The Stranger and Tessa Jones

by Christine Rimmer

  Ash glanced at Tessa. At least she had the grace not to look smug. He felt pretty damn foolish. In the end, there was no way to escape a trip to the hospital in Grass Valley. Denial wasn’t going to help him get past whatever had happened to him. He would have to submit to an exam, at least.

  Submit. Interesting word choice. And probably another clue to his original self. In his previous life, he’d lay odds he hadn’t been much for submitting to anything. He had a sense of his other self as a man with power. A man in control. It fit with the big corner office he’d dreamed of, and the little sister who said he worked too much.

  “Fine,” he told the sheriff. “I give in. As soon as we’re through here, we’ll go to Grass Valley and visit the hospital.” Tessa caught his hand, gave it a squeeze. They shared a warm glance. When Ash faced the sheriff again, the dark eyes were watching, taking everything in.

  “Good.” Roper scribbled something on the notepad in front of him. “And for now, you’re staying with Tessa. Is that right?”

  “Yes.” Tessa was the one who answered that one, her chin high and her voice firm. “Ash is staying at my place. You can reach him there.”

  Roper nodded, wrote something else on the pad. “Anything else you can think of? Anything that comes to mind, no matter how seemingly irrelevant to your situation. You never know the off-the-wall stuff that might provide us with a lead.”

  Tessa said, “There was one thing. When he first showed up at my house before the storm and passed out in the snow, I noticed he smelled really strongly of alcohol.”

  As she said it, Ash remembered the same thing. “That’s right. During the ride down the mountain in that semitruck, I remember wondering why I reeked of booze.”

  Tessa said, “It was all over his clothes, but I don’t think he was drunk. There was no alcohol on his breath.”

  Roper made more notes. “Anything else?”

  Ash shook his head. “We’ve been watching the news, but there’s been nothing that might tell us who I really am or how I got here.”

  Roper made a low noise in his throat. “I’ll look into it from a few different angles and get back to you as soon as I learn anything. And another option…”

  Tessa leaned forward. “What? Tell us.”

  “You’ll be in the local paper, The North Magdalene News, next Tuesday…”

  Ash frowned at Tessa. “I will?”

  “The Sheriff’s Blotter, right?” she asked her uncle.

  “Right.” Roper explained, “It’s a weekly feature in the News, a community service. Lets people know what’s going on in local law enforcement—and in a case like yours, it gets the word out about you. Someone might step forward with information that could help you. And you could take it farther.”

  “How?” Ash asked even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  “You could contact the daily newspapers with wider circulation, the Grass Valley Union, the Bee down in Sacramento. You might even try one of the Sacramento TV stations. You get them interested, get a story out statewide or beyond, you multiply your chances that someone will recognize you.”

  Tessa lit up. “That’s a great idea.”

  Ash could just see the headline: Man without a Memory Found Wandering in the Sierras. Made him feel like some freak show attraction. But if it had to be done, so be it.

  Roper asked, in an offhanded tone, “Will you consent to be fingerprinted?”

  Ash instantly recognized the question for what it was. A test. If he said yes, the sheriff’s office would check his prints against some giant national database packed full of the prints of people who’d had run-ins with the law.

  Am I a criminal?

  It would be one explanation for the way he seemed to have appeared out of thin air. An escape of some kind into the Sierras, maybe. And then the incident that had battered his body and cost him his memory…

  No. It didn’t feel right. It didn’t fit with what he’d recalled of his past so far.

  Or maybe I just don’t want to believe it fits.

  The sheriff was waiting. Watching.

  Asher realized the choice had been made when he let Tessa drag him in there. “Whatever it takes. Sure. I’ll be fingerprinted.”

  Tessa was pleased with the way things were going.

  Ash had not only come with her to the sheriff’s station and agreed to let her Uncle Jack help him, but he’d also finally accepted the necessity of seeing a doctor. She felt so much better about everything. He’d get whatever medical care he needed—and her uncle would do everything in his power as sheriff to solve the mystery of Ash’s identity and reunite him with his loved ones, who were probably worried sick about now.

  Once Uncle Jack was through asking questions, he led Ash and Tessa back up front.

  “I’m glad you came to me,” Jack said. “And, if you remember more, if anything comes to you—anything at all—give me a call.” He pressed a business card into Ash’s hand. Jack caught the eye of the woman at the front desk. “Nelda? Ash here has agreed to be fingerprinted.”

  Nelda Bass clerked at the station and also worked as a fill-in dispatcher. She looked a lot more than curious as to what was going on. But all she said was, “Sure enough.” Tessa was glad she kept her questions to herself.

  “There’ll be some paperwork,” Jack said. “A simple consent form. Just sign your first name, since that’s all you’ve got at this point.”

  Ash shrugged. “Let’s get it over with.”

  “This way,” said Nelda.

  Ash turned to follow her.

  “And, Tessa.” Her uncle wrapped an arm across her shoulders as soon as Ash was out of sight and turned her around the way they’d come. “While Ash is busy, come on back to my office for a minute, will you?”

  “But I don’t—”

  “Only a minute.” He guided her back down the hall.

  In his office, he shut the door and gestured at the chair she’d sat in before.

  “I’ll stand, thanks.” She noticed that he didn’t sit, either. Apprehension tightened the muscles between her shoulder blades and made her stomach churn. So much for feeling great about everything. “What’s up?”

  “Tessa…” Her uncle didn’t seem to know what to say next. He hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Uncle Jack. You’re making me nervous. What is going on?”

  He looked at her, then, through those dark eyes that were every bit as sharp and knowing as her grandpa’s. “I have a suggestion.”

  “Um. Okay.”

  “Why don’t you let me take care of Ash?”

  What was he telling her? “Take care of him? I don’t—?”

  “We don’t know who he really is or where he came from, right?”

  “Right. So?”

  “So, we need to be realistic about this. Now that you’ve brought him here to the station, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to let us take over.”

  “Us?”

  “Sorry. I’ll take over for you. I’ll take total responsibility. I’ll see that he’s made comfortable until we can locate his family. You’ve done what you can for him. I think that’s great. But the best thing now would be for you to let me take it from here.”

  Suddenly she got the picture. It wasn’t a pretty one. “Oh. I get it. You think Ash might be an ax murderer or something.”

  “I never said—”

  “Uncle Jack, you didn’t have to say. You don’t want him staying with me because you’re afraid he’ll hurt me in some way. Well, take my word for it. He won’t.”

  “It’s just not that simple.”

  “Yes, it is. To me, it is. And I’m the one—along with Ash—who gets to make this decision.”

  “Tessa, it’s just not safe for you to—”

  “It is safe. And I don’t see how I can make myself any clearer. I’m not dropping Ash off with you. It’s not what I want. And it’s not what he wants.”

  “Tessa, you’re a kind-hearted woman—”

&nbs
p; “Stop. Just stop right there.” She almost felt sorry for him. Poor Uncle Jack. Trying to find a delicate way to say that she was a total loser when it came to men, trying to tell her how he was going to save her from herself. She leveled a dead-on look at him. “I want you to listen. Carefully.”

  “Tessa, you’re being naive about this and—”

  “Uncle Jack. Would you please do me the courtesy of listening to what I have to say?”

  He blew out a slow breath. “Fair enough. Talk.”

  “I can understand your concern. I truly can. But you have to see that if Ash was some kind of crook, he would never have agreed to come here to the station and talk to you. And he certainly wouldn’t be letting Nelda take his fingerprints as we speak.”

  Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, the way people do when they’re getting a headache. “If he has total amnesia about who he is and where he came from, the way he claims, then he has no idea whether he’s a criminal or not. And if he’s lying, well, you don’t know the kinds of things some of these con artists will pull, you have no idea how far they’ll go. You’re a nice girl from North Magdalene and—”

  “Enough.” She said it quietly, but something in her tone must have reached him, because he did fall silent and let her talk. “Ash is telling the truth. About everything. He’s no con artist. And as for me, I’m twenty-seven years old and fully capable of making my own decision about this. I’ve been snowed in with him since Saturday afternoon. He’s been nothing but good to me. Respectful and helpful. And kind. Something terrible happened to him. But I’m not jumping to the conclusion that it’s all his fault. Or that he’s out to use and abuse me. I just don’t believe that. I’ll never believe that.”

  “I think you’re being foolish.” Her uncle spoke gently, but the words still hurt.

  “Think what you want.” She held her ground. “This is my decision to make and you know it is.”

  At last, wearily, he gave in. “Just promise you’ll call me immediately if the guy does anything that scares you or gets you feeling the least uncomfortable.”

  “Certainly. If he scares me—which he won’t—you’ll be the one I call.” She felt torn—angry for Ash’s sake, yet also, on another level, aware that her uncle only wanted to protect her. “May I go now?”

  He reached for the door and pulled it open, stepping to the side, out of her way. “Be safe. Please.”

  “Thank you,” she told him grudgingly. “I will.” She longed to demand that he not call her dad—or, God forbid, Grandpa Oggie—about this. But she knew that her ordering him not to wouldn’t change his mind. If he felt it was his duty to call her father, he would.

  Foolish, he had called her. And naive. And maybe she was, though not about Ash. Her naiveté was in the way she’d dragged Ash in here, so confident she was doing the right thing for him.

  She should have known her uncle wouldn’t let her out of there without trying to talk her into walking away from Ash. Jack’s last name might be Roper, but by blood, he was a Jones. And when her dad learned that she had a stranger with no memory living in her house?

  Tessa wasn’t sure what would happen.

  But she had a very strong suspicion it wouldn’t be good.

  Chapter Eleven

  When the clerk finished taking digital impressions of his fingerprints, she sent Ash out to the waiting area. Tessa wasn’t there. He went to the mesh-reinforced glass doors that led to the parking spaces in front and looked out.

  Her red wagon was parked where they’d left it. Apparently, she was still in the station. But where?

  He no sooner thought the question than someone buzzed the door that led into the main part of the station. He turned as Tessa emerged.

  She came to him wearing a forced smile. “Ready to go?”

  Something had happened back there. He waited for her to tell him what. But they went out and got in the wagon and headed for Grass Valley, all without another word from her.

  The highway was a twisty one, curving around mountains, winding down into canyons, over bridges that crossed deep river gorges and then winding back upward to the crest of the next the hill. Snowplows had cleared the way, but it was still frozen and potentially dangerous on most of the turns. She concentrated on her driving and Ash kept his questions to himself throughout the ride.

  Eventually, they turned onto a wider highway and passed a town called Nevada City.

  Tessa spoke at last. “We’re almost there. Nevada City and Grass Valley are sister cities. Both started as goldmining towns, way back when. North Magdalene, too…”

  Minutes later, they were pulling into the hospital parking lot. She quickly found a space. Turning off the engine, she took the key from the ignition with another too-bright smile. “Ready?” She leaned down and grabbed her purse from near his feet.

  He reached across to her door and caught her hand before she could pull on the handle.

  Color bloomed up from under the high collar of her turtleneck sweater. “What?” All fluttery-eyed and innocent.

  “Talk to me.”

  She cleared her throat. “About…?”

  “Tessa. I have to tell you. You’re really lousy at pretending nothing’s bothering you when something is.”

  “I…um…”

  “Come on. Give it up.”

  With a sad little groan, she sagged forward until her forehead met the steering wheel. He waited. He knew she would tell him eventually.

  Finally, she dragged her shoulders up and sat straight in the seat. “Uncle Jack called me back to talk to me alone. He’s suspicious of you.”

  Was he surprised? Not in the least. “So what? I’m suspicious of me.”

  She made a tight sound in her throat. “Well, I’m not.”

  “That’s just…how you are.”

  “Foolish, you mean? And naive?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  “Come on. You have to see it through his eyes. Some guy without even a last name is staying with you, mooching off you. Hell. I could be an ax murderer, for all we know.”

  She sent him a sharp look. And then she burst out laughing.

  He scowled at her. “I don’t think that’s especially funny.”

  She waved a hand. “Oh, it’s just, well, that’s what I said.”

  “That you thought I was an ax murderer?”

  She punched him lightly on the arm. “No. That you weren’t an ax murderer or anything like that.”

  “I’ll bet the sheriff found that reassuring,” he muttered drily.

  “Yeah. Well. Maybe not. The point is, I told him I trusted you and that you would never do anything to harm me.”

  “Let me guess. He wasn’t buying.”

  “Right.”

  “Tessa, he’s a cop. It’s his job not to trust strangers.”

  “Whatever. In the end, Uncle Jack and I agreed to disagree. And that’s all, that’s the whole story.” She reached for the door again.

  He caught her hand first. “So what’s worrying you?”

  “I didn’t say anything was worrying me.”

  Ash simply stared at her. Waiting.

  She opened her purse and slid her keys into a pocket inside. Then she snapped it shut. “Okay. It’s just…you would have to know the men in my family. Uncle Jack will probably call my dad. And my dad’s not going to like it, that you’re staying with me—not after Uncle Jack gets through explaining how you don’t know who you are and you could be dangerous. And when my dad doesn’t like something, well, he takes action.”

  He caught her sweet face between his hands. “It’s okay. I’ll find somewhere else to stay.”

  “No.” Her eyes were so bright. And her strong chin was set. “Don’t you dare. I mean it. Don’t you dare let them chase you away from me.”

  “They’re only thinking of your welfare.”

  “So am I. I want you with me, Ash. For as long as this crazy, wonderful thing betw
een us lasts. For as long as you want to be with me.”

  “But you have to consider—”

  She shut him up by leaning in and kissing him. Hard. When she pulled away, she fiercely declared, “All I have to consider is do I want you with me and do you want to be there? I know the answer for my part of the question. I want you to stay with me. What about you?”

  “Tessa…”

  She surged forward and caught his mouth again in a kiss as hard and insistent as the one before. But that time, she didn’t pull back right away. Instead, she sighed and her body swayed closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and the kiss turned slow and sexy.

  And hot.

  Eventually, he was the one who took her shoulders and put her gently but firmly back in the driver’s seat.

  They were quiet for an endless minute or two.

  Finally, so softly, she asked, “Well?”

  “If you’re sure…”

  “I am.”

  “All right. Yeah. I want to be with you. It’s the one single thing in all this insanity of which I have no doubt.”

  The visit to the E.R. took a lot longer than the talk with Jack Roper. There were piles of papers to fill out and nothing much to fill them with. There were questions about who was going to pay the bill. Tessa said she would.

  Ash drew the line on that one. “Absolutely not.”

  In the end, although they had no guarantee that Ash would ever be able to pay, they didn’t turn him away. He was led to an exam room where a nurse took his vitals and then a Dr. McKinley came in to perform an extensive exam.

  The doctor, a serene fortyish brunette, said that other than the little issue of his amnesia, he seemed to be recovering from whatever had happened to him. Still, to be on the safe side, she ordered a CT scan.

  The results showed that he had, literally, cracked his skull. And yes, there had been subdural bleeding. But he’d been lucky. “Very, very lucky,” said Dr. McKinley. She had the film of his skull mounted on a light box and she pointed to the injured area. “The bleeding has stopped—you can see this right here.” She traced a spot on the film. “Most of the blood has been reabsorbed.”