completely reliant on him so far away from what little familiarity she had?
Aside from the obvious, the fact she couldn’t remember what was a very important part of her life, why did she still feel as though there was something more overshadowing her mind’s refusal to recall her memories. Even now, as she approached Luc at the dining table, where he sat reading a paper over breakfast, she sensed a closed door deep inside of him, a part of him that lay deep in shadow, and she wanted to know what was behind that door.
The only way she would find out was to keep going. He was her husband. She owed it to them both. Belinda painted a smile on her face and forced herself not to smooth the short-sleeved top she’d pulled on over designer jeans one more time as Luc looked up.
“Good morning,” Luc said, folding his paper neatly and putting it to one side. “You slept well?”
“Very well.” A faint rush of heat bloomed across her cheeks as she recalled how his enveloping arms had held her against him, how her body had reacted to his touch.
“Good.” Luc gave a nod of satisfaction. “Since we’re technically working from tomorrow, I’ve planned some fun for us today.”
“Fun? That sounds intriguing. What have you got in mind?”
Belinda reached for the coffee carafe and poured Luc another cup. She was halfway through pouring when her hand suddenly shook.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t ask if you wanted another.” She stopped pouring and rested the carafe on a place mat on the table.
Luc gave her a searching look. “I always have two cups at breakfast.”
The ramifications of Luc’s reply echoed through her mind. She instinctively remembered that, but she didn’t remember him? How labyrinthine could the mind get? Her neurologist had spoken to her at length about the voids in her memory and how simple everyday matters could appear, as this one had this morning. Being here—being with Luc—obviously stimulated the part of her mind that held her memory captive.
Luc placed his hand over hers, where it rested on the handle of the carafe. She fought not to flinch from his touch, from the spark of physical recognition that relentlessly spiralled through her every time he was near.
“You remembered that without trying. Don’t over analyse it. Just let it come.”
“How can I do that when I don’t know the difference between remembering and not?” Her voice shook slightly.
“We’ll find a balance. Don’t worry. Who knows what might happen today.”
He let go of her hand, took a swig of his coffee, then rose from the table.
“Where are we going?”
“I thought we’d take a trip around parts of the estate today. Play hooky.” He gave her a smile. “Are you up for it?”
A sensation, not unlike fear, snaked along her spine. She couldn’t help but feel he had a hidden agenda to his suggestion.
“Just the two of us?” she asked.
“Does that bother you?”
“No, it doesn’t bother me. Should it?” She forced her lips into a smile.
Luc’s eyes narrowed as her question hung on the air. “If you’d rather stay here at the lodge today, that’s okay.”
“No, no! Going out today would be fabulous.”
“Well, if it assuages your fears any, Manu will be driving us.” He rose to his feet and snatched his cane up from by the table.
“I could drive,” Belinda offered.
Luc halted midstride. His face paled measurably and he gave her a searching look that made her heart stutter in her chest. What had she said wrong?
“Or not.” She attempted to lighten the air that had suddenly frozen between them with glacial coolness.
“I think not. Not yet, anyway.” Luc appeared to have recovered his equilibrium and his skin recovered its usual hue. “How soon can you be ready?”
Belinda flicked a glance at the clock above the kitchen stove. “Give me ten minutes, then I’m all yours.”
“All mine?” Luc’s voice deepened and Belinda was suddenly swept with an uneasy sense of déjà vu.
She put out a hand and grasped a chair back to steady herself. Tiny black dots danced before her eyes. She forced herself to breathe, drawing air into her lungs and expelling it again with careful deliberation. She felt Luc’s hand at her back—a reassurance that lent her much-needed strength.
“You okay?” His breath stirred the hair at her nape.
“Yeah,” she said on shaky breath. “I’ll be fine. I’ll go and get ready.”
“Make sure you grab a jacket in case it gets cool later, and wear comfortable walking shoes, okay?”
“We’ll be out all day?”
“If you’re up for it.”
She let go of the chair and stepped out of his reach. “I’m up for it.”
“I’ll meet you out front.”
By the time she’d splashed her face and reapplied her makeup, she was heading closer to fifteen minutes than the ten she’d promised, but as she joined Luc at the front door she had at least regained most of her equilibrium. It niggled at her that he hadn’t been keen for her to drive. She’d held her licence since her late teens and had always been a good driver, but he’d looked sick to his stomach at the prospect.
Ah, well, she sighed, at least this way she’d get to enjoy the countryside a bit more than if she had to concentrate on the roads.
She was surprised when Luc sat in the back beside her as they headed off, and said as much. Luc responded by linking his fingers through hers and answering, “I’ve been forced to be apart from you for too long already. Why wouldn’t I want to be by my wife’s side?”
There was an intensity to his words that both soothed and unnerved her. She gave herself an internal shake. What was wrong with her? Everything she felt at the moment was a contradiction to what she’d felt only a moment ago. And underlying it all was the insidious awareness that something wasn’t right, that somehow she was living the wrong life. Maybe she should have let Luc call the doctor yesterday. This weird sense of displacement, the inherent sense of wrongness couldn’t be normal.
Luc dragged her attention to the land that spread out before them and described the extent of the estate’s farming and forestry operations, as they followed the road down the side of the hill, going deeper into the valley with every kilometre. As far as she could see in any direction the land was entailed in Tautara Estate. She started to get a new appreciation of how vast her husband’s business interest here was and how many staff he employed.
“And Luc is being modest,” Manu interrupted as he negotiated a hairpin bend in the road. “We offer some of the best fishing and hunting grounds in the
