Page 6 of A Forgotten Heart (Wind River Mail-Order Brides #5)

He tried to sift through his recollections, but it was like holding water in his hands. His memories slipped right through.

What was wrong? And why couldn’t he remember?

Fatigue pressed down on him, and the ringing in his head lured him to close his eyes again, but he forced them back open.

He shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position, but nothing helped.

Elsie’s skirts swished as she turned around. She swiped her hand beneath her eye. Was she crying?

“You’re awake.”

She didn’t seem to look directly at him. Her lips tipped with a ghost of a smile but flattened.

As she lowered into the chair next to him, her hands fisted in her skirts. She appeared tired. Worried.

He tried to reach for her, but a surge of pain locked his arm in place. The movement shifted the blanket around him, and a cool draft swept over his bare chest.

Doctor’s office. He must be injured.

Elsie reached over and situated the blanket once more.

“What happened?” he whispered.

Her hands went still, but she didn’t look at him. “You don’t know?”

Words pressed against his mouth, but pain swelled again in his shoulder, or his head—he didn’t know which.

A moan escaped from his scratchy throat.

Her palm covered his forearm. “Shhh. Stay still.”

Her presence eased the spasm until he could take in a full breath.

So many questions burned in his gut, but all he could force past his swollen tongue was “Elsie.”

He moved his hand to cover hers, but her hand stiffened. With a clearing of her throat, she pulled away to pick up a glass of water on the table next to him.

She held the glass to his bottom lip just before the sweetest water he had ever drunk met his mouth.

“Don’t drink too fast,” she said. “I don’t want you to get waterlogged.”

He ignored her and drank like he’d been roaming a scorching desert for far too long.

She pulled the glass away. “I said not too fast.”

“So bossy,” he mumbled. The corner of his mouth twitched upward, the old tease bringing a moment of lightness.

She pushed a curl of hair behind her ear and lowered herself into the chair again, eyes downcast.

The amber glow of the room embraced her. Candlelight had always enhanced her beauty.

“You are so beautiful.”

Red bloomed on her cheeks. He could still make her blush.

But she didn’t smile or meet his eyes.

The wind rattled the window, followed by something slamming against the outer wall.

Elsie startled, her attention jumping to the window, hand fluttering to her mouth.

Nick’s heartbeat hitched. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

She never was a good liar. He probably needed to check it out. He edged up onto his elbows, ignoring the searing heat blazing in his shoulder.

Elsie jumped from her chair, hand on his chest. “Nick, lie down. I’ll tell you if you will just be still.”

Something had her worked up. She was looking at him at least. Her eyes were shadowed, but he didn’t know why. He lowered back down.

“You were shot.”

Shot? “By whom?” His head ached as he pressed to remember. Why couldn’t he? “Are you all right?” His gaze drifted over her, but he didn’t see any injuries.

“I’m fine,” she said stiffly.

She wasn’t. Something was making her shoulders so tense.

He glanced around the vaguely familiar room. “Where are we?”

“At the doctor’s office in Calvin.”

“Home for Christmas?”

Her brow creased as if she didn’t know how to answer. She rested her hand on the bed next to him, and it was the most natural thing in the world to close his fingers around hers.

But she slipped out of his hold and stood. His thoughts scattered like snowflakes in the wind. “Elsie?”

She blinked hard, then moved back to the window, her arms folded. “Umm, Nick, you hit your head pretty hard. Can you remember anything? Before right now?”

His eyelids drifted closed. His head was pounding, thoughts swirling just out of reach. “I remember how happy we were.”

She went still. “Happy?”

He wished he could reach her face and cup her cheek, but his arms weighed a thousand pounds.

“Yeah. Do you remember when we were tasked with decorating the commons for Christmas? You were hanging the star on the top of the tree and slipped from the chair, but I caught you. You said, ‘I thought you were hanging garland.’ And I said…”

He waited, wanting the answer from her lips.

Her mouth hardly moved as she said, “‘I could never walk away from you.’”

“Or the time we went caroling. I’ll never forget it.”

Her shoulders hitched and his stomach dropped. What had he said to upset her so? He opened his mouth to ask, but she inserted, “How about anything since school?”

Everything after school stayed behind a thick curtain. Was he even out of school? The harder he tried to think, the more his head pounded.

Maybe that was why he couldn’t remember what’d happened this morning. Or yesterday.

At least he remembered the important things.

“Elsie.” Nick waited until he captured her gaze with his. “You are the one thing I would never forget.”

Her mouth pinched, and she turned away. “Nick, please just rest.”

He couldn’t understand why she was holding herself distant. The pounding in his head got worse. “My brain may be bruised, but it doesn’t change how I love you.”

Her gaze flicked to his face, shadows in their depths, but he could no longer keep his eyes open, and he slipped into darkness again.