His Lost and Found Family

“I’ve missed you so much,” she told him. It felt like an important thing to say. She was pretty sure she’d said it before, but she wanted to say it again.

He didn’t respond. Not the way she’d hoped. Instead, he said, “Sorry, traffic. Can you buckle up? I don’t want another car accident. I just got you out of that hospital.” He said it in a jokey kind of way, as if she was supposed to laugh along with him. But she didn’t.

“All right. But later I’m going to kiss you. I don’t care what the doctors said.”

“Later,” he agreed. He waited until she was buckled up and then he drove on.

“How long will we be in Royal?” she asked. “I know how much you hate it here. I wish you didn’t have to stay just because of me.”

He tensed. “Aren’t you glad to be back home?”

“I guess...” He shot her a worried look. “What?”

“I thought you’d be glad to be here, that’s all. You’d talked about coming home—remember?”

“Oh, I know. I wish our families would see the light of day and put the feud to rest.” She sighed. She was missing something again. It was as if there were a fog over her mind that was so thick that it hid things from her. But when she tried to grab it or push it aside, it slipped through her fingers. It was both there and not there. Just like her memory, apparently. “But I’d rather be with you than deal with my parents. Have you seen them? I don’t think I have. I’ve seen Lark. And I want to say that... Didn’t Lark come in and talk to me? While I was sick? She’s with Keaton now, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” He gave her a tight smile.

“Good. I’m glad. I knew the Taylors and the Holts could get along if they just...just...oh, shoot. I lost another word.”

“It’s okay,” Jake said quickly. “I understand what you mean. Hey—here we are.”

Jake turned past a big sign that announced they were in Pine Valley. They drove past spacious homes set far back from the road.

“Is this where we’re going to stay? This is nice,” Skye said, glancing out the window.

“I wanted to get the best for you,” he told her. “This is a furnished house, but if there’s something you want from the apartment back in Houston...” His voice trailed off. “Or I can buy you new things, too. Money is no object.”

“Since when?” she demanded. “I mean, we were just getting comfortable. I don’t think we should drain the bank accounts dry.”

“Oh. Um, well—hmm. The last job,” he said, stumbling over the words. “I, uh, I did a great job and I got a huge bonus.”

“You did? Oh, Jake—that’s wonderful!” But then confusion set in again. “Is that why you weren’t with me? In the accident? Because of the job?”

“Yeah. This is it.” He pulled into a long drive. “This house has a small gym in it. That’s why I picked it. That way you can use a couple of machines to help you regain your strength.”

“Oh, good thinking.” Because the one thing she did not have right now was a lot of strength. She hated feeling weak, but she wouldn’t be that way for long.

Jake parked and Skye undid her belt again. She got the door open as he went around the front of the car, but when she slid out of the seat, her legs almost didn’t hold. “Whoa,” she gasped, clinging to the door for support. She’d gotten out of the bed on her own, but the rest of the trip had been in a wheelchair. She hadn’t realized how weak she actually was.

“Easy, now,” Jake said. “I’ve got you.”

The next thing she knew, he swept Skye up into his strong arms as if she weighed nothing at all.

She giggled as he carried her up the steps to the front door. “It’s like we’re married,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he said. He sounded unconvincing. “Just like that. I carried you over the threshold of that hotel the night we got married, didn’t I?”

“Mmm.” Without loosening her grip, she twirled one finger through the short hairs on the back of his neck. “That was a good night, wasn’t it? You were so handsome.”

Jake set her down long enough to get the door open. Then, after the barest moment of hesitation, he picked her up again. “And you were beautiful,” he said, sounding very serious about it. “You still are.”

She laughed again. God, she’d missed this man. “I really need a shower before I’m going to start buying that line from you.” Which was not a half-bad idea. “Or a bath? What does this place have? I think I’d need a bench in a shower.”

“Your choice. There’s a whirlpool tub that’ll be good for soaking and a separate shower. I think it has a bench in it.” He carried her over the threshold. “Welcome home, Skye.”

“Oh, wow.” Dusky light streamed in from floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating a massive, well-appointed great room with leather furnishings and a comfortable-looking couch. Along one wall was a stone hearth. Skye craned her neck and saw that the great room opened onto a kitchen. She couldn’t see much of it, but she caught glimpses of gleaming stainless steel and granite countertops. “Jake, this place is gorgeous! Are you sure we can afford it?”

“It was a big bonus,” he told her. He carried her over to the comfortable couch and gently set her down. He tried to stand, but she wasn’t going to let him go.

She held tight and pulled him down. He didn’t fall into her the way he normally did, but he didn’t pull away. “I missed you. This,” she told him as she brushed her lips against his. “Feels like it’s been forever.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. He pressed his lips to hers and sighed. Skye knew that noise. He always did that when he was ready and willing to take things to the next level. The first time he’d sighed against her mouth like that, she’d pulled away and demanded to know what was wrong, what she’d messed up. And instead of telling her she wasn’t a good kisser, he’d only pulled her in closer and kissed her hard.

So she opened her mouth and traced her tongue over his lips and waited for him to take the next step.

He didn’t.

He stood up and damn it all, she wasn’t strong enough to hold on to him. “Um, yeah. Don’t want to overdo it on your first night home.”

She frowned at him. “You won’t break me, you know.”

“I know, I know. Hey, are you hungry? I could order some food. I drove past the Tower Pizza—it’s still standing. I’ll get you a green pepper and mushroom.”

“Oh. Okay.” Something still felt...off. She groped around in her mind, trying to get the fog that had covered everything to shift or just go the heck away, but it didn’t. “But you don’t like mushrooms. You don’t have to eat them just for my sake.”

He paused halfway to the kitchen. “I’ll get two pizzas. I know you don’t like pepperoni. Then we can have some for lunch tomorrow. Sound good?”

She snickered at him. “Two pizzas? That must have been some bonus.”

A shadow crossed over his face. But he said, “It was. I’ll be right back. Then we’ll see about getting you into the shower.”

Skye liked the sound of that. She looked down at her loose-fitting yoga pants and unisex T-shirt emblazoned with the hospital’s logo on it. This was not a good look—in fact, she probably resembled an escaped mental patient more than anything else.

She just wanted to put this whole brain-injury thing behind them and get back to their lives. And Grace—she needed to get Grace, although the concept of a small human that was her daughter wasn’t something she had a firm grasp on just yet. Grace Holt was still...an abstract idea.

They’d get to Grace. Lark had the baby so Skye felt okay just focusing on Jake right now.

It really did feel like longer than a few months since she’d been with him. But her dreams had been wild and varied and had always had a glimmer of something that might have been a memory at the core of them—like parking at that spot and making out.

That settled it. Shower first, real clothing second, seducing Jake third.

She was going to remember this.

* * *

Jake stood in the kitchen, forcing himself to breathe evenly.