Luck of the Draw Read online

Page 13


  Buttering her corn bread and then following his example, she drizzled honey over it. She took a bite and gave him her biggest smile. It was too sweet and, to her, spoiled the taste of the corn bread, but she would eat every bite. “Delicious.”

  He smiled back, humor sparkling in his gaze. He was enjoying this. How long were they going to play this game? Was he waiting for her to confess?

  She took a spoonful of the chili. It tasted exactly like it had when he’d made it for her two years ago. “Oh, this is so good.”

  “Thanks. Like I said, it used to be one of the only things I knew how to make. So I ate a lot of chili in college and law school.”

  She frowned. “The sheriff said you were a rancher, but you’re also a lawyer? You seemed so comfortable in the courtroom today.”

  He shook his head, his gaze holding hers. “I quit law school. Long story. I fell in love with a woman I met. After she left me...” His words were like a knife to her heart. “I lost interest in the law. So now I’m just a rancher.”

  She swallowed and fought back the tears that burned her eyes. “I’m sorry. But you must love what you do.”

  He nodded and she had to drag her gaze away. “I guess I’ve always been a cowboy at heart.” They fell into an uncomfortable silence with the only sound the occasional pop of the logs burning in the fireplace.

  “I thought you might want to go for a walk around the ranch after we eat,” he said as they were finishing. “That’s if you feel up to it.”

  “I would love to.” She’d heard so many stories about his growing up here. She realized that she wanted to see it all, experience as much of it as she could with what little time she was here.

  * * *

  WHEN THE GUEST RANCH landline rang, Garrett figured it would be the sheriff. He almost didn’t get up to answer it. But he was afraid that would send Sid racing up here and that was the last thing he wanted.

  Before he could say more than hello, the sheriff began to talk quickly.

  “Is she in the room? Don’t say anything, just listen.”

  He glanced toward Joslyn. She hadn’t moved. She seemed to be staring into the flames, but he knew she would be listening.

  “I heard from her family.”

  Joslyn’s? He shot her a glance, surprised it had happened so quickly. Maybe more surprised to hear that she had family. She’d never mentioned any. But then again, he had to remind himself that everything about their time together had probably been a lie.

  “They’re flying in to take her home in the morning. Do me a favor. Don’t lose her between now and then.”

  Was Sid serious? “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Her family? He had less time than he thought to get the answers he so desperately needed.

  “You aren’t safe with her so don’t let your guard down. She isn’t the woman you think she is. They say she isn’t well, mentally. When her family comes in tomorrow, they are taking her back to Seattle for observation at a psychiatric medical facility back in Washington.”

  Okay, that was news.

  “Also, her real name is Monica Wilmington and there is a whole lot more to her story. Am I getting through to you?”

  Loud and clear. He glanced over at the woman sitting in front of the fire. The golden light illuminated her beautiful face. She looked...peaceful. And certainly not dangerous. Certainly not mentally unstable. But what did he know? Nothing.

  “Right. Look, I’m busy. We can talk about this some other time.”

  “Just don’t do anything more stupid than you already have,” Sid said.

  Garrett hung up the phone and looked in Joslyn’s direction. No matter her real name, she would always be Joslyn to him. She seemed to be intent on the fire crackling next to her. Her family had already turned up? That was quick. They thought she was mentally ill and needed “observation”? He didn’t believe it for a moment, did he?

  He shook his head. Joslyn was sharp as a tack, as his dad used to say. She knew exactly what was going on. But why would the family think otherwise? Because of her accident? Well, he would find out in the morning. Which meant that he might have only tonight with her. As he stepped back toward her, Joslyn seemed to come out of the trance she’d been in. She rose and began to pick up their dirty dishes.

  “Let me do that,” he said.

  Shaking her head, she said, “Please, you made dinner. It’s the least I can do.”

  He considered that—and the sharp knives in the wooden block in the kitchen. “Why don’t we do it together?” As long as he kept her away from anything sharp, it should be safe enough, he told himself. “That was the sheriff on the phone. He said he had some new information. He’s coming up in the morning. Is there anything you want to tell me before then?” he asked as they carried the dishes into the kitchen and began loading the dishwasher.

  “If you’re asking if I have miraculously gotten my memory back...” She met his gaze. “Believe me, I want to remember what happened on that mountainside more than you do.”

  “I wonder about that.” He stared at her intently, looking into all that amber the way she’d been staring into the flames of the fire. He wondered what she’d been thinking about. Did she think about the past, the two of them? Or was she working on a new plot, one that would leave him even more devastated than before?

  “I don’t blame you for doubting me.” She looked away. “You have no reason to trust me.”

  You could say that again.

  “I’m trying to remember. The more I try though...” She shook her head. “But when I remember, you’ll be the first to know. As for the sheriff, I’m as interested as you are in what he’s found out.”

  If so, then why did her voice quiver just a little? She was scared and so was he. Joslyn, oh Joslyn, what are you keeping from me?

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  GARRETT WAS LOOKING at her as if he could see into her soul. “If you’re thinking about taking off—”

  “Why would I leave?” Even as she said it, she wondered if that wouldn’t be the kindest thing she could do. Just disappear again. But she’d left before to protect him. This time, she feared the only way she could keep him safe was to stay.

  He didn’t answer, just gave her an impatient look. “We’re a long way from anything. This is rugged country and the chance of you getting lost—”

  “I agreed to come up here with you. I know you don’t trust me and think I’m lying about not remembering how I ended up on that mountain with that...man.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I hope you’re not regretting asking me to come up here with you. Unless you decide you don’t want me here, I’m not going anywhere.”

  They stood, gazes locked in a challenge that she knew neither of them would win tonight. She was tired. She would tell him everything in the morning before the sheriff came. With luck she would have remembered what she was doing back in Montana by then. She would know how much trouble they were both in.

  “It’s getting late,” they said in unison.

  Garrett smiled as if he too remembered when they used to do that all the time as if they were that connected. Two lost souls that had found each other. At least for a while.

  She looked into his handsome face. It was all she could do not to touch him. She remembered the feel of his slightly stubbled jaw against her fingertips, against her more tender skin, and felt a shiver.

  “Cold?” he asked. He missed little.

  “Maybe someone just walked across my grave. I think I’m a little too tired for a tour of the ranch tonight.” She touched the small bandage on her head. “I think I’ll go up to bed. Thank you again for dinner. It was delicious.”

  As if she was going to be able to sleep, Joslyn thought as she closed her suite room door behind her. She locked it although she couldn’t imagine whom she thought it would keep out. Garrett wouldn’t be trying her door tonight.

 
What she’d seen in his eyes earlier... She shuddered, hating that it had come to this. Where there had once been love, there was now bitterness and mistrust, anger and resentment. It broke her heart all over again.

  As she moved deeper into the room, she told herself she couldn’t think about that now. The sheriff had learned something that had him driving up in the morning. Whatever it was, it was important enough that he didn’t want to discuss it on the phone. She tried to imagine what it could be. Had he found out the truth about her? That was the worst part. She had no idea.

  She glanced around the room, telling herself she could run even when she knew she couldn’t. And not just because of her memory loss, or lack of money or means. Even if there had been somewhere to run, she couldn’t leave Garrett.

  It couldn’t be a coincidence that their lives had crossed paths again. Someone was setting them both up. All her instincts told her that the answer was here on this guest ranch. Or would be soon. All she had to do was wait.

  She’d do whatever she had to when the time came to save Garrett. She couldn’t let him pay for the mistakes she’d made. If she was right he was in danger. He needed to disappear for a while until...until whatever was going on, blew over.

  But that was the problem. She knew Garrett Sterling. He wouldn’t run. He wouldn’t leave the ranch. She’d known that two years ago. It was why she’d had to leave him instead.

  As much as she hated doing it and as dangerous as it was, she knew what she had to do. She’d just have to wait until Garrett was asleep.

  * * *

  GARRETT COULDN’T SLEEP after he’d made the call from his room to his friend Billy. He’d lied about the only phone with an outside line being the one downstairs. He’d recently had the line added with the other construction changes going on at the resort. This was one call he hadn’t wanted her to overhear.

  “Do me a favor?” he’d asked when his friend answered.

  The PI had chuckled. “I can hardly wait.”

  “Find out everything you can about a woman named Monica Wilmington.”

  “Age?” Billy had asked.

  “Late twenties, early thirties. Beautiful with amber eyes and long dark hair.”

  “How soon do you need this?”

  “Since it’s possible she’s a murderess and she’s staying down the hall at my guest ranch, sooner might be better than later.”

  He was too antsy to sleep. Giving up, he went downstairs, grabbed his jacket and stepped out into the summer night. This high up in the mountains of Montana it was often cold at night even at the end of July. A sliver of moon and a trillion stars lit the midnight blue sky overhead, casting shadows across the landscape. A breeze whispered in the tops of the tall pines as he walked down the trail that led along the front of the row of nine cabins.

  He’d been raised here, spending his summers saddling horses, helping with guests, even making beds in the cabins when some of the staff quit before the end of the season. He hadn’t minded it since there were a lot of girls who came up with their families. He and his brothers danced with them, taught them how to ride, showed them how to toast marshmallows over the fire, took them down to the creek to swim.

  There were a lot of good memories connected to this place, he thought as he reached the end of the cabins, each tucked back into the pines some distance from the others. He could hear the creek below him. He’d never been afraid here, not of the bears that often passed through or an occasional mountain lion.

  But tonight, he felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. Not far down this trail he’d witnessed a shooting. And he’d foolishly brought the shooter back to his mountain with him. A woman named Monica Wilmington. The sheriff had been right. He didn’t know this woman, probably never had. What had he been thinking bringing her here?

  Worse, he felt time running out. Her family was coming up tomorrow to take her back. Back to Seattle to get her help. Could he be wrong about her? Why hadn’t he pressed her harder to tell the truth tonight? It was probably his only chance. By morning, she would be gone. He might never know why she’d left him all those years ago. Or if any of it had been real.

  But did he really want the truth?

  “Couldn’t sleep either?”

  He spun around, clearly startled to find the woman standing within feet of him. He saw her smile in the starlight. Amused that she’d scared him?

  “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that.”

  Garrett just bet. “I was lost in thought.”

  “I noticed.” She looked away from him, to the edge of the path where the mountain fell away. She stood silhouetted there against the night sky. “It’s beautiful here. Just as I pictured it.”

  He cocked his head, waiting for her to say more. She wore jeans and a T-shirt and now hugged herself. He realized that she must have heard him leave and didn’t want to take the time to grab a jacket. Slipping off his, he stepped to her and wrapped it around her.

  She looked up at him, her gaze softening, those amber eyes suddenly like a warm, inviting fire. “Now you’re going to be cold.”

  “Why don’t you tell me why you followed me out here,” he said.

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “Guilty conscience?”

  Joslyn gave him an impatient look. “You’re so angry with me. I can’t imagine why you’d invite me to stay here.”

  “Can’t you?”

  She looked away again. “I’m not lying about not remembering why I was in that vehicle when it crashed. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.” Her gaze shifted back to his. An owl hooted from a nearby tree. The breeze lifted her hair. She tucked a stray lock behind one ear. She looked so young. So vulnerable. “I’m trying to remember.”

  He sighed. “I’ve already heard this story.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It’s true.”

  “And I should believe you, why exactly?”

  She shook her head and let out a short, frustrated laugh. “You’re right. Why should you believe me? It isn’t like we know one another. It isn’t like you have any reason to believe anything I tell you. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

  Joslyn started to turn away, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her hard against him. His mouth dropped to hers in a searing kiss. He heard her gasp, then sigh as her lips parted. Her body melted into his. He’d yearned for the feel of her in his arms. His pulse thundered in his ears. Desire sparked and set fire to a longing in him that he’d thought he’d extinguished long ago.

  He was never going to get over this woman. As he deepened the kiss, he feared that she would be the death of him.

  For a long moment, he lost himself in the familiar feel of her. Memories, sweet as pure sugar, made him weak with wanting to rewrite the past. He didn’t want to let her go any more than he had two years ago. His hand went to her breast. He could feel her hard nipple through the thin fabric of the T-shirt. She let out a moan against his lips.

  A twig snapped nearby, startling them both as if hearing a gunshot.

  Garrett let go, stepping back from her, feeling the memories slip away and reality step in. What the hell was he doing? He thought of the sheriff warning him not to do anything more stupid than he already had.

  And yet he would have made love to this woman right out here in the starlight not knowing who he was making love to. He still yearned for the woman he remembered. Desire was like a spike through his heart. But this woman’s name wasn’t even Joslyn Charles. There was no Joslyn.

  “Sorry.” But he wasn’t sorry. He still wanted her and from the way she’d kissed him back, the way her body had reacted, she still wanted him as well.

  He reminded himself that she’d lied to him, continued to lie to him and was dangerous in ways he apparently knew nothing about. She’d never even told him her real name. So why start now. He’d been a fool to bring
her here. Had he really thought she’d tell him the truth about anything, maybe especially the two of them?

  Or maybe her lies and leaving had said it all. He felt like a fool. A fool who’d fallen helplessly in love. This woman wasn’t that woman. She never had been. He wouldn’t make the mistake of forgetting that again, he told himself, knowing he was also lying to himself. “You should go in.”

  She nodded, slipped off his jacket and held it out to him. “Thank you,” she said as he took it.

  This time when she turned to leave, he let her go.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  JOSLYN HUGGED HERSELF, chilled even in the warmth of her room back at the lodge. When she’d come back, she had locked her door and leaned against it as she’d tried to catch her breath and not cry. Being in his arms again...

  She scrubbed at her face, hating the burn of the tears. She wanted to fall on the bed and sob until she couldn’t cry anymore. But she’d already done that when she’d left him. Why hadn’t she realized how unbearable this would be? She couldn’t keep lying to him.

  Trembling from the shock and power of the kiss, she moved deeper into the room. She could still feel his hand where it had been on her breast, her nipples both aching. If he had any doubt that she remembered him, he didn’t anymore. She’d wanted him so badly that she would have made love with him right there in the pines. It wouldn’t have been the first time they’d made love in the woods.

  Without turning on a lamp, she moved to the window to look out on the summer night. He was still out there, hands deep into the pockets of his jacket as he walked toward the barn now under construction. She suspected that like her, he was having trouble sleeping. Probably because of who he’d let under his roof, she told herself.

  She touched her lips with her trembling fingers, remembering his kiss, the taste and feel of him. Garrett knew her intimately. What they’d shared was like a brand on her heart. She’d never been able to get over Garrett even though she’d tried. She ached to be in his arms again. She thought of their lovemaking, the nights lying naked in that sagging bed of his, their bodies molded perfectly together like two pieces of a puzzle, and felt more hot tears cascade down her cheeks.

 
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