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Ryan reclined in the ladder-back chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “As I asked between sneezes upstairs, exactly when were we on this honeymoon?”
Abby set her delicate china cup down on a matching saucer. “You’re not questioning that we did in fact have one?”
“Not at the moment,” he replied, and left it at that.
“Well then, whether you choose to believe it happened or not, we met in Tucson nearly seven years ago, in the lounge area of a restaurant near the University of Arizona where some of my friends and I were celebrating the fact that we’d graduated from U of A earlier that day. You asked me to dance. I accepted. It was pretty much a whirlwind courtship. We eloped on a scorching hot day in July, got married at a small wedding chapel on our way south, and honeymooned in Mexico.”
He didn’t move a muscle as he absorbed that information. “And when did we part company?”
“Barely a year later.”
“Not one of the longest marriages on record,” he said.
Her lips, moistly pink despite no trace of makeup, twisted. “I suppose that sums it up.”
“Who wanted the divorce?”
She looked him straight in the eye. “I did.”
Why? He caught the thought back before he could voice it. Something told him he wasn’t going to like the answer. “And we haven’t seen each other for six years?”
“No contact at all since we left the courthouse in Tucson. We had no major joint assets, like a home, and with no children involved, there was little reason to keep in touch.”
He lifted a hand and ran it through his hair. “At least that explains why you weren’t listed in my personnel file. I joined the Border Patrol five years ago. They’d have done a background check at the time, but they wouldn’t have been looking for ex-wives.” And he must’ve kept mum about the brief marriage when it came to his fellow agents, he thought to himself. They might be nearly as amazed to learn what he had just discovered as he’d been. As for where his copy of the marriage—not to mention divorce—papers were, he’d come across a key for a safe deposit box, one he hadn’t checked out yet.
“The personnel records showed my parents as deceased,” he added, “and a sister living in Wyoming as next-of-kin.”
“Mmm-hmm. Have you spoken to her?”
“No, not yet.” That was something else he’d been meaning to do. “If I had contacted her, she’d probably have broken the news before you rocked me back on my heels with it.”
“She might have mentioned me,” Abby agreed. “Certainly she knew I had joined the family. We talked on the phone a few times and exchanged Christmas cards one year. I wanted to visit her and you said we would, but we never got around to it. You always seemed to be too busy. Back then you were working as a freelance pilot, and you loved your job.”
“More than I loved to party?” he couldn’t help asking in a tone as dry as dust.
“Yes,” she replied calmly. “Freelance work seemed to suit you to a T. I’d ask why you gave it up…but I bet you don’t know, do you?”
It was his turn to meet her gaze head-on. “No.”
Abby leaned forward and propped her elbows on the table, deciding it was time she asked some questions. Especially one. “What happened, Ryan?”
After a second’s hesitation, he heaved a gusty sigh. “Unfortunately, I’m not real clear on that subject. The first thing I remember is coming to on a flat stretch of desert a few miles north of the border with the wind howling in my ears. I was strapped into a helicopter that was a lot worse for wear. Apparently I’d set it down during one devil of a spring dust storm—or maybe crash-landed would be a better description.”
God, he might have been killed. That was all she could think. A chill ran down Abby’s spine at the realization of just how close he’d probably come to total disaster.
“I drifted in and out of consciousness. Mostly out, I imagine. The next thing I knew, a state highway cop was looking me straight in the eye and asking who I was.” Ryan chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “I guess it was a helluva shock to both of us when I had to tell him I didn’t have a clue.”
Abby frowned. “You don’t remember anything at all?”
He shook his head. “Not about me. The only way I can explain it is that I have no trouble recalling the mechanics of how to drive, but what kind of cars I’ve driven in the past are another thing altogether.”
“What do the doctors say?”
He lifted a broad shoulder in a shrug. “That it could all come back to me tomorrow. Then again, it might take a lot longer than that. Head injuries are apparently chancy. One thing for dead sure, people in white coats have done enough poking and prodding to last me a lifetime.”
The clipped edge to that last comment told her he’d be happy to drop the subject. She could understand why, too. It had to be frustrating beyond belief to have no idea when the memories would return, or even if they would, totally. And he’d injured more than his head. Now she knew the reason for the slight limp she’d caught earlier. “How’s your leg?” she inquired mildly.
A rueful expression crossed his face. “I guess I didn’t fool you, huh?”
“You nearly did,” she told him. “It wasn’t that noticeable.”
“I don’t notice it much myself anymore,” he said. “It was probably the long drive this morning that did it. The muscles seem to knot up when I’m sitting too long.”
“You drove up from Douglas?” she asked, recalling the address he’d given as his residence when he’d checked in.
“Uh-huh.”
The location had made sense to her once he’d revealed his current government employer. Douglas, a smaller city at Arizona’s southern tip, was much closer to the border than Tucson. But both were a long way from where he was now. And that brought up another question. “Why did you come to Harmony?”
He met it with a question of his own. “Do you know a guy named Jordan Trask?”
She shook her head.
“He used to be with the Border Patrol before he moved here. He called me yesterday after hearing about the accident from someone else we both worked with down south. Trask didn’t waste any time in suggesting that I get away for a while and give this town a try.” Ryan grimaced wryly. “Actually, he flat-out ordered me to get my butt in gear and haul myself up here. Said this place would make a new man of me.”
Abby had to smile. “Sounds like he might be a good friend to have.”
“I can’t argue with that. He says we’ve known each other for as long as I’ve been with the agency.”
But Ryan didn’t remember him, any more than he remembered her. Or anyone else. She couldn’t help but feel more than a little sympathy, yet she held back on expressing any, suspecting it would not be welcome. “Did he tell you about Aunt Abigail’s?”
“Yeah.” This time his low chuckle held some genuine humor. “He stayed here at one point, even raved about the feather beds.”
She laughed and found it felt good, despite everything. “You’ll have to thank him.”
“I will, believe me. I plan on paying him a visit this weekend.”
Abby took another sip of tea. “So you’re staying in Harmony for a while?” The question was as casual as she could make it.
He nodded. “I’m in no hurry to head south again. Actually the people I work for don’t seem in any rush to have me back on the job. They keep telling me to get a good rest. It’s pretty clear that at least some of the powers-that-be consider me a loose cannon right now.” He blew out a disgusted breath. “It’s like I lost my mind instead of my memory. If this drags on, they’ll probably agree to give me a desk job, where they can keep an eye on me while I push papers around, but I won’t be doing any flying for them as things stand, that’s plain.”
There was no hint of anguish in his last remark. None. And that surprised her. “Won’t you miss it?”
“The flying?” His expression turned thoughtful. “I don’t know. I haven’t missed it yet, not especially. It’s the inactivity, the doing nothing besides coddling myself, that’s beginning to drive me up the wall.”
Now Abby was stunned clear down to her toes. Good Lord. He hadn’t missed it.
Blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You don’t think I’m crazy, too, do you?”
“Ah, no, of course not.”
“Then why are you goggling at me?”
She was, she abruptly realized, and made herself stop. “I’ll admit to being a little amazed,” she said after a moment, well aware that was a gross understatement. “Flying was once as important to you as breathing.”
The sheer truth was, Abby thought, flying had been more important to him than anything. Everything. Including her. Once she’d accepted that, she’d known their marriage was in major trouble.
“Could be it was exactly as you say,” he allowed. “Right now, though, it’s as foggy as everything else. If I had to do it this second, I don’t think I’d have any bigger problem figuring out how to fly than I did how to drive. But how it felt to be a pilot is another story. It’s one more piece of the past behind this damned blank wall in my mind.” His jaw tightened. “The whole thing is bugging me, I don’t deny it. That’s another reason I’m in no hurry to go back south. I’d just wind up roaming around my apartment and muttering to myself.”
“You live alone?” Again she tried for a casual tone, and knew she hadn’t succeeded when his eyes lit with a knowing gleam.
“As a matter of fact, I do. Apparently, there’s been no woman in my life lately.” He paused for two ticks of the kitchen clock. “Who do you live with?”
“Cara,” she replied without hesitation. “We’re currently living in my condo in Phoenix.” But not for too much longer, Abby thought with satisfaction. By the time Cara was a toddler, they’d be settled into a real home, one with a backyard big enough for a little girl to play in to her heart’s content.
And it wouldn’t be just the two of them.
“Is she your baby, or have you adopted her?”
That question brought Abby up short. Then again she supposed she shouldn’t be startled to learn that he thought she might be Cara’s birth mother. She could have had several children in the years since they’d parted.
So could he.
But she didn’t think that was the case. In fact, if he were to confess to becoming a father during those same years, she knew it would amaze her every bit as much as his statement that he hadn’t missed being able to fly.
No, she was the one who had taken on the role of parent. Or, rather, fate had given it to her.
“Cara is the only child of a couple I considered two of my best friends,” Abby explained. “I met Elena, Cara’s mother, in college. Elena had huge dark eyes, mounds of curly black hair, and more than her share of ambition. She moved to the Phoenix area after we graduated and made her mark in the business world before marrying. Like Elena, her husband was a product of the foster-care system and had to overcome some real challenges in order to succeed in life. After I moved to Phoenix myself several years ago, I saw them on a regular basis, and they asked if they could name me as Cara’s guardian in the event anything happened to them. I agreed, although none of us expected anything to happen, not as young as they were. But it did.” Abby’s sigh was long and heartfelt. “They lost their lives in a boating accident on Lake Pleasant when Cara was nine months old.”
“That’s tough,” Ryan said soberly.
“Yes,” she agreed, her voice quiet. “Since then I’ve started formal adoption proceedings, which should go smoothly, given that her parents offered me that choice in their wills.”
Abby got up and rinsed her cup in the sink, then turned back to the man still seated at the table. A man who looked entirely too good with his shirt hanging open and his bare feet sticking out from the table. A man who had always looked too good for his own good. And hers.
“So you and the kid are going back to Phoenix?” Ryan said, echoing the casual tone she’d aimed for earlier. Something made her wonder if it was as bogus as hers had been.
“At the end of the month,” she replied.
“I suppose you have a job there?”
“I did until recently.” Abby leaned against the counter. “I was an assistant manager at a major resort hotel, but that didn’t leave enough time or energy to deal with my new responsibilities, and I decided Cara came first.”
He lifted his beer for another swallow. “So you plan on being a full-time mother?”
“For the moment. I can work part-time in a less demanding job when she’s a little older and I’m sure she’s settled.” Abby’s lips curved gently. “We had some hurdles to cross during our first months together, but we both came through fine.”
“Well, that baby may have me mixed up with somebody’s granddaddy, but she looks healthy enough,” Ryan allowed. “Maybe you should get her eyesight checked, though.”
Abby swallowed a laugh. “I think her eyes are fine. And as for the rest of her, she has a handsome pediatrician who plans to make sure she stays healthy.”
As if he’d sensed something in that last comment, Ryan slowly straightened in his chair. “Dedicated man?” he asked, lifting a brow.
“Definitely.”
Abby pushed away from the counter and started for the door to the hall. She knew she didn’t need to expand on that, knew it was none of Ryan Larabee’s business what she planned on doing with her life, knew she’d probably be better off just going back to bed and leaving him without another word. None of that stopped her from halting in the doorway and aiming a look over her shoulder. She simply couldn’t resist.
“Not only dedicated,” she added with determined good cheer, “but excellent father material. That’s why I had to seriously consider his offer when he asked me to marry him.”
Ryan stilled completely. His gaze locked with hers. “What,” he asked softly, “did you tell him?”
“I said yes.”
WELL, SO WHAT if she planned on marrying a baby doctor? It was none of his concern, Ryan reminded himself as he made his way back to the kitchen the following morning. He had plenty of his own concerns, the chief one being the need for something to jump-start his system before he did a round of the daily exercises the physical therapist had recommended.
Another damned doctor type.
Ryan passed the dining room, currently empty except for the gracefully aging furniture taking up most of it, and found Everyone’s Favorite Grandmother in the kitchen, wearing another ruffled apron and humming what sounded like a classic rock-and-roll tune as she stood at the stove. Rock and roll? Nah, he decided as he stopped in the doorway. “I know it’s not quite breakfast time, but do you think I could beg a cup of coffee?”
Ethel turned and beamed a smile his way. “Well, of course, Ryan. Have a seat and I’ll pour it for you.”
“I can get it,” he said, pleased to note that the coffeemaker on the counter had already done its job. “Just point me in the direction of the cups.”
Ethel did, and he soon found himself seated at the kitchen table for the second time in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, Ryan thought, he hadn’t managed to get much sleep after his ex-wife had waltzed out and left him with her cheerful announcement ringing in the air.
I said yes.
“Are you hungry?”
He blinked. “What?”
“I just put some buttermilk biscuits in the oven,” Ethel told him. “How about a couple of farm-fresh eggs and homemade sausage to go with them?”
His stomach answered with a growl. Food had been the last thing on his mind, but the smells drifting his way from the stove had apparently changed things. “Sounds good,” he had to admit.
“I do love to cook for a man with a hearty appetite.”
His stomach rumbled one more time. “As it happens, Ethel, I think I can oblige you.”
He was forking up a helping of eggs scrambled to perfection when Abby walked in and came to a dead halt at the sight of him. The baby she held immediately flung a sturdy little arm covered by stretchy pink terry cloth in his direction.
“Pap!”
Ryan managed not to wince, barely. “Definitely need to get those eyes checked out,” he muttered under his breath.
“I think she has a crush on you,” Ethel teased.
“I think she has to eat her cereal,” Abby tossed in even as she resisted the urge to sigh, thinking that this man still looked entirely too good, even with his shirt buttoned and a full night’s growth of beard shading his jaw. She was thankful she had traded her nightgown and robe for a sage camp shirt and khaki slacks—not exactly business attire, but, nevertheless, far from intimate.
