Deceptions of the Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

night.”
    He’d opened the door for discussion of last’s night episode, so I pounced on the opportunity. “I don’t remember what happened. Who was I talking to? Why was I upset?”
    “I don’t know what you were talking about.” He lowered his arm from the back of the swing and clasped my hand in his. “I was across the room. I didn’t see anything until you were already down. Marnie said…” He waited, perhaps for my reaction to the interjection of his daughter into the conversation.
    “Go ahead,” I urged and removed my hand from his. I couldn’t afford to display even an infinitesimal amount of affection. Anson was Jennifer’s husband and I still didn’t know who I was.
    He didn’t react to my small gesture of rejection. “You were talking to Jackson. She said you went pale. You grabbed his shoulders and shook him, and then you went down. You were out so long it scared me.” The worry lines deepened around his eyes.
    Jennifer’s pulse jumped, her blood hopping and skipping through her veins. “Who’s Jackson?”
    “He’s a representative for a wholesale firm. A new customer of ours.”
    “Where is he from?” I asked with almost no breath.
    His foot stopped the swing. “His company supplies the west coast.”
    The jolt of suspended motion restarted my stalled breathing. “California?”
    “Yes.” He locked his eyes with mine, perhaps anticipating my next question, as if he perceived what was coming.
    “Jackson Prentiss?”
    “Yes. That’s his name.” He frowned and shifted in his seat. “How do you know Jackson Prentiss?”
    I closed my eyes, trying to conjure the man’s face. It jumped onto the viewing screen of my consciousness without hesitation. “Jackson is Alex’s brother.” To my surprise, I said the words aloud.
    “Who’s Alex?”
    I bit my lower lip and searched my mind for a reasonable answer. “Just someone I used to know.”
    “Jennifer—”
    “I think I need some rest.”
    “Fine.” He clipped his words, his inflection low and gravelly. “Go to bed. I’ll be up after a while.”
    I rose on unsteady legs. When I teetered, he braced me and kept me from falling. Warmth radiated from his hand on the small of my back. I looked down to thank him, but the longing in his eyes stopped me. Heat rose up my neck.
    When he spoke, his voice was thick with concern. “I think you should see another cardiologist before you go to California.”
    “Sure. Maybe you’re right.”
    I left him, knees wobbling, my breath escaping in short bursts. The darkened house frustrated my attempts to find my way upstairs. I flipped on every light switch I passed. It took a long time to navigate the hallway that ran the length of the first floor. My heavy limbs ached as I ascended the stairs. When I reached the landing, I stalled, pausing a moment to regain my equilibrium. I shook off the dizziness and kept moving. A few more minutes ticked by before I found their bedroom. I fell onto a bed that wasn’t mine and passed out with her clothes still on my back.

Chapter Seven
    I took Anson’s advice—or demand—and made an appointment to see a cardiologist. Getting in to see the doctor on short notice wasn’t easy until I mentioned Anson’s name. Five days after I woke up as someone else, I sat in Dr. Patton’s waiting room.
    A bedraggled magazine lay in my lap, frayed from much perusal. Bored with the lives of the rich and famous, I stared out a large picture window that overlooked the parking lot. Beyond the fence was a manicured lawn belonging to a well-known tourist attraction, an estate complete with a large antebellum-style mansion. My eyes focused on a gazebo—the same gazebo in the wedding portrait in Jennifer’s office. A fleeting image careened across my psyche without stopping to implant itself in my consciousness—gone before I could grab hold of it.
    My memory exerted itself, denying Jennifer’s memories access. I closed my eyes to better recall the scene that played in my