“I doubt you’ve ever committed a criminal act in your life.”
A wry smile caused the corners of her lips to quiver. “You’re a detective. I suppose you know what a criminal looks like. I’m glad I don’t fit the description.”
“Unfortunately, they look like me and you and everybody else on the street. I know you’re not a criminal because I—” Pausing, he searched for the right words. Yet there were no right words, he realized. No way to buffer the shock. “I know who you are. Your name is Geena. It was Geena Parcell.”
Her eyes grew wide, her lips parted. “Parcell? But that’s your name! Am I related to you? Why didn’t you tell me last night? I—”
“Wait. Slow down and let me explain,” he interrupted. “I couldn’t tell you about anything until I consulted with your doctor. I needed to make sure you could handle this news.”
She lifted her chin to a challenging angle. “All right. I’m not falling over in a dead faint or anything, so tell me. Are we relatives? You said my name was Parcell—does that mean I got married and it changed? If that’s the case, why hasn’t the rest of the family come forward?”
“Because I—we don’t know about your family now. You see, we—you and I were once husband and wife. But we divorced six years ago. Since then I don’t know what’s happened in your life or have any idea what your last name might be.”
Stunned couldn’t begin to describe the look that swept over her face. Her cheeks were paper white and her eyes took on a wild, dazed light.
“You?” The one word came out as little more than a husky whisper. “You were my husband? That—that can’t be!”
“I assure you that we were married. For five years to be exact. We lived in Reno during that time. I worked for the police department there and you were going to college.”
“Reno? You and I—together? But I don’t know you! If you were my husband I’d surely recognize you! I’d feel something—remember something!”
Her voice rose with each word while dark pink color spread across her white cheeks. He couldn’t imagine what must be going through her mind, but the intimate thoughts racing through his only proved what he’d already known for years. He’d not forgotten one thing about Geena or their time together.
Clearing his throat, he said, “I understand this is disturbing to you. Frankly, it’s not easy for me. If you’re not up to dealing with this right now, we’ll talk later. In fact, I’m beginning to think it might be best if I leave and give you time to digest everything.”
A quiet calm suddenly came over her, and then she dropped her head in her hands and mumbled, “I’m sorry, Mr. Parcell—” Lifting her head, she let out a hopeless groan. “That’s great, isn’t it? You were my husband and I’m calling you Mr. Parcell. Do you see how insane all of this is? I can’t absorb it all.”
Vince couldn’t absorb it, either. He’d never expected that seeing Geena again, touching her hand, hearing her voice would be affecting him so deeply. It had to be her vulnerable situation that was making him feel so protective.
Turning away from her, he walked over to a window and gazed down on a small courtyard at the back of the building. A man was sitting on a concrete bench, smoking a cigarette and looking as lost as Vince felt at this moment.
“The doctor says your condition is temporary. Once your memory returns, you can put all this behind you. You’ll be back with your present family and everything will return to normal.”
“My present family,” she said doubtfully. “What if I don’t have one? What if I’m all alone and no one cares or knows that I’m missing?”
The desperation in her voice propelled him back to her bedside. “Your mind is running away with you. You have a mother. At least, she was still living while we were married. Before we divorced, she’d remarried for a third time and moved to Dallas, but apparently she’s changed her name since then. I couldn’t pick up any information on her.”
A tortured frown twisted her features. “Third marriage! Was I close to my mother? Did we get along?”
“Not very well,” he said, deciding it was best to leave it at that.
She let out a dismal groan. “I’m not sure I should even ask about my father.”
Vince let out a long breath. In his line of work, he often had to deliver bad news. But this wasn’t the same. This was Geena. “I’m sorry, your father died when you were ten. And you don’t have any siblings. Evan did manage to locate your stepfather—your mother’s second husband—but he’d not been in contact with her or you in years. He couldn’t help us.”
Bewildered now, she cradled her belly with both hands. “There has to be someone out there who knows where I belong! I’m going to have some man’s baby!”
As if she had to remind him of that fact. Ever since he’d walked into this room last night and realized she was pregnant, he’d been eaten up with the image of her carrying another man’s child. “Believe me, I understand your frustration. But—”
“Do you?” she interrupted. “Unless all trace of memory has been knocked out of your brain at one time, then I don’t expect you to understand anything about this situation I’m in!”
Vince was hardly surprised to see her growing angry, yet he was at a loss of how to deal with it. She was no longer his wife. He couldn’t pull her into his arms, stroke her hair and murmur soothing words in her ear. And even if she did remember being his wife, he doubted she would want that sort of comfort from him now.
“Look, I think—”
His words halted as a slight knock sounded on the door. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw an auburn-haired nurse dressed in navy blue scrubs enter the room.
“Oh, so you have company this morning,” she said to Geena, then turned a hopeful look on Vince. “Are you an acquaintance of Alice?”
From the corner of his eye, he could see Geena wiping a hand over her face and attempting to pull herself together.
“Alice? Where did that name come from?” Vince asked as his gaze vacillated from one woman to the other.
“I gave it to her last night,” the nurse explained. “We needed to call our patient something more than Hey You or Jane Doe.”
Geena quickly intervened. “This is Detective Parcell, Marcella. He’s working my case.”
The nurse extended her hand in greeting. “Nice to meet you, Detective.”
Vince tilted his head as he studied the woman and her name tag. “Marcella. I think I remember seeing you somewhere before,” he told her. “At some sort of party.”
With a light laugh, the nurse dropped his hand and moved over to pick up the half-eaten breakfast tray. “You must be confusing me with someone who has time for a social life.”
“No. I remember now,” Vince said. “It was at a baby christening. Lilly and Rafe’s youngest child. You had two little boys with you.”
A surprised smile came over
