“Marcus was rarely ever home since he traveled around to sell his inventions, and I took it upon myself to help the woman around her farm and with the animals. There were days when they didn’t have any food, so I gave her some of ours.” He shrugged. “She was very grateful for my help, and over time, our friendship became more. It was inevitable.”
“Were you... lovers?”
“Oh, no. Lucinda wasn’t that kind of woman, which I respected. But I know she loved me just as much as I loved her.” He sighed heavily. “Then, when you and Bella found each other and fell in love, I thought it was a wonderful idea. If I couldn’t have her mother, then Bella should be able to love and marry my son.”
Terrick shook his head slowly. “That doesn’t make any sense. If you approved of the idea, when why make us wait seven years?”
“Lucinda convinced me it was best for both of you. She wanted to make sure her daughter was really in love with you. She didn’t want Bella to marry the first man that came along and follow in her mother’s footsteps.”
Finally, things were starting to make sense – all except for one thing.
“Father? Was Lucinda a witch?”
The older man laughed. “Well, if she is, she had enchanted me for years.”
“Seriously, Father. You sound like an adolescent.”
“Yes, I know. It’s hard not to feel giddy whenever I think of Lucinda.”
Terrick couldn’t help but grin. He knew that feeling well since Bella made him smile a lot. “But in all seriousness, was she a witch?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because of Bella’s memory loss. The only thing she can’t remember is the time she spent with our family and me.” Terrick relaxed in his chair. “Bella has a theory, and it makes sense. She says her mother probably cursed her to forget everything about me because Bella had been so miserable after we couldn’t see each other any longer.”
“That does sound like something a mother would do, but... Lucinda loved you, Terrick. She knew you would make Bella very happy.”
Confusion filled his head once again. Something wasn’t right. “Father, you’re twisting your words. Why would Lucinda want us apart for seven years if she thought I’d make her daughter happy?”
The look in Terrick’s father’s eyes let him know that the older man was pondering the question. Finally, maybe he had just hit the nail on the head of this whole fiasco.
Soon, the light of awareness flickered in Terrick’s father’s eyes. The man sighed heavily as his shoulders sagged.
“Marcus.”
Terrick cocked his head and narrowed his gaze. “Marcus was against his daughter marrying me?”
His father’s frown deepened. “Marcus must have suspected my feelings for his wife. And, if that were the case, he would not have wanted Bella anywhere near our family.”
A pain in Terrick’s gut twisted. “Would Marcus have dabbled in magic?”
His father shrugged. “Who is to say what the man did. His mind was always in the clouds with his inventions. They were more important to him than his family, from what I observed. So, perhaps, if he did know something about witchcraft, he could have been the one who made Bella forget.”
Terrick released a low groan. “And if he had, then he would be the only one to know how to remove the spell.” He shook his head as his gut twisted harder. “And now that the man is insane, I don’t see that happening.”
He stood up to leave, but his father quickly jumped up and touched his arm, stopping him.
“Son, if Marcus is the one behind all of this, he might... be dangerous.”
Terrick hitched a breath. “But he has lost his mind.”
“Yes, that’s why he is dangerous. If he knew that Bella was coming here to help Ana, I don’t know what he’d do.”
Terrick’s chest tightened, and he could scarcely breathe. “I won’t let him harm Bella ever again.” He limped to the door to leave, but one more question hung in his mind. “Father? Who abducted Bella?”
The older man chuckled and shook his head. “Nobody did. She hadn’t agreed with her mother’s decision to stay away from you for seven years. She arranged with me to take her into the woods and meet you there.”
“Why the woods?”
“Because she knew that when her parents discovered her missing, our house would be the first place they’d look for her.”
“Why didn’t I know about this?” Terrick frowned as a helpless feeling came over him. “I would have run away with her.”
“After I took her to the woods, I went to get you, but someone hit me over the head and knocked me out. They dragged me to the stable. When I finally came alert, it was too late. Bella had already been found, and her memory... erased.”
Terrick’s stomach lurched, and bile rose to his throat. Anger mixed with panic filled him. Garrett knew that Bella worked at the estate, and that arrogant man liked to spread gossip. If her brother heard the rumors, then he’d tell her father.
Bella was in danger!
TEN
BELLA PACED THE FLOOR in the living room, wringing her hands against her middle. After her father’s confession, he’d gone back to his dazed look as he stared at the flames licking the sides of the hearth. She didn’t know what to believe. Why would her father mess around with witchcraft? Were his words just the ramblings of a man who had lost his mind?
Had her mother known, or had her mother worked with her husband in order to ruin their daughter’s life?
Her headache grew worse as the time ticked by. Restlessness came over her, and she wanted to get out of the house. She wanted to ride her horse and let the cool air nip at her heated face and calm her.
Her memory opened, and she was sixteen again, and riding Pegasus, laughing, and carefree. She kept looking over her shoulder at someone. Love was the feeling bursting in her chest from
