and it will keep Caroline calm so that she can heal, then I’ll do it.”
There, that sounded plausible enough, even to his own ears. After several more rounds of “Are you sure?” followed by Craig’s growing insistence, he eventually found himself sitting on the miserable plastic chair beside her bed in the exam room, drinking cold coffee and scrolling on his smartphone for the latest feed and grain reports. It wasn’t the same as getting out to the other ranches and talking directly to his fellow cattlemen, but he couldn’t just blow off all his work duties to sit around playing nurse.
Normally, he rarely used the device except for making calls and often told his brothers that any cattleman worth his salt didn’t rely on fancy gadgets that could easily get busted working on the ranch. If Craig was in the field and needed information off the internet, he usually just asked his brother Rob or waited until he could use the computer at the house. However, now that their father had been bitten with the technology bug and insisted on sending group texts with links to online articles, Craig found himself a reluctant user.
“Do you think I could have one of your Life Savers?” Caroline’s soft voice was so unexpected that Craig dropped his phone, its reinforced hard-shell case preventing the screen from cracking on the tile floor.
“Huh?” Craig asked, then wanted to kick himself for sounding like such a dope.
“One of your Life Savers.” Caroline pointed to the front pocket of his shirt, where he always stashed a roll of his favorite cherry-flavored candy.
His chin dropped toward the empty pocket. Okay, now that was weird. He’d had less than half a roll when he’d left his brother’s house this morning and then had nervously plowed through the rest of them by the time Caroline had undergone her MRI. Since she’d never been conscious during any of the times he’d popped one into his mouth, there was no way for her to be aware of his little sugar habit.
“How do you know about my Life Savers?” he asked, trying his best not to completely disregard the doctor’s instructions about keeping Caroline calm.
“You always have them,” she replied, her smile all dreamy again and his insides responding the same way they had the last time she’d woken up and grinned at him. “Plus, you smell like cherries.”
Craig let out the breath he’d been holding, mildly relieved with the second part of her explanation. “Do you know who I am?”
Caroline’s smooth forehead pinched into several lines as she studied him. Thinking that maybe she’d lost a pair of glasses in the fall and couldn’t see his face clearly, Craig leaned closer as intense concentration took over her expression. She opened her pouty bow-shaped lips several times before defeat filled her eyes. “I don’t know why I can’t think of your name.”
“It’s Craig,” he replied, wanting to pump his fist in celebration. Not that he should be basking in her confusion, but if she didn’t know his name, then she’d finally realized that he was actually a complete stranger. That meant that her amnesia spell or confabulation—or whatever it was—had finally passed and she no longer needed him to take care of her. He extended his hand as he introduced himself. “I’m Craig Clifton.”
Caroline inhaled deeply through her nose as she nodded. But instead of taking his proffered handshake, she laced her fingers through his. “Of course you are. I must’ve hit my head pretty hard to forget my own fiancé’s name.”
* * *
Poor Craig looked about as confused as Caroline felt. It must be difficult for him to see the woman he loved like this. But then again, at least he wasn’t the one who’d completely forgotten most of the specifics about the person he was supposed to be marrying. Hopefully, it wasn’t a bad omen for their relationship if she could perfectly recall every other detail of her life except for the one that was arguably the most important.
She squeezed her eyes closed as though it might help paint a more accurate picture of the man in her mind. Caroline remembered the hook-shaped scar on his neck, she remembered he liked cherry-flavored candy and... And that was where all the details stopped.
“Are you in pain?” Craig asked. “Should I call for a nurse?”
“Oh, no.” Caroline’s lids popped open. “I was just trying really hard to recall something more concrete about us, like how long we’ve been together or where we first met or where you live and work. But I’m drawing a complete blank, and to be honest, it’s making me a little nervous.”
“Don’t be nervous,” he said quickly, then rolled his lips inward, causing him look like a child who was trying to bite back a secret. The expression didn’t exactly alleviate her fears. Her growing anxiety must have been obvious because he added, “The doctor said that when you hit your head, it might have caused a few problems with your memory.”
Panic clawed at her throat, and she could feel the cold, dry air hitting her eyes as they grew wider than normal. “Like amnesia?”
“Not exactly.” Craig rubbed the scarred area of his neck. “The doctor called it something else, but it’s similar. She can probably explain it to you way better than I can.”
Craig stood up, and his cowboy boots clicked against the floor as he strode over to the open curtain and waved down a hospital employee in surgical scrubs. Caroline couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his thumb gestured her way and her gaze traveled from his hand down his tan, muscular forearms to where his red plaid work shirt was rolled to the elbows. Because of the way he was standing, Caroline could only study him from a side angle, but as she took in his well-rounded shoulders and flat abs and long, strong legs encased in faded denim, she couldn’t help but wonder how in the world she could possibly have forgotten a perfect form like his.
When he pivoted to walk back toward Caroline, her tummy dropped and she got light-headed again. The view from the front was just as good as the one from the side. Heat flooded her cheeks and she asked, “Do you think I could possibly have a drink of water?”
“I asked the doctor about you being able to eat or drink when you woke up and she said only a sip of water until after your CT scan. She doesn’t anticipate you needing any sort of surgery, but they haven’t ruled it out yet.”
The mention of surgery should’ve had her concerned. Instead, a sense of relief blossomed inside her chest. It was reassuring that her fiancé knew her well enough to understand that she’d be worried about eating and drinking and obviously had taken steps to provide answers for her. Maybe she’d even told him the story about her dad’s gallbladder surgery and the soft-serve ice cream. It was crazy to think that this man beside her was probably privy to all of her secrets and all of her needs. Now if only she could recall some of his preferences—besides candy, obviously—then they’d be on equal footing.
Craig picked up a water bottle from the bedside tray table and unscrewed the plastic cap before gently holding it to her lips. “Not too much, now.”
As she drank, she made the mistake of lifting her eyes to his face and was hit with such an intense attraction that she swallowed way too quickly and began coughing. Craig used the back of his hand to wipe the water that had dribbled down her chin. It was such an intimate gesture, not necessarily in a sexual way but in the way someone would take care of a loved one.
Something warm spread through Caroline’s body. She was loved. By this man. While the feeling wasn’t entirely familiar to her, it was certainly exciting. And very welcome. After all, Caroline had known that she wanted to be a wife and a mother since kindergarten,
