The Wife He Chose

A look of astonishment crossed his harsh expression and that confused her even more. Why did he look so surprised? She’d already told him she could cover the cost of the evaluation. Did he not want a professional evaluation of her suitability to have contact with the children?

The awful feeling that she’d missed something important in their conversation both shamed and stunned her. Her worries over her sometimes imprecise word choices suddenly seemed minor in the face of having failed to follow the details of this conversation. What had she missed? She hadn’t been aware of this problem before and the idea distressed her.

The sound of a car pulling in behind her rental car out front distracted them both. Cade immediately got up and strode toward the entry hall. Colleen forgot her worry over the confusing turn of conversation. This might be Cade’s neighbor bringing the children home and she felt a thrill of excitement.

Revived, she left her handbag and checkbook on the sofa, got carefully to her feet, and ran nervous fingers over her hair to make certain it was still tamed. She got her cane and prepared to walk toward the entry hall the moment she heard the sound of the children.

She was so weary from the long drive and the tension of her difficult talk with Cade that she’d wondered how much longer she could last and still get back to the motel where she would rent a room for the night.

But knowing that the children were probably home and that she was about to see them and hold them and kiss them, excited her and gave her an almost giddy energy that more than revived her flagging strength. She didn’t have long to wait.

The front door barely had time to open before she heard Beau’s high young voice.

“Uncle Cade! Lori’s kids got puppies!”

Colleen made her way to the entry hall, her heart going wild with excitement. It’d been six months. How much bigger had Beau grown? Would he still remember her? And Amy! She’d been five months old back then, so now she was almost a year old. Was she walking? How many words could she speak?

Colleen stepped into the entry hall, unable to keep a wide smile off her face. Because she had eyes only for the children, she barely noticed the slim, elegant blonde who ushered Beau inside and carried little Amy on her shapely hip.

Beau had indeed grown and the sight of him made her eyes sting. But Amy looked more like a little girl than a baby now, and her blue sundress set off her dark coloring and blue eyes. Beau’s dark hair was mussed, his shirttail was out and he looked like he’d been playing in the dirt.

They were so beautiful and so perfect that she had to blink away happy tears to keep her eyes from blurring and missing a second of the sight of them.

Beau saw her first as she stood there, hoping and yearning, careful to stay at the edge of the commotion while she waited for some sign of recognition and welcome from them. The way she felt now, she wasn’t certain how long she could keep herself from grabbing them for hugs and kisses, but she could do nothing until she was sure she wouldn’t startle either of them. After all, she looked different, and the last thing she wanted to do was upset them and make them wary of her. And it had been so long!

She smiled at Beau who’d stopped in his tracks and was staring at her. Amy had caught sight of her, too, and her wide eyes gave her a good looking over. She knew Amy had been too young when she’d last seen her, but she expected that Beau would remember, though she worried that her injuries might have changed the way she looked too much for him to recognize her quickly.

To her utter dismay, Beau’s happy smile froze then fell away. The look on his face switched to a frightened frown and he went instantly to Cade and grabbed his leg for security. Cade reached down to ease the boy away enough to pick him up. Beau’s little arms latched around his neck and his small face paled.

Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Colleen tried a soft, “Hello, Beau. You remember your auntie, don’t you? Aunt Colleen?” She took a small careful step forward, but Beau cuddled closer to Cade’s neck and eyed her mistrustfully.

Cade looked as if he thought Beau’s reaction was strange but he gave the boy a small bounce to draw his attention. “Your auntie’s come a long way to see you and your sister, squirt.”

“I don’t wanna see her.”

His little voice seemed to echo in the open hall and Colleen was stricken with hurt. She tried not to show it, but her smile faded a little. The entry hall had gone quiet. Colleen was aware of nothing except Beau’s fearful little face and the way Cade studied him.

“Why not?” Cade made the question sound light, but Colleen understood how serious it was. And that her future access to the children rested on Beau’s answer.

Beau didn’t hesitate. His small face was solemn and certain.

“Because she killed my mommy and hurt me an’ Amy.”

Cade’s dark gaze streaked to hers and she felt the impact as she saw him close his mind to her. She couldn’t speak a word in her defense because she was strangling and couldn’t get a full breath. It was as if the air had suddenly been sucked from the room.

And then the room began to move. Dizziness made it difficult to stand with just the support of the cane, so she put out her free hand—her weaker right hand—to the wall to keep herself upright.

Cade said something then to the woman, but Colleen’s ears were suddenly filled with a roaring sound. He set Beau on his feet. The moment he did, Beau ran out of the foyer through the passage opposite the one she stood next to. The woman walked past her silently with little Amy, but Colleen was too dazed, too horrified to move.

She killed my mommy and hurt me an’ Amy.

The terrible words and the frightened look on Beau’s face shook her and made her doubt her sanity. Somehow she’d fallen into some strange nightmare. A strange, horrible nightmare.

She felt her knees begin to give way, but the gray haze that suddenly blanketed her vision and went black kept her from knowing whether she hit the cool hard tile of the entry hall or not.

CHAPTER TWO

COLLEEN awoke alone in a dim, cool bedroom. A light blanket covered her from chin to ankle. Her head was pounding and the ringing in her ears made her feel nauseous.

And then it all came back to her. Little Amy and Beau, so beautiful. At last she could see them, was inches from touching them, kissing their sweet cheeks and hugging them to her heart.

But then the fright in Beau’s face and the horrid words, She killed my mommy and hurt me an’ Amy.

Colleen rolled painfully to her side and curled up stiffly against the agony.

…and hurt me an’ Amy.

The words beat at her brain and pummeled her heart. She’d not harmed a hair on either child. Ever. She couldn’t fathom the accusation, but the look in Beau’s eyes as he’d said it was utterly sincere. Beau believed it completely. And from the look on Cade’s face, he’d believed it, too. Oh, God!

Suddenly she felt profoundly and urgently sick. She wrestled weakly with the blanket and got free. Making her way to the private bath was a larger challenge. She couldn’t find her cane, she was almost too weak and uncoordinated to walk, but she was desperate not to be sick before she could make her way from one piece of furniture to another and reach the bathroom.

The door to the hall opened, but she was so focused on getting to the bathroom in time that she was only marginally aware of it. She gasped when big hands closed around her waist and Cade’s big body pressed against hers. He had her in the bathroom in an instant, sitting her carefully on the edge of the bathtub before he flipped on the light.

“Are you sick?”

His big voice was low and gruff, but he lifted the lid and seat of the commode to accommodate her.

Her panted, “Yes—please leave,” was slurred.

“The doctor’s on his way,” he told her and she felt his big hand settle gently on her shoulder. “Forget about me and get it over with.”

Her desperate, “No—leave!” was all she could get out before she was violently ill.

Through every mortifying moment, Cade Chalmers steadied her. Until the sickness was gone and she was limp with cold tears running down her cheeks.

Shame burned over her body and made her skin feel on fire. A cool wet washcloth moved gently and competently over her face. She was too weak and demoralized to resist as Cade helped her to the sink and guided her through a brief routine with a new toothbrush he’d loaded with gel toothpaste.

When she’d recovered and finished freshening up, the quiet consideration Cade had demonstrated—the persistently gentle way he’d taken care of her—made an impression that went so deep in her soul that her heart ached.

The most painful and trying times of her life, especially after the accident, she’d endured alone. The solitary circumstances of her life meant that once she was released from the hospital, she’d truly been on her own. She had neighbors and friends who sometimes ran errands and looked in on her, but never anyone who stayed and took care of her. Never anyone to relieve the loneliness and despair of long, gray days and painful, restless nights.

After what Beau had said, Cade must loathe the very sight of her. It said something admirable about his character that he was capable of treating her humanely, even though he must despise her.

She could barely stand and leaned heavily against the counter by the sink, her hands braced on the smooth surface.

“I never hurt them, Cade,” she got out, unable to stop the tears, though she did her best to keep the sobs quiet.

“Something’s wrong here,” he growled. “Let’s get you back to bed and we’ll figure it out later.”