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Her entire body froze. There was so much emotion etched on the man named Liam’s face. The way he was looking at her caused something to tighten in her chest. There had been a look of absolute shock, followed by an expression of such joy that it made her want to sob. The sheriff hadn’t told her anything about who this man was, but she knew instinctively that he had been a huge part of her life. His reaction to her presence spoke volumes.
“Ruby!” Liam’s voice sounded raspy and filled with surprise. He moved toward her with his arms open. She took a step backward, overwhelmed by the thought of being touched by a stranger. The sheriff held him back, and Ruby heard him say, “She doesn’t remember you, Liam.”
Liam let out a strangled sound that caused her to flinch. It was infused with pain.
Liam. It was a nice name. Strong. Solid. He was good-looking. Rugged. He had dark brown, chin-length hair. His warm, blue eyes radiated an intensity that unnerved her. He was tall, with a rangy build. And he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.
She shifted from one foot to the other, feeling the heat from his intense gaze, folded her arms across her chest and watched the interaction between the two men. She was good at picking up on cues. It was a skill she had honed ever since her amnesia diagnosis. These men were close. Brothers or best friends, she imagined.
Liam ran a shaky hand over his face. “W-what are you talking about, Boone?”
The sheriff still had a hold on Liam. They were face-to-face, staring each other down. Electricity crackled in the room. What had Sheriff Prescott told Liam over the phone?
“She showed up here looking for any information we could provide about her past or family connections. From what I’ve been able to piece together, she sustained a head injury that led to amnesia. She was living in a remote area of Colorado until a recent move to Denver.” Boone let out a sigh. “I couldn’t believe it when she walked into my office.”
Liam shook his head as if in disbelief. His face held a dazed expression. He swung his eyes back to her. “Ruby,” he said, brushing off the sheriff’s grip. He took two steps toward her. She held her ground without retreating. “I can’t believe it’s you. I feel like I’m dreaming. You’re back!”
“I don’t remember you. Or this town,” Ruby blurted. She tilted her chin up, locking gazes with him. “I’m sorry,” she said in a brusque voice. “But you need to know that before you get your hopes up.”
His face fell. It made her want to cry to see him so torn up inside. And to know that it was due to her. But she wasn’t going to mince words. Raising his hopes would be cruel.
“What do you remember?” he asked, his voice sounding ragged.
“Flashes. Moments. Bits and pieces. Something about this town feels familiar. My name,” Ruby said. “Although for a long time I couldn’t remember it, so I came up with another name for myself.”
The sheriff moved forward. “Her doctors said it’s retrograde amnesia.”
“Retrograde amnesia,” Liam mumbled. He appeared to be a bit dazed. “I—I don’t understand.”
/> “In my case they theorized that due to a head trauma I lost all my memories from before the accident,” Ruby explained. “I get flashes from time to time, but they’re disconnected and not grounded to anything solid. Sometimes it feels like a really fast slide show.”
Liam met her gaze. “Will the memories eventually come back?”
Ruby shrugged. “Some people do recover their memories, but the doctors have told me there’s no way of knowing whether mine will return.”
“So you don’t remember marrying me? Or being my wife?” Liam asked. His jaw trembled.
“A-are you really my husband?” she asked. She jutted her chin in Boone’s direction. “He wouldn’t tell me anything when he called you. He wouldn’t even tell me who he was on the phone with. Needless to say, I don’t like being kept in the dark. It’s pretty much been the story of my life for the last few years.”
“My name is Liam Prescott. I’m Sheriff Prescott’s brother. And, yes, you’re my wife,” Liam said. Tears misted in his eyes. He ran his hand over his face. “I’m so sorry, Ruby, that you don’t remember any of this.”
Although on some level she knew there was a possibility this man was her husband, just hearing the words come out of his mouth served as a jolt.
Ruby couldn’t help but let out a gasp. The news made her feel wobbly. She should have been prepared for this since the slight indentation on her ring finger had caused her to question whether she was a married woman. But where was her ring? Had she lost it during whatever traumatic incident had caused her amnesia?
And why else would the sheriff have called Liam down here? Liam’s emotional reaction made perfect sense now. He was a man whose wife had been presumed dead for several years. And now she was back with no warning and nothing to prepare him for the startling sight of her.
“If you’re my husband, then who is Aidan?” she whispered. It was staggering to find out that this gorgeous, emotional and rugged man belonged to her. Although she had always had a niggling sensation of having been married, there had been no flashes of this man or events from their life together.
Liam’s blue eyes lit up. Relief swept across his features. “So you do remember something? You remember Aidan?”
She shook her head, her long hair swirling about her shoulders. “No, I don’t. I’ve been wearing this. At first I thought it might be my name even though it sounded masculine.” She held up the necklace that had been hidden from sight under her winter coat. The name Aidan had been etched on the gold pendant in flowery script.
Emotion flickered in his eyes. “I gave that to you as a birthday gift. You wore it every day without fail.”
“What does it mean? Who is Aidan?” she asked, voicing the question she’d been asking herself for two years. The necklace had become important to her—it had been the only tangible thing tying her to the life she couldn’t remember.
Liam seemed to be searching her eyes for clues. “He’s our child, Ruby. Yours and mine.”
