Книга - Their Christmas Miracle

Their Christmas Miracle
Barbara Wallace


Lost: One wife and mother.Finding the wife he’d believed lost forever is a miracle to wealthy CEO Thomas Collier. Yet Rosalind is suffering from amnesia and can’t remember anything including her husband and daughter! As Christmas draws near, can Thomas help Rosalind regain her past?







Lost: One wife and mother.

Found: Their forever family?

Finding the wife he’d believed was lost to him forever in a remote Scottish village seems like a miracle to wealthy CEO Thomas Collier. Rosalind is suffering from amnesia—she can’t remember anything from before her accident, including her husband and their daughter! As Christmas draws near, back in their London penthouse, can Thomas help Rosalind regain her past and embrace the loving future they all deserve?


BARBARA WALLACE can’t remember when she wasn’t dreaming up love stories in her head, so writing romances for Mills & Boon is a dream come true. Happily married to her own Prince Charming, she lives in New England, with a house full of empty-nest animals. Occasionally her son comes home as well! To stay up to date on Barbara’s news and releases sign up for her newsletter at barbarawallace.com (http://www.SusanCarlisle.com).


Also by Barbara Wallace (#uab103296-b176-52df-b521-9e58b9005e55)

Saved by the CEO

Christmas with Her Millionaire Boss

In Love with the Boss miniseries

A Millionaire for Cinderella

Beauty & Her Billionaire Boss

Royal House of Corinthia miniseries

Christmas Baby for the Princess

Winter Wedding for the Prince

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).


Their Christmas Miracle

Barbara Wallace






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


ISBN: 978-1-474-07832-0

THEIR CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

© 2018 Barbara Wallace

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


Life has a way of exploding sometimes, especially

when you’re on a deadline for a book.

Thank you to all the people who held my hand,

gave me pep talks, and put up with my insanity,

especially Peter, who didn’t see his wife for nights

on end, and my ledge buddy, Donna.


Contents

Cover (#u842476ea-c600-5463-863c-e51b37353336)

Back Cover Text (#u00028ff2-6a08-578b-a9f6-6864df7393f8)

About the Author (#u04bffcbc-d6b0-5826-b16a-d1d47276352e)

Booklist (#u0aba0f34-89aa-53dd-8539-a350719419d8)

Title Page (#ub1c8dfba-8479-5ca1-9ee5-170c049244aa)

Copyright (#ub7a885f3-5d87-5928-abe2-199326ffbc75)

Dedication (#ucb7e4fa0-5f44-54d0-ba67-10fa91e42875)

CHAPTER ONE (#u77cd5408-9939-5496-9cb0-2ef35b52056c)

CHAPTER TWO (#u1f322a07-5846-55a2-85b3-80da8fcb8270)

CHAPTER THREE (#uc60809d6-8aab-5c56-b406-970034be5254)

CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)




CHAPTER ONE (#uab103296-b176-52df-b521-9e58b9005e55)


“ADMIT IT. WE’RE LOST.”

Thomas Collier glowered at his baby brother who had been frowning and tapping the GPS screen for the past twenty minutes. “You lured me up to the Arctic, and now we’re lost in a storm.”

“First of all, we’re in the Highlands, not the North Pole.” Linus Collier offered a glower of his own. “Second, we wouldn’t be this far north if you weren’t so particular about your subcontractors. And third, we’re not lost. The GPS froze and won’t tell me if we’re on the correct road.”

What a surprise. They hadn’t gotten a decent signal all day. “In other words, we’re lost.” He knew he should have hired them a driver. They wouldn’t get home until New Year’s at this rate.

A cold December rain pelted the windshield almost as quickly as the wipers could push it away. There was fog too, as thick as anything London could produce. There was no way they could see if they were driving in the right direction.

Thomas leaned forward and turned up the thermostat. The dampness had settled into his bones, leaving a chill that was going to take days to shake. He was cold, cranky and 100 percent needed a drink. Instead he was roaming the Scottish countryside.

“I’m going to be late for bedtime stories,” he grumbled.

“Maddie will understand.”

Understanding didn’t make it right. “I haven’t missed a bedtime in five months.” Even if he did go back to work immediately after. The last thing he wanted was for his daughter to think he chose work over her. Ever. It was bad enough knowing that had been one of her mother’s final thoughts. “It’s important she knows she can depend on my being there for her.”

A hand clapped his forearm. “She knows, Thomas.”

“Does she? She’s barely five years old. Six months ago she trusted her mother would be home too.”

He watched the wipers moving back and forth, sweeping away the streaks of rain. Ahead, the narrow road disappeared into the black. “She still wakes up calling for Rosalind in the middle of the night, you know.” Less frequently than she had in those months immediately after the accident, but often enough.

Those cries cut him to the quick. “A child shouldn’t have to grow up without her mother,” he said.

At least half a dozen times a day, Maddie would do something that would have him turning to share a smile, only to realize there was no one there with whom to share it.

“Did you know that the other day, she asked me to help her write to Santa and ask if he would talk to heaven about letting Rosalind visit for Christmas?”

“Yikes.” Linus sucked in air through his teeth. “What did you tell her?”

“Something about Santa already knowing her wish and Rosalind being with us even though she’s invisible. Wasn’t my best moment.”

“I’m sure you handled the moment just fine.”

“Be better if I didn’t have to handle the question at all,” Thomas said with a sigh. If he had stopped Rosalind from driving north that weekend. If he’d been a better husband. He could fill the past nearly two years with ifs.

Woe is the man who tries to serve two loves. You’d think he’d have learned from past generations that Colliers could either run the family company or maintain a successful marriage, but not both. They’d sold that right for two centuries worth of fiscal success and a royal warrant. Honestly, it was lucky their family had survived for two centuries. If Rosalind were alive, she would agree.

But she wasn’t, and he’d never have the chance to show her he’d learned his lesson.

“I think I see something,” Linus said, pointing.

Up ahead a signpost took shape in the fog. “‘Lochmara, Five Miles,’” Thomas read. “Town this far remote has to have a gas station. We could ask for directions.”

“Doesn’t look like we have to drive that far. Look.” The road had taken a sharp turn, and there was a building ahead with floodlights lining the parking lot. As they drew closer, they saw a wooden sign that read McKringle’s Pub swinging in the wind.

“Who on earth would build a pub all the way out here? There isn’t a soul around,” Thomas noted. The parking lot was empty except for a bright red truck.

“Does it matter? They’re open. We can get directions and something to eat. I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving.”

“Because my brother insists on working through the day without a break.”

Thomas sighed. Might as well let Linus have his dinner. It was already too late to make story time. If the building had any decent kind of reception, he could call Maddie and say good-night over the phone.

If the place had a phone. The outside looked like an ancient icehouse, left over from some old estate. Its gray façade looked bleak and cold. Other than the parking lot, the only light came from slivers peeking through the shuttered windows.

“Looks promising,” Thomas said.

“Stop being irritable. It’s a pub, which means it serves food, and, at this point, I’m hungry enough to eat a giant serving of haggis.”

“Now, that I’d like to see.”

At least the front door looked freshly painted, the red brighter and glossier than the shutters. On it hung a giant wreath adorned with tiny Scottish flags.

“Probably from Saint Andrew’s Day,” Linus said.

No surprise there. Considering Scotland’s patron saint began as a fisherman, Thomas imagined the small coastal villages took great pride in marking the celebration of Scottish heritage. He pulled the front handle, opening the door and releasing a blade of bright light.

“Ha!” Linus replied.

Thomas stepped inside and felt his heart seize up.

The restaurant was a little slice of home. Candlelight danced from tea lights around the room, and soft holiday music floated through the air. To the left of the entrance, in what looked like the main dining room, there was a roaring fire. Seeing the greenery placed along the mantle, Thomas ached with memories of branches strewn across another mantle and a brunette curled up in an overstuffed chair.

The setting was too similar. Too much. No way could he stay there without losing his mind.

He was about to tell Linus when a man emerged from the back shadows of the bar.

“Welcome to McKringle’s,” the man greeted in a booming brogue. “I’m Christopher McKringle.”

A barrel-chested man with a bulbous nose and neatly trimmed beard, he clapped both their backs with a beefy hand as if greeting a pair of old friends.

“Collier, eh?” he said upon introduction. “Like the soap.”

“Um, exactly,” Thomas replied.

It was a frequent remark whenever someone heard their name, Collier’s Soap once having been a royal favorite. Usually he would go on to make some kind of proud confirmation, but he was distracted. McKringle looked like such a down-to-earth sort with his flannel shirt and wool fisherman’s sweater. How could he rob the man of the only business they would probably have that night?

“My wife, Jessica, has always been partial to their lemon soap. Claims it washes away the fishy smell better than any other,” McKringle said. “As you can see, we’re just open, so go ahead and take a seat anywhere you like. Our waitress, Maddie, will be out to take your order in just a moment.”

“You all right?” Linus asked, taking Thomas’s coat for him. “Usually you wax on for a good two or three minutes about the company’s heritage.”

“I—I’m fine. The place reminds me... Never mind.” He was being foolish. The more he looked around, the more he realized the restaurant looked nothing like the cottage in Cumbria. His melancholy was playing tricks with his imagination. “Did our host really say his name was Chris McKringle?”

“Yeah,” Linus replied, settling into one of the thick oak chairs by the fire. “Maybe we’re at the North Pole after all. Although, if we are, Mrs Claus knows how to make more than cookies. Check out this menu.”

“After I check in with Maddie.” The screen on his phone indicated zero service. “Dammit. What is it about this place and decent cellular service?”

“Will you relax? Maddie’s in good hands. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“If I’m going to miss stories, the least I can do is call and wish her good-night. And, no, I’m not being obsessive.”

“Didn’t say you were.”

“No, but I could hear you thinking it.” It was probably the stone walls blocking what little signal existed. “I also wanted to see if Mohammed got back with those revised production figures. If we’re going to use your soap factory, we need to know exactly what kind of numbers they can anticipate.”

That was the final piece of his crankiness. Literally everything was riding on this new organic line. If it failed, Collier’s as Britain knew it would cease to exist.

Thinking if he stared at his phone enough he might force a signal, Thomas pushed to his feet. There had to be some way he could get better reception. “I’m going to see if the signal is stronger by the window. If the waitress comes, order me a—”

“Can I get you lads something to drink?”

Thomas’s breath caught. It happened every so often. He’d catch the hint of an inflection or the turn of a head, and his mind would trip up. This time, it was the waitress’s sharp northern twang that sounded uncannily familiar. He looked up, expecting reality to slap him back to his senses the way it had with his cottage memories. Instead...

He dropped the phone.

What the...?

His eyes darted to Linus. His brother’s pale expression mirrored how Thomas felt. Mouth agape, eyes wide. If Thomas had gone mad, then his brother had plunged down the rabbit hole with him. And mad he had to be, he thought, looking back at the waitress.

How else to explain why he was staring at the face of his dead wife?




CHAPTER TWO (#uab103296-b176-52df-b521-9e58b9005e55)


“ROSIE?” THE WORD came out as a hoarse whisper; he could barely speak. Six months. Praying and searching. Mourning.

It couldn’t be her.

Who else would have those brown eyes? Dark and rich, like liquid gemstones. Bee-stung lips. And the scar on the bridge of her nose. The one she always hated and that he loved because it connected the smattering of freckles.

How...? When? A million questions swirled in his head, none of which mattered. Not when a miracle was standing in front of him.

“Rosie.” Wrapping her in his arms, he buried his face in the crook of her neck. She smelled of lemons and sunshine. “Rosie, Rosie, Rosie.” He murmured her name against her skin.

Hands slid up his torso to grip his lapels. He moved to pull her closer, only to have her fists push him away.

He found himself staring into eyes blazing with outrage, confusion and panic. The last one squeezed at his heart.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

Was this some kind of joke? Now he was confused. Why would she pretend? “They told us you were dead. That—that you were swept out to sea.” He reached for her again, only to have her take another step back.

“I’m sorry. I don’t...” She shook her head, her eyes growing moist with tears. “I don’t know...” Pressing a fist to her mouth, she turned and bolted from the room.

“Rosalind!” Thomas started after her, only to have Linus grab his arm. What the hell was his brother doing? He tried to yank his arm free, but Linus had a grip of iron. His brother’s fingers were dug in so tightly they were going to leave bruises. “Let me go!” he snarled. “It’s Rosalind.” If he lost her again...

But Linus held fast, damn him. “Calm down, Thomas. She only looks like Rosalind.”

“No.” Linus was wrong. It was Rosalind. He knew his wife. Why did she run? Did she hate him that much? “I have to talk with her.”

Before he could try and pull free, McKringle barreled his way over. “What’s going on here?” he asked, all his earlier friendliness stripped away. “I don’t know what you lads do wherever you’re from, but here we don’t manhandle waitresses and make them cry.”

Thomas spun around on him. “And what about hiding someone’s wife from him? Are they okay with that here?”

He waited as McKringle’s bushy brows pulled together. “Did you say ‘your wife’?”

“Rosalind Collier.” Where was his phone? Looking around, he found it on the floor by his chair where he snatched it up and quickly began scrolling through its photo collection. “Here,” he said, finding the photo they’d used for the missing person poster. He held the phone so McKringle could see. His hand was shaking. “She went missing this summer when her car went off a bridge near Fort William.”

Wordlessly, McKringle slipped the phone from his hand and held it closer. Thomas could feel his body tensing with each second of silence. Surely, the man knew what he was talking about. Her disappearance had been all over the news, for crying out loud. They weren’t so isolated out here that he couldn’t have seen at least one headline.

“She had a car accident?” the man finally said.

“Yes. Her car plunged into the river.” Thomas didn’t have time for this. His wife was in the other room. He needed to see her. Find out what happened. How she’d ended up out here and why she was pretending he was some kind of stranger. “Please,” he said. Desperation cracked his voice. “They told us she was dead. I have to talk to her. Need to know what happened. She... We have a daughter who needs her.” His control was starting to slip. Six months of pain rose back to the surface in a groan.

“It’s all right, lad. I think you need to sit down.”

McKringle tried to lead him back to the table, but again Thomas broke from the contact. “Dammit, why is everyone trying to keep me from seeing my wife?”

“We don’t know if it is Rosalind,” Linus said. “I think we should hear him out.”

“I promise you she’s not going anywhere,” McKringle said. “But there’re a few things I think you ought to know. Please, Mr Collier. Take a seat. I’ll get you a drink.”

Thomas didn’t want a drink. He wanted his wife, but he allowed himself to be led back to his chair. Something in McKringle’s eyes said he needed to do as the man said.

“Let me ask you a question,” the old man said once they’d all settled in their seats. “Have you ever heard of the term dissociative fugue?”

She couldn’t stop shaking. Hunched over the bathroom sink, her fingers clutching the vanity edge for support, she could feel her legs trembling beneath her.

Rosie. He’d called her Rosie.

She’d always thought that when she met someone from her past, she would know. Instinct would kick loose whatever it was wrapping her brain in blackness and the memories would be set free. But when this man—this stranger—called her Rosie, she’d felt nothing.

Well, not completely nothing. Her heart had practically beat itself out of her chest when he hugged her. But he could have called her Jane or Susan or Philetta for all the name meant.

Maybe he had her confused with someone else. That must be the answer. What woman could forget a man that devastatingly handsome? Those eyes, blue-gray like the northern sea. If she closed her eyes, she saw them clear as day. Surely, such an indelible couldn’t be wiped from her mind.

She looked in the mirror and studied the heart-shaped face that was familiar yet foreign. Dissociative fugue, the doctor at the hospital called it. A type of amnesia brought on by trauma. All she knew was...nothing. Her mind was a void of memories older than a few months.

At first the blankness had terrified her, but lately she’d started to grow comfortable with her empty past. Until the stranger with blue-gray eyes had walked in.

There was knock on the ladies room door. “Lammie?” Chris’s gentle voice sounded on the other side. “You doin’ all right?”

She warmed at the tender nickname, a term Chris used because he said she was a little lost lamb. “I’m fine,” she replied. “A little shaken up, is all.”

Hearing his voice made her feel better. Chris would keep her safe; he’d been keeping her safe since the day she’d stumbled into his headlights.

“Do you feel up to stepping outside? We’d like to have a chat.”

By “we,” she prayed he meant him and his wife, Jessica, not the stranger with the unnervingly warm embrace.

“I’ll be right out,” she told him.

Ignoring how badly her hands were trembling, she retied her ponytail and wiped the smudges from under her eyes. If she did have to face the stranger again, she was going to look composed, dammit. For some reason it was important he see her pulled together.

When she finally opened the door, she found Chris leaning against the bar. “Better, Lammie?” he asked in a low voice. She nodded, and he gave her an encouraging smile.

She didn’t have to look to know who the other half of “we” was. The man’s presence hung in the air.

“This is Thomas Collier,” Chris said, “and his brother, Linus.”

“Like the soap.” The comment was automatic. A bottle of Collier’s lemon soap sat by the sink in the restaurant’s kitchen. Jessica swore by it, and she’d developed an immediate fondness herself.

“That’s right. They’re up from London.”

She looked to her left where both men sat at a nearby table. Both men were far more subdued this time around. The stranger was perched on the edge of his seat, his lanky body resembling a coil fighting not to spring. “Mr Collier’s wife, Rosalind, is missing,” Chris continued. “She disappeared following a car accident. He’s pretty sure she’s you.”

He’d called her Rosie.

Hoping that if she focused hard enough she might conjure up some spark of recognition, she took a better look at her so-called husband. When she’d first approached their table, before the craziness started, she’d thought both men attractive. Upon second take, she amended her opinion. One was attractive. Thomas Collier was handsome as sin. If they were married, she had fantastic taste. Taller and lankier than his companion, he had the kind of features that separately were nondescript but together formed an arresting picture of angles and slopes. And again, there were those eyes. She could almost imagine white caps dotting their blue-gray depths. A slow whorl of awareness unexpectedly twisted through her midsection.

Attraction aside, however, she might as well have been admiring a stranger. “I told him about your condition,” Chris told her.

“And you believe him?” A moot question if ever there was one. Chris wouldn’t have asked her to join them if he didn’t think Collier’s claims had merit.

“Think it’s worth you hearing him out,” Chris said. “Then you can decide for yourself.”

She chewed her lip, unsure what to do. On the one hand, if this man’s story turned out to be true, she’d finally have the answers she’d been seeking. On the other hand, everything she did know would be turned upside down, and while she didn’t know her past, her present was a good one.

“I promise I’ll behave myself,” Collier said. “You have my word I won’t do anything to frighten you again. Please,” he added, gesturing to the seat next to him.

Damn those eyes. How could she say no when they were imploring her?

Chris’s whiskers brushed her ear as he leaned close. “No need to worry, Lammie. I’ll be right over here at the bar if you need anything,” he murmured, before adding in a louder voice, “Mr Collier, might I interest you in something to eat?”

“Don’t have to ask me twice. I’ll take a giant Scotch, as well.” The other man, who she’d already noted was a younger, less arresting version of her “husband,” rose to his feet. As he headed past, he stopped to offer a warm smile. “I can’t believe it’s really you, Rosalind. Thomas is right—it’s a miracle.”

“Come along, Mr Collier. Let me pour you the best double malt in the Highlands.” Taking him by the elbow, Chris led the man to the far end of the bar.

Leaving the two of them alone.

Cautiously, she slipped into the seat to his right, her hands curling over the ends of the chair arms. Jessica was always complaining that the pub tables lacked sufficient leg room underneath, and now she could see why. Her knees and Collier’s were close enough that if she shifted in just the right way, their knees would touch. As it was, she could feel the proximity through her jeans. She scooted her chair backward another couple of inches, and waited.

“I’m sorry about before,” Collier said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. When I saw you, I couldn’t...” He paused and took a deep breath. “We were told you were dead. That you had most likely drowned in the river.”

River. She squeezed the chair arms as recollections of her nightmares came to mind. Flashes of pitch-black water and air being sucked from her lungs. She had to take a deep breath herself as a reminder the image wasn’t real.

Even so, her voice still came out strangled and hoarse. “Chris told you about my memory?”

“He said you can’t remember anything before the past four months.”

“That’s right. The doctors at the hospital think I suffered a traumatic event that caused my memory to shut itself off.” Traumatic event being the term they settled on after their battery of tests failed to turn up anything else. “You said your wife was in a car accident.”

“There was a bridge collapse and your car—” she noticed he was already using the second person “—was plunged into the River Lochy during a heavy storm.”

Plunging into icy waters certainly qualified as traumatic and would explain her nightmares. Then again, drowning in dreams was also a well-established metaphor, or so she was pretty sure. “I had a broken collarbone,” she said out loud.

“I’m surprised you didn’t break more.”

Again with the second person. “You seem awfully positive I’m her. Your wife, I mean.”

“Because I’d know you anywhere.”

The way Collier looked her in the eye, with both his voice and his expression softening, knocked her off-balance. Here she was groping around in the dark, and he was looking at her with such certainty. Like he’d found a treasure while she was still trying to figure out the map. It left her longing to see what he saw.

“You say you know, but I would be a fool to simply take you at your word.” Or be misled by a pair of stormy blue eyes.

“Trust me, Rosie, the last thing I’d ever call you is a fool. I have photos.” He pulled out a phone and showed her a photograph.

Of her.

If it wasn’t her, it was her perfectly identical twin.

“There are more.” He swiped to another photo, this time a more sophisticated version of the same woman, with her hair in a twist and wearing a stunning black gown.

“The museum fund-raiser last May,” he said. “You looked beautiful in that dress.”

What she looked was unhappy. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

The next picture must have been taken the same evening, only this time her doppelganger was flanked by a woman with flaming red hair and a handsome older man with shaggy graying hair and spectacles.

“Those are your colleagues from the university. Eve Cunningham and Professor Richard Sinclair.”

She couldn’t help noticing the firm way the professor held his arm around her waist.

“You’re not in these photos.” She rubbed her forehead. A throbbing sensation started behind her eye.

“That’s because I took them.”

And they were on his phone. “Is there one of us together?” Anyone could get random photos from any number of sources. It would be harder, although not impossible, to fake a photo of both of them.

“A few.” Seconds later, she was looking at a selfie—and a terrible one at that, with looming faces and the tops of the heads cropped off. No mistaking her face though, right down to the annoying scar across the bridge of her nose.

Unlike the other photographs, their smiles reflected in their eyes.

“We took this two springs ago, when we were in the Lake District,” Thomas told her.

“Two springs ago? Nothing more recent?”

“I’m not much of a selfie taker.”

That was obvious. She studied the photograph closer. “We look happy.”

We. She was starting to believe him. Rosalind Collier. The name sounded strange, but had a comfortable feeling. The way a new outfit felt when it fit properly.

Thomas took back the phone and stared at the photo. “We were,” he said. “Happy. You loved being at our place in Cumbria, away from the city.”

Then why did his voice suddenly sound sad? Why was he staring at the picture with a pensive expression?

“You were supposed to be in Cumbria when you had your accident,” he murmured.

Oh. That was why. A wisp of a thought taunted her, hovering just out of her grasp. Something about ice or rocks, but it slipped back into the blackness before she could be certain.

She was certain of another thought however. “If I was supposed to be in the Lake District, how did I end up here, miles away? Fort William is miles away from Cumbria too. What was I doing there? It doesn’t make sense.”

“No one knows.” He tossed the camera onto the table where it landed with a thunk. “Best theory I can come up with is that you were headed toward Loch Morar. You did some field work there once. You’re a geologist,” he added when she frowned.

“Geomorphological features.” The words popped out of her mouth without her thinking. Thomas’s eyes widened in response.

“Exactly,” he said. “You did a paper on the glacier marks.”

She slipped a step closer to accepting his tale. As it was, the name Rosalind was already taking hold in her brain.

“What we don’t understand,” he said, “is how you got here. We searched for weeks and everyone was certain you’d been washed into the Atlantic. How did you end up here in the northeast corner?”

It would be nice if she could give him an answer. Who was she kidding? She wished she could give herself an answer. “I haven’t a clue. First thing I remember is walking along the motorway and being very, very tired. I didn’t have a clue who I was or what I was doing.”

“You don’t remember crossing an entire country?”

What she remembered was being terrified as she had stood on the hard shoulder shivering in the early morning dew. “I don’t even remember waking up that morning,” she told him. “A truck horn blared at me, and suddenly I was there.” Staring at the trees in a daze. “I was filthy. Disgustingly so.” Having heard she may have plunged into a river helped explain why her clothes had looked like they’d been rolled in a wet ball. “My clothes were torn, and I didn’t have any identification.”

“Dear God,” Thomas whispered. His chair scraped along the floor as he scooted closer. She could feel his eyes on her, waiting for what she would say next.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do. Fortunately, Chris happened to drive by and recognized I needed help. He took me to the hospital, who in turn sent me to another hospital in Wick where they came up with the traumatic amnesia diagnosis.”

Ironic how those memories were crystal clear. From the moment she’d found herself on that road till now, everything that had happened was indelibly imprinted on her brain.

“I don’t understand.” Thomas looked more confused than ever, and she suspected she knew why. “If you were at the hospital, why didn’t they...”

“Look into the missing persons reports?”

“Surely you knew people were looking for you. Surely your friend, Chris, knew?”

“We did.”

“Then...why?”

She paused. When he heard the answer, he wasn’t going to be happy.

“I asked them not to.”

His eyes doubled in size. “What?”

“I didn’t want to be located. Not straight away, anyway.”

“For crying out—” His fist pounded the table with a bang so loud it could be heard on the other side of the room. The noise brought Chris to the end of the bar.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

“It’s okay,” she replied. Collier’s reaction could have been worse. Having flung himself back in his seat, he was washing his hands up and down his face. When he finally lowered them, there was no hiding the angry confusion darkening his eyes.

“Why the hell not?” He spoke through a clenched jaw, clearly trying to hold his temper.

“Because I needed time. To figure out what was going on. To see if my memory came back on its own.”

“I see.” It was hard to decide which was more restrained, his body or his voice. Both were being held tight. “And it never occurred to you that there might be other people whose lives were affected? Who were mourning you?”

“Of course it occurred to me,” she snapped. Though maybe not as much as it should have, she thought guiltily. “But put yourself in my shoes. I couldn’t remember anything—not my name, not how I got hurt. Meanwhile, the doctors are telling me I suffered some kind of horrible trauma. For all I knew, the people I left behind were the cause of that trauma.”

Thomas hissed as though slapped. “I would never...”

“I—” Know, she almost said. Even though instinct said the thought was on target, she held back. “I didn’t remember you.”

“You could have looked. Your disappearance was all over the news, the internet.”

“Have you seen where we are? We’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s not as if we’re in a breaking news zone. I looked for missing persons in Scotland and nothing came up. Which only made me more convinced I might be running away.

“Anyway, I asked Chris and Jessica if it would be okay for me to stay here while I got my head together, and they were kind enough to oblige. I’ve been living upstairs above the restaurant for the past four months.”

“Four months? Dear God.” Giving an anguished sigh, he dragged his fingers through his hair, leaving the slick black locks standing on end.

Guilt turned in her stomach. Maybe she should have forced herself to look harder, but the truth was she’d been scared of what she might find out about her past and about herself. When Chris found her, the single thought in her head, besides fear, had been the words I’m sorry. She’d carried with her a shadow of indefinable guilt that made her wonder if she’d made some kind of horrible mistake.

Now that same shadow had her wanting to run her fingers through his hair and ease his frustration.

“Linus has been dealing with the soap factory since the end of October,” he muttered. “October! We could have brought you home weeks ago. Maddie could have...”

“Maddie?”

Her heart seized up. Maddie was the name she’d chosen when Chris had asked what he should call her. The name had sprung to her tongue without a second thought. It couldn’t be a coincidence Collier was using the same name. “Who is Maddie?”

He turned his face and looked her in the eye. Son of gun if she didn’t hold her breath at the seriousness in his expression. “Maddie,” he said, “is our daughter.”

Rosalind squeaked. She had a daughter? A little girl?

Stunned, she stood up and walked to the window on the back wall, the one next to the set of deer antlers. Chris liked to tell people the giant horns were from a reindeer, but it was embellishment for business’s sake. Scotland didn’t have reindeer outside of Cairngorms. One of the weird facts she seemed to simply know.

She knew about reindeer but not about her own child. Might as well stomp on her heart this moment. It had never occurred to her she might have children.

Oh, sure, she would feel a pull whenever a young child came in to the restaurant, but she assumed every woman of childbearing years experienced the same yearning. She’d never dreamed there was someone out there with half her DNA.

“Would you like to see a photograph?” Thomas asked.

“Yes, please.” Spinning around, she leaned against the windowsill and waited for him to come to her. In case this was a trick, she didn’t want to sound too eager. Although gushing the word please didn’t exactly exude calm.

Nor did Collier’s expression exude deceit.

Rosalind’s hands shook as he handed her the phone. She was beautiful. A pudgy-cheeked angel with brown bobbed hair and Collier’s eyes. The photo showed her standing on a rock in a flower garden in a sunflower-print dress. Her little arms were stretched high over her head, pointing toward the sky.

“Maddie.” Her fingers stroked the screen.

“I took this on her birthday last August.”

Rosalind let out a gasp. She’d missed her daughter’s birthday? “How...how old is she?”

“Five.”

A five-year-old daughter. “I didn’t know,” she said, as if saying the words aloud would chase away the guilt.

What kind of mother forgets her own child? She swiped left through the photo gallery, discovering there was picture after picture of the little girl. Laughing. Posing with a stuffed dog. Feeding pigeons in the park. And then...

She found a photo of her and the girl together.

Taken when neither were paying attention to the camera, they were kneeling in front of a Christmas tree. The little girl, Maddie, had a box on her lap, while she, Rosalind, was reaching around her to straighten the bow. Longing grabbed at Rosalind’s chest.

“I’ve tried my best,” she heard Collier saying, “but she misses her mother. I can only imagine what she’ll do when she sees you tomorrow.”

“Excuse me, when?” Rosaline let the arm holding the phone drop to her side and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you saying you want me to go back to London with you tonight?”

His eyes widened. “Are you telling me you don’t want to come home?”

“We only just met,” Rosalind said. It was too soon. Granted his story was compelling, but it was still a story. “You expect me to accept what you’re telling me because you have a phone full of photographs?” Photographs of her, she added silently. They terrified her, because they revealed a life about which she knew nothing.

Shaking her head, she said, “I’m not ready.”

She thought about how agitated Collier got when she mentioned not wanting to find herself. It was nothing compared to the look of horror her current answer generated. Seriously, though, wouldn’t she be a fool to go along without some kind of tangible proof? Besides photos, that is. After all, photographs could be manipulated.

“Do you really think I would go through the bother of manipulating photographs and then flying all the way up here just to trick you?” he said when she commented as much. “For God’s sake, I thought you were dead.”

So he kept saying, and if Rosalind were to base the truth solely on his reactions, there’d be no argument.

“Look at it from my point of view. You’re a stranger.” Her conscience winced at the pain that passed across his face. To her, he was a stranger though, and no matter how handsome and persuasive his story may be, she needed to be sensible. “You come in here out of the blue with hugs and photos and expect me to take you at your word when I can’t even remember my own birthday.”

“February the twenty-fourth.”

“Thank you, but you’re missing my point. Would you pick up and leave your safe haven based on a handful of photographs and the word of someone you just met?”

Crossing her arms, she leaned on the sill and waited for her words to sink in. She could see from the way he stepped back that her argument made sense.

“What is it you need?” he asked.

Good question. Answers to what happened to her would be a nice start. “Time,” she told him. “You’re moving too quickly. I know you said I’ve been missing for months, but I need time to wrap my head around everything you’ve told me.” As well as she could anyway. “And I need proof. More proof I mean, beyond the photos in your phone.”

“All right. I’ll have a package sent to you first thing tomorrow. You get email up here, right?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes. The restaurant has an email account.”

“All right, then. You want proof, proof you shall get. Anything you need if it will help bring you home.”

With that, she expected to leave. Instead, he moved closer. So close that Rosalind could smell the faint scent of musk on his suit jacket.

“I still can’t believe it’s really you,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you, Rosie.”

He lifted his hand and she tensed thinking he was about to hug her again. The notion wasn’t as off-putting as it should’ve been. Rosalind blamed his eyes. In the shadows, they were like midnight. A woman could get lost in eyes like that if she wasn’t careful.

“Space,” she managed to whisper just as his fingers were about to brush a hair from her temple. “I’m also going to need space so I can truly think.”

Disappointment flashed in his eyes, but he stepped back like a gentleman. “Of course. Take all the time and space you need.”

“Thank you.” She let out her breath. “I appreciate your patience. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go upstairs and lie down. My head is spinning.”

Once again, Thomas fought the urge to chase her as she rushed away. Patience, he reminded himself. Patience and space. He had to remember how overwhelming his news must feel to her. Hell, it was overwhelming to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Linus strolling toward him, a glass of amber liquid in hand.

“Here. Figured you might need one,” he said.

Taking the glass, Thomas took a long drink, savoring the burning sensation as the liquor went down his throat.

“McKringle went upstairs to check on Rosalind. I said I would check on you. Conversation go okay?”

“She needs more proof before she’ll believe me,” Thomas told him.

“Smart decision.”

Yeah, it was, and, as she’d said, one he would’ve made himself. Once she read her history, he had no doubt Rosalind would realize he was telling the truth.

Thomas took another sip. “I can’t believe it, Linus.” He might as well be walking in a dream. “How many times did you talk with McDermott about his factory? And she was right down the road.” Dear God... “I didn’t want to stop for dinner.” If not for Linus’s insistence, he would never have learned that Rosie had survived. When he thought how close the miss had been, he felt sick.

“How did she get here? Her car was on the West Coast.” Linus asked. “Did she say? McKringle wouldn’t answer my questions.”

“She doesn’t know,” Thomas said. “She doesn’t remember anything prior to meeting McKringle on the motorway.”

That included him. Thomas wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse. A bit of both, he decided.

So many nights he’d lain awake blaming himself for the accident. She wouldn’t have been at the country house if I hadn’t been such a muleheaded fool.

“And now she’ll be home for Christmas.” He said the words out loud as much for reassurance as anything. “Maddie’s going to be thrilled.”

“What about you?” Linus asked.

That was a silly question. “Of course I’m happy. Don’t be daft.” He drained the last of his drink in one final swallow. McKringle hadn’t undersold; the Scotch was superior.

“I know you’re happy, Thommy-boy.” Thomas winced. He loathed his childhood nickname. “Anyone who saw your face when she walked in would know.”

Thomas still couldn’t believe the moment was real. That an hour ago he’d been a widower, and with one blink of an eye, his family was returned. It was a dream come true.

Making Linus’s question all the more strange. “If you don’t mean happy my wife’s alive, then what do you mean?” he asked.

His brother leaned against a table edge, bringing them eye to eye. It was rare for the youngest Collier to be serious, so the sober expression made Thomas’s pulse pick up. “Are you going to tell her the entire circumstances?” he asked.

“What am I supposed to say? By the way, did I mention I was a lousy husband and that’s the reason you were driving around up north in the first place?”

“You weren’t a lousy—”

But Thomas held up a hand. He knew at whose feet the blame lay.

“We’ve only just got her back, Linus. I’m not ready to lose her again.”

He looked down at his empty glass at the residual ring lining the bottom. Brown could have so many shades to it, he thought. Amber like the Scotch. Grayish brown like mud. Rosalind’s eyes were chocolate with flecks of gold. Darkness dappled with light.

He’d missed those eyes.

“It’s almost Christmas,” he said to his brother. “Would it be so wrong to give Maddie a few weeks of family peace?”

“You’re staying quiet for Maddie’s sake, are you?”

“Okay, for both our sakes,” Thomas replied, his cheeks hot. He should have known Linus would call him on the excuse. “Is that so wrong?”

“No.” His brother shook his head. “No, it isn’t.”

Eventually, Rosalind would remember everything. She’d have to remember, wouldn’t she? McKringle said the doctors were optimistic as to the outcome.

When she did, Thomas would be there to fill in the blanks, warts and all, including the fact she’d gone to the cottage to contemplate their marriage’s future.

In the meantime, the two of them could spend the next few weeks creating new memories. Maybe, with luck, he could show Rosalind that he was willing to change. That he was willing to do whatever it took to make her and Maddie happy again.

Then, maybe, just maybe when Rosalind did remember the past, the problems they’d had wouldn’t matter.

After all, as today proved, bigger miracles had happened.

When Thomas had said he’d give her proof, he hadn’t been kidding. For the next few mornings packages of documents arrived by email. There were articles. Photographs. A copy of their marriage certificate and her birth certificate. In fact, so much information arrived in such a short time, Rosalind wondered if Thomas had a team of employees working with him. Of course, she did her own research too, since she now had names to search online.

For starters Thomas Collier, she learned, was the Collier Soap Company. Part of it, at least. He became president after the death of his father, Preston. Preston had been a busy man, marrying three times and producing Thomas, his brother, Linus, and a half sister, Susan.

When she read about Thomas online, she found herself unsurprised that he was a successful executive. She’d known when she saw him in the pub that he wasn’t an average man. Interestingly, her impression had had little to do with his expensive suit and onyx cuff links.

He would look exceptional in an orange jumpsuit. It was the way he carried himself when he walked across the room. Tall and regal, the way a man who owned the room would walk.

How on earth had she managed to marry him? From what she could tell, she was the daughter of world-renowned geologists. You couldn’t get more removed from Collier’s world. When she asked, Thomas said they met at university. Hard to believe a man like him would have given her a second glance. But he had. She saw the wedding photos that proved it.

By the end the week, she knew enough of her life story to believe Thomas even if she still didn’t remember a thing. Problem was, being trapped in that nebulous knowing-not-knowing zone was worse than not knowing anything at all. Facts and figures answered her questions, but they couldn’t provide the assurance her gut needed to fully commit.

Except, that was, for Maddie. Every time she saw a photo of the little girl, her heart swelled with longing. Maybe because she hated to see such an adorable creature going without a mother. The reason why, however, didn’t matter. If she went back to London with Thomas, it would be to give that little girl her mother back.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said to Chris and Jessica one night after the dinner rush. “How do I go back and be some man’s wife when I can’t remember him?”

The two of them hadn’t talked again since that night. Having agreed to give her space, Thomas limited his contact to the emails accompanying his daily document delivery. While the notes were friendly and upbeat, often filled with anecdotes relating to that day’s documents, she could read between the lines his eagerness to have her home. Especially when he included the words “We miss you” in the text.

“Who says you have to?” Jessica replied. “Just because you know your name and identity doesn’t mean you have to immediately rush back and start living your former life. You wouldn’t rush a baby into walking, would you?”

“No.” Sighing, she rested her forehead against the heels of her palms. “If only I could remember him. Reading those papers is like reading a book about someone else. I know facts and dates, but I don’t feel real. Does that make sense?”

“You need to give yourself time, sweetheart.” Jessica reached across the table and clasped Rosalind’s hand between her two pudgy ones. For a woman who spent her days working in a kitchen, her skin was soft as silk—Collier’s lavender skin cream. Thomas was everywhere, Rosalind thought. “Eventually, your heart will remember.”

“And if it doesn’t?” What if she never remembered Thomas Collier beyond his soulful eyes and commanding presence?

“Who says you have to stay with him? You start a new life with your little girl,” Jessica replied. “I know you won’t have to worry about your feelings for her.”

Rosalind blushed. She was already in love with the girl from her photos and, at the end of the day, was the best reason for returning to London. “She deserves to have her mother home.”

But Jessica’s argument stuck with her. The older woman was right. There was no reason Rosalind had to stay with Thomas if she couldn’t remember him.

That gave her an idea.

“What do you mean, a ‘trial visit’?”

It was a few nights later and they were walking in the village center, Thomas having shown up unannounced for a visit. Since the restaurant wasn’t busy Chris gave her the evening off so they could talk. It was, Rosalind figured, as good a time as any to share her plan.

Needless to say Thomas hadn’t embraced the idea with enthusiasm.

“I mean exactly what it sounds like,” she replied. “I’ll come to London.”

“You mean home. You’ll come home.”

Rosalind sighed. “No, I mean London. This village is the only home I remember. Surely you can’t expect me to slide back into my old life simply because you’ve sent me a few emails full of facts and dates?”

The way he turned away said that was exactly what he expected. Which led to other questions as to what else he expected.

In keeping with the season, the trees on the common had been wrapped in strands of blue and white lights. A patriotic illuminated forest with branches that danced and sparkled in the wind. It was romantic, magical and no doubt the reason why Rosalind was acutely aware of Thomas’s shoulder moving beside her.

She looked sideways at his silhouette. He wore the same expensive clothes as before and exuded the same command and self-possession, while she wore flannel and boots. Night and day. Top and bottom. Hard to imagine them ever fitting together. They had though. She’d seen the marriage certificate that proved it.

“What about Maddie?” Thomas asked after a moment.

“Maddie is the reason I’m willing to go back at all.” Wouldn’t matter if Rosalind had a zillion doubts, the notion of that child going another day thinking she’d died was intolerable. “She needs her mother.”

“You don’t think I need you?”

“You’re not a little girl.” On the contrary, there was nothing little about him. “And, there’s no guarantee you and I will be able to reconnect. I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. I’d feel better going in if I knew I had the freedom to...”

“Leave.”

“Yes. I mean, no. I wouldn’t leave Maddie.”

“Just me.”

Did he have to say the words in such a flat voice? It left a guilty knot in her stomach. “The plan sounded much better in my head.” Certainly less callous. She needed to remember that as far as he was concerned, she was the woman he loved. “I don’t mean to imply that I’m not going to try. I’m just...”

“Scared.” The softness in his voice allowed the word to wash over her with relief.

“Terrified,” she replied. Trading the known for the unknown? Who wouldn’t be? “I have no idea what I’m jumping into.”

“So you want an end date in case things don’t work out.”

“More like a potential end date. A point where both of us can step back and reassess. You’ve got to admit it’s not your run-of-the-mill situation.”

“No, it definitely is not.”

Rosalind let out a breath. He understood. This was the only way she could think of to maintain some control.

“How long do you envision this trial visit of yours lasting?”

“Over Christmas and New Year at least,” she said. “I don’t want to do anything until after the New Year. Giving Maddie a happy Christmas is my first priority.”

“Mine too.”

“Then we’re agreed. We’ll spend the next few weeks focused on our daughter and Christmas and see where things stand in January.”

“That gives us three weeks.” It was clear he didn’t like the idea. To his credit, however, he didn’t argue. Their daughter’s Christmas clearly was a priority.

“Twenty-one days,” she replied. “And who knows? Maybe I’ll remember everything as soon as I walk through the front door, and this whole conversation will be moot.” Stranger things had happened, right?

“Have you remembered anything?”

She shook her head. “No. Not really. A few of the photos felt familiar, but I think that was more wishful thinking. I’m sorry.”

The ground crunched beneath their feet. “You have nothing to apologize for, Rosalind.”

But she felt like she did. She felt terrible that she couldn’t remember her family and even more terrible that she wasn’t bouncing with excitement over having found her way home.

“It’s not like I don’t want to remember. I do.” Ever since he’d appeared in the restaurant, she’d been praying for the floodgates to open and erase the blankness. The only response she’d received was her heart pounding with anxiety.

“I believe you, and I’ll try not to push.”

“Thank you.” The tension in her shoulders started to ease.

“But...”

And, tensed right back up again. Stopping beneath a large blue branch, she turned to look him straight on. Her heart was starting to race. “But what?”

“I won’t push about your memory, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and win you over. You should know that between now and Christmas, I plan on charming the socks off you. You’ll be too enamored by me to even think of leaving.”

“Is that so?” She crossed her arms and did her best to sound unimpressed. Difficult since his cocksure attitude actually was impressive. And charming.

“Oh, most definitely, Mrs Collier.” He upped the charm by saying the moniker with a silky-smooth lilt. “Most definitely. In fact...”

His blue eyes bore into her. Out of the corner of her eye, Rosalind saw him raise his hand making her think he planned to reach out and touch her. She held her breath.

He kept his distance. His stare didn’t waver. “In fact,” he repeated, “I’m going to start tonight.”




CHAPTER THREE (#uab103296-b176-52df-b521-9e58b9005e55)


NO ONE WOULD ever accuse Thomas of giving less than 100 percent. If anything, people accused him of being overly dedicated. When he committed to something, he went all in. Right now, that something was wooing his wife. He intended to do his damnedest to win her over before the New Year. Before she recalled the cracks. Back in the beginning, he’d been a pro at grand romantic gestures. While his inner romantic might be rusty, it was still there. Somewhere.

Taking Rosalind’s hand, he led her back the short walk to the town limits where McKringle’s sat empty as ever. Honest to God, how the business survived was beyond him.

The restaurant owner, of course, was more than happy to help. He packed a small bag while Rosalind did her best to make him insist she stay to work. Unfortunately for her, the restaurant was nearly empty. The only customers were a pair of short, reedy gentlemen drinking beer at the bar. When the older man rushed Rosalind and Thomas out the door with a cheery smile, she looked practically panicked.

“Relax,” Thomas said as they walked to his rental car. “I promise I’m not about to take you into the wilderness and chop you into little bits.”

“I know that,” she replied.

Could have fooled him. She looked about as excited as a serial killer victim. Seeing her reluctance stung. When had his own wife become afraid of him?

Since she forgot she was your wife, that’s when.

As far as she was concerned, he was a stranger, and one prone to impetuous embraces at that. “Would it help if I promise not to wrap you in my arms either?” he asked. Much as he wanted to.

His question got the corners of her mouth to twitch, at least.

“You know, this whole trip would go a lot better if you trust me,” he said once they were underway. The rental had an incredibly responsive heating system, so he bumped up the temperature, figuring a little warmth in the air might relax things.

“I’d feel better if I knew where we were going.”

Ah, he’d forgotten. Rosalind preferred to control her surprises. All right, he’d tell her. “Have you ever seen the aurora borealis?”

Despite the dark interior, he could feel her stare. The northern lights were visible on most clear nights during this time of year. Every person in the village had probably seen them at least once.

“No,” she drawled. “I never have.”

“Good. Neither have I. We can see them together.”

“You do realize I was being sarcastic.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

She huffed softly through her nose, the sound carrying in the dark car. “Well played.”

“Thank you. I try.” The heater appeared to be doing its job. “I probably should remind you that the Colliers are known for their biting wit.”

“Are they?”

“Generally, it’s only among the other Colliers, but considering the number of cousins, stepsiblings and half-siblings, we’re still talking a sizable group.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.” There was rustling of her nylon jacket as she shifted in her seat. Looking over, Thomas saw that she was leaning against the door and facing him. “Your family is very interesting.”

“Our family,” he corrected.

Whether she missed his not-so-subtle reminder or ignored him he wasn’t sure. “There’s a lot of information online. Far more than your files provided.”

“I figured you’d do your own research.”

“Had to flesh out the narrative somehow,” she replied. “Were your father and grandfather really both married three times?”

“That they were. No one would ever accuse them of not being matrimonially inclined. It was the staying married part that gave them trouble. Still, they managed to blend a few families along the way.”

“Explaining all the cousins, stepsiblings and half-siblings.”

“Precisely.”

“Do they all work for the family business?”

If only. He could have used the help these past eighteen months. “No, that privilege fell directly to Grandfather’s true heirs. Meaning my father and then me. The rest of the family scattered to the wind with the divorces.” To illustrate, he waved his hand across the dash.

“Does that include your mother? She wasn’t mentioned in the report you sent,” she added when he glanced over.

“A clerical error. My mother died when Linus and I were little.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” Thomas replied. Besides, if she had lived, she’d probably have left like the others. At least this way he got to claim an intact family.

“You told me that my parents were dead, as well.” In the silence that followed the comment, Thomas imagined her looking down at her lap and plucking at the hem of her jacket. “I’m glad, in a way.”

“You are?” What was she talking about? She’d adored her parents.

“Not that they’re dead, but that they didn’t have to spend the last half year thinking they’d lost their child. Bad enough I put you and our daughter through the nightmare.”

“A nightmare that’s over,” he reminded her. “I take it you researched your family, as well.”

“A little.”

“Only a little?”

There was silence again. Looking over, Thomas saw she was indeed playing with her jacket. The zipper, not the hem. “There’s only so much you can discover online,” she said. “Mostly facts and news articles. Doesn’t really give you the full picture of a person, does it?”

“But at least you have the framework,” he told her. “Something for your memory to attach itself to.”

“True.”

She didn’t seem as excited as she should. “You don’t believe your memory will come back?”

“Who knows? I’m more worried...” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

“If something is worrying you, tell me. Maybe I can help.” He looked over. “Trust, remember?”

Something he’d done in the last few minutes must have broken through her defenses, because she gave a tiny smile. The kind meant to offer reassurance rather than express happiness. “What if I don’t like what I find? Or remember?”

His chest tightened.

You opened the door, Thomas.

“Are you talking about things to do with our family?”

“More like things to do with me.”

“Oh.” Relieved, Thomas dismissed her question with a wave. “You don’t have to worry there. I guarantee you’ll like what you discover perfectly fine.”

“Says you.”

“Precisely, says me,” he replied. “I’m your husband, and while that might not mean anything to you, I happen to have whiz-bang taste when it comes to wives.”

“Whiz-bang?” she laughed. Light and lovely, the sound warmed him from the inside out.

Thomas allowed himself a moment to savor the sensation. “Won’t get higher praise than that,” he told her.

“I should think not. Thank you. For the compliment.”

“Try fact. I wouldn’t marry just anyone.”

The moment was a perfect time to reach across the bucket seats and give her a reassuring touch. Thomas loosened his grip on the gear shift only to remember his promise to keep himself in check.

He settled for giving her a smile.

She smiled back, and he embraced the moment like a hug. Once upon a time, making her happy had been his greatest priority. That he could please her, even a little, after all these months was a gift.

There were only a handful of cars parked in the lot when he pulled into the point. Thomas offered up a silent thank-you. He’d feared more considering how popular nature’s light show was with the tourists. Then again, it was still early. The glow wasn’t usually visible until after ten.

But then, that fit his plan.

“Wait here,” he told her. “I’ll be back as soon as I’ve set up.”

Rosalind watched as he disappeared from view. Presumably to stake out a viewing spot near the beach.

Or near the cliffs, if he was planning to throw her off.

He wouldn’t. Strange, really. Thomas thought she didn’t trust him, but trust wasn’t the issue. Not entirely. That is, she was pretty sure he wasn’t a crazy person. At the same time, however, being around him sent her nerves into overdrive. Soon as he said he planned to charm her into staying, she became jittery and self-conscious. He acted as if she were someone special, and that left her off-balance.

Maybe she should tell him to forget London. They didn’t have to be in the same house for their daughter. He could as easily bring Maddie to Scotland...

“Ready?” The car door opened and Thomas reappeared, the blue in his eyes aglow in the dome light. In his arms he held a blanket. “This is for you,” he said as she stepped out of the car. He wrapped the thick wool around her shoulders. “Wind gets cold off the bay.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“I can handle the cold. Besides, that’s why God invented Chardonnay.”

Using his cell phone as a flashlight, he led her away from the crowds and toward an isolated section, as it turned out, not far from the cliffs. There on a small patch of grass lay another wool blanket along with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “I figured the lights would look brighter if we sat away from the lighthouse,” Thomas said.

He sat down, then patted the blanket next to him. “McKringle picked out the wine, so I have no idea if it’s good or not. He seems more a whisky man.”

“Chris is a connoisseur of most things,” she replied. “Far as I can tell anyway.” Across the water she could see the silhouette of the Orkney Islands. Black and hilly. The water was black as well, all but a stretch of white from the moon.

“Looks amazing, doesn’t it?” she said. “All that darkness.”

“Looks cold.” Thomas handed her a glass. “This is the most northern part of the UK. When we were here last week, I told Linus to watch out for elves.”

Rosalind laughed. “Why? You think Santa and his minions are popping down for a pint?”

“Why not? Can’t the old man enjoy a nip now and then?”

“Of course he can. If he’s a real person.” And life was as simple as sitting on a lap and making a wish.

“Don’t let Maddie hear you. As far as she’s concerned, Santa doesn’t only exist—he can do anything. Including visiting Scotland for a drop of whisky.” He touched his glass to hers.

“I’ll be sure to keep my blasphemous thoughts to myself,” Rosalind told him. Pulling her blanket tighter, she glanced in his direction. “Are you sure you’re not cold? I’m happy to share if...” She let the offer drift away.

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine,” Thomas answered.

Good. She’d hoped that’s what he’d answer. Despite the part of her wondering what it would feel like to have those strong arms wrapped around her.

“If Santa was real, what would you ask him to bring you?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” She found the answer hard to believe. Surely there was something he wanted. “Everyone has something on their list, even if they’re as rich as Midas.”

“Except I already got my Christmas wish. Right here on this beach.”

There he went again, treating her like she was some kind of gift. Rosalind’s face turned crimson. Ducking her head, she pretended great interest in her wineglass. How she wished she could return his sentiment the way he clearly wanted her to, but her memory remained as dark as the water before them.

“How about you?” he asked. “What would you wish for? Besides the obvious.”

“The obvious is a pretty big wish. I’m not sure I could think of another. But if pressed...” She sighed. “I think I would ask for a cottage of my own. Not that I don’t like my room over the restaurant, but it would be nice to have a place to call mine.

“Then again, I guess I—I mean, we—do, don’t we?” she added. Thomas’s body had stiffened at the mention, making her realize her wish was based on having a life on her own. “Apparently, I’m still getting used to my identity. I don’t mean to be hurtful.”

“You weren’t,” he replied. “The situation is going to take some getting used to for both of us.”

Stretching out his legs, he leaned back on the blanket. Without his body to warm the space beside her, Rosalind shivered.





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