by K. C. Crowne
This was all so damn strange. Why was I taking photos of Wyatt and the house?
I continued, finding more and more pictures of him, all taken at different times. My heart raced and my eyes were wide. This would be the perfect time for some damn memories to come back. I glanced around for the wallet Wyatt had found on me the night he’d rescued me. I grabbed it, opened it, and dug through, but there was nothing other than my license, a gift card to a popular clothing store found all over the U.S., and other random items. No debit card, no credit card, no cash. How the hell did I pay to get myself here?
The day I’d returned from the hospital with no memory, I’d felt safe with Wyatt and his family and had pushed the thought of my memory loss away. I didn’t want that fear to stay in my head or heart, so I hadn’t let it. But this mystery was deepening. After dinner the previous night, Emily had announced that she’d dug through all the social media on her phone, specifically Facebook, and could find no profile for the Jessica Whitman who was staying at her house. A common name, sure, but she said she’d flipped through dozens of profiles looking for my face and hadn’t found it.
Who am I? I wondered as I picked the camera up again and stared at it. I flipped through the gallery again, looking for any pictures other than the ones of Wyatt and the ranch, but there were none. Frustrated, I stared at one particularly handsome picture of Wyatt as guilt filled me.
A knock sounded at the door and I gasped, nearly dropping the camera. The knock had to be Wyatt. I couldn’t tell him about this camera. What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, check out this camera full of pictures of you and your ranch I found?’ It’d seem strange to him as well, and he’d want an explanation I couldn’t give.
I tucked the camera back into the compartment and zipped it up. Wyatt would need to know about it at some point, but it’d be better to wait until some memories returned from the recesses of my brain. Maybe the answer would be simple, but I wasn’t going to take any chances.
“You in there?” His deep voice was muffled through the door.
“Just a sec!” I closed the bag and zipped it up, giving myself a few minutes to try to calm myself. I stepped in front of the mirror, smoothed my hair, and breathed in deeply a few times. When I felt I was ready, I moved to the door and opened it.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw Wyatt. He was as handsome and casual as ever, but it was still so strange to see him in person after looking through all those photos.
He tilted his head when he looked in my eyes, a concerned expression flitting onto his face. “You alright? Looks like you saw a ghost.”
“Oh, no. Just had a little too much coffee, feeling kind of jittery.”
I hated having to lie to him. Wyatt and the rest of the family had been nothing but kind to me from the moment I stepped through the door. Wyatt especially – I got the sense the things he’d told me about his past and his ex-wife and his father weren’t the kinds of things he spoke about normally. He was taking barriers down for me, and I was putting them up.
“Yeah, Mama G makes a strong cup. Gotta be careful with that stuff.”
I chuckled, hoping it sounded natural. “Noted. So, what’s up?”
“Seein’ what you were up to.” Realization flashed on his face. “Oh, and I’ve got some bad news.”
My brow furrowed. “Bad news? What kind of bad news?”
He gave me an easy smile that put me at ease. “I hope you didn’t have your heart too set on helpin’ the guys get the car out of the ditch. They went ahead and did it after lunch.”
“Oh, really?” Excitement blossomed in my chest.
“Really. Can’t blame ‘em – they’re chivalrous to a fault.” He shrugged adorably. “Anyway, it’s parked off to the side with the rest of the trucks. Probably good to go, but I’m gonna take a look at it before you try to drive it. I wanna make sure you’re safe in it.”
Of course he did. In addition to being kind, he was also protective. Nothing but good traits with this one.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” I knew exactly what he was going to say, but I said it anyway.
“Nah, it’s no problem. I don’t get much of a chance to work on mechanical stuff much these days. It’ll be fun for me – consider it a favor.”
“Sure. A favor.” I winked hugely at him, letting him know I knew what he was doing.
He grinned broadly, then said, “Somethin’ else, too. Mama G’s not feeling too well.”
“Oh no,” I said, concerned. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. She has a tendency to push herself too hard now and then. She’ll be right as rain once she gets her beauty sleep.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Anyway, that means she’s not gonna be cookin’ dinner tonight. The boys are goin’ into town to grab a bite, but I was thinkin’ it might be fun for us to make dinner together. Just somethin’ simple for the two of us.”
I loved the idea. Good food and some quality time with Wyatt. Alone. What wasn’t to like?
“That sounds great. What’d you have in mind?”
“I’m open for debate on the subject but mentioning my mama’s meatloaf the other day got it stuck in my mind. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Alright then.” He nodded and pushed himself off the doorjamb where he’d been leaning. “I’ll be doin’ a little readin’ in the study. Come find me when you get hungry.”
“Will do.”
He started off, but before he did, he paused. Wyatt cocked his head to the side, giving me a once-over. There was a curious expression on his face. “Something up?”
“No.” Lying again. Nothing to be done about it now.
“Alright.” He accepted my answer without question, and my guilt ramped up. “Well, only thing about the meatloaf is that we somehow managed to go through all the stored tomatoes in the cellar. I make a mean homemade ketchup, so if you’re up for a quick trip into town we can pick some up.”
“That sounds great.” A mini road trip with Wyatt? Hell yes. “Why don’t we go now?”
He smiled. “If you’re ready, I’m ready. Let’s hit it.”
We headed downstairs and out to Wyatt’s big truck. My car was there, just like he’d said, but it had seen better days. It was covered in mud, so dirty, in fact, I wasn’t sure if it was grey or silver. It didn’t appear to have any damage, though, so I guessed that was good. Unfortunately, seeing it brought no flash of memory like I hoped it might.
Just like before, Wyatt placed his hand on the small of my back as he helped me into the truck. Such a damn gentleman.
We drove into town, chatting about nothing in particular. It was the kind of fun, easy conversation you could have with someone you’re comfortable with. I’d only known Wyatt for a couple of days, and I was so comfortable with him already.
We made it to town faster than I expected, and the streets of Patterson were much more bustling than they’d been when we’d come through on the way to the hospital. It was such a charming little town, the streets clustered with mom and pop stores.
“Thinkin’ we can park a little ways away,” Wyatt told me. “Take a walk through town.”
“Perfect.”
He parked on the far end of the main strip and we got out. We strolled through town, Wyatt taking the time to tell me about the points of interest and a little bit of town history. As we walked, he took my arm, holding me at his side as we meandered casually down the sidewalk. I loved being at his side, and I loved the way he made me feel so safe and protected just by being near.
He steered me toward the general store, which was packed with Patterson residents there to stock up for the next big storm, which I’d heard one of Wyatt’s brothers say had a chance of hitting soon. Wyatt and I picked out a few things, making sure to grab a big bag of fresh tomatoes.
When we were done, we headed back to the truck. We walked in silence, simply enjoying one another’s company. God, all I wanted was for him to stop, turn, an
d plant a big kiss on my lips. But he didn’t. Damn his sense of self-control. I considered making the move, but I knew he’d only stop and tell me it wasn’t a good idea.
Once we were back at the house, we headed into the kitchen and set to work.
“Alright,” Wyatt started. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. But you have to promise to keep it to yourself. It’s not somethin’ I tell to just anyone.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“It’s the secret to Mama G’s meatloaf.” He reached into the cupboard and took out a small bottle of brown spice. “Cinnamon.”
I laughed. “Is that right? Cinnamon and meat don’t really seem like the best pair.”
“You’d think so, but put them together and…” He did the chef-kissing-lips gesture. “It’s pure magic.”
“I’ll have to taste it to believe it.”
“You will.” He winked and turned to the ingredients. “Now, let’s get started.”
For the next hour we worked on creating the magical meatloaf. Wyatt walked me through the process, outlining all the steps of Ginny’s famous concoction. While we cooked, we couldn’t keep our hands of each other. It seemed like every other second, he was touching me or I was touching him. There was no denying something was happening between us.
“Got a little somethin’ right there…” His gaze fixed at a point on my face. He stuck his finger out and dabbed something off. I laughed. I wanted to smear myself in ketchup if that would get him to touch me again, but I refrained, hard as it was.
Before too long we had one delicious meatloaf in front of us and a big bowl of mashed potatoes on the side. We set the big farmer’s table for just the two of us, and even lit a little candle for the middle while we were at it.
Wyatt finished off the set up with a bottle of wine from the cavernous cellar below the house. He portioned out a big slice for each of us and dolloped them with some of his home-made ketchup, and I added mashed potatoes on the side.
“Alright,” he said, pointing at my plate with his fork. “Give it a try.”
I was excited. I carved off a small piece and topped it with some ketchup. I lifted the tangy beef up to my mouth and took a bite. Damn, damn, damn it was good. Tender and moist and flavorful. I could taste the cinnamon just enough to add a kick.
“I’d ask what you think, but I can tell by the way your eyes lit up that you love it.”
“I can’t believe how good this is! I’ve always thought of meatloaf as one of those blah kinds of foods.”
“Nothing blah about this.” He shook his head. “Damn, I do good work in the kitchen, don’t I? Maybe I’m in the wrong line of work.”
“We do good work in the kitchen, buddy,” I reminded him.
“Fine, fine. I suppose you helped out a little.” He flashed me that sly grin of his.
“Sure, sure.”
He took a bite, watching me as he did. “You know, the way your eyes light up when something surprises you? It’s pretty damn gorgeous.”
My heart warmed at his words. “Thanks. Can’t really help it.”
“Shouldn’t do anything about it if you could.”
I sipped my cabernet and took another bite of the meatloaf – it was as delicious as the first. But right on my third bite I thought of that damn camera.
Wyatt and I were having so much fun, but upstairs was something that threatened to ruin all of that. What would he think about me having a camera full of pictures of him? Would he think I was some kind of stalker? Worse than that, was I some kind of stalker? At the very least he’d think I was a liar. Judging by the way things were between him and his ex-wife, that didn’t seem to be a trait he appreciated.
“Got somethin’ on your mind?”
“Oh, nothing.” Another lie. I was worried about how quickly I was able to say them.
“Hm.” He looked away, and I wondered if he could see through me. “Just know that if there’s anything you wanna tell me about anything, you can do it. Let’s try not to have any secrets between us.”
“OK.” Only the one word.
He nodded and went back to his food.
I forced down a few more bites, my stomach tense with worry. All I could think about was whether Wyatt knew something was up, and if not, how he’d react when he did.
Wyatt
“You gotta be kiddin’ me!”
I took pride in my ability to keep my cool. But not with Amy. I had no qualms about letting her know how I felt. After all I’d been through with her, I wasn’t going to concern myself with hurting her damn feelings.
“You’re being a child.” Her voice was the exact tone she liked to take on the phone with me, that prim, ice-cold way of speaking. I couldn’t stand it.
“Listen Amy. I’ve been as patient as possible in this entire process. You’re making this difficult when it doesn’t need to be. You got a damn good settlement in the divorce, along with the shit you stole from us, so just go the fuck away.”
She laughed. More of a cackle, really. “You really think I got what I deserved, Wyatt? Please.” She scoffed, a harsh sound that grated. “You have way more money that I should be entitled to and you know it. You lowballed me.”
“What I gave you was more than fair. Hell, it was more than what the lawyers proposed.”
“But it’s not what I deserve.”
“You wanna know what you deserve Amy? Not a damn thing, in my opinion.”
Her voice changed because she knew she was losing. She tried to appeal to a sensitive side I didn’t think existed anymore, thanks to her. “Come on Wyatt. We were happy once.”
“Yeah, before I knew every damn word out of your mouth was a damn lie.”
“Not everything. I never lied about the sex being incredible.”
If I were another kind of man, that attempt at insincere flattery might have worked. But I was the kind of man who’d seen every trick this woman had up her sleeve. That didn’t stop her from trying them again and again.
“Save it. You know you’re being unreasonable.”
“You can call it unreasonable; I call it me going after what a wife is due.”
“You honest to God think you’re entitled to half my family’s hard earned fortune? Not just my money, but everyone else’s?”
“Of course. They were horrible to me throughout our marriage. It’s called pain and suffering,” she scathingly stated. “You can either pony up or I’ll continue to be a thorn in your paw, cowboy. Your call.”
“You’re out of your goddamned mind, you know that, Amy?”
I sucked in a slow breath, doing my best to stay calm. She was exercising all the restraint I had, however. Almost as much restraint as when I’d pulled back from kissing Jess. Damn, how was I thinking about her at a time like this? But there she was, in my head. I knew for sure she was the woman I’d rather be talking to.
“Well then,” she pouted. “It appears we’ve reached something of an impasse.” Silence hung in the air. “What do you propose we do about this, Wyatt?”
“It’s easy. Take the more than generous amount of money you got in the divorce and leave me the fuck alone.” I cut her off before she tried to speak again. “I’ll take you to court if I have to.”
She laughed. “You want to make this a courtroom dogfight? Trust me, I’d love nothing more.”
“You really think you’d have a chance with your case? You tried to steal my money!” I exclaimed in exasperation. “Oh, and let’s not forget about the things you stole on the way out.”
“You think I stole those things? That stuff was in the house, which meant they belonged to both of us. Legally, I had a right to much, much more.”
I grit my teeth and spoke, ready to bring up the subject I really didn’t want to get into. But the woman left me no choice. “If you’re gonna force this, I’ll be happy to bring up the shit you were gettin' up to behind my back.”
She scoffed. “Wyatt, please don’t tell me you’re still hung up on those meaningless flings I had.
They meant nothing, just a way to get to you.”
“Hell of a way to put breaking marriage vows and steppin’ out on me time and time again. Should’ve broken it off the first time I found out you were cheatin’. Damn fool I was for believin’ you when you said you were sorry.”
“My apologies for wounding your delicate male ego,” she said flippantly. “But like I said, they meant nothing.”
The woman was beyond unreasonable. Every time I talked to her I wondered what the hell I’d ever seen in her. Maybe her lying through her teeth about everything had something to do with it.
“You wanna keep what you stole? Fine. Go ahead, won’t contest one missin’ piece of china. But there’s no way on Earth that you’re gettin' half of what my family has. I won’t stand for it.”
“OK, then I’ll just have to revert to more…drastic measures.”
I didn’t like where this was going. Not one bit. Amy was bloodless and calculating when she wanted to be. And that was often.
“Like what?”
“Well, let’s say we take this to court. You might have the upper hand in some ways, sure. And you might have a hell of a war chest you can use to pay for all the big shot Houston lawyers you want. But you’ll see how useless that all is when I’m up on the stand, tears in my eyes, telling them how cruel and violent you were with me.”
“Like hell you will. That’s a damn lie and you know it!”
“I would. And hell, maybe I won’t even wait to go to court. Maybe I’ll go to whatever newspaper I can find and tell them that none other than Wyatt Walker himself, heir to the Walker fortune, is hardly the dashing cowboy everyone seems to think he is.”
I never liked that the papers seemed to take an interest in me and my brothers. Guess they found something interesting about rich cowboys. But that didn’t matter. What Amy was threatening was beyond the pale.
Her sickening threats continued. “Maybe I’ll pull the emotionally abusive husband card? Tell them you’d get all liquored up off your nightly whiskey and call me every name in the book.”