A Husband Worth Waiting For

Though that wasn’t strictly true. There was always Wynthrop. But the thought of returning to that house—where she would be even less welcome than she was here—made her very soul shudder.

“Mom,” Emma said, “did our uncle come home yet?”

Sarah reined in her depressing thoughts. “Yes, he came home last night.”

“Are we going to stay here awhile?”

“No, honey. We’ll be leaving as soon as he returns. He’s taken a drive down the mountain track to make sure the rain didn’t wash it out.”

“So he’ll be back shortly?”

“Yes, he’ll be back shortly.”

When he hadn’t come back in an hour, Sarah felt uneasy.

After a couple of hours, she was nibbling her thumbnail, a habit she’d broken when she was thirteen. The man should have been home by now. On her own drive up the mountain—on an unfamiliar road in the stormy dark—she’d taken, at most, fifteen minutes. Where could he be?

She paced the sitting room, sidestepping Jamie who was lying on the carpet, playing with his trucks. Emma stood at the window, hands pressed to the sill, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. The child had spent the past couple of hours reading, but now she was restless.

Just as her mother was restless.

“Mom, there’s a police car coming up the drive.”

“A police car?”

“Yup.”

Sarah hurried over to the window in time to see the car pull up beside her own. A uniformed officer stepped out.

Emma pressed her nose to the windowpane. “What do you think he wants, Mom?”

“Wait here. I’ll find out.”

“I want to come!”

“I want you to stay here.” If something was wrong, she didn’t want Emma to hear it. “Keep an eye on Jamie.”

Emma pouted. But she did as she was told.

The doorbell rang.

The last time Sarah had answered the door to a police officer had been on the day of Chance’s death. A sick feeling swam in her stomach as she crossed the foyer; a feeling that intensified when she opened the door and saw the serious expression on the young officer’s face.

“Ma’am, I’m Constable Trammer. You’re…?”

“Mrs. Morgan. Sarah Morgan.”

“You’re the wife of Jedidiah Morgan?”

“No, his sister-in-law.”

“I’m afraid there’s been an accident, Mrs. Morgan. Down at the foot of the mountain, at the four-way intersection. A truck went through a stop sign and knocked Mr. Morgan’s Range Rover off the road. The trucker’s unhurt, but Mr. Morgan…”

Déjà vu. The same disembodied feeling that had assailed her when she’d been told about Chance’s death threatened to undo Sarah now. She grabbed the edge of the door for support.

“He’s been injured, ma’am, and has been taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s Hospital in Kentonville.”

Injured. Not dead.

Sarah closed her eyes, letting relief wash over her. When she opened them again, the constable was frowning.

“You okay?” he asked.

Abstractedly, she gestured his question aside. “Are Mr. Morgan’s injuries life threatening?”

“He got a bang on the side of his head and with that kind of injury there’s always a risk. He was unconscious when we got to him.”

“The hospital…where did you say it was?”

“Kentonville. Ten miles west of here, on the river. Hospital’s right at this end of town. You can’t miss it.”

St. Mary’s Hospital was a peach-colored stucco building, situated between the Kenton Motel and the municipal library.

Sarah learned at the information desk that her brother-in-law was in room 345. She ushered the children to the elevator, and when they emerged on the third floor, she spotted room 345 across the way. But as she led the children toward it, she was accosted by a stout, redheaded nurse who came out from behind her desk.

“May I ask,” she said, “where you’re going?”

Sarah paused. “I’m Sarah Morgan. I’ve come to visit my—”

“Visiting hours don’t start till two. Who was it you wanted to see?”

“Jedidiah Morgan. Room 345. Sorry we’re not supposed to be here—we’ll come back later.”

“Mr. Morgan’s doctor wants him to rest today—it would really be best if he has no visitors. He’s had quite a knock.”

A reprieve. Sarah felt a surge of guilty relief. “In that case,” she said, “I guess we’ll be getting home.”

“If at all possible,” the nurse offered, “Mr. Morgan will be discharged tomorrow—we’re seriously short of beds. Phone in the morning, and if he’s been given the all clear, you can pick him up. He won’t be fit to drive…and anyway, from what I’ve heard, his vehicle’s a write-off.”

Goose bumps rose on Sarah’s skin as memories of another accident swept into her mind: Chance’s car, too, had been a write-off. Unfortunately, no angels had been looking out for him as they had been today for his brother.

“Are you okay?” the nurse asked. “You look pale.”

Sarah’s smile was wan. “It’s been a shock.”

The nurse hesitated and then said in a whisper, “Tell you what. The patient’s asleep right now, but I’ll look after the kids if you just want to have a peek at him.”

An offer, Sarah realized wryly, she could hardly refuse under the circumstances. Faking a grateful smile, she said, “Thanks,” and crossed to the open doorway of room 345.

Her brother-in-law lay flat on his back on a narrow bed, his eyes closed, his arms out over the covers, his hands clasped over his chest. If he had a bump on his head, Sarah reflected, it was concealed by his thick black hair. His face was chalk-white, his pallor accentuated by his dark, unshaven jaw.

Hardly aware of what she was doing, she moved quietly over to the bed and stood there, studying him.

His lips, she noticed, were dry.

Sensual lips, and thinner than Chance’s. The sooty black eyelashes were thicker than Chance’s; the ridge on the nose more pronounced; the jaw firmer.

So the two brothers weren’t as alike as she’d initially thought—

“Who the hell,” asked a slurred voice, “are you?”

The patient was not asleep. Startled, Sarah braced herself for the verbal attack that would surely ensue when he recognized her. When she saw his blank expression, her tension eased slightly. He must be hovering in some twilight zone, she figured; either groggy from the accident or drowsy from medication.

“Hush.” Impulsively, she set her hand on his. “I’m sorry, I’ve disturbed you. And I shouldn’t even be here.”

He twisted his hand and trapped her wrist with strong fingers.

“Who are you?” His question came out raspingly. “And what’s going on?”

How much should she tell him? Better to say nothing. The truth might set his blood pressure skyrocketing.

“You’ll find out everything,” she said quickly, “once you’re feeling better.” Tugging her hand free, she backed away. “I’m not even supposed to be here!”

“Wait!”

Ignoring his urgent command, she whirled and fled out to the corridor.

The nurse was at the elevator with the children, and when she saw Sarah, she pressed the elevator button. The doors glided open just as Sarah got there.

With a murmured “Thanks,” Sarah guided the children inside and pressed the lobby button.

“Bye, kids!” The nurse gave the children a wave and then said to Sarah, just as the doors began to swish shut, “I’ll tell your husband when he wakes up that you paid him a visit.”

Sarah blinked and then said quickly, “Oh, but he’s—”

The doors clicked into place.

“—not my husband.”

Too late. The elevator had already begun its descent.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, with time meaning nothing to him. He gathered he was in the hospital, that he’d been involved in a car accident—not his fault, that of the other driver. He also gathered that apart from a few bruises, his only injury was a blow to his head, which he’d sustained on impact with the other vehicle.

Nurses checked on him periodically, but despite his attempts to engage them in conversation, they had little time to chat. He also had the vaguest recollection of seeing a blond angel hovering over him at one point.

He knew that in near-death experiences, people sometimes saw a tunnel of white light with figures beckoning them. He’d apparently not been near death and he’d seen no white light, but the angel had spoken to him in a husky, melodic voice. He recalled her saying apologetically that she wasn’t supposed to be there.

Perhaps she’d come to his room by mistake, thinking he was soon to be not of this world. And then discovered she’d been wrong. Even angels must make mistakes.

He dreamed of her that night; and when he wakened in the morning, the dream remained vividly in his mind.

A mind that was now, thankfully, lucid….

Except for one thing.

One problem.

And it was a whopper!

He had no idea who he was.

He knew he’d been in an accident because someone had told him; but he had no memory of it.

And he had no memory of anything that had happened prior to the crash.

Hell’s teeth. He lay back on his pillow, stunned. What a dilemma. Who was he?

He was still pondering the question when a tall gray-haired doctor appeared at his bedside. Behind him hovered a nurse.

“Rasmussen,” the man said bluntly. And proceeded to give him a thorough examination. “Right, Mr. Morgan—”

Ah, now he knew his name. Or at least his surname. It was a start.

“—you can go home this morning. Where do you live?”

Before he could answer, the nurse piped up, “The patient has a place on Whispering Mountain—about ten miles from here.”

Well, he reflected, at least he wasn’t homeless!

“He shouldn’t do much for himself for the next couple of days. He’ll be a bit off balance. Does he have someone to look after him?”

Did he? The patient turned a keen gaze on the nurse, interested to hear the answer.

“Oh, yes, Doctor. Mr. Morgan has a wife—”

He had a wife? Odd, he didn’t feel married.

“—isn’t that right, Jedidiah?” The nurse threw him a saccharine-sweet smile.

Jedidiah. What kind of a mother would stick her son with a name like that? “Oh, sure,” he said brightly. “A wife.”

“Good,” the doctor said. “Now take it easy for the next few days. You’ve had a nasty knock. No drinking, no driving. And stay quiet. Take a break from work.”

“Sure.” Work? Did he work? Or was he perhaps a dilettante playboy? Surreptitiously, hopefully, he turned over his hands and stole a glance at his palms—

Hey, would you look at those calluses! Those were not the hands of a man who lived a life of glitz and glamour.

But they were the hands of a man who didn’t ask for directions when he was lost. That much he knew, and the knowledge was innate. It probably went all the way back to caveman days, when no caveman worth his salt would have asked another caveman where the best buffalo were roaming.

“Any questions?” The doctor stood poised to leave.

“Nope.”

“Remember anything of the accident?”

Jedidiah shook his head. And winced as pain sliced through it.

“It might come back, but probably won’t. Most people find that because of the trauma it’s blocked out of their minds permanently. You may also find that the swelling around your brain will have caused further memory loss. As the swelling subsides, those memories—your personal memories—should eventually return.” The doctor was halfway to the door. “Any problems, just give me a call.”

“Will do. And thanks.”

After the doctor left, the nurse said, “You’ll find all your clothes in that locker by your bed.” She headed for the door.

Jedidiah said, “Hold on a minute.”

She turned.

“Has my…wife called this morning?”

“She called first thing and then she called again, just after ten. I told her I’d phone back after the doctor had seen you. I’ll call her now and tell her she can come pick you up.”

“Call me a cab instead.”

“But your wife—”

“I want to surprise her.”

The nurse beamed. “I’ll call you that cab. And I’ll come back shortly to wheel you downstairs.”

As the sound of the nurse’s brisk footsteps faded along the corridor, Jedidiah swung his legs off the bed, then paused as a wave of giddiness assailed him. When he finally stood, the floor seemed to tilt. He grasped the bed rail, and once he felt steadier, he moved to his locker.

When he looked at his clothes, they were unfamiliar to him. Blue jeans, denim shirt, navy jacket. It was as if he’d never seen them before.

Yet he knew what they were called; and when he withdrew his black leather wallet from his hip pocket, he knew it was called a wallet. Odd how his mind had retained that kind of information, yet all his personal memories seemed lost.

He unfolded the wallet and riffled curiously through its contents. He found over seventy dollars in bills; a few credit cards; a receipt for gas. And his driver’s license. He noted his address—Morgan’s Hope, Whispering Mountain, B.C. He checked his birth date against the date on the gas receipt and figured he was almost thirty-five. Looking at his photo was like looking at the face of a stranger—a stranger with dark hair and an even darker scowl.

He searched further, hoping to find a picture of his wife, but no luck. He slid the wallet back into the pocket, his mind swirling with questions.

When he got home, he’d get his wife to answer them.

He scraped a rueful hand through his hair. His wife.

He couldn’t wait to see what she looked like!

“Mom, how come you’re unloading all that stuff from the car and bringing it into our uncle’s house?”

Over the bulky bag in her arms, Sarah peeked at Emma and Jamie, who were zooming Jamie’s Tonka trucks over the foyer carpet. “When I called the nurse she said that when your uncle gets home, he’d need taking care of for a few days. I plan to look after him.”

Even if he didn’t want her to, Sarah reflected as nervousness churned her stomach. But she hoped he wouldn’t be up to arguing. In fact, she was counting on it. She desperately needed time to regroup, time to decide where to go when she left Morgan’s Hope.

“When are we going to the hospital?” Jamie asked.

“The nurse promised to phone me after the doctor had made his rounds. I’m surprised she hasn’t called yet.”

“It’ll be a lovely surprise for our uncle,” Emma said happily, “to find that we’ve moved ourselves in!” “Need a hand, buddy?” The cabdriver squinted against the sun as he peered up through his open window at Jedidiah, who was tucking his wallet away. “You seemed a bit unsteady on your pins, back there at the hospital.”

“Thanks, I’m okay.”

“Nice place you got here.”

“Mmm.” Jedidiah’s attention was fixed on the rusty blue Cutlass parked by the front door. His wife’s? How come she drove a dilapidated old vehicle when apparently his own vehicle had been a latemodel Range Rover?

The cabbie gestured toward Max, who had also been a passenger in his cab but was now standing by his master. “Amazing that your dog was hanging around waiting for you in the hospital grounds. He must’ve followed the ambulance all the way to town yesterday. Lucky you had a name tag on him, prove he was yours. Sure are faithful, those mutts.”

“Yeah.” Jedidiah set a hand on Max’s head and the animal looked up at him adoringly.

“Better’n a woman any day!” With a quick grin, the cabbie put his vehicle in gear and drove away.

Jedidiah’s eyes were thoughtful as he walked with an unsteady gait to the house. Inside waited his wife. Her name was Sarah, according to a remark dropped by the redheaded nurse when she’d wheeled him down to the entrance. And Sarah had visited him yesterday, the nurse had confided, though he’d been too out of it to know it.

If he had seen her, would he have recognized her? He doubted he would….

He remembered nothing of her. Nothing of his past.

Remembered nothing of this house.

“Nice place,” the cabbie had remarked, and he’d been right. It was a very nice place indeed, with clean lines and an attractive symmetry to it. He liked the pink brick walls, the white trim, the indigo-blue door. And he liked the arrangement of potted shrubs set around the entrance.

Everywhere he looked, he saw order.

And money.

He glanced at his palms again, and frowned. Those calluses. What the heck kind of work did he do that he could afford such a place?

Squaring his shoulders, he said, “C’mon, Max. Let’s go inside and find out.”

But Max had loped away into the forest.

The front door was unlocked.

Jedidiah opened it. Closed it. Took off his shoes. Stepped forward into the foyer.

And that’s when he saw them.

Two children, a boy of around three and a girl maybe a couple of years older, sitting on the carpet over by the staircase, playing with blocks. They were so intent on what they were doing they didn’t notice him.

He stood, watching. Fascinated.

The boy was slightly built, with a sweep of ash-blond hair. He was wearing jeans and a red sweater. The girl was sturdier, but her hair was equally blond and styled in a long braid. She, too, was wearing jeans, but her sweater was blue with a pattern of snowflakes.

He cleared his throat.

The little girl looked up.

She stared at him for a long moment, her beautiful gray eyes startled, and then she cried, “Daddy!”

The boy turned sharply. His eyes were as gray as the girl’s, and at sight of him, they lit up.

“Da-da!” He scrambled to his feet, and for a moment the two children stood rooted to the spot. Then the girl threw out her arms and with a shriek of joy ran toward him. The boy followed suit.

What could he do but swing them up and hug them? How were they to know he didn’t recognize them? How were they to know he felt as if they were strangers to him?

He swung them around and then swung them down again.

The little girl ran to the stairs and yelled, “Mom! Mom! Daddy’s come back!”

Jedidiah followed, his heart beating in slow, heavy thuds as he waited for this woman who was his wife.

Her voice preceded her. “Honey, what are you…?”

And then she appeared, hurrying out onto the landing.

She glanced down, frowning.

And stopped dead at the sight of him.

She looked stunned; more stunned even than her daughter had been.

And every vestige of color seeped from her face.

“Oh, hi.” Her voice was flat. “It’s you.”

CHAPTER THREE

WOW, that was some warm welcome!

Jedidiah grasped the knob of the newel post for support as shock hurtled his giddiness to new heights. And added to his shock was jaw-dropping awe: this woman was gorgeous.

Not only was she gorgeous, she was the vision who’d appeared at his hospital bedside. No angel, but his wife.

He gaped at her as she started slowly down the stairs.

Sarah Morgan was a fragile blonde, with smooth, silky hair parted on the left. It curved out bell-like around her heart-shaped face, ending in a loose wave that brought the tips in to brush against her neck then flip out again. Her skin was clear, her nose was straight…and her gray eyes were fixed on him warily.

“I was going to drive to the hospital and pick you up.” Her voice was low and melodic, with a husky timbre.

He found it incredibly sexy.

Something stirred deep inside him.

“The nurse said she’d call me.” She trailed her left hand down the railing as she descended. A delicate gold band glinted on her ring finger. “After the doctor had checked you out.”

She was straight shouldered and leggy, fine boned and elegant. And though the voluminous shirt billow ing out over her jeans concealed her shape, he had no problem envisioning a curvy little figure under the crisp white cotton.

She’d reached the last step and was only an arm’s span away. To his astonishment, he saw she was trembling.

He reached out and took possession of her left hand. She started. Tried to tug it free. As she did, her perfume drifted to him, sweet roses spiced with carnation. Feminine and tantalizing. He tightened his grip.

“Well, hi, Mrs. Morgan,” he said softly, caressing her wedding band with the pad of his thumb. “How about a ‘Welcome home’ kiss for the injured warrior?”

Her lips parted in a gasp.

Her eyes sparked with indignation.

Her body language screamed rejection.

He did a mental double take. Had they quarreled before the accident? If so, whose fault had it been?

His, apparently!

Oh, what the heck—whoever had been at fault, it was time to make up. And the making up, he figured with a sense of pleasurable anticipation, would be fun.

Keeping her wrist trapped with one hand, he slid the fingers of the other through her hair to cup her head. And before she could catch her breath, he leaned forward and claimed her parted pink lips with his own.

From a foggy distance, he heard a child’s giggle.

“Jamie,” his daughter whispered, “Daddy’s kissing Mommie.”

But Mommie, Jedidiah realized with an uneasy jolt, wasn’t kissing Daddy back. And he’d enjoyed only a brief taste of satin-soft, heavenly sweet lips when she wrenched herself away from him.

Her next move stunned him: she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. And what stunned him even more than her undisguised disgust was the rage in her glare.

“That was inexcusable!” she hissed. “I know you want to get rid of me, but that’s a despicable way to go about it—taking advantage of me. Especially in front of the children!”

“Get rid of you?” He blinked. “Why should I want to get rid of you?”

Her eyes went blank for five seconds. Then they took on a scornful expression. “So you’ve changed your tune now that you need help. Oh, you didn’t have to bother with all that playacting. I’m not about to leave you in the lurch.”

“Sarah, I have to tell you—”

“Go to bed,” she snapped. “You look as if you’re going to pass out at any minute.” Pausing only to scoop up the little boy—his son!—she said, “Emma, come with me to the kitchen. I’ll make us all some lunch.”

The little girl—his daughter!—trotted after Sarah.

Head spinning, he watched them go. He didn’t want any lunch. All he wanted was to lie down. But first, he had to tell his wife he’d lost his memory. Then he’d have her fill him in on everything he’d forgotten. And the first thing he wanted to know was: why was she so angry with him?

Legs wobbly as rubber, he made his way across the foyer, following the fast-fading sound of voices.

“Mom—” that was Emma “—I wanted to go upstairs with Daddy!”

He turned into a corridor and saw a room ahead with the door swinging half-shut. The voices now came from beyond it.

“We have to talk, Emma.” Sarah’s voice came faintly. “That man—he’s not your daddy.”

Jedidiah stumbled. Almost fell. He righted himself, swore under his breath—what breath he had left! He wasn’t the child’s father? Then whose child was she?

“He is too my daddy!”

“No, your daddy’s gone to Heaven. You know that.”

“But he’s come back!” Emma started to cry. “Daddy’s come back!”

“Honey, he’s not your daddy. And he’s not Jamie’s daddy, either—”

Now the boy started to cry, a keening wail that drowned out the heartrending sobs jerking from his sister.

Jedidiah felt as if the carpet had been swept out from under his feet. Was this real? Or was he still in his hospital bed under the influence of some mind-bending drug?

“Listen to me.” Sarah’s voice was urgent, with an edge of panic. “Both of you. I’m going to explain.”

He cocked his head and his ears. This he wanted to hear. But a shadow fell over the open doorway, and a second later the kitchen door shut with a sharp click.

He eased his way along the corridor and stopped at the door. Pressing his ear to it, he listened.

All he could hear was a murmur.