Page 81 of His Forgotten Colton Fiancee
Using his key, he opened the door.
“Take your time,” he told her in his deep,soothing voice.
Quinn walked around the living room. The stone fireplace was cold, no evidence of the fire that once crackled there merrily. Rug mats were strewed about the pine floor, and the sofa was brown. Her memory flickered. A redheaded woman, sitting on the couch, making a face.
“Puke green. The sofa here was green. We called it puke green,” she told him. “It was like pea soup.”
West didn’t pepper her with questions or say anything. He simply waited.
“I know this place.” Quinn frowned, trying to remember. “I came here once, a long time ago. Isn’t it odd how I can remember things in spurts?”
“The doctor said that’s normal. It will return to you,” he assured her. “Who was with you?”
She pressed a hand to her temple, thinking. “Demi.”
She closed her eyes,inhaling the stale air, exhaling the memories.
Quinn had been in this very cabin, or at least this area, with Demi Colton. One night with the sister she’d longed to connect with, longed to befriend, but had never really known.
Demi had collared a felon who skipped bail, but the case had turned ugly. Demi had needed a place to retreat, get away from the ugly side of life. Quinn had bookedthis cabin for a short vacation, invited Demi. Just the two of them, trying to forge bonds they’d never had growing up.
Quinn always wanted a sister, the kind you could swap stories with of boys you thought were cute, brush each other’s hair and borrow each other’s clothing. It had been one night where they’d both reached out, tried to make it work.
Quinn had been so eager and Demi cautious.In the end, Demi left early. Demi hadn’t shed her private side, hadn’t wanted to share secrets or swap stories or do any of the things Quinn imagined.
But she had been in this cabin.
West didn’t pressure her, only remained quiet. Quinn was glad of the silence. Too many people had been pounding at her like a jackhammer, trying to get her memory triggered. Finn, with his attention to duty,to find a suspect in Tia’s death. Brayden and Shane.
West hadn’t nagged or prodded. He simply waited, watched, and she sensed he worried about her safety, especially now. Quinn realized it was part of his personality, like a big wolf always on guard against predators wishing to harm the pack.
“She seemed a little secretive. I remember that. I hate secrets,” she muttered. “People keep thingsfrom me, like my mom did, trying to hide how broke we were, trying to hide the fact that she was marrying yet another loser so I’d have a stepfather.”
The bedroom had a queen bed and two nightstands. Quinn went into the bedroom, touching the blue-and-green comforter. The cabin had a slightly musty air of disuse, and a pang of sadness struck her.
“What was the deal with this cabin?” sheasked West.
“Tia was planning to sell, and the sale fell through and the property was closed.” His fingers rested on the gun’s hilt. “Sale was to the Larson brothers. Two million, but they offered three mil.”
Anxiety pinched her insides. “Too much money. They wanted it badly. Are they suspects?”
A shoulder shrug. “Always are with everything, but there’s no evidence.”
Quinn returnedto the living room and peered outside the windows at the surrounding canyon walls, the sweep of pine and oak trees ringing the wood porch. She went outside, touched one of the two wooden rockers. The sound was soothing.Creak, back.Crick, up.
Another memory surfaced. A laughing redhead, rocking back and forth, teasing Quinn about her being the older sister, the first one who would be anold lady rocking in a chair like this, knitting socks for the grandbabies.
“She sat here,” Quinn mused. “Demi. She said I’d be the first to be a grandmother, and she would take advice from me. I told her I’d make sure my grandchildren ate all their vegetables and I would not be a grandmother who spoiled them. Then Demi said I’d probably serve them kale cake instead of chocolate.”
A slightsmile tugged her mouth upward, and then it faded. One hand went to her abdomen. “She was pregnant when she vanished.”
West nodded. “Yes.”
“And she went someplace, alone, to have her baby. I can’t bear to think of her being alone, with a baby to care for, no one to help her.”
Throat closing tight, she stared down at the rocker. She knew she and Demi never shared much, but how she wishedshe could be there for her little sister now. Tears burned the backs of her eyelids. Then she felt two strong arms encircle her waist from behind, and West laid his cheek against her head.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You’ll get your memory back.”
