The Forgetful Fiancee

You probably just need to rest. '

'I'm not going to live here,' Tara objected, a little more strongly than she'd meant. She softened her voice and looked at Kevin. 'Am I?'

Kevin shrugged. He'd said precious little since coming into the room, making her wonder what was going on in his head.

'Well, of course you're going to live here,' Debra said. 'That's what you were coming here for. To live in Hardyville and marry Kevin.'

Chapter Two

Kevin started to object. Why would Aunt Debra tell Tara that the two of them were getting married? He and Tara had never broached the subject of marriage, much less agreed to it. In fact, they hadn't even seen each other since they broke up and he quit the Chicago police force to move here.

Debra gave Kevin a warning look that caused him to hold his tongue. He would find out why she'd told such a whopper before calling her on it. He took his aunt by the arm. 'Excuse us a minute, Tara.' Then he none-too-gently dragged Debra out of Tara's hospital room into the corridor. 'What was that all about?'

'Oh, Kevin, don't you see? This is a golden opportunity. You've been mooning over Tara ever since you got here. Whenever I urge you to try and make up with her, to convince her to move to Hardyville and be with you, you say it's impossible. She loves Chicago, hates small towns. Well, now fate is stepping in. She was coming here for some reason. My guess is that she wanted to introduce you to your son…he is your son, isn't he? I mean, you and Tara didn't break up because she was carrying some other man's -'

'He's mine,' Kevin acknowledged. God, she had to have already been pregnant that night they broke up. Why hadn't she told him? Then again, he was glad she hadn't. After the events at work that day, he'd been perilously close to a mental meltdown. Shocking news like impending fatherhood might have sent him over the edge. Anyway, he'd been behaving like such a psychotic jerk, no wonder she'd said nothing about the baby.

'Then who knows?' Debra continued. 'Maybe Tara was coming here, hoping you'd make an honest woman out of her.'

'But we can't just lie to her and pretend that's the case,' Kevin said reasonably, although he couldn't deny that the idea of marrying Tara and having her settle down here with him would be all he'd ever wanted. And a baby, a son…that part was pretty overwhelming. No, terrifying. But he would do right by the child. He had to.

'We won't lie for long,' Debra said. 'She's going to have to stay here a while anyway, to recuperate. She's not in any shape to rush back to Chicago and resume work and single motherhood. She needs rest, and Hardyville is the best place for that. Don't you agree?'

He couldn't argue with Debra's logic. His hometown, nestled in the foothills of the Rockies, was a healing place, with its friendly people and laid-back pace, picture-postcard vistas in every direction.

'You said she hates small towns, but she's never lived in one like Hardyville. Once she gives it a chance, she'll want to stay. And marry you. And then it won't be a lie anymore.'

'I won't actually marry her under false pretenses,' Kevin said.

'You won't have to. We'll tell her the truth after a couple of weeks – that we simply didn't know why she was here. Then, if she's not convinced this is the place for her, she can go home.'

Yeah, she'll go home madder than hell at me for lying, Kevin thought. Tara might never speak to him again. But was that any worse than the way things had been over the past year?

* * *

Two days later, Tara was released from the hospital, and her memory of the past year still hadn't returned. Her doctor said it might never, but chances were that bits and pieces would start to float into consciousness. She hoped so. She hated to think of never remembering her pregnancy, or giving birth to Andrew.

Andrew. She'd had to ask, with some embarrassment, what her own baby's name was. Kevin had told her she'd named the baby after her father, who had died three years ago. That had sounded right, she'd thought, gradually coming to terms with the fact that she was a mother. Debra had been bringing Andrew to the hospital for long visits. Tara had amazed herself by knowing how to diaper and feed and burp Andrew without any instruction, but she had no idea how she knew.

As Kevin drove her home from the hospital, she peppered him with questions. 'I became pregnant by accident, right?'

'Yes.'

'Why didn't we get married sooner?'

'We didn't want to rush into anything.'

That seemed odd. She recalled the night they'd had dinner with their married friends. That was the first time it hit had her that she wanted to marry Kevin, and she'd been wondering how to broach the subject. She must have discovered her pregnancy soon after. So Kevin must have been the one who was marriage shy. She had a hard time imagining Kevin, always so responsible and duty-bound, hesitating to take responsibility for his child.

'We also disagreed about where to live,' Kevin continued. 'I was sick of Chicago and all the violent crime. I wanted to raise our child somewhere more wholesome. You were dead set against leaving Chicago.'

'I changed my mind, though?' She supposed she must have.

'Hardyville is a fine place to raise children,' Kevin said. It didn't escape her attention that he hadn't actually answered her question. Had he coerced her into moving here? She couldn't imagine that, either.

'I moved here first and got settled. You were finishing up some big contracts and arranging for Cindy to take over your clients.' Cindy was Tara's partner in an interior design firm.

'Did I sell my condo?' Tara asked with a wave of sadness. She loved her condo, having furnished it with loving attention to every detail from the hardwood floors to the switch plates.

Kevin hesitated. 'It hasn't sold yet.'

She felt relief when she knew she shouldn't have. She'd made a commitment, and there was no turning back.

'Do we have a wedding date?'

'Uh, yeah. June first.'

'Is that a Saturday?'

'Well, we haven't actually picked an exact day,' he qualified. 'But some Saturday around June first.'

'Oh. So I haven't actually made any plans?'

'You thought it might be easier to wait until you were actually here.'

'Two months isn't very long.' Oh well, she'd never wanted an elaborate wedding.

She studied Kevin in profile, acknowledging the changes in him. His wavy hair was longer than he'd worn it on the Chicago police force. His face was more tanned, as if he'd spent more time outdoors. He was also a bit leaner, harder, filling out his khaki uniform in intriguing ways.

But the real change was his eyes. Still dark brown, still deep enough to drown in. But they carried a wariness that seemed alien to Tara, like he'd shuttered a part of himself off from the world – from her.

Uneasy, she looked out the window at…nothing. Oh, there were fields and trees and mountains and blue sky, all very pretty. So pretty, in fact, that it didn't seemed real. Where were the people? They'd hardly passed another car on the dinky road into town, much less passed a pedestrian.

Already she was homesick. She loved Chicago, with its hustle and bustle, the noise, the traffic, the skyscrapers. She loved the nightlife, and the fact that she could get Chinese food at two in the morning, if she wanted. She loved being able to hop on the subway and go anywhere she wanted, or waste a whole Sunday afternoon in a museum.

'Does Hardyville have any museums?' she asked impulsively.

Kevin laughed. 'Not unless you count the collection of elk antlers on the wall at the Hole-In-Your-Shoe