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Blinking, MW sat up, pushing her thick, wavy hair away from her face. “Hungry,” she answered honestly.
“Oh.” Greta rushed out of the room. She returned a moment later carrying a brown paper sack. “Here you go.”
The smell of marinara and meatballs made MW’s mouth water. She pushed herself up from the bed, relieved when the room didn’t spin. “This isn’t the kind of thing one eats in bed. Can you point me toward the kitchen?”
Still smiling, Greta led the way. While Greta watched, MW devoured the sandwich, stopping just short of licking her fingers—it was honestly that good. She washed it down with bottled water.
“Better now?” Greta asked. She’d been jiggling one leg up and down the entire time MW ate, as if she had something else she needed to do.
“Yes, thank you.” MW looked around. “Where’s Eric?”
“Out on the patio.” Greta pointed. “He needed to make some phone calls. I was wondering, do you feel good enough to go shopping?”
“Shopping?” Bewildered, MW wasn’t sure how to respond. “I can’t. I have no money.”
If anything, Greta’s smile widened. “That’s okay. I have a credit card with a very high limit.”
Appalled, MW shook her head, feeling almost frantic. “No. I can’t take your charity.”
“Not mine.” Greta laughed. “My brother’s. Eric asked me to take you. He’d like you to have something to wear.”
“But—”
“I’m sure you can pay him back once your memory returns. Either way, I’m going to buy you some clothes. It’d be a lot better—and more fun—if you came with me.”
MW considered. Did she enjoy shopping? And did that even matter? Eric was right, she needed clothes, at least until she could remember. “I’d like to go,” she decided, but looked down at the ill-fitting and ugly sweat pants she wore. “But I don’t think I can go out like this.”
“Greta, don’t you always keep workout clothes in your car?” Eric asked, startling them both.
Hand to throat, MW spun around. He stood just inside the sliding glass door, watching them. Her entire body tingled at the sight of him, his light brown hair backlit by the sun, his green-eyed gaze intense.
Greta looked from one to the other. “Yes, I do.” She sized MW up, her gaze considering. “And I think we might be close in size, but I’m a lot taller.”
“Even so, anything is better than what she’s got,” Eric said, smiling softly at MW to lessen the sting of his words.
Nodding, Greta hurried away while MW burned from shame.
Eric caught sight of her face. “What’s wrong?” he asked, coming closer. “Are you feeling all right?”
She tried for indifference, but instead her eyes filled with stupid tears, which she hated. “Physically, I’m fine,” she replied. “But I have to say, I might not know who I am, but I know enough to realize I hate being a charity case. Borrowing an outfit is bad enough, but borrowing money to buy more clothes, when I’m not even sure I can repay you...”
“Then don’t.” He seemed supremely unbothered. “One thing’s for sure, you’ve got enough to worry about without stressing over whether or not you can repay me. So let it go.”
She opened her mouth, and then closed it. Because he was right. She had few options right now. Luckily, Greta reappeared, carrying a bright pink gym bag.
“Here you go.” She shoved it at MW. “Go ahead and try something on.” Pointedly glancing at her watch, she sighed. “Then we need to get going. I’m on a pretty tight schedule.”
Though Greta’s tone had been friendly, MW still flushed with embarrassment as she retreated to the bathroom. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she realized not only did she stand shorter than Greta, but was quite a bit curvier as well. As she opened the gym bag, she wondered if anything would actually fit.
Luckily, the workout clothes were made of stretchy material and she was able to pull them on. She didn’t have sneakers—the battered pair of flip-flops she’d been given by the hospital would have to do. Either way, this was a huge improvement on what she’d worn before. However, the tight workout outfit highlighted every curve. Almost embarrassingly so.
Feeling oddly shy, she emerged from the bathroom.
“You look great,” Greta crowed. “Doesn’t she, Eric?”
He let his gaze rove over her, his eyes darkening. “Much better,” he finally said. She couldn’t make herself look away. The vitality he radiated drew her like a magnet.
“Ahem.” Greta cleared her throat. “Are you ready?”
Face heating yet again, MW nodded. “I am.”
“Then let’s go. I’ve got to be back at the ranch at sundown.”
MW quickly learned that shopping with Greta was an endurance event. For the next three hours, Greta dragged her from store to store. MW was shocked when she found herself imagining Eric’s reaction to each outfit she tried on. Pushing away those thoughts became as difficult as trying to examine the price tags and mentally calculate the cost. Each time she tried to broach the subject with Greta, Greta refused to discuss it.
In the end, they purchased two dresses, three pairs of jeans, an assortment of T-shirts, blouses, bras and panties, socks, sneakers and two pairs of heels. Each time MW tried to protest, Greta just grinned and purchased the disputed item anyway.
By the time Greta pronounced them done, both women were loaded down with bags and MW had begun to stagger with exhaustion. Greta glanced at her and did a double take.
“I think we might have overdone it a little bit,” she muttered.
“Just make sure and give me the total,” MW replied tiredly. “I’m going to keep track of everything so I can pay it back.”
By the time they reached Eric’s street, MW’s stride was seriously lagging. The late-afternoon August heat made her feel dizzy. She also realized she hated to perspire. One more thing she remembered, which under normal circumstances would have energized her. Now she just longed for a cool shower.
“Are you all right?” Greta asked, her voice sharp. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin, MW concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. “I’m fine.” They were nearly there. She prayed she could cross the last fifty feet and get through the door. Then she planned to find the closest available chair and plop herself into it.
A white panel van with dark tinted windows pulled up alongside them and slowed, matching their pace.
“Keep walking,” Greta said, her voice sharp. “Faster.”
MW pulled strength from somewhere and increased her stride.
The van stopped just ahead of them. A man with a baseball cap and dark sunglasses jumped out of the passenger side. He lunged for MW, grabbing her arm. She struggled, using her shopping bags as weapons, albeit ineffectually.
Shouting for someone to help them, Greta came to her aid. Somehow, she managed to wrench MW free, just as two Good Samaritans emerged from inside the coffee shop and chased after the men.
One would-be assailant cursed and jumped back into the van, which sped off.
It all happened so fast. Numb, heart pounding, MW watched the vehicle go while Greta and the two strangers picked up the spilled packages. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath, standing there frozen and shell-shocked.
“Hon?” Greta touched her arm. “You look like you’re going to pass out. Do you need to sit down, maybe put your head between your knees?”
Blinking, MW slowly shook her head. “I want to go home.” Except she didn’t know where exactly that might be.
“Hang on, okay?” Greta turned to assist their rescuers in picking up the scattered clothing.
Once everything had been collected and placed in neat little piles, Greta thanked the two men who’d helped them.
“Are you all right?” Greta asked, putting her arm around MW.
Despite the fact that she’d started trembling and felt very unsteady, as if she might pass out at any moment, MW nodded. “I think so,” she answered, pleased that her voice came out strong and sure.
“We need to hurry up and find out who you are,” Greta said firmly. “And why so many people are out to get you.”
Chapter 3 (#ulink_5efb2f04-048d-57c3-9bb0-074482d02232)
Right after Greta and MW left to go shopping, Eric’s cell rang. Seeing Ryan’s name on the screen, he answered immediately.
“We’ve run everything we can think of on any missing women as well as anyone named Walter,” Ryan told him. “We’ve checked missing persons, warrants, and people who have been recently incarcerated. We even checked black Lincoln Town Cars registered in Tulsa. The traffic cameras were too blurry due to the rain. We’ve come up with absolutely nothing. Not on her or on the person who hit her.”
“Thanks for trying. It wasn’t a lot to go on.” Eric had known it would be too much to hope for this to be so easy. For the first time ever, he considered himself lucky the hospital hadn’t paged him to come in and do some sort of emergency surgery today. Next to medicine, there was nothing he liked more than a good mystery. And MW certainly presented one.
“How’d your meal with Greta go? Or are you two still at lunch?”
Eric laughed. “No, we finished in record time. Greta was in a hurry. She took the mystery woman shopping.”
The total silence told him how much he’d stunned his brother. Quickly, he explained. “MW—Mystery Woman—has nothing. No clothing, no toiletries, nada. I figured the best person to get her the basic things women need would be Greta. I gave her my credit card and let her get busy. She was thrilled. You know how she loves to shop.”
Ryan groaned. “You’re sure asking for it. At least I know you can afford the bill when it comes in. You should have plenty of money since you never buy a damn thing for yourself.”
Eric made a noncommittal sound. Ryan knew him well. He liked to work, didn’t have many hobbies, and aside from making his student-loan payments, paying the hefty premium for his malpractice insurance, his office space rent and employees’ payroll, his personal needs were few. After purchasing furniture and a sweet sports car, he banked most of his salary. Which was much less than most people realized.
“Are you still on for dinner?” Ryan asked.
Eric found himself wondering if his impromptu houseguest would be all right. “Can I get back to you on that?”
Ryan swore. “Sure. But I don’t have to tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to barbecue.”
“What is it with you and Greta and your food?” As far as Eric concerned, he ate to fuel his body, nothing more. It helped if it was something he truly enjoyed, like the meatball sub earlier, but he never obsessed about it. “She was craving a panini earlier.”
“Whatever. Like you don’t. I know you enjoy Red’s Ribs,” Ryan prodded. “Because as far as I can remember, the last time we were there, you ate an entire rack of them by yourself.”
Grinning, Eric conceded maybe he had. Growing up, with all of them crammed together on the ranch, he’d sought any means to escape his siblings. These days, he enjoyed their company. Maybe absence really did make the heart grow fonder.
“Most likely, I’ll be there,” he told his brother. “I want to make sure my houseguest is going to be all right by herself.”
“If not, just bring her with you.”
Eric frowned. “Why would I want to do that?”
“For me. I want to get a look at what kind of woman can get past my big brother’s defenses.”
“It’s not like that,” Eric started to protest hotly, and caught himself, aware his brother loved to tease him. “Both you and Greta like stirring things up, don’t you?”
“Maybe.” Ryan chuckled. “Give me a call as soon as you know if we’re on for dinner.”
“Will do.” He had some investigating of his own to do. Back in medical school and during his residency, he’d become a master of the internet search. Once he got started, he could lose hours of time without realizing it, but usually was pretty successful at getting results.
Right now, he planned to find out anything he could about the mystery woman who’d landed in his town house, and her connection to someone named Walter and a speeding Lincoln Town Car.
* * *
As MW tottered along behind Greta, who urged her to hurry, she nearly groaned out loud in relief when Eric’s town house came into view.
“We’re almost there.” Turning, Greta flashed her an encouraging smile. “At least once we’re in the atrium, you’ll be safe.”
MW couldn’t keep from looking behind her. “As long as they—whoever they are—don’t see where I’m going.”
Eric opened the door before Greta could knock, which was a good thing considering how many shopping bags she carried.
His vivid green eyes widened. “What the...”
Sweeping past him, Greta flashed an unrepentant grin as she dropped all her bags on the floor. “Your guest is now fully outfitted. You can thank me later.”
Ignoring them both, MW staggered past them and sank into the chair, dropping her shopping bags in the pile with Greta’s. She leaned forward, putting her head between her knees, willing the dizziness to abate.
Immediately, Eric crouched down next to her, taking her wrist to feel her pulse. “What’s wrong?”
She managed a weak smile. “I think I just overdid it a bit, that’s all.”
When he gave her shoulder a light squeeze, she had to fight the urge to lean into him. His big hand lingered on her wrist, making her aware he could completely encircle it with his fingers.
“Are you going to tell him or shall I?” Greta demanded, twin spots of color high on her cheeks.
MW swallowed.
Eric went tense, suddenly alert. “Tell me what?”
Gently rubbing her wrist where his grip had tightened, MW exchanged a glance with Greta. “You go ahead,” she said.
“Some men in a white van—just like in the movies—pulled up alongside us as we were walking. A guy got out of the passenger side and tried to grab MW. I screamed for help, but we were able to fight them off. Two guys came out of the coffee shop and chased them away.”
Both Eric and Greta stared at MW. She wanted to shrink into the chair. Inhaling deeply, she shrugged. “I know what you both are thinking, but I have no idea.”
“First someone tries to run you down, now someone else tries to grab you,” Eric said, echoing his sister’s earlier words. “We have got to increase our efforts and find out who you are and why someone is after you. As quickly as possible.”
Feeling slightly dejected, MW nodded. “I agree.”
“Until then, you both need to be super careful,” Greta said, her cool gaze sliding from one to the other. “Right now, I’ve got to go.” She walked over to Eric. “Here’s your credit card.”
“Thank you.” He tucked it away in his wallet.
Greta rummaged through the mountain of bags until she found the ones she wanted. “One outfit for me, including shoes, and thank you very much.”
She gave her brother a quick hug and rushed out the door.
