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“Yes.” He was uncomfortably aware that the family lawyer would be hyperventilating by now if he were here to track the conversation. Gareth had pretty much incriminated himself.
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “It was an accident. And you were breaking the law. So don’t go getting any ideas about draining us dry. We have a legal team that would chew you to pieces.”
“Why do you need a legal team?”
This conversation had gone on long enough. “Go to bed, Gracie. Get some sleep. Maybe when you wake up, all will be clear.”
She hesitated, looking at him with need that went beyond simple survival. He wondered if she understood the feminine invitation she was unwittingly telegraphing. Deliberate or not, every bit of testosterone in him responded with a hell, yeah.
Groaning inwardly, he turned his back on her and left the room.
When Gracie woke up, the sun was high in the sky, the clock said it was noon and nothing was any clearer than it had been the night before. She leaped from the bed and then staggered when the pounding in her skull threatened to send her to her knees.
A hand to the wall and several long breaths finally steadied her. This time, the woman in mirror looked more familiar. She brushed her teeth, put on her clean undies and her not-so-clean clothes and went in search of food. The house was quiet, too quiet. In the kitchen she found a note scrawled in bold masculine handwriting. Plenty of food in the fridge. Help yourself. I’m working. Will check on you midafternoon.
She crumpled the paper and tossed it in the trash. Working? What did that mean? A sandwich and a banana later, the front doorbell rang. Gracie waited a few seconds to see if Gareth would appear. But when the bell rang a second time, she walked quickly toward the front of the house, grimacing when she saw her reflection in a mirror. She was hardly fit for company.
The woman who stood on the porch was a surprise. She gave Gracie a blinding smile and muscled her way through the door, forcing a befuddled Gracie to step back.
“I’m Annalise,” she said, holding out a hand after she dropped an armload of packages on the nearest chair. “Jacob had your height and weight, so we guessed at sizes. I’ve got all the basics, I hope. Enough to see you through at least a week. After that, we’ll see.”
“Well, I…”
Annalise was already pulling things out of packages. “My favorite boutique in Charlottesville couriered over everything I asked for. The manager there is really sweet.”
Gracie quivered with alarm. She had no clue about her own finances. What if she couldn’t afford all this? And heaven knew how much the delivery charges were. “Um, Annalise…” she said as she tried to slow down the mini tornado. “I really only need one change of clothing. I do appreciate all the trouble you’ve gone to, but I can’t stay long. And until I begin to remember things, I don’t know if I can repay you.”
Annalise sat cross-legged on the rug and began removing price tags. “Don’t be silly,” she said happily. “Gareth is paying for all of this. It’s the least he can do after you hurt yourself so badly.”
An arrested look came over her face and she hopped back to her feet. “Speaking of which, Jacob wanted me to take a look at your head. He’s only a phone call away if we need him.”
Before Gracie could move or protest, Annalise was sifting through Gracie’s curls, her fingers delicate as they parted the hair and brushed over the knot near her temple.
“Hmm,” she said. “The swelling’s not terrible, but you’ve got a nasty bruise.” She fluffed Gracie’s curls back into place and returned to her task of sorting through the new clothes. “That small bag over there has antibiotic ointment and more waterproof bandages. Jacob says you can take off the current dressing on your leg after you shower today and replace it.”
“Annalise?”
She looked up with a winsome smile. “What?”
“Who are you?”
The beautiful woman with the waterfall of raven-black hair smacked her head and groaned. “Shoot. I’m always getting ahead of myself. I’m Gareth and Jacob’s cousin, Annalise Wolff. The baby of the crew. Which is no picnic, let me tell you. Especially since I’m the only girl.”
“You live here, too?”
“Well, not yet. But sometime soon. I’m only here for a quick visit with my dad and Uncle Vic. It was a good thing, though. Can you imagine a man trying to supply a woman with a new wardrobe? Lord knows what they would have chosen.”
Gracie bent and picked up an item that still had a price tag attached. “A swimsuit? Really? Not entirely necessary, is it?”
The tall slender woman’s eyes widened. “Gareth hasn’t showed you yet?”
“Showed me what?”
“The indoor pool.”
“Um, no. I haven’t exactly been offered the guided tour. He doesn’t want me here, you know.”
“But you are here,” Annalise said with a grin. “And it’s about time someone bearded the grizzly old bear in his den. Gareth is a wonderful man, but he’s let the past trip him up. His hermit ways aren’t healthy.”
“What about the past?”
Suddenly the other woman looked abashed. “It’s not my place to say. I babble too much. Gareth can tell you what he wants you to know. C’mon,” she said brightly. “Let’s go to your room and try on all this booty.”
Gracie participated more out of curiosity than from any urgent desire to play dress-up. Annalise fascinated her. She could be a runway model or a movie star. Gracie envied her the boundless confidence that radiated from her in almost physical waves.
What was Gracie’s personality like? Here on the mountain, she felt wary, anxious and confused. But amnesia would probably have that effect on anyone. Maybe in real life Gracie was as self-possessed as Annalise. On the other hand, Gracie had a hunch that being wealthy and beautiful was the key. For someone like Annalise, the world was ready for the taking.
Gracie drew the line at modeling the wildly lavish lingerie. Petal-soft silk, handmade lace, confections of mauve, blush-pink and palest cream. It was the stuff of fantasy. But apparently Gracie was fairly modest when it came to exposing herself, even to another female.
At long last, Annalise glanced at her watch and screeched. “Lord have mercy. I’m going to miss my flight if I don’t get crackin’. Daddy always wants me to use the private jet, but it’s so damn pretentious. And do you have any idea how hard it is for a man to see the real you when he finds out about the seven-figure portfolio?”
“I can only imagine.” Gracie’s tone was wry. Annalise’s artless comments weren’t boastful. Her stream of consciousness conversation wasn’t as practiced as that.
At the front door, Gracie put a hand on her benefactor’s slim arm. “Thank you,” she said simply. “I won’t see you again, but I’m very grateful.”
Annalise grabbed her in an enthusiastic embrace and kissed her cheek. “Never say never. Remember… don’t let Gareth bully you. And as for the shopping spree… the pleasure was all mine.”
Four
With Annalise gone, the oppressive quiet settled over the house again. Gracie wanted to explore, but the possibility of being caught snooping deterred her. Instead she escaped outdoors, relishing the spring sunshine. It was a perfect day… the sky robin’s-egg-blue dotted with cotton-ball clouds, the sun warm but mild.
Her fingers itched for a paintbrush, wanting to capture the simplicity and lushness of burgeoning life. She stopped short, caught up in a memory…
I’m competent, Daddy, technically proficient, but I don’t think I have that spark to take me to the next level. That’s why I want so badly to be the gallery manager. I would be good at it, you know I would…
The snippet of conversation faded, and she clenched her fists in frustration. So she was an artist? But maybe not a very good one… and if that was true, what was the connection with her trip to Wolff Mountain?
Nothing. Nothing else materialized, no matter how hard she tried. And without something more concrete to go on, Gareth wasn’t likely to be appeased by her efforts.
With a hiccupped breath, she fought back a sob. Patience. She would have patience if it killed her. She walked down the driveway, away from the copse of trees sheltering the house, and glanced upward. What she saw drew a gasp of admiration. The house at the top of the mountain defied description. It was part palace, part fortress, an amalgam of Cinderella’s castle and George Vanderbilt’s sprawling mansion in Asheville, North Carolina.
She stopped dead, this time seeing a vision of herself during a visit to the Biltmore House. The clarity of the memory sent a surge of hope rushing through her veins. She’d been wearing a red sundress. And she was laughing, happy. Someone stood beside her. Who was it?
Her head ached from the effort to concentrate. Moments later, the scene in her brain shimmered and faded. Tears of frustration wet her cheeks. The knowledge was so close, so damn close.
She took a deep breath and turned around to stare at Gareth’s house. Yesterday she had stood on that porch. Had conversed with him. Why?
What had happened right before she fell? Was her mission in coming here sinister or innocent or somewhere in between?
No answers came her way. As hard as she tried, the earliest memory she was able to conjure up was waking in Gareth’s bed. Now, in the light of day, feeling a hundred times better than she had twenty-four hours before, the knowledge that Gareth had cared for her in the moments after her accident gave her an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She was sexually attracted to him. That much was clear. Even though she knew his Good Samaritan efforts were performed grudgingly. Despite his attitude, she had to be grateful that he hadn’t called the police to cart her off the property.
She had trespassed. Knowingly. And in doing so, had paid a hefty price. A brain that was tabula rasa… the clean slate. Even if Gareth found her at all appealing, he would never act on that connection. Because she had broken the rules of polite society. She had invaded his privacy.
With a sigh, she headed back toward the house. Gareth was working. Where? Why? The man was a freaking millionaire. Joint heir to what appeared to be a sizable fortune. By all rights, he should be cruising on the Riviera. Playing the roulette wheel in Monte Carlo.
The image of taciturn Gareth Wolff as a jet-set playboy didn’t quite come into focus. Some rich men enjoyed spreading their wealth around, flaunting their abundance. She had a hunch that the fiercely private Gareth would just as soon not be around people at all.
She wandered back toward the garage, stopping to stand on tiptoe and peer in the windows. Every pane of glass was spotless. She saw the Jeep, along with four other vehicles—a vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a classic black Mercedes sedan, a steel-gray delivery van, and a small electric car.
The odd assortment intrigued her. Nothing about Gareth Wolff was easy to pin down.
She walked around the rear of the garage, and there, at the back of a large clearing, stood a third building. The exterior was fashioned to match the house and the garage. But this structure was smaller. A stone chimney, similar to the three on top of Gareth’s house, emitted a curl of smoke. Feeling more like Goldilocks than she cared to admit, Gracie gave into the temptation to explore.
Instead of a traditional front door, the side of the building closest to Gracie was bisected by double garage doors, one of which was ajar. Feeling like the interloper she was, Gracie peeked inside.
Gareth stood opposite her, his big hands moving a scrap of sandpaper back and forth across an expanse of wood. He worked intently, all his focus on the project at hand.
The interior of the building was comprised of a single large room, partitioned here and there, but fully open to view. One quadrant stored lengths of lumber, another held shelves of small figures that appeared to be birds and animals. A large vat of some kind of liquid-soaked strips of wood. Other tables were laden with myriad hand tools.
The air smelled pleasantly of raw wood and tangy smoke from the open fireplace. An enormous skylight shed golden rays onto the floor below, catching dancing motes of dust along the way. Piled curls of wood shavings littered the floor at Gareth’s feet.
Though she knew it was unwise, she moved forward into his line of sight. His head jerked up, and he stared at her, unsmiling.
She tucked her hands behind her back. “I take it this is your work?”
He put down the sandpaper and wiped his hands on his jeans. As he stepped from behind the workbench, she saw that the old, faded denim had worn in some very interesting places, emphasizing his masculinity in a throat-drying way.
“Did you eat?”
She nodded.
“And Annalise found you?”
A second nod.
“Do you remember anything?”
She swallowed hard. “No.” Nothing concrete.
When he grimaced, she tried to squash an unreasonable feeling of guilt. He couldn’t be any more frustrated than she was about her situation. “Sorry,” she added, wondering why it was that women always seemed to feel the need to apologize and men seldom did.
He leaned against one of the rough-hewn posts that supported the vaulted ceiling, his hands in his pockets. The plain white T-shirt he wore was as sexy as any tux, and she had a gut feeling that he could wear either with ease.
As he surveyed her from head to toe, he frowned. “Why haven’t you changed?”
“Is there a dress code?” Maybe she was a smart-ass in her previous life.
Finally… a small smile from the man with the stone face. “I thought you’d be eager to get out of those clothes.”
Her stomach plunged at his suggestive words, but her brain wrestled with her libido. “I’ll change later. Didn’t seem to make sense to get all cleaned up when I was coming outside to explore. It’s a beautiful day.”
He nodded abruptly. “Glad you feel up to getting around. Does your head still hurt?”
“A little. I only took one pain pill. Didn’t want to sleep the day away.”
The conversation stalled. She worked her way closer. “What are you making?”
He paused, as if considering whether or not to answer. Then he shrugged. “A cradle.”
“For someone in your family?”
“No.”
Sheesh. It was like squeezing a stone to get water. “Then who?”
He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, a gesture she was beginning to associate with his response to her. “A member of the British royal family.”
She gaped. “Seriously?”
He cracked a smile, a small one, but definitely a tiny grin. “Seriously.”
“Tell me. Spill the details.”
He shook his head, his eyes dancing with humor. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you. That information is on a strictly need-to-know basis.”
She pursed her lips, wondering why she could remember things she’d read in line at the grocery store while scanning the front page of a gossip rag, but not be able to visualize her own home. Rather than dwell on that unsettling fact, she put two and two together.
“Ohmigosh,” she cried. “Are they pregnant? Is it—”
He put a hand over her mouth. “Uh, uh, uh… No questions. My lips are sealed.”
They were so close together she could smell the soap he’d used in the shower… and the not unpleasant odor of healthy male sweat. For some weird reason, her tongue wanted to slip out and tease his slightly callused fingers. His eyes darkened and she could swear he was reading her mind at that very moment.
She gulped and backed up a step. A more lighthearted Gareth was definitely dangerous. “Does your improved mood mean that you believe me… about not remembering, I mean?”
His hand fell away. “I’ll admit that deliberately falling to substantiate a claim of amnesia seems a bit far-fetched. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. For the moment, at least.” His dark eyes seemed to see inside her soul.
She pretended to examine his workshop in order to give her ragged breathing time to return to a more normal cadence. “You must enjoy all this… the peace, the creativity.” Her voice rasped at the end when she swallowed hard, caught suddenly by a memory of her own hands spreading paint across a canvas. Watercolors, maybe? The image left her.
He nodded, watching her with the intensity of a hawk stalking prey. “It keeps me off the streets,” he deadpanned, seemingly relaxed.
But she had the notion that he was tense beneath his deliberately casual demeanor. She picked up a bottle of linseed oil and rubbed the label. “Why do you do it? Certainly not for the money.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Gracie.”
She turned to face him, frowning. “What? Do you have some weird need to prove yourself and not lean on the family money?”
