Accidental Family

A shiver coursed through Patty.

What on earth was the matter with her? she thought, feeling the warm flush on her cheeks. She’d gone off on some embarrassing sensual trip about David sweeping a woman… Okay, Patty, admit it. The image in her mind had been David sweeping her into his arms, which was ridiculous. She didn’t entertain mental scenarios like that, for heaven’s sake, about a man she didn’t even really know or…

“Enough of this nonsense,” she said, then yanked open the refrigerator door. “Mmm. Pickings are slim.”

There was a bowl of grapes, several oranges and apples, a jug of orange juice, a carton of milk and ready-made individual containers of pudding, Jell-O and yogurt. Three eggs, a half a loaf of bread, a jar of strawberry jelly, and that was it. The freezer above held a large box of Popsicles.

“This is all for Sarah Ann, I think,” Patty said aloud. “Nope, David is not into cooking.”

Going on the assumption that David was going to be in the hospital for several more days, Patty checked the sell dates on the offerings in the refrigerator. She found plastic bags beneath the sink and packed the milk, orange juice and the small containers of desserts. That done, she headed back in the direction of the stairs, placing the bags by the front door.

She made her way up the stairs and when she reached the top level of the house she could hear Tucker and Sarah Ann laughing farther down the hallway.

Don’t get nosy, she told herself, as she passed several rooms on her way to the children. Well, one or two little peeks wouldn’t do any harm. No. But then again she might spot something that would give a clue as to what David did for a living and… No.

Sarah Ann’s room was large and sunny, a little girl’s paradise. It had a pink-and-white canopy bed, white bookshelves full of toys and books and a white dresser. The carpet was lush and the same smoky blue-gray color that she’d seen in the living room and covering the stairs and hallways.

“Sarah Ann,” Patty said, “do you have a suitcase, honey?”

“In the closet,” she said.

“I’ll pack some clothes for you while you get Patches the bear.”

“’Kay.”

Patty completed her chore in short order, then turned to see Sarah Ann hugging a faded teddy bear.

“Is that Patches?” Patty said.

Sarah Ann nodded. “He’s my bestis toy. He gots a hole one time and my daddy fixed him really good. See?”

A strange warmth seemed to tiptoe around Patty’s heart and a soft smile formed on her lips as she saw the repair job David had managed to accomplish on the precious bear. There was a strip of dark blue duct tape across Patches’s tummy, and hearts had been drawn on the life-saving bandage.

“Oh, that’s a fine job of making Patches all better,” Patty said. “Your daddy is a very good doctor.”

“He only doctors toys and my boo-boos,” Sarah Ann said. “That’s all, ’cause he’s busy when he wears a tie and doing turny stuff.”

“I’m hungry, Mommy,” Tucker said.

“What?” Patty said. Turny stuff? “Oh, hungry. Well, we’re leaving now and we’ll have lunch the minute we get home. Pick up those toys you were playing with, kiddos, and we’ll be on our way.”

He wears a tie to do his turny stuff, Patty thought, narrowing her eyes. Turny stuff. Tie. Suit and tie because he’s…

“Sarah Ann,” Patty said, nearly shouting, “your father is an attorney.”

Sarah Ann planted her little fists on her hips. “I just told you that. My daddy is a turny when he puts on his tie.”

“Got it,” Patty said. “Let’s go, my sweets. I may be the next Columbo but I still have to cook the meals.”

Just before seven o’clock that evening Patty peered through the open doorway of David’s hospital room and saw that he was propped up in bed watching the television mounted high on the opposite wall.

Goodness, she thought, the man just didn’t quit. Even beat up and bandaged and wearing a faded hospital gown, there was an earthy male sensuality emanating from David Montgomery. He wasn’t quite so pale tonight, his tawny skin standing out in stark relief against the pristine white pillow.

There was no readable expression on David’s face as he watched what she realized was national news. Maybe he had been able to become engrossed in what he was hearing, forget for a few minutes that he was a man without a memory. And she was about to break his peaceful bubble and tell him his wife was dead. Being a detective was not all it was cracked up to be.

“Hello?” Patty said from the doorway. “May I come in?”

“Patty,” David said. “Hey. Yes, come in. I didn’t expect to see you again today. This is a nice surprise.”

Man, he was glad to see her, he thought. His breath had actually caught when he’d heard her voice, seen her standing there. Patty was so lovely, so fresh-air pretty and…and he was overreacting to this woman due to the fact that she was the only lifeline he had to his reality, the slender link to his identity because she had known him before he lost his memory and she was taking care of his daughter.

That was the reason he got all hot and bothered when he saw Patty Clark. He was hanging tight to that explanation because the alternative was to admit he was having an adolescent testosterone attack, which wasn’t very flattering.

“Sit down,” David said, gesturing toward the chair next to the bed. He pressed the button on the remote control and turned off the television. “How are you? How’s Sarah Ann? My daughter. Daughter. How can a man have a three-year-old daughter and not even know what she looks like?”

“Don’t upset yourself, David,” Patty said, sitting down in the chair. “The fact that you have amnesia is not your fault.” She paused. “Dr. Hill was asking me earlier today what I knew about you while you were listening so I’m assuming it’s all right to tell you what I’ve discovered about you. You know, without breaking any rules regarding what is or isn’t said to someone whose memory is temporarily gone.”

“It had better be a temporary condition,” David said, frowning.

“I’m sure it is. I brought you a picture of Sarah Ann. Here.”

David hesitated, then with a visibly shaking hand he took the piece of glossy computer paper from Patty and stared at the image of the smiling little girl.

“Oh, look at her,” he said, awe ringing in his voice. “She’s beautiful.”

Patty smiled. “Yes, she is. She has your coloring. See? Black hair, your blue eyes. She’s very intelligent, full of energy and chatters like a magpie when the mood strikes. She’s small-boned, delicate, but that doesn’t keep her from wanting to play whatever the other kids are into. You can be very proud of her, David. She’s a wonderful little girl.”

“But…but I don’t recognize her,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment, then looking at the photograph again. “Damn it, I know she’s my daughter only because you’re telling me she is.”

“Give it time,” Patty said gently. “Oh, these are cards that Sarah Ann and Tucker drew for you after I told them you had boo-boos.”

David smiled slightly as he examined the pictures drawn with crayon on bright construction paper.

“Thank you,” he said. “Tell Sarah Ann and Tucker I really liked these, okay? I appreciate your coming all the way back over here tonight to bring me these things.”

“No problem. My mother came to the house and is doing her grandmother thing with all three of the children.” Patty drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “David, there is something I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Sarah Ann told Tucker that her mother—what I mean is… Oh, David, I’m so sorry but your wife is dead. Sarah Ann said that her mother is in heaven and she doesn’t remember seeing her before she went there. But she also said it was all right because she had her daddy.”

“My wife… Sarah Ann’s mother is dead?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

David looked up at the ceiling for a long moment, then met Patty’s gaze again.

“Why aren’t I registering any emotions about that? God, I hate this. I’m an empty shell. I look at a picture of my daughter and think ‘cute kid, but I’ve never seen her before.’ My wife is dead, for God’s sake, and I have no reaction beyond ‘oh, well.’”