Page 29 of Hunted in Hope Town

But he’d convinced himself he’d make it up to her. He’d fix it when he got back, when he did what he had to do—a driving, desperate need. He could see now that he’d been wrong, but that’s what he’d thought in the moment.

It hadn’t been fear. The plan had always been to have a family. Why would he suddenly be afraid of something that he’d always wanted? At least with Kirsten.

Why should he believe the woman who had a traumatic brain injury over his own recollections?

But it sat there, a piece of sand, irritating and impossible to remove. Like it was a better label for all those feelings than seeking external validation.

“Are you lying to me because—”

His temper snapped, frayed at the edges, but he held it in. And spoke through gritted teeth. “I am not lying about anything.”

“You’ve been lying to me for two years.”

That accusation landed hard, and for a few humming moments he could only stare at her. Her brown eyes narrowed. Her mouth a hard line.

Lied to her? When he’d done everything…anything and everything to keep her alive and well and safe?

From something that was your fault, remember?

He stood abruptly. “Thank you for making dinner. I’ll handle cleanup.”

She didn’t immediately say anything to that. Not then, and not when he started collecting dishes and heading to the tiny sink. She sat there the entire time he washed every last dish by hand. He could feel her eyes on him.

But she said nothing. She did nothing. And now that the dishes were done, he sure as hell didn’t know what to do. He needed to get some work done, but he didn’t know how to leave this space, this room, without it feeling like some kind of…fight.

It wasn’t a fight. They didn’t fight.

No, she gets quiet and you walk away.

Well, then things were back to normal after all.

Chapter Eleven

She hadn’t really known what to do. He’d left the kitchen, gone to his room. He’d left the door open, so she could have followed him in, demanded…something.

But she was left in anger and confusion.

If he was lying—why? If he wasn’t lying, why did she remember the fight so clearly in her head if it didn’t exist?

She supposed this muddled, impotent, awfulness was why Dr. Leigh had cautioned Ellis not to discuss their past.

Or Dr. Leigh is the reason you received that threatening letter.

The idea of that just made her sick to her stomach. She’d been weak and helpless. She’d been like an infant, and she’d trusted Dr. Leigh wholly and fully, never once considering there might be something menacing behind the woman.

So if there was?

She shook her head. She couldn’t undo the past—not the one she didn’t remember or the one she did. She had to move forward with whatever knowledge and memories she could scrabble together and work from there.

Luckily, she’d been working on that for the past two years. And maybe everything would be ten times easier if she could remember everything, but there was nothing to do about it right now. No magic way to remember things—except make Ellis talk to her about things. She did remember when he started supplying her with background information.

And she remembered that damn fight.

Since I’m not the one with a traumatic brain injury, I think I’ll take my own word for it.

She supposed he had a point there, but then why did she remember it so clearly? Maybe not him, but the words she’d said. The knowledge she was right. He wasn’t running toward glory. He was running away from a family. From being a father. Because he was scared.

She supposed it hardly mattered. There was a threat against her, and maybe him too. She didn’t really remember enough to think they’d go back to being married and having that family they’d planned on.