A Time to Remember

Half an hour later as he drove back into town, Gray felt exactly the way Cody looked—hopeful, excited, a bit worried, unsure of himself. What would Marissa say? Would she be awake and able to tell him where she’d been? Could she identify her abductor? Would he finally have the answers he craved?

Most of all, would she accept his apology or throw it back in his face?

The hospital parking lot was almost empty. Gray pulled in as near to the entrance as he legally could. Cody hopped out before he could be helped, his eyes dancing with excitement, impatient to get inside.

“Come on, son. Let’s go find her.”

There was no one at the admissions desk, which wasn’t surprising in their small-town hospital. Noises from a treatment room in the adjoining emergency ward helped Gray assume the nurse was busy there. It wasn’t a large building. It wouldn’t take long to find Marissa.

He spotted a sleeping Miss Winifred sitting on a lounge in one ward, head jerking forward in spasmodic nods. She awoke as soon as he approached.

“Hi, Gray. A friend of mine came in with chest pains last night. I was here when they brought Marissa back, so I thought I’d stay, catch forty winks and speak to her when she woke up. Hello, Cody. How are you today?”

Cody grinned at Miss Winifred, accepting her hug.

Back? Brought her back from where? Gray pushed that aside to mull over later. He didn’t have time to puzzle it out right now. There were other things to consider. He glanced around, thinking about Luc’s words. Maybe it would be better if he saw Marissa alone for the first time. If her injuries involved her face, Cody would need to be prepared. Personally, Gray didn’t care what she looked like—he only wanted her in his arms. For the rest of his life.

“Cody, I’m going to find your mom. I want you to stay with Miss Winifred until I come and get you. We have to be very quiet so we don’t wake up the sick people. Okay?”

Cody frowned, obviously wanting to argue, but Gray shook his head as he hunkered down in front of the boy.

“Don’t worry, son. I’m not leaving you. I’ll be back. I promise. I just need to see Mommy. I haven’t seen her for such a long time and I missed her a lot. Just like I missed you. After I’ve talked to her a little while, I’ll come back and get you. Okay?”

Cody was obviously debating, but Gray figured the boy was finding it hard to argue without speaking.

“Come on, Cody. I’ll read you this story I found about a king.” Miss Winifred winked at Gray, then continued speaking to the boy. “Your daddy just wants a minute to hug and kiss your mommy without you watching. It’s mushy adult stuff. I don’t think you want to watch that, do you?”

Cody looked at Gray as if he couldn’t remember such a thing ever happening. But after a moment he nodded and reached inside his grubby jacket. Gray stared at the picture he’d scribbled on a wrinkled sheet of paper, his name carefully inscribed below.

When had he learned to write his name?

Gray bit his lip as the impact of the many things he’d missed these past five months hit home.

Cody held his gaze, his stare never wavering as he waited for his father to take the picture. There were trees, lots of them. And two figures. One small. One large. Behind the trees was a shadowy shape that Gray understood to identify their abductor. He stared at it for some clue that would unlock his son’s silence. He found nothing.

He hunkered down, peered into his son’s clear gaze.

“It’s a very nice picture, Cody,” he murmured. “Do you want me to give it to Mommy?”

Cody nodded.

“Okay.” He accepted the picture, held it carefully while Cody settled himself in Winifred’s lap. “I’ll go find her and give her your picture.”

Satisfied that the boy was occupied and safe, Gray started down the hall. Outside the third door he heard a voice he hadn’t heard in five long months. Gray shoved the door open and stepped inside.

“Is anyone there? Oh. Hello. Can you please get me some aspirin?”

“Hello, Marissa.” He couldn’t help staring, his eyes absorbing the damaged but still fragile beauty of her sculpted face, the deep rich sapphire of her eyes, the fair skin that never quite tanned so much as her freckles joined forces to give the illusion of sun-kissed skin.

The golden tumble of her beautiful hair lay matted against her scalp, her nape hidden beneath a thick bandage.

“Hello.” She inspected him from head to toe. “You don’t look the medical type. Would you mind finding a nurse? I’ve tried to get out of this bed and do it myself, but every time I push on these bed rails, my head starts whirling. If I could just get some aspirin, I’m sure this headache would ease.”

“I don’t know if they’ll allow you to have medication until they’ve done all the tests. You have a head injury, remember? But I can go look for someone.” He surveyed her bruised face, broken nails and the scratches that covered her arms. “You look like you fought a cougar,” he muttered, his stomach clenching at the thought of what she must have been through.

“I feel like it, too.” She eased her head back on the pillows and closed her eyes. “Do you mind if we continue this discussion later? My head is about to shatter.”

“Yeah, sure. I guess.” It stung that she brushed his concern off as if five months ago she’d simply driven to Denver for a day of shopping and he was nothing more than the parking attendant. “Where have you been, Marissa?”

She didn’t even open her eyes, but her voice was a whisper. “Please leave me alone.”

Impotent rage burned deep inside. Didn’t she care enough to even explain? Had five months changed everything between them? Was she remembering those last awful words he’d thrown at her?

“I was worried, Marissa. Scared stiff. I hired a private investigator when I couldn’t find you myself. I was sure that you’d phone or write. Something. But I never heard a word from you or Cody. What happened?”

Her eyes were open now. She was staring at him as if he were a specimen she was trying to define. Her blue eyes had darkened until they were almost navy. With fear? Of him?

“What do you want from me?” she asked huskily.

“What do I want? I want answers.” She was frail, she was hurt. But the need to know could not be stifled. “Where did you go, Marissa? What have you been doing? Why didn’t you contact me?”

“Good questions.”

“Well?”

She turned her head to the wall, stared at the blinds that someone had turned open to the morning sun. Gray waited, anger building inside. What was going on with her? Why was she acting like this?

“Aren’t you even going to answer me?” he sputtered, clenching his hands at his sides.

“Certainly. In due time. But I have a question, too.” She pleated the sheet with her left hand. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind answering that first?”

“I guess.” He shrugged, pretending nonchalance when he knew she was going to ask about that day. “What is your question?”

“Would you mind telling me exactly who you are?”

Chapter Three

His eyes flashed like lightning, changing from a soft dove-gray to hardened steel.

“I’m your husband.”

She stared at him while her mind desperately tried to process the information. Husband? She had a husband? Wouldn’t a woman remember if she had a husband?

“Gray,” he prompted, frowning at her. “Gray McGonigle.”

“And I’m Marissa McGonigle. I see.” She couldn’t blame him for his belligerent tone. It seemed perfectly understandable now. “I was your wife. I was married to you.”

“Are married to me,” he corrected, his tone belligerent. “Unless something’s happened that I don’t know about. Do you remember?”