Page 31 of In Bed with the Rancher

He tried to calm down and focus on the family and ignore his racing pulse and his eagerness to see her again. How important was she to him? That question startled him. But he had to admit she had become very important. He went upstairs.

He knew where he was and he wanted to go see Lucy if she was in her suite. Relief overwhelmed him that he knew his identity. He would get his life back and a lot more now because Ava was in his life. He looked down at the clothes he was wearing. Not his clothes. He wanted to get his own clothes and his boots.

He passed an open door and when he glanced inside, he knew it was Lucy’s suite even though she wasn’t in the sitting room. He crossed the room to straighten a picture that periodically slipped and became crooked and it was too high for Lucy to reach unless she stood on a chair, so often he fixed it for her.

He heard her behind him. “I’m fixing your picture. I wanted to talk to you—”

She stared at him and looked at the picture. “You’re not Wynn. Oh, my gosh, you’re Wade.” She dashed across the room to hug him.

He blinked in surprise, then put his arms around her. “You didn’t think so when I first saw you in the hall.”

“No,” she said, stepping back to smile at him. “I was distracted, but I can tell which one of you I’m with if I really look at you. And you straightened the picture, like you always do. Wynn never once has. Which is all right with me. On Dad’s orders, Wynn is supposed to leave my things alone.”

He wanted to reach out and hug her again, but she continued. “The whole family thinks you’re Wynn. The whole family except Wynn, that is.”

“Where is Wynn?”

“He’ll be here and he’s bringing Olivia.” Her hand flew to her face. “Wade, Olivia thinks she’s with you. You’re the one she’s been seeing for the past year. Do you think that’s why he did this? He wanted Olivia?”

Wade smiled and squeezed her shoulder. “It’ll be all right. Olivia and I were about to split, anyway. I’m glad she’s with him.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

Her lips firmed and she wrinkled her brow. “I know you won’t lose your temper when we’re all together. I worry about Dad getting upset. His doctors told him to avoid stress.”

“Well, hell, that went out the window when Wynn was born. I’ll talk to Dad and emphasize all the good things—I got home safely, I have my memory. At this point I think that’s about all we can do.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why Wynn has to pull these childish pranks. He needs to grow up.” He stopped. “Enough about him.

“On another subject, Mom told me to invite my new friend, Ava Carter. She saved my life in a terrible storm. She saw my pickup sweep off the road and saw me jump before it went down into a canyon. She climbed down to get me out of there, helped me back to the road and took me home with her. We had a hell of a storm that night and I really think she saved my life. I’d lost my memory—probably when I fell—and I didn’t know where the pickup was, nor my phone, and I lost my wallet so I had no identification. To top it off, I was cut badly and bleeding.”

“Oh, Wade, that’s awful.”

“I really owe her and I want all of you to meet her. She has no family. Her mother and sister died and she doesn’t have contact with her dad.”

“I’m glad she took you in, but with no memory—that’s a little scary to take a stranger home when you live alone.”

He told her about Ava’s wonderful neighbors, including Molly, who had tended to his shoulder.

“How is your shoulder?”

“It’s mending. I think it’s fine. I’ll go see our doc and let him check me over because of the head injury and memory loss.”

“I’m glad we’ll get to meet your friend.”

“I’m glad you will, too. Ava is an occupational therapist. Well, sis, I’d like to say hello to Jack. I remember the house and where Jack’s suite is located. I’ll see you again shortly, probably in the great room.”

“Sure. I’m glad you’re home, Wade. Real glad.”

“Thanks, Lucy,” he said. “It’s good to be home and beyond good to get my memory back.”

She laughed. “Wynn had to behave himself to pose as you. What a relief it was.”

“Well, he can be his usual ornery self again.”

“I can’t wait to meet Ava. If you like her, then I know I’ll like her.”

“You’ll like her, I promise,” Wade said, pausing at the open door. He smiled at Lucy and left to go see his baby brother and let him know about Wynn, the imposter.

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