that he was a man that wasn’t often at a loss for words.
“Know you? Of course you know me.” He glanced over at Ryan, his confusion splashed plainly across his face. Not recognizing Ryan, he turned back to Tess again. A frown had sprung up between his thick eyebrows. “I’m Pete, miss. Pete Waverly-your caretaker.”
Tess shook her head. Nothing. Not even a fragment of memory. How could she have remembered so much a few minutes ago and now remember nothing?
Ryan pressed a reassuring hand to the small of her back. “Tess had an accident a few days ago, Mr. Waverly. She’s having a little trouble with her memory. But it’s coming back slowly.”
Concern flickered in the elderly man’s eyes and he immediately stepped forward to open the gate. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. We didn’t hear anything from you, so we thought all was going well with your trip.”
Tess nodded silently, racking her brain for some indication she knew this man. “Is this still my house?”
The question seemed to startle the caretaker, but he quickly recovered. “Of course it is, miss. Been yours ever since your mama passed on five years ago.”
Tess nodded in Ryan’s direction. “This is my good friend, Ryan Donovan.”
Pete pumped Ryan’s hand. “Welcome.”
“Do I live here with anyone?” Tess’s heart hammered against her rib cage as she waited for the answer. She dreaded the possibility that Pete would tell her that Flynn was also a resident of the brownstone.
The barest hint of a smile touched one corner of Pete’s mouth. “Joan-” he glanced back and forth between the two of them “-that’s my wife. She does the inside work and I take care of the outside. We have a small apartment in the basement. But other than that, you live here by yourself-been that way since you took over the house.
“Joan and I always held out the hope that you’d find a nice man and settle down. But you’ve been too busy for that.”
His eyes seemed to lose focus and he got a faraway look. “Your daddy used to call you his greatest hope for the first woman president.” He laughed. “Course, you’d have none of that. Told him you were going to be a newspaper reporter. But you always had your daddy’s good instincts when it came to people. Knew how to tell the fakes and con artists, you did.” His gaze sharpened again, taking on a hint of sadness. “Your mama wasn’t so lucky.”
“You’re talking about my mother’s second husband, General Thomas Flynn, aren’t you?” Tess asked.
Ill-disguised resentment flashed across the caretaker’s lined face. “How’d you guess? Course you knew what he was up to two seconds after he stepped foot in this house. You were only thirteen, but you were already speaking your mind. Let him know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t going to step into your daddy’s shoes or use his name to advance any of his conservative causes.”
“Ms. Ross’s memories of those years are very sketchy, Pete. Do you have any knowledge of Ms. Ross suffering from any illnesses?” Ryan asked.
Tess tightened her hand on his, scared for the first time that someone might actually confirm what Flynn had reported as her history of mental illness.
The old man seemed to give the thought serious consideration for a moment, but then he shook his head. “Nope, can’t say that I can. She was a pretty healthy kid. A broken leg when she was fifteen.”
He looked at Tess. “You’ve always had a bit of the dare-devil in you. Even independent when it came to picking schools. The general, he wanted you to go to George Washington University, but you insisted on R.I.T. And then you landed yourself a job working for a small magazine shortly after graduating-in Paris, France. Flynn tried to pressure you to take a job at a conservative paper he had some pull at. But you wouldn’t hear of it. You were off to see the world. You really don’t remember any of this, do you?”
Tess shook her head. “None of it.”
“Well, come along then and I’ll show you the house. No sense in us standing out here in the middle of the sidewalk entertaining the neighbors.” He stepped back and waved them into the yard.
The three of them climbed the stone steps leading to the heavy oak doors to the brownstone. Pete lifted an oversize ring attached to his belt, carefully selected a key and inserted it into the lock. As the door swung open, he stepped aside, allowing them into the brownstone’s entry hall first.
“Joan is up in Philly, visiting her mom.” He glanced anxiously in Tess’s direction. “Her mom is in a nursing home there. She’d have been here if we knew you were coming. She wouldn’t have missed your homecoming for the world. But your last message said you wouldn’t be back until the end of July-maybe even August.”
“How did Ms. Ross get that message to you?” Ryan asked.
“She e-mails us every week with an update on her itinerary. She travels so much that one week she’s in Greece and the next time we hear, she’s in Moscow.” He smiled. “You’ve never liked phone calls.”
“Did you keep those e-mails by any chance?” Tess asked. At Ryan’s questioning glance, she added, “Someone might be able to trace the e-mails back to the location they were sent from.”
“Joan might have kept them. I’m not too good at using that dang computer so she prints the messages out for me and leaves them for me to read. I’ll check.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Tess said.
“I’ll let you get settled while I go down to the store and have a new key made.” The map of wrinkles around the man’s eyes crinkled with concern as he studied Tess’s face. “You sure everything is going to be okay, Ms. Ross?”
Tess smiled at him, acknowledging the man’s generosity. “I’m going to be fine. I just need some time to reacclimate myself to things around here.” She didn’t say it, but deep down she hoped that was all she needed. But the fact that she hadn’t even recognized a man who obviously had been in her family’s employ for years didn’t do much to bolster her level of confidence.
Whatever Flynn and his cronies had done, it had taken a heavy toll on her brain, wiping it cleaner than a newly scrubbed floor. Getting those memories back wasn’t going to be as easy as simply reintroducing her to her old life.
Pete left, pulling the door shut after him and sealing them in a heavy silence.
Tess looked around the hall, taking in the polished hardwood floor, the ornate cherry banister and staircase leading to the second floor. She didn’t miss the antique umbrella stand occupying a corner next to a walnut wardrobe with leaded glass doors. “Apparently, I have very good taste.”
“Or an excellent decorator and more than a little money.”
“Don’t tell me-you’re the kind of guy who can’t handle rich babes, right?”
“Oh, I’m rather partial to rich babes.” He stepped in close, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her up against him. His hands slipped down to cup her behind and he lifted her, pressing her tight to his body. “I’ll have you know that I’m an expert at
She laughed, but Ryan cut her off by dipping his head and pressing his lips to hers, and in that single instant, the gentle but persistent pressure of his kiss wiped away her worries about forgotten memories.
She lost herself in the heat of his kiss, and it was then that she realized it didn’t matter how long it took to regain her memory. Ryan was what mattered, the sweetness of what she felt for him. The wondrous sensations he created within her with each glance, with every word spoken. It was Ryan, not the memories, that made her life complete. She loved him.
Tess slid her hands up the length of his back, savoring the feel of him, the strength, the power of his muscles shifting and moving beneath the smooth cloth of his shirt.
She tilted her head back and stared up into those endless blue eyes. “I’ve forgotten to thank you, haven’t I?”
“For what?” he asked absently, his mouth gently nibbling her bottom lip.
“For everything you’ve done. For sticking by me through this.”
His lips moved to the side of her neck, the kisses and tiny nips scorching her skin and setting her insides on fire. He lifted his head long enough to say, “I’ll consider this my thank-you.”
“Oh, I’m sure I could do better.”
“You have my permission to work on it.”
“How long do you think it will take Pete to get a key made?”
“Why? What do you have in mind?”
He bent down and slid an arm under her legs, picking her up. “Do you think you could remember where the bedroom is in this monstrosity?” he teased.
