Daddy Woke Up Married

Clean, properly clothed, with her emotions firmly under control, Emily drove back to the hospital. Paige Wescott met her in the hallway, and she looked at the physician hopefully.

“He still doesn’t have his memory,” Paige warned.

“This is crazy. Somebody will slip and tell him the truth,” Emily declared. “We should tell him first”

“Oh? Who’s going to tell him? Just how many people know you had artificial insemination? Or that Nick isn’t something special in your life? Or that you don’t have a regular marriage?”

Emily blinked. “He must have told his friends.”

Paige clucked. “Nick is a man. I doubt he told anyone the details of your baby’s conception, especially his friends. Since it’s clear he’s the father, I suspect he’s letting everyone believe the obvious. What do you think?”

A vivid image of Nick’s embarrassed face rose before Emily’s eyes. He was a nice guy—with Neanderthal tendencies. Positively primeval. He’d no more discuss the intimate details of their trip to the gynecologist’s office, than he’d rob a bank.

But even more than that, Emily knew she hadn’t been entirely…well, candid herself. Crockett, Washington, was a small town, with its full share of affectionately wagging tongues. While she hadn’t exactly lied to anyone, she hadn’t really explained about the baby. Or Nick. She’d even taken his last name since she never planned to remarry and because it would be easier for their child.

“Well?” Paige prodded.

“All right,” she agreed reluctantly. “Except I can’t keep the pretense up forever. I’m no good at it. I feel so guilty about yelling at him and pushing him away. What if he never gets his memory back because of me? And he’s just going to die if he remembers. He’ll wake up and say ‘yuck, I kissed Emily. I knew her when she was a skinny eight-year-old with bubble gum in her braces.’”

Paige shook her head. “Hormones,” she complained. “Look, I’m not an expert on amnesia, but I do know Nick. And so do you. His personality is so close to the surface his memory block is transparent.”

“What has that got to do with anything?”

“That means,” the doctor said patiently, “my instincts say you should treat him like you always would— argue, tease, whatever…except you don’t explain about your marriage. He latched on to the idea of being married like a drowning victim clutching a life preserver. Under the circumstances, I can’t say I blame him. Don’t worry, he’ll remember soon enough.”

“When is that going to happen?”

“It shouldn’t be long. I suspect this is a case of selective amnesia. His injuries were minor, so the memory block must be caused by some emotional conflict.”

Emily blinked again. Nick Carleton emotionally conflicted? Interesting. Not overly helpful, but interesting.

“You’ the only anchor he’s got right now,” Paige said seriously. “You’ve been friends since childhood. I doubt there’s anyone as close to him. The treatment in these cases is fairly simple—get him into familiar surroundings, remind him of his life, and his memory should return. From what you’ve said, he spends more time at your house than he ever does at that apartment in the city.”

“But he thinks we’…we’ really involved. I mean, uh, Nick has never kissed me like that before,” Emily said, flustered.

“From what I saw, it’s about time he did.” With that parting shot Paige patted her arm and headed toward the nurse’s station.

“God save me from matchmakers,” Emily muttered. She pushed open the door of Nick’s room with a nervous smile, smoothing the light cotton skirt of her dress.

Nick rose from his chair, relieved to see Emily instead of another doctor or lab technician, who would just be annoyed because he’d gotten out of bed. Although… he’d be happy to see her no matter what. “Hi, Angel. I wasn’t sure if you’d come back tonight”

“Of course I’d come back.” She took a few steps into the room. “How’s your head?”

“Empty,” he said flatly. “It’s like there’s this enormous wall in my mind and I can’t see over it.”

“I’m sorry.”

He winced. Great, he had to act like a bear with a sore paw. This was his wife, not a stranger. He was lucky to have Emily, it would have been far worse waking up without anybody to care about him. Which reminded him…

“Angel, what about my family? If you haven’t called them yet, maybe you should wait. I’m sure I’ll get my memory back soon, so there’s no need to upset them, too.”

A look of genuine dismay flashed into her eyes, and he leaned forward abruptly.

Yikes. His abused head didn’t appreciate the move ment, but it seemed more important to understand why Emily might be upset. Even worse…he could tell she’d been crying. “Angel? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Except…you don’t have a family.” Her voice shook and she didn’t quite meet his gaze.

“Wrong,” he said quietly. “I have you and the baby.”

Instinctively Emily’s hand went to her stomach. He went to her, grateful a supposed old friend from the fire department had sent a pair of pajamas for him to wear. She jumped a little when he put an arm about her waist and led her to the bed.

“Is there something I should know?” he asked, sitting her down beside him. “It can’t be too terrible—you said we practically grew up together.”

“We did.”

Emily fidgeted with the fabric of her sundress. It was pretty and feminine, her smooth shoulders rising above the fitted bodice. Her pregnancy was concealed by the graceful folds of the skirt, but he would have preferred seeing the evidence of their baby. It made him feel alive and potent, very much a man.

He captured her fingers, pressing both their hands against her abdomen. “So?”

“We grew up here in Crockett,” she murmured, her head still bowed. “Your mother and father are dead— you were raised in a foster home next door to us.”

“Who is us?”

“My parents and brothers and sisters.” She cast him a look from the corner of her eye. “You’ great friends with my oldest brother. You practically lived at our place.”

“What about my foster parents, are we close? Do I see them ever?” When Emily didn’t answer right away he kissed the arched curve of her neck. “Don’t protect me, Angel. I have to know.”

“They weren’t unkind,” Emily whispered. “They kept you warm and fed and dry.”

And that’s all. Nick didn’t need her to finish the story for him, he’d already guessed. Whatever affection he’d received as a child must have been from Emily and her own family. No wonder he’d fallen in love with her.

“We’ve never really discussed it,” Emily said, finally lifting her head. “You don’t like to talk about things like that.”

You don’t like to talk about things like that…. Terrific. Now he had another item to add to the growing list of questions about himself. But surely he confided in Emily. She was his wife, and she was also the kind of woman who’d want a close relationship with her husband. Besides, marriage meant partnership, didn’t it?

The sudden intake of her breath grabbed his attention. “What? Is something wrong?”

“Did you feel that?” she asked excitedly. “The baby moved.” She squirmed until she could clasp both her hands over his, holding him to the firm swell of her belly. “It’s the first time I’ve felt anything.”

Awed, Nick realized there was a flutter of movement beneath his palm. A faint, compelling reminder of growing life.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Emily asked, tears welling in her blue eyes.

Uh-oh. Uncertain about the best thing to do, he cuddled her close. He didn’t know the cause—the accident, fear or just plain happiness over their baby. He doubted she cried very often. “It’s all right,” he soothed.

“Drat. I thought I was over this.” She sniffed and gulped. “It’s just hormones. They all attacked at once. I was doing fine until today.”

“I see.”