Cole looked handsome as ever as he sat across from her. She realized he had more gray suits than any other color. Probably because it made him look so very handsome. Nevertheless, she could stare at him forever.
“Time has crept by since we came home after our enjoyable afternoon drive,” he began.
“I agree. I felt as though I was being tortured for some unknown reason.”
He reached across the table and took hold of her fingers, gently rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “Forgive me if I speak out of turn, but I’ve been in Heaven since this afternoon. Having you in my life has made me feel alive. I now have reason to breathe and to experience pure happiness.”
Could her heart soften anymore toward this man? How had she gotten so lucky? “Since you are sharing your feelings with me, let me share mine with you.” She offered him a genuine smile. “There’s something about being with you that makes me feel as though this has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And yet, something tugs on the back of my memory and tells me not to enjoy it too much.” Her smile drooped. “Cole, I’m so very worried that there will be something in my memory keeping me from this happiness.”
He frowned as his gaze narrowed. “I have been so afraid that when you regain your memory, you’ll hate me for not loving your mother the way I should have as a husband.”
“Really?”
Before she could ask more, the kitchen maids brought in dishes of food. Cole released her hand as the maids served them. Once everything was on their plates, the maids left the room. Vicky stared at her plate of potatoes, roasted duck, and steamed broccoli and carrots. The scent from the fresh bread made her mouth water more so than the other items of food. In the back of her mind, another memory tried to break through of a slightly older woman pulling bread pans out of a large oven. Was Vicky trying to remember her mother, perhaps?
“Vicky?”
Cole’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked at him. “Yes?”
“Are you all right? You look as though you’re miles away.”
She nodded. “I think I was miles away. I think I had a vision of my mother baking bread.”
His eyebrows arched. “That’s odd. I didn’t think she had made bread herself. I thought she always had servants to do that for her.”
Vicky shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t my mother. Perhaps it was the cook in my memory.”
Smiling once again, he took her fingers in his hand again and squeezed lightly. “But the good news is that your memory is finally returning.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Is that good news...or bad? After all, you mentioned before the food came that you thought I’d hate you once I remembered everything.”
“I’m hoping,” he said softly, “that you don’t remember hating me, but that you’ll recall how much I love you now.”
“Do...” she swallowed hard, “do you know if I really hated you?”
“No.” His thumb rubbed over her knuckles. “But I worried that you would. Your mother had told me once that her children were displeased with her decision to marry me.”
Silently, Vicky pondered this information in her heart, and yet she still didn’t feel as though she hated him. The only feeling sweeping through her—besides desiring this man—was anxiousness. Something that she couldn’t remember made her anxious, and sitting idly doing nothing made the feeling stronger. There was something urgent that needed to be done, that was for certain.
“All I can tell you,” she gripped his fingers with hers, “is that my heart is full of love right now. I pray that emotion will override all others.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles before releasing her. Cole’s smile widened. “I think we should eat before the food turns cold. I have a surprise for you after our meal.”
Excitement beat in her chest. “I sincerely hope it’s teaching me how to dance.”
“Indeed, it is.”
Vicky quickly shoved in a forkful of food. It was unknown to her if she had danced or even been taught, but the enthusiasm bursting inside of Vicky let her know this was definitely something new.
As she chewed her food, her mind tried to recall the strange feeling she’d had earlier when she watched the girl in the yard playing with the dog. The desperate feeling of needing to do something quickly came over her again. Inwardly, she groaned. Why couldn’t she get rid of this feeling...or at least figure it out?
She lifted her gaze to Cole. His attention was on his plate, so she moved her focus slowly around the room. One window displayed the evening light settling over the land. So much had happened today, not only with Cole, but with her memory. She wanted more days like this.
As she moved to a different window, something else filled the window. A man’s face! Startled, she sucked in her breath. She couldn’t see much, but the man with the round face aimed his glare on her.
Immediately, a memory flashed in her mind. A beefy man with a scar near his right eye gripped her upper arms tightly as he sneered. The scene opened and she noticed horses around them. Race horses. The fear strumming through her now matched the fear she’d had back then.
The man growled as his grip tightened. “Ye little thief! Yer mistake in blabbing yer mouth cost me dearly. Ye will pay.”
“Vicky?” Cole’s voice rose in panic as he jumped out of his chair and moved around the table. “Vicky, look at me. You’re as white as a ghost.”
She snapped back to reality as she looked at Cole. “I think I saw a ghost...or something.” She pointed a trembling hand toward the window. “There was a man looking at me.”
Cole swung his head and peered in that direction. The man she’d seen at the window was gone. Had she seen him at all, or was he a figment of her imagination or a memory trying to break through?
THE PALE COLOR IN VICKY’S face worried Cole. Her skin hadn’t been this white since right after her accident. He feared she’d remembered something, but when she mentioned seeing a man in the window, his fears shifted, especially when he couldn’t see anyone.
Her body quaked as she stood. He enfolded her in his embrace and kissed her forehead. “I’ll protect you, my darling,” he muttered against her forehead.
“He...he was there a moment ago.” Her voice shook nearly as much as her body.
“Did you recognize him?”
“I think I did.”
He withdrew only far enough away to glance down into her face. “What do you remember?”
“I saw him yelling at me, accusing me of being a thief. He told me I’d pay for my mistake.”
Confusion swept over Cole. He wished he’d known Rebecca’s daughter while his wife was still alive. Perhaps he’d be able to be of some assistance. But all he knew about Victoria Hampton was that she’d been married to a man who died not too long ago.
“And that’s all you recall?” he asked.
“Yes.” She snuggled closer to him. “But I remember being very afraid.”
“Shhh.” He soothed. “I’m here, and I won’t let anyone harm you.”
Footsteps in the corridor alerted him that they would have visitors in a moment, but he didn’t want to release Vicky. He didn’t care what the servants thought.
Someone knocked on the door before it opened. His butler, Reynolds, peeked his head inside.
“Sir, there is a man at the front door wanting a moment of your time.”
Vicky hissed a gasp as her body shook harder. “Do you think that’s him?”
He couldn’t handle seeing Vicky in such a dither. If it took confronting this person at the door just to get some answers, he’d do it, even though it meant it might ruin his and Vicky’s night of romance.
“I’ll take care of this, my love.” He kissed her briefly on the lips and pulled away.
As he stepped toward the entryway, a burly man whose scowl was as black as his clothes, marched toward him. Shock was a mild word for what jolted through Cole’s system. At first he wanted to chastise the fool for c
oming into the house when Reynolds probably told him to stay on the front steps. And, if this was indeed, the man who peeked through the window and frightened Vicky, Cole would see to it that the imbecile was arrested.
The stranger’s evil eyes moved past Cole over to Vicky. The man pointed his finger at her. “I caught ya now. Ye cannot hide forever.”
“How dare you!” Cole snapped as he stepped in front of the man, trying to block him from Vicky. “You were not invited into this house. I don’t know you, so I want you to leave.”
The man threw Cole an irritated sideway glance. “Ye may not know me, but she does.”
“I beg your pardon!” Cole stopped the man from going any further by pressing his palms against the man’s beefy shoulders. “If you don’t leave posthaste, I’ll summon the police.” Cole looked over his shoulder at Vicky, still with a white color coating her skin as she stared at the intruder with watery—panic stricken—eyes. Her bottom lip quivered.
“Barclay Murphy?” Her voice squeaked.
Cole sucked in a quick breath. He turned toward her fully. She remembered? Although this could have been a moment to rejoice over since she remembered something, he had a sinking feeling the memory she had of Mr. Murphy was not a good one.
The hideous man grinned, displaying a few missing teeth, and the rest in his mouth were rotten and brown. “Ye remember me now?” The uninvited man laughed, causing icy chills to run up Cole’s back.
Slowly, her head nodded.
“So ye knows why I’m here?” Murphy asked.
She nodded again and her throat lurched in what must have been a hard swallow. “You are here to collect your money.”
“Aye.”
“What money?” Cole asked in a tight voice.
The man folded his arms across his chest and lifted a haughty chin. “Yer lady friend was the reason my horse race business went under. She owes me!”
Cole narrowed his gaze on Vicky. “Do you remember any of what he’s talking about?”
“Yes.” She licked her lips as a tear slid down her cheek. “I worked for him by taking care of the horses,” she whispered. “That’s how I know horses so well. He was cheating his patrons. I didn’t agree with his deceitful business, so I causally mentioned it to a few patrons. Gradually, people stopped betting on his horses. He accused me of ruining his business.”
Unbelievable! Cole couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Had Rebecca known this about her daughter? And if so, why hadn’t Rebecca tried to help? She was wealthy. She could have given her daughter the money.
Cole whipped around and faced the man once more. Shoulders back, chin erect, Cole was ready to battle with the stranger. “How much does Mrs. Hampton owe you?”
Mr. Murphy arched a bushy black eyebrow. “Mrs. Hampton? Don’t know anyone by that name.” He pointed to Vicky. “But Victoria Owens owes me one-thousand pounds.”
ELEVEN
Vicky’s mind opened up like rushing water through a broken dam. Victoria Owens! Her last name was Owens. She’d worked for Barclay Murphy for two years. Her mother had arranged for Vicky to tend the horses at his race track. Mother had worked for Murphy, but he punished her because of her weakened condition, which kept her Mother from being productive. That’s when Vicky took her mother’s place. Not long after that, her mother died. She and her younger sister, Annette, blamed Murphy for their mother’s demise. Unfortunately, paychecks from him were what paid the bills. Vicky didn’t think she could find another job, and yet that didn’t stop her from telling Murphy’s patrons about how he was cheating them. When Murphy discovered what she’d done, she took Annette and moved them far away from Murphy.
Apparently, it wasn’t far enough because the bugger still found her. He threatened to sell Annette to slave traders unless Vicky paid him back for his losses.
That’s why she came here...to get Uncle Hollingsworth’s inheritance, only to find out that she wouldn’t get it right away.
Hollingsworth! She gasped again and switched her attention to Cole. She wasn’t Rebecca’s daughter at all. She was Hollingsworth’s niece—the very woman Cole and Adora didn’t want coming to the manor. Cole despised her and wanted to get rid of her.
Tears filled her eyes faster now. Most certainly he would stop loving her when she told him about her true identity.
“Y-you are Victoria Owens?” he asked meekly.
Seeing the anguish on his expression broke her heart. “I am,” she said weakly. “When Murphy said that name, my memory opened up fully.”
“Y-you are Lord Hollingsworth’s niece?” Cole’s face was still pale with shock.
She nodded. Her throat was too tight to talk. She wanted to cry out in unfairness, but she held back the crumbling emotion.
Cole cleared his throat and stepped in front of Murphy again, blocking him from getting any closer to her. Cole was a muscular man, but she still worried that Murphy would overpower him. After all, Cole was an injured soldier and had a bad leg.
“I don’t care who you are and if she knows you,” Cole aimed his glare at Murphy, “but you need to leave this instant.”
Murphy shook his clumpy hair. “Not leavin’ until she gives me my money.”
Vicky moved beside Cole and met Murphy’s glare. “But I don’t have the money yet. I can’t get my inheritance for one year.”
Murphy’s evil expression didn’t change. “Then I’ll sell your sister to the slave traders.”
Vicky’s chest tightened. “Do not lay a finger on my sister. She did nothing wrong.”
“You...you have a sister?” Cole’s voice shook as he aimed his question at her.
Her heart crumbled with each passing second, and the longer she saw the pain and confusion written on Cole’s face, the more she wanted to erase everything that had happened between them. She wanted to close her eyes so she couldn’t see the hurt on his expression. She wanted to curl up in a ball and hide until all of this passed by. But she must stay strong. Her sister needed her desperately now. Vicky couldn’t give up.
She swallowed, moistening her suddenly dry throat. “Yes, I have a younger sister. She is the reason I came here, because I needed your help.” She licked her dry lips. Tears came quickly. She couldn’t stand seeing him broken up like this. If only there was some way to make him believe that everything was all right. If only she could believe that, too.
Different expressions played across his face. First shock, then fear, until it finally stopped on anger. His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. Cole’s face hardened. He straightened and faced Murphy once more. “So she owe you one-thousand pounds?”
“Aye.”
Cole didn’t bat an eye. “Fine. I shall have the money ready for you tomorrow morning.”
Murphy nodded. “I’ll be here at ten o’clock in the mornin’. Ye better have it by then.”
Barclay Murphy didn’t need to be shown out of the house, because he turned and marched outside the same way he’d come in.
Vicky’s stomach rolled with worry. Earlier, Cole had feared that she would hate him when her memories returned. Now she feared the same thing. In fact, watching the confusion and anger trading places on his expression, she already knew the answer.
Her heart twisted in agony. Whatever her uncle had done to Cole made him hate her for being related to a Hollingsworth. And yet, she didn’t feel any hatred toward Cole for being Lady Diana’s brother, since that woman had put her uncle through hell—according to the family gossip, anyway.
But now, none of that mattered. All that mattered was trying to convince Cole she was not a bad person. She hadn’t meant to lose her memory, and she hadn’t meant to fall in love with him, either. Fate had been at the wheel of her ship, and she went where the wind took her, which had been directly into his arms.
Cole stood silent for several minutes. She didn’t dare move—or even breathe—for fear what might happen next. But she needed to explain herself. There was a purpose of coming to Grand View. She needed to fulfill her uncle’s
outlandish request, yet at the same time, pay off Murphy so he’d leave her sister alone. Eventually, they needed to discuss this, but by the way Cole stood so stiffly as he stared down the entryway, she knew this wasn’t the right time.
Finally, a heavy sigh escaped his throat and he slowly turned toward her. His gaze, however, wouldn’t meet hers. Instead, it darted around the dining room.
“If you will excuse me, Miss Owens, I need to see about getting that money for Mr. Murphy.”
“Cole, please—” She reached out to touch him, but he spun around and briskly walked away. Once he was out of her line of vision, she crumbled to the floor and sobbed. Why had her memory returned? It would have been so much better to act as though she didn’t know Barclay Murphy. She wanted to go back to the way she and Cole were this afternoon.
Sadly, she didn’t believe that would happen.
COLE CLIMBED UP THE stairs, taking two at a time, as he headed for his bed chambers. A million thoughts raced through his mind. Just when he thought Lady Luck was smiling upon him, the blasted woman had to crush his hopes once more. His mind and his heart were in battle right now. His hatred for Lord Hollingsworth controlled his thoughts. If not for that man, his family might have lived a normal life. Then again, it was Cole’s own father who made the wrong choices. And yet, it was Hollingsworth’s fault that Cole’s mother couldn’t feel free in her own estate. It was also Hollingsworth’s fault that Cole couldn’t manage his family’s property. Not until he allowed Victoria Owens to work for a year as his housekeeper.
The housekeeper!
Reality struck him once again. She wasn’t the daughter of his deceased wife, but a servant. Vicky’s station in life was far beneath his. And yet, it didn’t seem to matter. He’d already caused a scandal when he married a woman for her money, and who was almost old enough to be his own mother. So then what was so wrong with loving a servant?
Sweet Memories Page 11
