Page 14 of Weston

Be brave.Ellie had no idea where home even was, nevermind who this man was claiming to be her husband, butshe could do this. It’s what she’d been waiting for. However, a part of her was nervous, unsure if she could trust him. What if he was lying? What if she was being kidnapped?

But a bigger part of her longed for answers and she believed Wes could give them to her.

Besides, most of the men on the boat had kept their distance from her. Nobody had threatened her verbally or tried to lay an aggressive hand on her and, although she knew they had to be armed, none of them had shown any hint of a weapon. Most importantly, the moment her anxiety became too much, she looked into Wes’ soft, brown eyes and she knew he would never hurt her.

It was strange because even though her mind couldn’t remember him, it’s like her heart did. Something felt very familiar about him. Every time he looked at her she could clearly see the love in his eyes. She might’ve been scared at first when he was chasing her through the jungle, but now she felt much more at ease. Which didn’t make sense at all.

Unless everything he said was true.

Ellie wasn’t stupid, though. Yes, she wanted to go home, but first she wanted some kind of proof before she hopped on a flight with seven strange men who were all physically imposing and likely armed.

“I need verification,” she said, doing her best to sound all business. But even she heard the slight shakiness in her voice. “That I am who you say I am.”

“Yeah, sure. Of course.” Even though he agreed with zero hesitation, she couldn’t miss the hurt that flashed across hisface. But he quickly hid it, went over to a duffel bag and pulled out his cell phone.

As he began to swipe, searching for the validation she required, Ellie took a moment to study him more closely. And what she saw made her very curious.

He was tall, well over six feet, and appeared to be in his mid to late forties. The telltale silver threaded through his hair only added to his attractiveness, and she felt a little flutter in her belly when he glanced up and caught her staring. Those brown eyes of his held so much warmth, almost like a cozy blanket. And all she wanted to do was wrap herself up in it.

You don’t even know who he is,she reminded herself as he sat down beside her.

“I don’t want to overwhelm you, but there are a lot of pictures. Just go ahead and scroll.”

Ellie put her hand out and he placed his phone in her palm. Pulling in a steadying breath, she looked down at the screen and froze when she saw her face smiling back at her. She and the man beside her had their arms wrapped around each other and were grinning so big. So ridiculously, crazy big. They looked like the happiest couple she’d ever seen. Her heart gave a kick in her chest and she slowly swiped to the next image…and the next…until she’d gone through so many, her head spun.

In every picture, they were laughing or kissing. Always smiling or being playful. Constantly touching. She pressed her lips together, not sure what to say or how to react. Even though it was clearly her in the pictures, it almost felt like she was looking at a stranger’s life.

Because, dammit, she couldn’t remember any of it.

Emotion swelled up inside her and she couldn’t look at them anymore. He had thousands of pictures and her brain was having trouble processing it all. Giving him the phone back, she dropped her head and massaged her temples.

“Those look a little too good to be photoshopped,” she said, and a laugh burst from him.

“I promise you they’re real, Ellie-Bean.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and told herself it would all come back eventually. It had to. Because living in this twilight state, not remembering anything about her former life, was awful. Hopefully now that she would be back with people who knew and loved her, the memories would return.

Ellie looked up at Wes. “Where’s my family? Can I call them?”

“We have a sat phone on the plane,” Wes said and looked over at Brand who inclined his head. “You can call them once we’re safely in the air.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. And even though she had a million questions, she was suddenly so very tired. Finally, she was starting to get the answers she’d so desperately wanted. The question was would any of it make sense? Would her fractured memory finally return? Or, was it a lost cause and she’d be stuck in this limbo of not knowing forever?

Chapter Seven

Once the team was airborne, Brand handed Wes the sat phone. He hoped talking to her family would help jog Ellie’s memory. He also hoped it wouldn’t be too overwhelming for her. Wes looked up her parents’ number in his contacts then punched it in. This was a call he never expected to make, but he was so grateful for this moment.

Ever since Ellie “died,” he’d barely spoken to her family. He would always blame himself for not being there to protect her, and there was no way to manage his guilt along with the disappointment he worried he’d feel from them as well. Samuel and Laura Wright, her parents, had tried reaching out several times, but Wes had pulled away and ran off to Montana after they’d found him in the garage, contemplating ending it all. He’d followed Corey, destined to spend the rest of his life in self-imposed isolation. But, Cor had introduced him to Brand and the others, which had helped ease his loneliness and allowed him to stop punishing himself. For the most part, anyway.

Sam Wright answered and Wes knew the other man would be surprised to hear from him. Doing his best to calmly explain the situation without giving away any intel about their op, Wes carefully revealed that Ellie was still alive. Silence filled the line as Wes warned Sam that Ellie had lost her memory. Then he passed the phone to her and gave her a reassuring nod.

“Hi,” Ellie said softly. The stunned silence was quickly replaced by a shocked sound and then Wes heard Sam start yelling for his wife. Ellie’s eyes met his, full of uncertainty, and Wes automatically reached out and placed his hand over hers, lightly squeezing.

“Everything is okay now,” he said. She gave him a brave nod and, even though he didn’t want to, he released her hand and sat back in his seat, listening as she talked with her parents. They called her younger sister, Tori, patching her into the call, and Wes could hear everyone’s voices running a mile a minute over that line.

Watching Ellie closely for signs of a memory surfacing, or even distress, he noticed the way her shoulders became less tense as the conversation continued. She eventually started sharing what she remembered about the incident and where she’d been over the past year. There were plenty of shared tears and then a lot of laughter. A part of him still couldn’t believe she was back and sitting right in front of him.

After talking to her family, Ellie looked happy, but tired. “Why don’t you rest?” Wes suggested, reaching for a blanket and handing it to her. “We have a long flight ahead of us.”

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