Unforgettable Love
Page 1
Unforgettable Love
Inspiration Point Series: Book Two
By Kelsey MacBride
Contents
Book Description
AVAILABLE TITLES BY KELSEY MACBRIDE
Inspiration Point Series
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Preview of Book #1 Fall From Grace
Book Description
*This is Book #2 of 2 and the conclusion to the Inspiration Point Story. If you haven’t already downloaded the FREE preview of Book #1 Free to Love, click here to get it.*
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Unforgettable Love is the second Christian Romance book that offers the conclusion to the Inspiration Point Story and continues the story of Julie Petersen’s struggle to escape from a controlling mother and the clutches of a rich controlling fiancé who won’t stop at anything to make her his wife. This story highlights Julie’s miraculous escape from her fiancé, her rescue by the Berry sisters, her struggle with amnesia, and her struggle to find Mark, the man she loves.
In this second book, the Berry sisters find Julie Petersen washed ashore on the beaches of Catalina Island and discover she suffers from amnesia. The sisters welcome Julie into their home where their brother Aaron falls in love with Julie and tries to win her heart. But Julie doesn’t love Aaron the same way and she struggles to remember her past and the people most important to her, including Mark. Julie eventually returns home and James is determined to marry her in a matter of weeks before Julie remembers their troubled past. Julie battles feelings of doubt and confusion as the wedding date approaches.
When Mark discovers Julie is missing, he sets out to find her, knowing her fiancé is up to no good. He finally meets up with James, who puts on a convincing performance of a caring fiancé. James causes Mark to question Julie’s heart and her intentions, especially after James tells him Julie is involved with Aaron. Will Mark find out the real truth about James and reach Julie in time to share his real feelings? Or will he return home with a broken heart and miss out on the love of his life?
AVAILABLE TITLES BY KELSEY MACBRIDE
Inspiration Point Series
Free to Love: Book 1 (Free)
Glen Ellen Series
Fall From Grace: Book 1 (Coming Soon)
Saving Grace: Book 2 (Coming Soon)
Bradley Sister Series
Choices of the Heart: Lauren’s story (Free)
Desires of the Heart: Megan’s story
Passions of the Heart: Tiffany’s story
Redemption of the Heart: Katie’s story
Please visit www.KelseyMacBride.com for release dates of future books and to find out how to join my community of followers.
Copyright © 2015 by Kelsey MacBride
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Jimmy Gibbs.
Book design by Kelsey MacBride
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Kelsey MacBride
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: January 2015
New Prosperity Publishing, Inc.
ASIN-
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
This is book 2 in the Inspiration Point series and not a standalone novel. There are storylines that started in book 1 and will follow through to book 2. If this is the first book you’ve picked up in the series, and you want to enjoy this series to the fullest, please begin with book 1.
Free to Love (Free Download)
Chapter 1
Catalina Island, California
Julie Peterson woke up in bed and had no idea who she was. Prior to the last twenty-four hours, there was nothing but a dark black void. A few images blinked at her like they were lit by a strobe light, but as quickly as they appeared they faded away. There was no chance for her memory to grab hold, to hook the image and drag it into the middle of her mind where she could study it and look at it and finally say, ‘Yes, I remember.’
She blinked a few times and stretched her muscles as she tried to expand her thoughts back to something, anything that might make the light go on in the old attic. Letting out a sigh, she lay in the bed and stared.
It was just dumb luck that Karen and Cindy had found her. Karen and Cindy. They were Julie’s new friends. Her only friends at the moment who saved her life after finding her washed up on the beach.
Maybe Julie was a mermaid. Perhaps she suffered some kind of great trauma like getting knocked by a boat propeller, or perhaps she beached herself like whales sometimes do. She looked at her arms and flipped the blankets off her legs and looked at them. There were no wounds. No scratches or black and blue marks. Well, there went the mermaid theory. She was just a regular person who literally had no clue. Another deep breath helped pull Julie’s head off the pillow.
Cindy, who was the cool-headed and logical one of the two sisters, gave Julie a feeling of calm as if this kind of thing not only happened to people all the time but to her on a regular basis. There was nothing really all that weird about finding a woman unconscious on the beach, and, of course, she could stay for a few days, even weeks if necessary until she remembered or found someone who remembered her. It was probably this unshakable steadiness that made her a good fit for receptionist at the law firm she worked at.
Karen, on the other hand, was much more dramatic. She had tossed around ideas that perhaps Julie was escaping from drug dealers, or maybe she had been surfing and got knocked out by her own surfboard or that aliens abducted her from Oregon and dropped her on Catalina Island once they finished their bizarre experiments. Julie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at all the crazy notions Karen came up with.
That was probably why Karen was a travel agent. She could schedule the adventures of a lifetime for people all day, every day. It made Julie surprised Karen hadn’t come up with the mermaid theory first.
Looking at her face in the mirror over the dresser, Julie ran her hand through her hair. She was a stranger to herself. Maybe, she thought, since Karen could make travel arrangements, she could make plans for Julie to go away somewhere. If she didn’t know who she was or where she was from, then who was to say she wasn’t from Italy or France or Egypt or some other equally wonderfully exotic and mysterious place?
The little spare room was very plain, just like you would expect a spare room to look. It would normally be a blank canvas for a guest to add a few personals to make it their own for the time they would be staying. Perhaps a few books or magazines on the nightstand or clothes unpacked and arranged for the next few days’ adventures. There would at least be bottles of deodorant or perfume or toothpaste tubes or something to indicate how the guest liked to smell, what they preferred to taste when they were brushing their teeth, but there was nothing. Julie felt as blank and as lonely as this little room that was ignored most of the time until it was needed, li
ke now.
KNOCK! Knock, knock.
Instinctively, Julie pulled the sheets up to her neck and looked nervously at the door. She hadn’t closed it all the way, and she saw a shadow lurking behind it. The door slowly pushed open.
“Good, you’re up.” It was Karen and Cindy’s brother Aaron. She had met him yesterday as well. The three siblings shared the home together, and of the three, Aaron seemed to be the least sincere.
But, what could Julie possibly expect? His sisters had come home with a strange woman they found washed up on the beach like a piece of driftwood. She couldn’t say she entirely blamed him. But, there was something about him that made her a little uneasy. Not a scared for her life uneasy, but more like she knew he was looking at her, and his stare was not to see if she were suddenly going to flip out. It was a little more selfish than that. She got the feeling he thought she was pretty and didn’t really worry about her amnesia.
Now, here he was peeking into the room with a dumb look on his face like Julie had overslept or was expected at a meeting or something. It was annoying, and Julie hated herself for feeling that way because this family had extended such a courtesy to her.
“Yes, I’m up. Been awake for a little while,” she said, forcing a smile even though she was still a little groggy.
“Great. I’ve got breakfast and coffee. How are you feeling? Need any help?”
Help with what? she thought. Getting out of bed? Julie gave him a surprised look. He seemed to be nervous, anxious, giddy and hyper all at the same time. It was kind of cute and reminded Julie of the puppies at the pet store that danced on hind legs just for a quick scratch behind the ears. Obviously Aaron was looking for a little approval from his houseguest.
“No,” she said stretching the word out like you might if you were speaking to a child about to touch something hot. “Your sisters left me some clothes and said I could use their computer to check on the web for any news articles or anything that might shake my memory.”
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” he insisted, his grin held a sly motive that made Julie square her shoulders and narrow her eyes just slightly.
“I’m positive. I’ve got a lot of research to do if I’m going to find out who I am.”
“Well, there will be time for that. You can’t do it on an empty stomach. Come to the kitchen before the coffee gets cold.” And Aaron turned and left the room.
Julie laughed a little to herself. This guy was really trying. It would have been sweet if she didn’t have so many other things on her mind. Not really other things but other THING like remembering who she was and if there were other people looking for her. Aaron would have been a great prospect. He could cook, prepare breakfast at least. That was something. He was also obviously interested in her. But right now Julie just needed a friend.
Plus, how could he expect her to think of anything other than finding out who she was and what had happened? Maybe she only liked red-headed guys under five nine. Maybe she had a husband somewhere looking for her or children wondering where their mama was. She rubbed her stomach as that painful thought stuck with her. She was pretty sure she didn’t have any children. With tears starting to surface in her eyes at the thought of not knowing if she even had a family, Julie flung off the covers and got dressed. The sooner she started the day, the sooner she might trip over a clue or a hint or something that would lead her back home, wherever that was.
No. There was no time for romance of any sort. Not with Aaron, not with anyone. Aaron would realize this too as soon as she had a chance to talk to him.
The house she was staying in was quite a little palace. There were four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a lovely sitting area at the front of the house where the sun easily poured in, a family room that opened out onto a lovely patio overlooking the ocean and a cozy kitchen.
While Julie walked to the kitchen, slowly and quietly she looked at her hands. Maybe the key to unlocking her memory would be something that close. She looked at them and saw she had a manicure that was in pretty bad shape. Unfortunately, it was a plain old French manicure, done at every salon in the world. No fancy designs or jewel encrusted acrylic tips to tip her off where she might have gotten them done. There were no scars, no birthmarks, no pale skin where a wedding band might have been. Her hands were flawless.
She looked at her bare feet as she walked across the hardwood floor to the kitchen. They, too, had no distinguishing marks or scars to speak of. Her shoulders slouched a little until she smelled the aroma of the hot coffee percolating. It was as if a caged lion had just laid eyes on its handler and knew it was feeding time. Her stomach flipped and growled with anticipation. She didn’t even realize that she couldn’t remember when the last time was that she ate a meal.
“Hey, are you coming or what? Everything is getting cold,” Aaron yelled from the kitchen.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” Julie mumbled more to herself than for Aaron to hear. As she stepped into the kitchen, she saw Aaron leaning with his back against the counter and his arms folded over his chest with a look of pride and self-assurance on his face.
Julie gave a quick wave and slid into the seat she had taken the night before when she, Karen and Cindy came up with a plan for her to stay until she found family or friends who could take her back home.
When her eyes finally looked at the table, she was shocked. Not by the dozen pancakes, the wedges of French toast, the fresh fruit or the strips of bacon piled high on a pretty white plate. But, it was the bud vase in the middle of the table. She had seen that before. And as sure as she was sitting there, she had seen it recently.
Squinting her eyes, she tried to pull the memory into view but just couldn’t. But it was something. It was little, but it was something.
She smiled up at Aaron.
“I’ve seen this before,” she said proudly. “Somewhere not too long ago I was eating somewhere and there was a bud vase just like this with a flower just like this in it. I can’t see the table with dishes. But for sure I can see the bud vase.”
Aaron did little to hide his disappointment at her reaction.
“You’ve probably seen it a million times in movies and things,” he blurted out. “But, I know you’ve never had a breakfast spread like this before.”
He stepped forward, pulled out a linen napkin from the holder that was beside her plate and swept it across Julie’s lap.
“Dig in before it gets cold,” he said, leaning back against the counter and resuming his study of her features. “Did you sleep well?”
“To be honest, I slept, but it felt like a movie kept running over and over in my head. You know, like the old time movie projectors with reels? Sometimes the tape would skip or get hung up. That’s what it seemed like. There were frames of places and faces, but nothing would stick.”
Once she finished speaking, Julie could tell Aaron wasn’t interested in her finding out who she was as much as he was in finding out what she thought of him. So, she took a bite of bacon and sipped the coffee and had to admit it was all excellent. As she ate, Aaron filled in the space with many tales about himself.
“They realized I had a knack for management. You know, not everybody can get people to do what they want. It takes a special kind of person, you know. I’m not afraid of being the bad guy,” he said as she ate two pancakes.
“I usually work out a couple times a week. I do cardio on Mondays and Fridays and weight training on Tuesdays. It rounds out the week pretty well. Keeps me sharp. Focused,” he told her as she finished three pieces of bacon. He cracked his knuckles.
“The last thing I usually look at is the price tag. I mean, if you have to worry about how much something costs you probably shouldn’t be buying it, right? It’s that simple,” he said as Julie finished her cup of coffee and orange juice.
“You know, you have really beautiful hair. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“I don’t know, Aaron. I have amnesia. I can’t remember anything before yesterday.” She enj
oyed knocking him down a peg and watching his face go just a little blank for a second as he thought of how dumb his comment must have sounded.
“I, uh, well, yeah. Uh, I didn’t mean literally. I meant uh ...” he stumbled over his own words, trying to recover from looking a little stupid.
Julie stood up and smiled as best she could.
“Thank you for breakfast.” She began to clean up the table and again felt a warm wave of familiarity. “I’ve done this before, too.
“Done what?”
“I’ve done this. I’ve cleaned off tables. Not like at home but for people. Like at a restaurant. Yes,” she said, carefully stacking the dishes on her arms and slowly and carefully taking them to the sink.
“I don’t think I’m too good at it, but I can feel it. I did do it, and I was happy when I did.” She smiled and her eyes were sparkling with determination, and she felt her heart pounding with new life.
“Maybe that’s where you saw the bud vases?” Aaron offered.
Julie whirled around, smiling even bigger and pointing her finger at him.
“Maybe,” she said, hunching her shoulders as if she had just solved part of a mini-mystery.
“Well, you know the restaurant I manage, Hue, its right down the beach a piece. While you’re here, if you want to work, we are always looking for help.”
Aaron was a little different now. It was obvious this was what he was really like, a little nervous and awkward. It had to be hard for him since he was a manager at a place where people answered to him and gave him answers, and now he was thrown into a situation with a strange girl who washed up on the beach near his house.
“That would be ... great,” Julie said clapping her hands in front of her. “The last thing I want to do is just sit around. And I certainly don’t want you or your sisters to feel any more put out than you already might.”
Aaron shrugged, his confidence coming back as he felt like he just saved the day.
“It’s no problem. I call the shots there. Really.”