else to drink?” Shane asked, wondering why Calvin hadn’t offered. “You still like rum and coke?”

“Oh no, I…” There again was that look exchanged between her and Calvin. And Diane, his mother shook her head behind Ginger’s back. “I don’t drink.”

“At all?” Shane asked.

Owen laughed. “Since when?”

“Since… ever,” Ginger said. “I don’t drink. Is that a problem?”

Shane shook his head and Owen curled his lip to silence his amusement. “Nope… just never figured my sister as a teetotaler.”

Maybe that was the secret. Calvin seemed to have a lot of control over Ginger and Shane didn’t like it. Control could mean intimidation. It could mean violence. Shane had been rough with his girl when it aroused her, but if he found out this guy was touching Ginger in anger, he’d take him apart.

“What’s the point of this meal?” Boyd asked, impatient as the first course was served. “We’re all here, someone should start.”

Ginger cleared her throat, yet it was Calvin who spoke. “We want to know what happened. What happened the last time you saw Claire?”

Shane would answer all of Ginger’s questions, but he wanted to be sure it was what she wanted.

“How does this fit in with what your doctors told you?” he asked his wife.

She shrugged. “It’s a stalemate. If I can’t ask and you can’t tell, how will I ever learn anything?”

He looked at Owen and at Murphy. They didn’t want to be used for information and then cut out. But they already had their next appointment lined up with the doctor the following day. That was some reassurance at least.

“We were on a cruise,” Shane said. “Some buddies had just made a bunch of cash, so we were taking a yacht out onto the water for a few days. On the second night, we hit weather, the boat sank.”

So simple when he put it out there like that. A cruise. A sinking. Easy? Not really. If it was that easy, why were they still trying to recover nearly a year and a half later?

“And?” Calvin asked. “You abandoned her out there?”

Shane shouldn’t be surprised that the prick was quick to call him out. It was his fault, at least, that was how he saw it.

“Shane was out there longer than anyone,” Owen said, defending him. “Ten were airlifted, four bodies were found and Ginny… she was just missing.”

“Your turn,” Murphy snapped. “Where’d you pick her up? The article online that brought us here said you found her at the side of the road… that can’t be right, she was in the water.”

“It is,” Calvin said, drinking his wine. “I was driving a back road from an associate’s cabin and there she was, at the side of the road. I thought at first that she’d been hit by a car. She was unconscious and I got her to hospital. Claire was in the hospital for a couple of months with complications, after that we agreed to take care of her.”

Ginger wasn’t eating. She was stroking the end of her ringlet between her forefinger and thumb, a sure sign she was anxious.

“What’s the last thing you remember, sis?” Owen asked, gently easing her into what they wanted to know.

“We don’t talk about that,” Calvin said. “Let’s talk about you, you said you’re a lawyer, are you with a firm?”

“Yes,” Owen said. “And you own a chemical company that made you a couple of million last year, right?”

Good on Owen not giving away too much. They had to play this Calvin guy because he wouldn’t hesitate to play them. Ginger was still toying with her hair until Diane caught him looking at her with concern. Diane nudged Ginger and whispered something, apparently instructing her to eat.

“And what is it you do, Mr. Warren?” Calvin asked after spouting off some figures to Owen.

“I write,” he muttered.

“Write what?” Calvin sneered. “Books?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said and sat up straighter to lean over the table. “Ginger, have you spoken to anyone about your memories?”

“The doctors at the hospital were very good,” Calvin said. “But we took her to a private facility and brought in our own professionals very quickly. Their treatment was exemplary.”

And directed by Calvin and his wallet. Shane couldn’t blame the guy for falling for Ginny or for wanting to keep her for himself. Oddly, instead of anger or jealousy, his next pang was pity. Ginger would be returning home with him. She’d fallen in love with him once. Shane was confident that if he could get close to her, get her alone, maybe reawaken her memory, that she would be his again. No matter what, he planned to win the war, even if it meant forfeiting a few battles.

“I don’t doubt that,” Shane said. “You look healthy… How’s your blood pressure?”

The question shocked not only Ginny, but the others at the table too. “Low,” she whispered. “How do you know that?”

“You always had a problem with low blood pressure. Your mom and grandmother had it too,” he said. “I’m glad you’re keeping an eye on it.”

“It’s just a shame you didn’t know that when she was in the hospital initially,” Owen said. “It might have given the doctors a false impression of her condition.”

“I don’t want finger pointing,” Ginger said, squirming in her chair. “I hate that this is awkward.”

Guilt. She was coping with guilt and still Calvin did nothing to comfort her.

“You didn’t do this,” Shane said. “To any of us… You didn’t ask for the accident or the amnesia. No one here blames you… You didn’t ask me, Owen, and Murphy to show up either. We all make our own choices in life.”

“Thank you for the pop psychology,” Calvin muttered and returned to his food. “Everyone eat.”

THREE

THEY FINISHED THE next course in silence and then spent the rest of the meal listening to Calvin talk about his business and his family. Ginger could tell that the new men in her life weren’t impressed, but she’d asked Calvin to make sure there was no pressure on her to rush into a confession.

Although she didn’t want any resentment between these men, it was important to take her time and do things right. That meant Calvin had to take the lead, at least at that initial dinner. Talking about himself was great cover, which provided her with some time to adjust to the developments.

After exchanging numbers and cards, they’d all gone their separate ways.

She didn’t sleep well but did eventually drift off. For a brief few seconds after waking up, Ginger believed her past chasing her down had been a dream. It didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t. If it had been, she’d be wearing a wedding ring and departing for her honeymoon.

Instead of jetting into the sun, they ended up seated in a doctor’s office. Since the introductions, Doctor Guinness hadn’t said much and he wasn’t an easy man to read. In a group with Calvin, Diane, Shane and Owen, the doctor had instructed them to attempt to identify with each other. To bond. Murphy and Boyd were asked to wait outside in the waiting room; she hoped they wouldn’t come to blows without supervision.

Doctor Guinness had done well to ensure there was little pressure on her. In fact, his first question had been about sharing early memories and he made everyone in the group, except her, share their earliest memory. It surprised her how open everyone was to helping her and to doing what the doctor asked even in front of strangers as most of them were to each other.

With their stories finished, all eyes had just fallen onto her.

“Your situation is different, you won’t have memories of growing up,” Doctor Guinness said, “but do you think you could try, could you tell us about your earliest memory?”

“I have pictures of childhood,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “I get pieces that I can’t put together. I don’t know if they’re memories or just something I’ve made up in my subconscious.”

“Yes, that does sometimes happen,” Doctor Guinness said. “What about the day you met Calvin? The day we’ll call the start of your new life… What do you remember about that day?”

“Uh, Doctor, is this a good idea?” Calvin asked. “We don’t want to damage her psychologically.”

Doctor Guinness was concise, unlike some of the other doctors she’d met. “We still haven’t established whether her amnesia is psychological or physiological,” the doctor said. “You’ve waited long enough, Mr. Bishop and… I don’t mean to be blunt, but technically… Mr. Warren is her next of kin. The marriage certificate has been verified, correct?”

Yes, the lawyers had confirmed the marriage that morning.

“Yes,” Calvin mumbled.

“So if our patient is willing and Mr. Warren consents, there’s no reason not to help her probe into her memories.”

She looked at Shane, who was looking at her, he seemed to do that a lot. “If you’re okay, Bit, I’m okay,” he said. She’d followed Calvin’s advice and tried to give the memories time to come back on their own. They hadn’t yet, so she was willing to try something else. “But if you’re not sure, we’ll shut these bastards down, no hesitation.”

He was always so quick to make sure she knew her options and that he supported her choices. Every time he swore, Diane bristled. The reaction was comical.

“I remember pieces of that day,” Ginger said without second-guessing herself for not breaking eye contact with Shane.

“You can work backwards,” Guinness said. “If it’s easier… do you remember the road?”

“I remember emotions,” she said. “I remember relief when I heard cars… I was in the woods, I was… I remember voices and my feet hurt but most of all I remember…”

“You remember what?” Guinness asked.

Ginger kept her gaze on Shane’s. “I remember the cold… I remember being so cold I thought… I thought I’d never move again… I was… exhausted and so cold…”

“That was probably from the water,” Guinness said, “if you were indeed in this yacht sinking.”

“I don’t remember water, I just remember… I remember being scared like… like I needed to do something or that I’d forgotten something… It’s all a jumble.”

“That’s okay,” Guinness said when her head fell into her hands. “It’s progress; this is part of a process. One that we hope to begin intensively now that you’re prepared and we’ve had this… development.” He looked at his watch. “That’s been more than an hour and I have work to do. But I wonder… could I have a moment alone with Owen and with Claire? Excuse me, with Ginger… It will help everyone process if we begin to use Ginger’s real name.”

It would be weird, but no weirder than learning to respond to Claire. A name change was probably one of the least weird things she’d had to endure. Sixteen months ago, she’d had to learn a new identity. Doing it again wouldn’t be too big a deal. No doubt it would be harder for everyone else as they hadn’t been through the same process.

After they were all gone and the door was closed, she and her brother turned to the doctor again.

“What can we help you with?” Owen asked, moving over to sit beside her.

So far, she liked her brother. He was warm and charming, though a bit goofy, in the most endearing way.

“I want to discuss family medical history,” Guinness said. Owen nodded. “I would also like to discuss the next step of Ginger’s treatment. It’s unorthodox, but I hope you’ll support it.”

“Anything,” Owen said.

***

OWEN HAD BEEN ALONE in the doctor’s office with Ginger for a half hour. Sitting next to Murphy with Calvin and Boyd on the perpendicular couch, Shane was getting edgy. Diane had gone off to some luncheon after pressuring her son about something. He didn’t know what. He didn’t care.

Boyd and Calvin had been whispering since they came out. No doubt Calvin was updating his buddy on what had happened. They’d been throwing dirty looks his way for a while and it was pissing him off.

“If you’ve got something to say, Bishop, say it,” Shane said.

Beside him, Murphy looked up from his magazine.

“Nothing to say to you,” Calvin said. “We’re making plans for Claire. For what’s best for her.”

“Didn’t you hear the doctor in there?” Shane asked. “Her name is Ginger.”

“Yes, well, we’re considering a change of doctor.”

Tempering himself, he rolled his lips and shifted to the edge of the couch. “Listen, buddy, I know this is tough on you. I’m a guy who came from nowhere and told you I’m gonna take your woman away. You’re allowed to be pissed at me. Don’t let that affect Ginny’s treatment.”

“Take her away?” Calvin said, straightening his pants as he stood up. “You’re not taking her anywhere.”

Oh, so he wanted a pissing contest. Shane stood up, always game to stake a claim on his wife. “That’s for her to decide when she’s feeling better.”

Calvin looked down his nose. “Like I said, we’re going to get a new doctor… And Boyd is already working on proxy documents.”

“Excuse me?” Shane asked, raising his brows.

“You might be her husband on paper, but you’re not in practice. We’ll have power of attorney documents written up for Claire to sign allowing me to make medical decisions.”

Working his jaw, it was getting hard to hold onto his temper. “I don’t fucking think so.”

“Why is it you have to curse?” Calvin sneered. “You don’t know how to express yourself? Is that it?”

“Oh I can express myself,” Shane said, squaring up when Calvin tried to bulk up.

If he wanted a fight, Shane would give him one.

“Whoa, guys, let’s talk about this,” Murphy said.

If he wasn’t so angry, the idea of his brother being a rational voice would amuse him. As it was, with the adrenaline flowing, he was ignored.

“Yes, and how is that?” Calvin asked, shoving him. “With your fists?”

He couldn’t lose his temper, couldn’t punch the bastard in the face like he deserved. At least, that was what he told himself until Calvin shoved him again. Shane grabbed the guy’s lapel, hauled him to the tips of his toes and ignored Murphy leaping to his feet behind him.

Pulling back his fist, Shane inhaled, ready to smack the smugness from Calvin’s sneer.

Then he heard Ginger’s gasp at the other side of the room. “No! Boo, don’t hit him!”

The room stopped.

Still with a hold of Calvin, Shane turned his head to see her next to the doctor with Owen behind her, tense, her hands covering her mouth.

“What did you call him?” Calvin said, shoving away from him.

Shane’s heart was in his throat. “You called me Boo,” he exhaled. “It’s been sixteen months since you called me that.”

Ginger was gaping when her hands dropped. “I… I didn’t think about it…” she stuttered. Owen hugged her from behind. “It was… instinct.”

“Good instinct,” Shane grinned, feeling like he’d just won the Superbowl.

He wanted to go to her, but Murphy was in the way.

She was blushing again and didn’t seem eager to focus on the significance of what had just happened. “Doctor Guinness has suggested intensive therapy,” she said, licking her lips. “There’s a hotel… a lodge that allows prolonged retreats. He says it will help my memory and to integrate my lives if we go up there… He will clear his schedule and join us… he says he’ll offer payments—”

“And I said we’d cover it if it was what she wanted,” Owen said, eyeing him.

Taking the signal, he jumped on to reassuring his wife. “Yes,” Shane said. “Sure, baby, anything you want.”

“Don’t call her baby,” Calvin said, stomping over to her. “You want to go to this lodge place?”

“We had time off for our honeymoon anyway,” she squirmed, giving Shane another clue that this bastard might use his hands to hurt her. “I would like it if we could do this… all of us together.”

Calvin leaned close to her. Shane lurched forward, ready to shove Murphy out the way if he needed to get between Ginger and that bastard she called a fiancé.

Instead of hissing or shouting, Calvin spoke in a whisper. “What about…”

“I have to deal with it today… I can’t put it off any longer,” she said.

Although she was back to being nervous, Owen was grinning, which confused the hell out of him.

“You’re in for the shock of your life, buddy,” Owen said.

Ginger jabbed an elbow back into her brother, momentarily distracting him with the casual sibling banter. That was what he wanted to see, Ginger getting back to normal.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Calvin said. “We don’t even know for sure if—”

“I know we don’t,” Ginger said. “I know that. But it’s best to do it now, in the hospital… If I keep hiding it, it becomes a secret… I don’t like secrets.”

Although clearly pissed as hell, Calvin backed off to allow her space to walk past him.

Shane was too confused to focus on that, Ginger was all he could see. “What’s wrong?”

She was clearly nervous, her face was pale and her hands shaking. “Before you decide if you want to come to the cabin, before you decide if you want to help me…”

“Yeah?” Shane asked. “I want to help you. I already know that.”

“Before you commit,” she said. He’d already married her, they couldn’t get much more committed as far as he was concerned. “I need to show you something.”

“Show me something?”

She nodded and took his hand. Everything else vanished. She’d just touched him of her own accord. He’d forgotten how small her hand was in his. As long as they were touching, he was ready, for whatever terrible thing she was about to confess.