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She shook her head, her confusion and apprehension plain. “I don’t understand.”
As the man who’d taken it upon himself to be her guardian, it was his job to make her understand. No matter how painful the process, no matter that his revelations might trigger a flood of memories that would be the beginning of the end for them. He had to level with her, at least about her relationship with Chad, so she knew what kind of danger she was up against.
He sat in the chair next to hers at the table and took a long drink of his coffee for fortitude. “Before you moved to Oakland, you lived in Reno. Do you remember that?”
Her brow furrowed into a frown, as if she were trying to recall that time in her life. “Parts of it,” she said vaguely.
He waited a little longer for her to mull over the information he’d given her, but nothing seemed to click into place for her. Not yet, anyway.
He continued to feed her more facts, a little at a time so he didn’t overwhelm her. “You went to college at the University of Nevada, Reno, and you were dating a man by the name of Chad Freeman.”
She set her spoon in her half-eaten cereal and pushed the bowl aside, her appetite obviously gone. “The name…it’s familiar somehow.”
But she wasn’t placing the man’s name with a face…yet. Noah knew he had no choice but to connect the link for her. Reaching for the file folder he’d brought into the kitchen with him, he withdrew the photo her old landlady had given him. He was all too aware of the personal risk he was taking by showing her the picture, bringing Chad Freeman between them.
But his choices were limited, and he wasn’t about to sacrifice her safety for his own selfish desire to completely erase her past with a man who’d abused her. “This is Chad Freeman,” he stated, and forced himself to turn the picture around for her to see.
Her eyes widened, and her face paled. “Oh, God,” she croaked, visibly shaken. “He’s the man who cornered me in the restaurant.” She raised her gaze to Noah, panic and confusion etched across her expression. “And what am I doing in that picture with him?”
Seeing how traumatized she was by the photo, he tucked it back into the folder. “Like I said, you were dating him for a few years. He’s the man I believe is harassing you, Natalie.”
She shook her head in denial, her shock rendering her momentarily speechless.
He hated putting her through such emotional turmoil, but her life and future were at stake. “Natalie, honey, I need to know if you remember if this is the man you were running from before you were hit by the car.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her fingers to her temple, as if trying to conjure images in her mind. When she looked at him again, her distress was prominently stamped on her features. “I…I don’t remember!” Her breathing had grown labored. “Are you saying that an old boyfriend is stalking me?”
“All the evidence that I’ve been able to come up with leads to Chad.” He placed a comforting hand over hers, not surprised to find her skin cool and clammy to the touch. “He’s getting bolder in his attempts, and you need to know who and what is threatening you.”
“But why would he want to hurt me?”
Because Chad Freeman was a deranged son of a bitch who didn’t deal well with rejection, Noah thought bitterly. But he kept his own personal theory to himself, instead revealing to Natalie what he’d discovered from her landlady, Vivian. He explained how Chad had become more domineering of her and mentally abusive, and how his temper had exploded when she’d taken on a job as a showgirl to earn some extra money. When she’d broken off the relationship he’d stalked her and finally physically attacked her one night after work.
Disbelief and horror flashed in her gaze, and she abruptly stood up, her entire body stiff. “Why don’t I remember any of this?” she demanded, her tone high and shrill and near hysterical.
Concerned that the overload of information he’d given her, all of which she couldn’t recall, would cause her to have a nervous breakdown, he stood, too, ready to catch her if she fell apart. “According to the doctor who treated you the night of your accident, he explained that your retrograde amnesia could have been caused not only by a head injury, but by something traumatic you might have suffered before the accident, and that might have been Chad following you that night. As a result, your memory is blocking out your past with him and other recollections you might not want to remember.”
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“But I do want to remember,” she insisted angrily through clenched teeth, “because I can’t go on like this much longer!”
Unable to help himself, he gathered her into his arms, holding her close to soothe her anxiety and fears. “I’ve got Bobby working the case, along with me and Cole. We’re going to find him, Natalie,” he said fiercely. “And in the meantime, I’m going to do everything in my power to protect you.”
Unfortunately, despite his best intentions and resources, he knew she wouldn’t be completely safe until they caught Chad.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife,” the minister said, closing his Bible and looking up at Cole and Melodie with a smile. “You may now kiss your new bride.”
Sighing wistfully, Natalie watched as Cole lifted Melodie’s veil, gathered her into his strong embrace and gave her a kiss that had the congregation of family and friends applauding their new marital status. Flanking the happy bride and groom as best man and maid of honor were Cole’s two siblings, Noah and Joelle, who were beaming with pride.
Joelle’s husband, Dean, had opted out of the wedding party in order to take care of his daughter, and he sat next to Natalie in the second pew from the front with five-month-old Jennifer perched on his lap. During the ceremony he’d kept the baby quiet with a bottle, but now the little girl seemed to know it was time to celebrate the joyous occasion and wanted to add to the good cheer. She waved the rattle her daddy had put into her pudgy hand, shaking the noisemaker with enthusiasm and squealing delightedly for good measure.
Natalie laughed, completely charmed by the sweet baby and the obvious affection between father and daughter. Dean was a doting daddy, and she felt so fortunate to be a part of the close, loving dynamics of the Sommers family.
After the upsetting day she’d had yesterday since discovering that a sadistic ex-boyfriend was stalking her, and after experiencing vague recollections of her past with Chad throughout the afternoon and evening, Natalie was grateful for the reprieve of Cole and Melodie’s wedding. Despite the occasional concerned glance Noah cast her way to make sure she was doing okay, the day was filled with joy, laughter and an abundance of smiles, and the cheerful atmosphere made her forget about her own problems for a little while.
With the ceremony over, the wedding party and guests poured out of the church and followed the bride and groom to a nearby country club for the reception. The ballroom was huge, filled with white satin streamers, iridescent balloons and lush, fragrant floral bouquets on every table. Cole and Melodie sat up on a higher platform, just the two of them, while the bridesmaids and groomsmen were able to sit at a reserved table up front with their significant others.
