by Linda Conrad
“You didn’t know,” she said, rubbing uselessly at his sleeve.
He drew in a deep breath. “No. I did know something, if only I’d just paid attention. I knew you loved me and I knew I loved you. That should’ve been enough.”
“You love me?” The adrenaline must be spiking inside her again, because she thought she was hearing things and her whole body began to shake.
“More than anything. It would’ve killed me to lose you. Literally. I can’t…I can’t live without you.
“Whatever your name is now, Rosie-Olivia, marry me and change it. In fact, marry me as soon as we clean up here. Today. Tomorrow at the latest. I’m never leaving you again.”
The tears started up again and Rosie damned her hormones. But laughing through the rolling rivers of salt on her cheeks, she managed to nod her head.
At last she would know for sure who she was. A woman worthy of respect and love. A woman so full of love for the man who provided it that she thought she might burst.
Epilogue
P leased with himself for getting the seventy-two-hour waiting period waived and arranging for the justice of the peace on short notice, Jericho stood with his best friend and watched as his new bride talked to his father and brother on the other side of the yard.
“Are we supposed to call her Olivia now that her amnesia is gone?” Clay asked as he poured himself a drink from the temporary refreshment table set up in Jericho’s backyard.
Rosie’s backyard now, too, Jericho thought with a secret smile. He was simply amazed at how peaceful, how settled he felt since she’d said yes. What a lucky bastard he was.
The governor was recovering from his injuries in the hospital jail, and many of the questions had already been asked and answered. The worst answer concerned finding the body of the reporter, Mary Beth Caldwell, in the trunk of Rosie’s car at the bottom of a ravine. Rosie’s testimony, the flash drive and the rest of the pending investigation would put Daniels away for good.
Tilting his head to Clay, Jericho answered, “Mrs. Yates will do for you.” A little sarcastic maybe, but then he allowed the smile to show. “Really, she says she prefers Rosie. But she’s willing to answer to either one.”
Clay nodded as he too looked across the lawn to where Rosie stood. “It’s nice your brother’s leave isn’t over yet so he could be here for your actual wedding. Family is so important at times like this.”
Clay sounded so down all of a sudden, not like himself at all.
“You okay?” Jericho asked.
“Yeah. It’s just…well, you know I’ve been writing to my brother, Ryder, in prison. My most recent letters came back as undeliverable.”
“What does that mean?” Jericho could see that the news had upset his friend. Maybe a lot more than he was letting on.
“Not sure.” Clay looked off at the sunset. “I’m planning on calling the warden to find out. But I’ve been a little hesitant, knowing it might be something I don’t want to hear.”
Jericho could understand that. Running instead of standing and listening was something he was real familiar with.
He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “No matter what it is, it’s better to know the truth. Let me know if you need my help.”
Rosie turned to him and their gazes met across the lawn. The thrill ran down his spine, landing squarely in his gut. Would it always be this way? The desperate hunger. The pulse-pounding wave of recognition when he looked her way.
As he walked toward her, he imagined it would probably last a lifetime. When he got close enough to put his arm around her waist, he was positive. This. This exhilaration and breathlessness would never go away.
“So, bro,” Fisher began. “You two planning on a hunting trip as a honeymoon?”
Jericho kept his gaze locked with his bride’s. “None of your business. Just let us handle the honeymoon.”
Moving closer to him, Rosie felt the warmth of her new husband’s love clear down to her toes. She stood, basking in both the sun and in the friendship and love she’d found with all these wonderful people.
What an amazing thing it was. Not more than two weeks ago she was a lonely, superficial woman with no family to speak of and no friends. Amazingly, if she’d given it any thought back then, she would’ve said she was happy. She’d had things, a prominent job and a part-time lover who had power and influence.
But deep down something big had been missing. She hadn’t been able to put her finger on it then, just as she hadn’t been able to come up with her past over the last days. But she’d kept on reaching—reaching for love as she now knew. And for family.
Family. She gazed at her handsome new husband and then at his loving and gentle father and brother who were chuckling at Jericho’s teasing. Well, she had a family now. A better one she never would’ve found.
Easing her hand over her belly in a protective motion, she reminded herself that there would be one more family member soon. A baby to love and cherish. How lucky could she be?
Smiling at her love, a secret smile that told him all that was in her heart, Rosie Yates decided all was right with the world at last. The sheriff’s amnesiac bride had found her mind…her place…her love.
And she meant to hang on to them forever.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2436-4
THE SHERIFF’S AMNESIAC BRIDE
Copyright © 2008 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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