Forgotten Fiancee

by Lucy Gordon

  He turned to that woman now, seeking reassurance in her showy beauty, her perfect grooming, her suitability. She smiled at him, but her smile was all wrong. It glittered with triumph. A woman’s smile should be gentle and glowing, full of love, making a man feel like a king.

  “Are we ready to start?” he asked harshly. He was afraid his unease might show, but he needn’t have worried. Marguerite noticed nothing beyond her own immediate concerns.

  Course by course, the perfect meal was served. Justin drank wine, cracked jokes, flirted with Marguerite and longed for the evening to end.

  When they reached the coffee and liqueur stage the waiters carried in a huge cake, lavishly decorated in white sugar and adorned with a tactful twenty candles. Justin rose and made an elegant speech. Marguerite listened to him with an air of expectancy..

  “I couldn’t bring your birthday gift in here because it’s too large,” he said. “And so—” At his signal the dark blue curtains behind him parted, revealing a screen. A video was running, showing a sleek, glossy sports car. The guests oohed and aahed with admiration. Justin presented Marguerite with the keys, and she threw her arms around his neck, apparently overcome with joy. But at the last second he saw her eyes, filled with cold fury at receiving a car and not the engagement ring she’d wanted.

  As the party broke up Greg murmured to his brother, “You were expected to propose, you know. She’s mad as fire that you didn’t.”

  “I’ll propose in my own good time,” Justin snapped, “and not in front of a crowd.”

  “Ah, so it’s shyness that held you back,” Greg said, grinning wickedly. “I wondered what it was.”

  “Mind your own damned business!”

  Marguerite made a splendid show of delight, insisting on going outside to see “my darling present from my darling man.” She exclaimed over the beautiful vehicle with little screams of ecstasy, then slid into the driving seat and started the engine, which purred as softly as a kitten. “It’s the most gorgeous car,” she said. “Thank you, dearest Justin.”

  “It’ll be delivered to your home tomorrow,” he said.

  “But I must just drive it for a few minutes now.”

  “Better wait. It’s very late and—”

  “But I want to drive it. Don’t spoil my birthday, darling.”

  She began to ease the car onto the road. With an oath Justin vaulted into the passenger seat. “Just a few minutes, then,” he said. “Luckily the road’s empty— hey! What are you doing?”

  “Putting her through her paces.”

  “For God’s sake, Marguerite! You can’t do this speed in a built-up area. Slow down. Let me take the wheel.”

  Her answer was to slam her foot down, venting her temper on the accelerator. Justin held his breath, praying that nothing would appear in their path. He knew better than to try to snatch the wheel, but he shouted at her to slow down.

  “Don’t be a spoilsport,” she cried. “I’m enjoying your lovely gift. Don’t you want me to have fun?”

  “Not by getting us both killed,” he said grimly. “Look out!”

  A car had appeared from a side street. Marguerite had had just enough champagne to slow her reactions. She swore and wrenched at the wheel, turning the car sideways with a violence that threw it into a skid. Justin’s last view was of the street whirling around him before a lamppost appeared by his window, and the side of the car slammed into it.

  His head ached, and the light hurt his eyes. The nurse by his bed vanished as soon as he awoke, returning with a doctor, who said, “That’s right. I knew you’d come back soon. It’s about time.”

  “I feel awful,” Justin said thickly.

  “You will for a while. You’ve been out for three days.”

  “What happened?”

  “You were in a car crash. You came off badly because the car hit the lamppost on your side. Luckily the lady got thrown clear, and she has only minor cuts and bruises.”

  Justin fought to clear his head. “I need to see my brother.”

  “He’s just outside. I’ll get him.”

  Greg’s face was tense with strain. “You gave us a fright.”

  Justin managed a grin. “Never fear,” he said huskily. “I’ll be around to hassle you for a long time yet. Look, the doctor says I’ve been out for three days. I’m still a bit groggy, so fill me in. He said there was a woman in the car with me—”

  “Marguerite.”

  “What was I doing with her?”

  “She wanted to drive her new car. Don’t you remember?”

  “No, my mind’s a blank just before the accident.”

  “Well, the whole thing was her fault, and I told her so.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that, not until the reception’s over, anyway. Obviously I’m not going to be there, so you’ll have to—”

  “Wait a minute!” Greg leaned over him, frowning with concern. “What reception?”

  “The Carter Vernon reception, of course, to mark the takeover.”

  “But—that was two years ago.”

  Justin stared at him. “Two years ago? What the devil are you talking about? It’s tomorrow.”

  Chapter Two

  “Sure you’ll be all right while I’m gone?”

  “Uncle Nick,” Sarah protested, laughing. “We’ll be fine. Anyone would think we’d never looked after the shop before.”

  “It’s not the shop I worry about. It’s you two, all on your own tonight. Burglars and all.”

  “Haven’s had one burglary in the last two years. And that was only Joker breaking into the newsagent because one of his school friends dared him.”

  “Just the same, be sure you lock up properly. Perhaps I shouldn’t go away—”

  “We’ll manage for one night,” she assured him.

  “Give Nicky that little rubber duck at bath time. He likes to splash about.”

  “You’ll be telling me how to change his diapers next. Will you stop fretting?”

  Okay, okay, I’m an old fusspot. I know it without anyone telling me.”

  “Go on and have fun,” she commanded him. “And bring back something beautiful.”

  “I will. I’m going to hit the jackpot this time, you’ll see.”

  He departed at last. Sarah stood in the doorway with her little son in her arms, and together they waved as the old man got into the ancient car and drove away.

  “He thinks we can’t manage without him,” she said, kissing Nicky. “But we can look after each other, can’t we? Mmm, you smell gorgeous.”

  She settled him down into the playpen that took up a corner of the little shop, making it even more crowded than usual. Mottson’s General Store served Haven with groceries, hardware and anything else that other shops didn’t bother to stock, and it was a tight squeeze.

  The village was bathed in the warmth of early summer, and Sarah pulled the door wide open. Nicky was earnestly placing building blocks one on top of another. Now and then the pile would topple over, but he was never fazed, just cheerfully started again. Sarah smiled at him, thinking that he must be the sweetesttempered child in the world. He seldom cried—he found everything delightful.

  “It’s a pity you’re not old enough to read,” she told him. “You could help me learn my lines.”

  She acted with the Haven Players, and was rehearsing her role in the latest production, Laughing All the Way, a frothy comedy that had been a great hit in the West End of London a few years earlier. It needed a cast of sixteen and three set changes, but no one had ever accused the Haven Players of thinking small.

  Sarah was playing Amy, a drab spinster whose life took a new turn after an unexpected avowal of love from Frank, her neighbor. It wasn’t the lead, but it was a good part. She enjoyed it, except for having to memorize short lines of dialogue.

  “Shakespeare’s easier,” she confided in Nicky. “Nice long speeches. But these lines are about ten words each, and it’s hard to learn them on my own. I need a Frank to rehearse with.” />
  Nicky regarded her sympathetically.

  “But I don’t have a Frank,” Sarah said in an aggrieved voice, “because Mr. James of the dairy got caught by his wife with the woman who sells cosmetics door-to-door. He had to make a fast exit, hotly pursued by the frying pan. I don’t know when we’ll be seeing him again.”

  Nicky gurgled agreement and swept his hand across the bricks, sending them tumbling to the floor. Sarah knelt to help him retrieve them. He smiled at her, and she looked into his face with a passion of love. After a moment she heard a man’s voice speak somewhere over her head.

  “Is anybody here?”

  “Sorry, I was just…” Sarah straightened, and the words died on her lips.

  “I’m new here,” Justin Hallwood said. “I want to buy a map, and maybe you could tell me—hey, are you all right?”

  “Yes, I—I’m fine,” Sarah managed to say.

  “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” Justin grinned. “I’m real enough, and starving. Can you tell me where I can get something to eat?”

  Sarah stared at him, trying not to betray her shock. Justin was dressed as she’d never seen him before, in jeans and a checked shirt open at the throat. Over that he wore a casual jacket. There was some stubble on his chin, and his skin was brown, as though he’d spent time in the open air. The Justin Hall wood she’d known had always been expensively and elegantly dressed. This man’s shabby comfort was so unlike what she remembered that she wondered if she’d made a mistake.

  But only for a moment. There was no other face in the world that could make her heart beat with such wild, painful joy. The firm jaw and straight nose were just as she remembered them. His voice was the voice that had said her name so softly when they held each other in the heat of passion. The generous, sensual mouth was the one she’d kissed a hundred times in reality and a thousand times in her dreams. His deep blue eyes were unchanged.

  Except for this. They were empty of all recognition as they looked at her. They were friendly and smiling, but they were the eyes of someone who’d never seen her before in his life. This was the man she had loved, who’d fathered her child. But he didn’t know her.

  “A place to eat,” she echoed abstractedly. “Look, I was just going to make coffee. Why don’t you have some with me, and I’ll think of somewhere?”

  “That sounds nice, if it’s no trouble.”

  Making coffee gave her a chance to collect her scattered wits. Some inkling of the explanation was coming to her. The papers had carried a small item about Justin’s accident three months ago, with the mention of head injuries. Sarah had watched fearfully for further news, dreading to hear that he was dead. But there had been nothing more.

  Did his appearance here, so unlike his normal self, mean that his mind had been injured, that he no longer knew who he was?

  She set coffee and sandwiches before him and tried to speak casually. “Are you taking a vacation, Mr….”

  “Hallwood,” he said at once. “Justin Hallwood. Please call me Justin. Yes, I’m on a walking tour, enjoying the countryside.” He sighed with pleasure. “I’d no idea it was so lovely.”

  Sarah’s mind was whirling. Justin hadn’t lost his memory. He just didn’t remember her. “It’s at its best at this time of year,” she said mechanically. “You’re not a countryman, then?”

  “No, I’ve always lived in the city, and liked it. But I was in a car smash, and my doctor thought I ought to have a real change before I went back to work. But you haven’t told me your name.”

  “Sarah Conroy,” she said slowly, watching him.

  He didn’t react to her name. He was tucking into the sandwiches like a starving man. Sarah leaned into the playpen and raised Nicky, so that Justin saw him for the first time. “Is he yours?” he asked.

  “Yes, he’s my son. His name’s Nicky.”

  “Hi, Nicky.” The baby gave a shout of pleasure, laughing directly into Justin’s face, and he grinned back. “He’s a nice little feller. He seems to like me.” Justin waved a finger an inch from Nicky, who seized it in delight.

  “Doesn’t your employer mind you keeping the baby in the shop?” he asked. “Or is it your shop?”

  “My uncle’s. The three of us live together in the flat upstairs.”

  “Just the three of you?”

  After a moment she said, “Nicky’s father doesn’t live with us.”

  To her astonishment, he reddened. “I’m sorry,” he said hastily. “I don’t know what made me ask that— it’s none of my darned business—please forget it.”

  “Have some more coffee,” she said, taking pity on his confusion. Again she wondered if this could really be Justin Hallwood, a man who’d always said what he pleased and done what he pleased, and to hell with anyone who didn’t like it!

  “Have you always lived here?” he asked, clearly trying to find a new subject.

  “I tried city life for a few years, but it didn’t really suit me. I returned to Haven last year when—when I was carrying Nicky. Uncle Nick took me back.”

  “So you named your son after Uncle Nick?” Justin asked.

  “I—yes, yes, I did.”

  Justin raised an eyebrow at her sudden awkwardness, but Sarah said no more.

  Justin finished his snack and said reluctantly, “I suppose I should be moving on.”

  “Is that wise?” Sarah asked. “You look tired to me. If it was a bad accident perhaps you shouldn’t overdo things, especially as you’ve lost so much—so much strength.”

  It was a slip. She’d been going to say “so much weight.” Luckily he didn’t seem to notice.

  “Actually, I do feel a bit done in,” he admitted. “I’ve walked a long way these last couple of days. Does Haven have a good hotel?”

  “None, I’m afraid. There’s a bed-and-breakfast, but it’s very small.”

  “I’m not looking for anything grand.” Justin grinned in self-mockery. “In fact a grand place probably wouldn’t take me, I look so much like a hobo.”

  “I really meant that I think they’re full at the moment.” Sarah was talking slowly to give herself time to come to terms with the idea that was forming in her mind. It was madness, and yet…

  “We have a spare room upstairs,” she said, speaking quickly before she lost her courage. “Uncle Nick and I sometimes take in lodgers. You’re welcome to stay here.”

  “Are you sure it wouldn’t be putting you out?”

  “Not at all.”

  “There’s something you should know before you take me in. I told you I’d had an accident. I had some head injuries and—they affected my mind. I can’t remember anything about the last two years. But I’m not dangerous,” he added quickly. “It’s just that part of me is missing. Some people would be worried by that—”

  “I’m not,” she assured him quickly. So that was the answer. Two years. He really thought they had never met before.

  “Are you sure you feel safe?” he persisted. “You know nothing at all about me—”

  “Don’t worry about it. I know you’re not dangerous.”

  “In that case, thank you.” Justin looked up as a large man wearing a police uniform appeared in the doorway.

  “Hallo,” Sarah said with a smile. “This is Justin Hallwood, who’s going to be staying with us for a while. Justin, this is Sergeant Reg Mayhew.”

  The two men greeted each other, and Sarah said, “You’re in time for some coffee.”

  “That’s kind of you, but I’m a bit pushed for time,” the sergeant said. “Someone’s complained about Oppenshaw’s dog again, and since I’ve got to go out there I thought I’d look in and collect the stuff.”

  “Fine. It’s in back, all ready. Uncle Nick will settle up with you when he returns.”

  “Okay by me. I’ll see you, then.” He gave a friendly nod to Justin and disappeared into the back of the shop.

  “Some of our distant customers need to have things delivered,” Sarah explained. “But we can’t afford to hire
a delivery man. So Reg does it for us whenever he can.”

  “You mean he delivers your goods in his police car?” Justin asked, grinning.

  “That’s right. There’s not much crime around here, so, as Reg says, he might as well put the car to good use.”

  Justin rose and began looking around the shop. “I remember a little place like this when I was a child,” he said. “It stocked one of everything, because that’s all it had room for.”

  “That’s us,” Sarah agreed. “It’s Uncle Nick’s pride that he never lets his customers down, whatever they want—are you all right?”

  Justin’s face had gone gray suddenly, and Sarah was only just in time to catch him as he swayed. He steadied himself against her, closing his eyes. His brow was damp.

  “Sit down,” she said, supporting him to the chair. The feel of him in her arms again almost destroyed her composure. Her heart was beating hard, but luckily he was beyond noticing her agitation.

  “I guess I overdid it a bit,” he said, gasping.

  “You certainly have. I don’t think you’re ready for a walking tour.”

  “You’re probably right. Could I have some water?”

  Instead of water she took a bottle of brandy from a shelf and poured him a measure. “Drink this.”

  He did so, and some color came into his cheeks.

  “Perhaps you should lie down,” Sarah suggested.

  “Thanks, I think I will.”

  He rose, but closed his eyes immediately. Sarah took his arm and drew it around her shoulders. Together they made their way up the stairs until they reached the spare bedroom. She could see from his eyes that his head was aching badly. “I think I should get the doctor to you,” she said worriedly.

  “No, no, I’ll be fine when I’ve rested.”

  She supported him as far as the bed, and he almost fell onto it. His eyes closed immediately and he lay still, as if exhausted. She closed the curtains and drew a cover over him. His face was tense With pain, but gradually it relaxed and his breathing grew regular. She watched him for a moment, thinking of those other times when she’d watched him sleep and wondering what miracle had brought him back to her, the same and yet not the same.