Charlene Sands Read Online Free PDF

chuckled.
    “Just tell me, Jenna. I need your full name.”
    “Leah.”
    “Well then,” he said, giving her hand a quick squeeze. Lord help him if he was making a mistake, but his gut told him, if nothing else, that Jenna was the right woman for him. “Jenna Leah Duncan, will you marry me?”
    “No.”

Chapter Three
    “P ardon me?” he said, nearly choking on the words. “Did you say no?”
    She nodded, casting him a look of regret.
    Well, he hadn’t expected this. No, sir. Hell, he wanted Jenna Duncan and that desire was strong, but marrying her had been all her idea. He figured he owed her. She’d saved his life and nurtured him back to health.
    Living under the same roof, just steps away from her bedroom, he believed it was just a matter of time before he got her into his bed, but Jenna was a decent woman who claimed she wanted marriage. And he’d talked himself into obliging her. Now, he wasn’t all too sure what the woman had in mind.
    “Mind telling me why?”
    Jenna stepped away from him and pulled her robe closed. Perhaps if the darn thing had beenclosed up tight all along, he wouldn’t have gotten this fool notion in his head.
    “I can’t marry you, just yet.”
    “Just yet?” What in tarnation did that mean?
    “No, Blue,” she said, shaking her head. “I mean, I want to, more than anything. I want a life with you. I want,” she whispered, color rising on her cheeks, “I want babies and a family to call my own. But I’m willing to wait, Blue. Just a little longer.”
    “Why, Jenna? Why wait?”
    He saw her shudder and wanted to go to her, but decided it was best to let her say her piece. “I want you to know what we shared together, to feel it deep in your heart, like how it is in mine. I want your love, Blue. Can you say that you love me?”
    He took in a deep breath and moved closer. Meeting her hope-filled eyes, he knew he couldn’t lie to her. He barely knew her. He had no recollections of the love that had a man leaving his own home, traveling hundreds of miles to be with her. He might not ever recall, but he was willing to start over, if she’d been of the same mind. “Ah, Jenna.”
    Jenna bruised her lips with worry. “I can’t explain the why of it, but I’ve waited for so long. A lifetime, Blue. You’ll get your memory back soon. I’ve been praying for it. And it’ll come like a lightning flash, just like that. And then you’ll know.”
    “I’ll know?”
    “What we meant to each other. You’ll know the love we shared. Do you think you could give me a little more time?”
    Time, he had. He could grant her time. There was such a sweet look on her face now that he’d do just about anything to keep it there. Jenna wanted his love. There was no doubt in his mind, she was an innocent, a woman who’d never known a man intimately before. It was only right for her to want the bond of love before she gave herself to a man. To him. He hoped he would remember. He hoped he was the man she wanted him to be. “How long?”
    Her smile jolted straight into his heart. “Not too long. Just until the fields are all plowed up and planted.”
    “And if my memory doesn’t return, then what?”
    A look of yearning stole over her face. Shyly, she answered, “Then if you ask again, I’ll accept.”
    He nodded. “I can be patient. I’ll wait. It’s settled, then.” He took her hand. “Let’s go. We need to get some sleep.”
    They left Button to her kittens, closed the barn door and headed back to the house. They walked up the stairs together, holding hands as he led her to her bedroom door. With a deep sigh, he bid her good-night.
    “Good night, Blue.” Reaching up on her toes,she brushed her lips to his briefly, before turning the knob and entering.
    He stood outside her door a long time, staring at it as if the dang thing held all the answers he sought. But no answers were forthcoming, only more questions.
    His memory would return, she’d said, like a flash of lightning.