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He studied her for a minute. “Dr. Liam Campbell. ”
Somehow she knew that wasn’t right. She looked around the room, at the photographs along the window that she hadn’t bothered to look at, and the bottles of fragrant spices, at the lovely pond filled with slick black rocks. She knew without knowing that this was the man who’d played the endless stream of her favorite songs. He was the one who’d given her something to hang on to through all that darkness.
And it was this man—this stranger with the sad, familiar eyes—who’d been here at her bedside for all those days, talking, touching, waiting. She could remember the feel of his hand stroking her hair while she slept, and the sound of his laugh. Somehow she knew that, too. She knew that he had a booming, throaty laugh that filled a room and begged you to join in.
“I remember how you laugh,” she said, amazed.
That seemed to please him. He smiled. “The memories will come like that, in bits and pieces. ”
“Who are you?”
“Dr. Li—”
“No. Who are you to me?”
His whole body seemed to deflate, to sink into that ugly chair. Slowly he stood up and reached for her left hand. He caressed her fingers, so tenderly that her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t remember ever being touched in just such a way, and then something came to her, some half-formed memory that couldn’t quite be reached. “This ring,” he said quietly. “I put it on your finger ten years ago. ”
She stared down at the ring. A wedding ring. “You’re …” She couldn’t seem to form the word.
“I’m your husband. ”
It was incomprehensible. “But … Julian …”
“Julian was your first husband. ”
She panicked. First a child, now a husband. How much had she forgotten? How much more was out there?
She stared at him, shaking her head in denial. She wanted to say It can’t be, but in the last few days, she knew that anything could be. “How could I forget such a thing? How could I have … no feeling for you at all?”
He flinched, and in that tiny expression of pain, she knew it was true. “Don’t worry about it, babe,” he said. “It’s okay not to remember. ”
“I—I don’t know what to say to you … Liam. ” She tried out the name on her tongue, but nothing came with it. It was just a collection of vowels and consonants that had no meaning.
He touched her face. “It’s okay. ”
But it wasn’t okay. It was a long, long way from okay. This man was her husband, her husband, and she had no feelings for him whatsoever. He was her family now, what she’d done for the past ten years. At some point she must have stopped loving Julian and started loving this gentle, quiet man. But what would happen now that she only remembered the love for Julian?
She tried to smile at him, but it was a trembling failure. “Tell me about our life together. ” These were the words that slipped from her lips, but what she meant was Make me love you again …
He smiled, and she knew he was recalling a memory that was now his alone. “You were a nurse then. I first met you when you cared for my father …” He looked at her. “Do you mind if I hold your hand?”
It surprised her, that request. There was something so … gentle and old-fashioned about it. She couldn’t help thinking how different he was from Julian. Jules would never ask; it would never occur to him that his touch might not be welcomed. “Okay, sure,” she said.
Their gazes met and held. She felt awkward suddenly, confused by this man who was both a stranger and her husband.
Husband.
“Kinda weird, huh?” he said with a crooked, nervous grin.
She smiled in return and leaned toward him, studying his face, searching for something, some vagrant memory. But there was nothing. Still, he had the kindest eyes she’d ever seen. “This must be hard on you,” she said softly.
“The coma was harder. ”
Somehow she didn’t think so. “Are you the one … did you call Julian?”
“Yes. ”
“I don’t understand. If you and I are married now, why would you do that?”
