her brain. A man handing her something, her handing him a thick envelope in return. She looked at Sam. “What name was on the ID?”
Sam gazed at her searchingly before he answered. “Amy Nichols, from Los Angeles, California. Casey tried to find your phone number, but it was unlisted. He had a friend go to the address listed, but they had never heard of Amy Nichols.”
Of course they hadn’t, Adrienne thought. Because she had never lived in Los Angeles, and she wasn’t Amy Nichols.
“We ran your picture in the L.A. Times, as well as the local paper,” Sam continued, “but no one came forward.”
“No one?” She needed the clarification. She needed to know the fake ID had worked.
Sam shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
The words were so simple and heartfelt, she knew they were the truth.
I’m safe!
The words burst into her brain. He hadn’t been following her that night. The accident had been just that. Vaughn hadn’t insisted on seeing her in the hospital for no other reason than he wasn’t here. She laughed out loud. She was safe.
Adrienne could hardly believe it. Because of the ID she’d bought before she left Boston, they’d only run her picture in California. Vaughn never would have seen it in Boston. Of course, that’s why she’d chosen the Golden State. Vaughn thought it an intellectual wasteland. It never would have occurred to him that she would choose to live here.
Fast on those thoughts came another, more fantastic than the ones before.
“The baby?”
Sam nodded.
“It’s yours?” Please, God, let him say yes. Let it be anybody’s but Vaughn’s.
Sam smiled.
Again, Adrienne laughed, then immediately burst into tears.
Sam moved to sit on the bed. Putting his arms around her he held her tight. “It’s all right, sunshine. I promise. I’m a great guy once you get to know me. You don’t have anything to be afraid of.”
Adrienne heard his crooning words and knew she had to tell him. “You don’t understand.”
“I do understand. This has all been too much for you. Finding out about the amnesia. Learning you’re living with a stranger, and pregnant on top of that. I know how upset you are.”
Adrienne’s tears turned back to laughter. The poor man was so intent on comforting her he didn’t understand at all. She pulled away. “I’m not upset!”
Sam looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“And I’m not hysterical, either.”
His expression turned skeptical.
She didn’t blame him. If what he’d told her was true, and it seemed it was, her head and her emotions had been playing tricks on her for a long time.
She smiled wryly. “All right, maybe a little hysterical, but wouldn’t you be, under the same circumstances?”
Sam returned her smile. “I’d be a blithering idiot.”
Adrienne doubted that. In spite of all that she’d put him through during the past few hours, Sam’s actions had been sure and steady. She suspected she was very lucky to have Sam as her baby’s father. “I’m just so glad the baby’s not Vaughn’s.”
“Vaughn?”
“He has no hold. He can’t hurt us.” As long as she and the baby belonged to someone else, he couldn’t do a thing.
The truth was he probably never had. She’d been so careful. It was only once she’d arrived at her destination that she’d become afraid again. One strange noise had sent her running. How foolish!
“Amy.”
And how wonderful to know that the noises she’d heard on her walk had been only that. Not Vaughn. Noises. But that night, the fear had been so real, it had sent her flying through the trees and onto the road where she’d fallen.
“Amy.”
Even now, some of the fear remained. She’d lived with it for so long it was hard to let go. But she would, now she knew three years had passed. Three years in which she’d met a man, fallen in love, gotten married, gotten pregnant, and she remembered none of it! Incredible.
“Amy!”
It took her a few moments to realize he was talking to her. “I’m sorry. There is just so much to take in.”
“I understand that, but there’s something I have to know.”
She looked at him curiously. His tone seemed almost angry. “What is it?”
“Who’s Vaughn?”
She grimaced. “My husband.”
Sam scowled. “Your husband?”
“Actually, my ex.” She guessed. “It’s been three years. I’m sure he went through with the divorce.”
Sam’s eyes went blank. He moved off the bed and walked over to the window. He stood for a moment staring out. “You’re sure he went through with the divorce,” Sam repeated as if by rote.
Adrienne watched him shake off whatever he’d been thinking. He turned back to her. “Why would your ex-husband want to hurt you?”
She shrugged. What use would it be to go into all that now? “He’s probably forgotten all about me by now.” At least, she hoped he had.
He held her gaze. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
The intensity in his blue eyes made her shiver. In the last few hours, she’d seen him gentle, concerned and hurt, but this fierceness surprised her.
“Amy, why would he want to hurt you?”
The husbandly sternness of his question reminded her he had a right to know. “Because he’s a cold selfish son of a—” Anger flared in Sam’s eyes, and she stopped. “What does it matter? I’ve obviously made a new life for myself. I’d rather talk about that.”
“So would I,” Sam said. “But if you’re in danger…”
“I’m not!” If Vaughn had known where she was, he wouldn’t have waited to do something about it. But he hadn’t. So that meant she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. Now all she wanted to do was forget him. Selective amnesia. I wonder how that works.
She looked at her “new” husband. “Sam, sit down, please.” She waited until he sat in the chair by the bed. “I feel funny asking this since we’ve been married for…”
“We celebrated our second year together three months ago,” Sam informed her. “Around the same time the baby was conceived.”
A blush warmed her cheeks. “Oh.” She’d never been a shy person, but the thought of making love with this virtual stranger unsettled her. Her brain certainly worked in mysterious ways. First she’d forgotten her first husband. Now she’d forgotten her second.
“Are you okay?” He leaned forward and reached for her hand.
“I’m fine,” she said, although it seemed an anemic word to use for how she felt.
Sam was so big and strong. Sitting so close, he made her feel almost delicate. Yet, he hadn’t tried to intimidate her physically like other men had. He’d made her feel safe and protected. That’s what had scared her so much when she’d believed he’d been sent by Vaughn, that he could have taken her in so easily. When she’d finally accepted that not only wasn’t he involved with Vaughn, but that he was her husband and the father of the baby she carried, she’d felt relieved and somewhat vindicated.
Now she felt curious. Not