The Mysterious Stranger (Triple Trouble) (17 page)

“Dammit, Kayla, you’re pregnant. Don’t pick up a suitcase,” her husband demanded.

“It’s just a little one.”

“Put it down now.”

“Don’t have a cow, Patrick. I’m pregnant, not incapacitated.”

“I’m not going to think of touching luggage,” Elissa said, and laughed. “So don’t look at me like that.”

There was no response from Cole, but Jarrett could picture his stern expression.

These sounds showed him that over the years his beautiful tropical prison had become a silent place. In the past few weeks he’d had only the sounds of Anna Jane’s footsteps to liven his world. Listening to the banter of the triplets and their husbands, he realized his niece had been far too quiet. No wonder she felt isolated. He should have noticed sooner. He didn’t want his home to be a prison for her, too.

He would have to do something. After the first of the year, he would think about making some changes. But what? He still couldn’t forget the past. He still couldn’t bring himself to trust. Were trusting and possibly caring even wise?

He remembered Tracy’s pain when her husband had been killed. She’d broken down at the funeral, begging God to take her, too. When Donald died, Tracy’s life had ended. He, Jarrett, didn’t ever want to be in that position.

More laughter filtered through his half-open door. He easily picked out Fallon’s and smiled. He was glad she was staying. Had she guessed the truth? Did she know that he’d shamelessly used Anna Jane as the excuse for asking her stay, when he’d really wanted her to stay for himself? He could think that he wanted her here, but he could never risk telling her.

How would she feel if she knew he’d asked her stay for himself and not for the child?

He closed his eyes and recalled the sweetness of her lips touching his. He shouldn’t have kissed her. Yet, short of dying, nothing could have stopped him. He needed her.

Jarrett opened his eyes and straightened. No. Not needed. Never needed. Wanted. There was a difference. He wanted her and he liked her. That’s as much as he was willing to admit. He’d grown fond of his mystery woman. Only she wasn’t a mystery anymore. She had an identity and a past. How was that going to change her?

Chapter Eleven

F
allon stuck out her tongue at her reflection. “You’re not helping,” she told the mirror.

A soft giggle came from behind her. She shifted and saw Anna Jane standing in the doorway to her bedroom. “You’re talking to yourself,” the girl said.

“I know. The worst part is I keep waiting for an answer, but there isn’t one.”

Anna Jane’s face was bright and smiling this morning. She skipped into the room and wrapped her arms around Fallon’s waist. “I’m glad you’re staying,” she said.

Fallon set her brush on the dresser and touched the child’s head. “Me, too. It’s going to be a great Christmas.”

Anna Jane looked up at her. “Why were you talking to yourself?”

“I can’t decide how to wear my hair.” Fallon turned back to her reflection. “There’s the Ariel way and the Fallon way.”

“How are they different?”

“Fallon is a lot more boring,” she said truthfully. “Neat, tidy and sensible. Ariel wore her hair up on her head or loose or—” She shrugged. “I can’t decide what to do.”

“But you’re Ariel, too. She’s not a different person, she’s just you with no memory.”

Fallon figured Ariel had a lot more excitement in her life than Fallon ever had. “You’re right,” she agreed, and started pinning her hair up on top of her head. So what if it wasn’t her usual style? It was still flattering. She was on vacation—why not have a little fun?

“What are you up to this morning?” she asked Anna Jane.

“I’m going to show Elissa and Kayla the beach where I found you.”

“That should be interesting.”

The girl nodded. “It’s nice that they look like you. Even though I don’t know them, I like them. Because of you.”

Her words touched Fallon. She dropped to a crouch. “I like you, too,” she said, tugging on a strand of dark hair. “A lot. You have fun with them.”

“You could come with us.”

“I have to unpack.” She pointed to the large suitcase and garment bag by the closet.

“What about the clothes Uncle Jarrett gave you?”

“I still have them.” In fact, she was wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from his boutique right now. “I need to go through my things to reconnect with who I am,” Fallon said. “I’ve remembered everything, but I haven’t been myself for a long time.”

“I understand.” Anna Jane nodded solemnly.

“I’ll see you at lunch,” she told the girl. “Have a good time this morning.”

“We will.” The nine-year-old gave her a quick wave and dashed out of the room.

Fallon rosé to her feet and approached her luggage. She probably should have unpacked last night, but she’d put off the task. Mostly because going through her things at the hotel had given her an odd feeling. While her clothes and belongings had been familiar as she’d packed them for the move, they had also been faintly strange. It was almost as if she’d found an old box full of high school mementos. While the individual items brought back memories, they belonged to a different time and place.

“It’s just clothes,” she told herself as she hung her garment bag on the back of the door.

She unzipped the top flap and began removing her things. She’d brought a couple of summer dresses. The neutral colors—beige and gray blue—surprised her. While she remembered buying the dresses and even wearing them last summer, they didn’t feel as if they belonged to her. When she hung them in the closet, they didn’t fit in with the brightly colored garments already there.

She fingered the skirt she’d chosen from the clothes Jarrett had sent over. The dark green silk was the same color as her eyes. The matching blouse was sleeveless and sexy. Together the outfit created a casual elegance combining soft, flowing fabric and hints at the feminine shape beneath. The two dresses she’d brought with her were…sensible. The tailored style was classic. With a light jacket she could easily wear either to school or a lunch. Yet when placed next to the green outfit, the dresses nearly blended with the wall paint.

She walked to her suitcase and picked it up. After placing it on the bed, she unfastened the catches and flipped it open. More sensible clothing lay there. Tailored shirts and shorts. White cotton underwear. She thought about the lacy bra she currently wore and the high-cut legs on her panties, then fingered the plain straps of her white bra. She picked up a cream short-sleeved shirt and held it in front of her. Then she turned to the mirror. Today she wore a red T-shirt and white shorts. The shorts were casual with an elastic waist and tiny slits on the thighs. The button-front camp shirt she held didn’t belong to this new person, yet it was in her luggage.

Fallon dropped it back on the bed and stared at her belongings. How could she remember owning them, recover her memory and have them not feel right? Could being Ariel have changed her that much?

Or had the memory loss simply allowed another side of her personality to come out? Maybe because she hadn’t had to be so busy running around taking care of everyone, she’d finally been free to be herself.

She bent over and began pulling things out of her suitcase. Books, a bag of cosmetics, her blow dryer. There was the beautiful bottle Anna Jane had used to send the note. Then her fingers touched something hard. She pulled out a slim leather-bound book. Her journal.

Fallon sank onto the bed. Inside these pages were her hopes and dreams. She’d never kept long entries, but she’d made it a habit to jot down odd notes about her life or what she wanted from the future. She flipped through a few pages, stopping to read an account of picking out St. Alicia as the family’s holiday destination. What a happy quirk of fate. No matter what happened when she left, she promised herself she would never regret being here.

Another entry caught her eye. It was dated at the end of summer, just after she and her sisters had come into their trust fund.

August 25th: I must come to some decision about my future. I want to travel, but I’ll need a plan for when I return. What is it to be? Grad school for an advanced degree? Do I want to return to teaching at the elementary school? I’ve thought about opening my own business. By the time I return from my sabbatical, I’ll have made up my mind which it’s to be. The world is filled with possibilities and I don’t want to miss any of them.

Fallon read the entry a second time. Hopes and plans for the future. But instead of feeling excited, she was startled by a whisper of sadness. Maybe because reading it these months later she saw something she hadn’t seen when she’d first made the entry. All her plans had one basic assumption—that she would be alone. There was no mention of a man in her journal, no thought of falling in love and how that would affect her future. When she returned from her sabbatical, no one would be waiting. No one, except her sisters, would miss her, or even think about her.

Fallon remembered that she’d always valued being independent and self-sufficient. With her two sisters to worry about, she’d respected those qualities in herself. Now, with her whole life stretching out in front of her, she wondered about being alone…and lonely.

“You’re looking serious about something.”

She glanced up and saw Jarrett standing in the open doorway. She smiled. “I found my journal and am rediscovering myself.”

“Any surprises?”

“A couple.”

“Pleasant ones, I hope.”

She shrugged, but didn’t answer.

He stepped inside. While he usually wore jeans around the house, today he was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. His legs were long, muscular and tanned. She found herself in danger of being mesmerized by his powerful thighs.

He pulled out the stool in front of the dresser and sat down. “So who is Fallon Bedford?”

“Someone very different from the mysterious Ariel.”

“I don’t think I believe that.”

“It’s true.” She pointed to the open closet. “See those two dresses hanging there? Compare them to the skirt. They have nothing in common. Everything I chose from what the boutique sent over is different from what I owned before.” She dropped her journal onto the bed, then touched her head. “I wasn’t sure how to fix my hair this morning. When I was first here I was frustrated because I couldn’t remember how I used to wear it. Now I can’t decide if I still want to wear it that way.”

He nodded. “You’re having trouble fitting back into your own skin.”

“Exactly.”

“It’ll take a few days to adjust, but you’ll do it. Do you want me to have the doctor stop by?”

“Physically, I’m fine.”

His gaze lightly touched on her body. Instantly the heat in the room went up several degrees. “If I agree with that last statement, will you slap me?” he asked teasingly.

She felt a blush on her cheeks. “No.”

“Good.” He grinned. “I’m just trying to be agreeable.” He pointed to her suitcase. “Maybe losing your memory just brought out another side of your personality.”

“I’m sure that’s it, but it’s still weird to think there are parts of me I didn’t know existed.”

“We all have pieces locked away.”

“How do I put them back?”

“Do you want to?” he asked.

She thought about the question. “Actually, I don’t. I think I liked Ariel quite a bit. The trick is going to be making her fit in with the old Fallon.”

“Will the new Fallon be a compromise between the two?”

“I hope so.” She grabbed a plain beige T-shirt and wrinkled her nose. “Although I might have to get rid of some of the old Fallon’s sensible clothes. Oh!” She looked at him. “I nearly forgot. Who do I talk to about paying for my new clothes? I have credit cards and money now.”

He shook his head. “No charge.”

“Jarrett, you have to let me pay. Something tells me you won’t let us reimburse you for staying here over the holidays—although we’re really going to try. You have to let me give you something.”

Instead of answering, he rosé to his feet and held out his hand. Fallon let the T-shirt fall, offered him her fingers and let him pull her to her feet. Together they crossed to the window.

From her bedroom they could see a bit of the pool and all of the beach beyond. He opened the window. Over the sound of waves came a high-pitched squeal of laughter. Seconds later Anna Jane bounded into view. Elissa and Kayla were with her. Each of the women had hold of one of her hands. While Fallon couldn’t hear their conversation, she knew the trio was having fun.

“I couldn’t have given her that,” Jarrett said. “You taught me what she needed, and I think the two of us are going to be okay now. I owe you, Fallon. So, no, you can’t pay for your clothes or for staying here. You’ve given me more than I can ever repay.”

“I’m happy I could help, but you’re making it more than it was.”

His dark eyes flared bright. “No. I’m not.”

He hadn’t released her fingers. She told herself it was because he’d forgotten he was holding them, but she hadn’t forgotten. Not for a second. Even now she could feel the broadness of his palm and the strength of him. Jarrett Wilkenson was going to be a tough act for any man to follow.

“Anna Jane is very glad you’re staying,” he said.

“I know. I’m glad, too.” Was he? He didn’t say and she didn’t ask. Fear held her back. Would Ariel have asked? Probably not, Fallon decided, but she might have hinted. Ariel had definitely been the more courageous of the two. She frowned. She’d better stop thinking of herself as two people or she would end up locked away in some institution after having been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. The thought made her smile.

She glanced at Jarrett to see if he’d noticed her humor, but his attention was focused on the beach. She followed his gaze and saw that he was staring at her sisters. They’d linked arms and were walking together as Anna Jane chased the tide.

“The three of you are very close,” he said.

“We always have been. It’s a triplet thing. We often know what the others are thinking. In some ways our personalities are very different, but in others, they’re exactly the same.”

“I envy you that.”