Heavenly Husband. Carolyn Greene

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СКАЧАТЬ shifted on the sofa so that he faced her. Once situated, he decided instead to pursue the line of questioning he’d started earlier. The more he knew about her, the easier it would be to protect her. And having her think he suffered from amnesia was a convenient tool for getting the information he needed. “We never finished talking about you. Tell me about your family.”

      As she told him about her father, Maxwell, her young stepmother, Carmen, and her own single-child status, Jerry soaked up the warmth of the room as well as the warmth in her voice.

      The house and its furnishings reminded him of her. It was simple and unpretentious, but still classic and welcoming. The old white frame house was situated in the middle of forty acres, about half of which were cleared. A small lake behind the house invited quiet introspection and meditation at its edge, and a barn gave shelter to the assorted wild geese and ducks that congregated near the water.

      It was the inside of the house that most clearly displayed Kim’s personality. The blue overstuffed sofa and chair invited inhabitants to put their feet up, and the wood theme of floors and half-paneled walls gave an earthy feel. It was a house a man could feel comfortable in, but the ruffled curtains and thick blue-and-cream rug saved it from appearing masculine.

      He knew from his forays into her library that she was an eclectic reader, sampling everything from the classics to science fiction, mystery and romance. He had been pleased to note that not only did a Bible sit among her collection, but it appeared by its worn condition to be well-read.

      As she told him about her father’s thriving bakery business whose distribution covered a three-state region, Jerry took in the assorted magazine pictures of horses adorning the walls. On the fireplace mantel sat a framed photo of a young girl perched atop a pony while a man stood nearby holding the reins and smiling down at his tiny charge.

      When she finished describing their planned expansion of the company, he changed the subject. “Why don’t you have any horses in the barn?”

      She rolled her eyes and lolled back against the sofa. “That’s one reason I bought this place...so I’d have a place to keep the horses I’ve always wanted. But the business expansion keeps me so busy I don’t have time to care for an animal right now. Not even a cat.”

      “How long until you’ve finished the expansion?”

      “As soon as six months or as long as two or even three years, depending on how things go.”

      He scratched his head. “I noticed a rosebush at the corner of the house. Do you ever take time to stop and smell the roses?”

      Now it was Kim’s turn to scratch her head. If this question had been asked before Gerald’s accident, she would have known he was joking. But now...well, she just wasn’t sure.

      “You are lecturing me about stopping to smell the roses?”

      He grinned, the action deepening the small dimple in his left cheek. His whiskery cheek. Kim had never seen him unshaven before, and she couldn’t help noticing that the casual look on him was anything but casual. It made him look darker, more brooding, and more powerful than the clean-cut, three-piece-suited man she was accustomed to. Not even the gentle charm of his grin could lessen her gut-level response. In fact, the contrast actually emphasized the depth of his blue eyes and the sharp angle of his jaw.

      “Does that surprise you?”

      “Of course it does. You’re the workaholic pot calling me a black kettle. You were the one who talked Daddy and me into the expansion in the first place.”

      Jerry frowned slightly as he took in what she was saying. “Did I work with you and your father at Barnett’s Bakery?”

      “Yes,” she said gently, “and you worked just as hard or harder than both of us to get the merger started.”

      “I did?”

      Kim nodded. Her bangs fell forward and tickled her eyebrows. She hadn’t taken the time to mousse her hair this morning after her shower, and now her chin-length auburn hair swung softly around her face in free abandon.

      “Then it’s about time I changed my ways,” he confessed.

      “That’ll be the day.” The doctor hadn’t said whether Jerry would remember his recovery period once he regained his previous memories. However, Kim felt sure that once he recalled the events and motivations that had led him to become the person he’d once been, he would most likely go back to being the old Gerald. As for right now, he probably felt vulnerable and lost, which accounted for this new attitude of his.

      “No, I’m serious.”

      He touched her arm, and Kim shrank from the warmth of his touch. No matter how appealing he might be at the moment, she knew that, like a puppy that eventually outgrows its cuteness, Jerry would leave behind the innocence and charm that now warmed her heart. She expected he would probably also go back to the woman he’d been seeing. Her gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Jerry, and he removed his hand from her arm.

      “It’s obvious that you and Gerald...uh, you and I...have our priorities mixed up. It’s impossible to enjoy the good things we have when we’re so busy working to acquire more.”

      Kim narrowed her eyes at him. Same face, same hair, same body, and same gestures. If she didn’t know better, she’d think this was Gerald’s twin. The good twin.

      “So I think it would do us both good to attend church this Sunday,” he continued. “You know, get in touch with our inner selves and make peace with the Big Guy for forgetting about all the good stuff He’s done for us. I understand He gets really ticked when people ignore Him.”

      “Church?”

      “Yeah. You know, the place with the steeple and the stained-glass windows,” he said as if she was the one who needed her memory jogged. “Or temple, if that’s your preference.”

      It had been a while since she’d last attended church. Ever since she’d become involved in the expansion plans, she had either worked on Sundays or been too tired to get up in time to go to the morning service, so she was certainly overdue. As for Jerry, it was possible that he was searching for something to fill a void in his soul. Perhaps if he found spiritual peace, it would stay with him even after he regained his memory. Although she herself didn’t want to take another chance by becoming involved with him again, she hoped any such comfort he got from church would help make him a better person—both for himself and for the next woman in his life.

      “Okay,” she said. “We’ll go to church this Sunday, but you have to shave first.”

      

      Sunday morning, Kim set out a can of shaving cream and a fresh razor on the bathroom counter. Then she went into the living room to read the paper before getting dressed for church.

      A moment later, he announced, “This is a leg razor.” A long pause followed. “A pink one.”

      “That’s okay,” she told him. “It’ll still do the job.”

      “But the guy on TV said a man needs a swiveling head.”

      Kim stood up and fastened the robe tighter around her waist. Going to the bathroom, she reminded herself that he’d be returning to his own apartment in another week or two. Then she’d СКАЧАТЬ