Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire Read online

  Drew flipped through until he found a picture of Adam. “Adam the oldest, is getting married to Alyssa’s best friend, Rachel, in January, in Hawaii of all places.” He flipped through a few more pics before he found one of the twins and their girls. My twin brothers, Chase and Cade. They decided to marry their ladies here at the ranch in December, in a joint ceremony. They said they’d done everything else in their life at the same time so why would they want to change that? Plus, the girls are great friends.”

  Lily laughed at his expression. “So, marriages popping up all over the place. I suppose you’re next in line.”

  “Not for a long time for me, I’ve got plenty of time before I succumb to the wedding bug. Emma isn’t married either, maybe she can be next.”

  “Oh, but she has… never mind, just ignore my nosiness.” Her cheeks flamed again.

  “No worries, she had Tony out of wedlock. Some drifter knocked her up and went on his merry way. It’s not a secret and we all love both of them. If the guy ever comes back to town he might leave with a few broken bones, however. She was still in high school, a senior, but still.”

  “Wow, that was brave of her to keep him.”

  “It was, and she’s a great mom. Tony is a rascal, that is loved on by all of us, and if truth be told we all spoil him rotten.”

  Lily shook her head. “Loving doesn’t spoil a child. So, the six of you?”

  “Plus, mom and dad and Grandpa K.”

  “Do you all live on the ranch?”

  “Yeah, Beau and Adam’s houses are built, and Chase and Cade are working on theirs. Emma and I both have a parcel of land, for when we want to build. But the house we all grew up in is plenty big enough for all of us. And we have the bunk house and these cabins. There are four of them, almost all exactly the same as this one.”

  Lily nodded, then squirmed in her seat.

  He tensed at her movement, hoping she wasn’t in pain. “What’s wrong? You look uncomfortable.”

  “I could use a trip to the bathroom. This hypothermia thing is getting annoying.”

  He could understand that, but so much better than a severe case and a trip to the hospital. “Of course. Your wish is my command.”

  As she used the facilities, which was a bit of a challenge, Lily thought about all he had revealed, and wondered what her own story was. Did she have siblings? Were her parents still alive? Where was she from? Why had she said that about knowing beef?

  She washed her hands and frowned at the slight indentation on her ring finger. Was she married or engaged? She’d noticed when they were working on her feet that she had a perfect pedicure and other than what looked like recent damage she had a manicure also. And those clothes she’d had on felt confusing. A silk shirt just didn’t seem quite right.

  Even though they were enormous on her, she felt like the sweats fit her better. But if she really thought about it, jeans seemed like the most natural clothing for her. She had no idea why all these things felt a little off, but they did. She hoped she got her memory back soon.

  Lily looked at the ring indention again. When Drew had carried her to the bathroom, he’d smelled wonderful, like outdoors, leather, and man. She’d felt a small zing of attraction and not really any guilt, which didn’t seem right if she was in a relationship with someone.

  Maybe… No, she needed to stop the speculation it wasn’t getting her anywhere, and it only caused more confusion. Dammit, she needed her memory back. Now!

  She called out to Drew and he came in to carry her back into the living room. He put her down on the couch and then looked around the room. His hand rubbed the back of his neck as he turned toward her. “So, what do you want to do now?”

  She shrugged. It was too early for bed and the nap she’d had while he’d cooked had revived her. There wasn’t a TV but there were lots of old paperbacks in the bookshelves.

  “We have some books, or we could play cards, or…” He trailed off and she could see he was at a loss for ideas.

  “Cards would be fine. Poker?”

  A slow smile slid across his face. “Poker is one of the family favorites. Let me see what we can find to bet with.”

  Her body tingled and her mind went down a very naughty path at that statement, so she was glad he’d gone into the kitchen to rifle through the cupboard, that way he didn’t see the blush that she could feel on her face.

  He came back with a couple of bags. “We have M&Ms. pretzels or peanuts.”

  She wanted the chocolate but heard herself say, “Peanuts.”

  Her responses always denied her desires. But even as she pondered that, she could almost hear herself saying it was only for a short time longer. What that meant, she had no idea.

  Drew put the cards, peanuts and some drink refills on the table. Then he scooped her up and deposited her in one of the chairs, lifted her feet and pushed another chair under her legs. “Might as well keep them elevated to avoid swelling. Do you remember how to play poker?”

  She nodded, “I do. I can’t remember my name, or where I live, or anything about my family, but I can remember how to play poker. This memory thing is really odd. It’s like the food choices, I know I like to eat those other things, like chocolate and coffee, but there’s some reason not to eat them.”

  “Maybe food allergies or something like that? Do you think the peanuts are safe? Lots of people are allergic to them.”

  “No, I think peanuts are fine. It feels like there is a short-term reason why I’m not supposed to eat the carbs and caffeine. For instance, I wanted the M&Ms, but felt like I needed to pick the protein. Even as I picked it though it was like I was telling myself it’s only for a short time. It’s really weird.”

  “When your memory returns, you’ll know why.”

  “At first I thought I was in some kind of religious organization. But some of my other thoughts didn’t line up with that.”

  “Like what?”

  Lily wasn’t about to tell him about the idea of playing strip poker. “Well when you said my feet needed attention, my first thought was that I needed to get them fixed so I could wear heels.”

  “You were dressed professionally, so pumps—”

  She cut him off. “No, not pumps, sky-high killer heels, that’s what came to mind.”

  His eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline. “Well, yes, that wouldn’t go with the religious idea.”

  She picked up the cards and was shuffling them like a pro. She looked down at her hands. “And I clearly know how to play poker so that wouldn’t fit either.”

  Drew looked at her hands and then back up into her eyes. “You’ve got a slight ring indent. Do you think you’re married? Or engaged?”

  Lily shook her head. “I wondered the same thing. I don’t feel married, but I can’t say for sure. There isn’t a tan line, so I don’t think if I am, it’s been very long, which would point more to engaged, not married. But even then, I can’t say for sure. I don’t feel like I’m missing anyone. The only thing I feel about people is to avoid them.”

  She frowned and shook her head, her hands still expertly shuffling the cards. “But I also feel like there’s a clock ticking. Like there is something I need to do at a specific time and place.”

  “Well, let’s hope you remember what that is. But for now, what you need to do is deal the very well shuffled cards and ante up.”

  She looked at her hands that held the cards and grinned. “I can do that.”

  They played for a couple of hours and she won more than she lost. Drew teased her about being a card shark.

  When she lost three hands in a row, Drew said, “I think you’re getting tired. Let’s stop for tonight.”

  Lily yawned. “I think you’re right, my brain does feel a little fuzzy.”

  “Do you want something else to eat?”

  “No. I ate plenty of my winnings.”

  “Yeah, our ‘chips’ have dwindled. I’ll take you into the bathroom, there should be a spare toothbrush in there.”


  “Alyssa got me out one and even found a new hairbrush in the back of the cupboard. She said the cabins are used by anyone that needs them, so those kinds of things were stocked.”

  “Yep. You never know who’s going to stumble out of the woods and need shelter. Normally it’s hunters or one of our hands that are rounding up cattle that use the place. Not pretty ladies with no shoes.”

  Lily laughed. “Yeah, I suppose I’m an anomaly. Clearly, I was not hunting. The question is, what was I doing?”

  Drew shook his head. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” He stood, scooped her up like she weighed nothing, and carried her into the bathroom. “While you get ready for bed I’m going to get you a bottle of water and some ibuprofen. Do you want an ice pack for your head?”

  “Yeah, it might be good to ice it for a bit, it’s starting to pound again.”

  “Beau and Alyssa said to wake you a couple of times in the night, to make sure you don’t sleep too hard. We can get more ice then, too, if you want.”

  She readied herself for bed and even found a hair tie to contain her heavy locks. She hoped that Alyssa could help her take a bath tomorrow and wash her hair. They’d tried to get all the blood out, but it still felt stiff and yucky.

  When Drew carried her into the bedroom, she was stunned at the care he’d taken to put anything she might want close at hand. He was a very caring man, nothing at all like Ronald. Wait! Who was Ronald? She tried to remember but the thought was gone. She sighed in frustration.

  “What’s wrong? Is there something else you need?”

  She grimaced. “No. I almost had a memory, but it didn’t fully form.”

  “Even though that’s frustrating, I think you should take it as a good sign that your memories are coming closer.” He set her down on the bed and backed up a step.

  Lily laughed at him. “All right, Pollyanna, I will endeavor to think like that.”

  Drew grinned at her. “It’s not often I get called Pollyanna, not in my line of work.”

  She’d forgotten all about him being a police officer. Now if she could only remember what she’d wanted a law enforcement person for. What good did it do to have one, if she couldn’t recall why she wanted one? Other than for protection, that was a nice bonus. But who did she need protection from?

  Lily yawned, and Drew turned to the door. “I’ll be back in a few hours to wake you and see if you need anything.”

  She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

  Chapter 4

  Drew set his phone to go off in four hours. It was early still, so he wasn’t all that tired. He’d slept in this morning. But he had Lily to take care of, so he shouldn’t stay up too late. Maybe he would read for a while, but first he wanted to check Facebook and maybe see if there was any news about a missing person.

  He scrolled through all the news channels but didn’t find anything. Then he went out and looked at Facebook, some of the girls he knew were talking about some Beauty Pageant that was coming up in a week in New York. Not something he was interested in, it seemed to him that women who participated in things like that were kind of plastic.

  Not like Lily, who’d run through the forest barefooted, with a gash on her forehead and a lump on the back of her head. Her feet and clothes torn to shreds, and if she hadn’t twisted her ankle he was certain she would have kept going. There certainly wasn’t anything plastic about her. He had to admire her fortitude, and strength.

  She was gorgeous, and had a sweet temperament, anyone else in her circumstances would be raving mad and probably freaking out. She couldn’t be much over five feet tall and was curvy in all the right places. What did people call girls like her, a pocket Venus, that was it. He’d always thought it was a stupid label, but she fit the term perfectly.

  Drew wondered again if she was engaged or married, something had caused that indention. He needed to stop obsessing about that and turn his mind to helping her. Hopefully Thomas would be able to trace her path and they would find some clues. Or she would regain her memory. Beau had said it would likely be only a day or two.

  Once they had something to go on he would call in his boss to help. Her only being able to remember that she needed a cop indicated something illegal had taken place. His mind was going around and around in circles and it wasn’t getting him anywhere.

  Drew pulled up the reading app on his phone, and settled in to read the thriller he’d been wanting to read for over a week. He finally wasn’t exhausted and had the time.

  His phone was beeping madly, Drew wanted to throw it across the room, it was pitch black in the room except for the damn phone flashing. He turned off the alarm, looked at the time, and nearly went back to sleep, when his fuzzy brain remembered that he was supposed to check on Lily, which was why his phone was going crazy.

  He got up and dragged on his jeans. He’d left a t-shirt on, so he was presentable. This was the second and final time he needed to check on her before morning. The first time she’d woken easily and had known who he was and what she was doing in the cabin. Her memories had not returned but she wasn’t sleeping too hard.

  He figured this time would be the same, but as he pushed open the door, and before he could call out her name he knew this time was different. She seemed to be dreaming and the dreams weren’t the pleasant sort. She was thrashing around in the bed.

  Drew softly called out her name and she whimpered. He moved closer, but he didn’t want to startle her.

  She mumbled, “No, stop. What are you doing?”

  He called out her name again. “Lily, wake up, it’s just a dream. Wake up now, Lily.”

  She frowned, still fully asleep. “Why are you doing this, Ronald?”

  Drew said a little more forcefully, “Lily, it’s Drew, wake up now.”

  She stilled and then opened her eyes. “Drew? The cop, Drew?”

  “Well deputy sheriff, but yes, that’s me. You were dreaming.”

  She nodded and winced. “I was, and now my head hurts again. Can I have some more ice? And maybe some pain killer?”

  “Of course, I’ll be right back with ice and a cold bottle of water to take the ibuprofen with.”

  When he got back to the room with the supplies, she was sitting up in bed frowning. “I was trying to remember my dream. But I can’t remember much more than feeling confused and frustrated.”

  Drew unscrewed the top and handed her the water bottle, she already had the pain killers in her hand. She quickly swallowed them and drank about half the water.

  “I brought you some crackers, so the ibuprofen doesn’t upset your stomach.”

  She smiled at him and took one. “I don’t really think I need them, but I’ll nibble on one, just in case.”

  While she ate, he dragged a chair over to sit by the bed. “You were talking in your sleep.”

  She stopped eating. “What did I say?”

  “You were asking someone named Ronald why he was doing this.”

  Drew noticed her run her thumb over the side of her ring finger, like people do, and wondered how this Ronald was involved. Was he her fiancé? Was Lily running away from him and if so, then why?

  “I still can’t remember.” She sighed and went back to nibbling on the cracker.

  “Just give it time.” He laid the bag of ice on the bedside table. “I’ll let you get some sleep, see you in the morning.”

  “Drew, thanks for taking care of me.”

  He turned back. “You’re welcome, Lily.”

  Lily watched him go and wondered about the tension she’d felt from him just then, like he was holding something back. She couldn’t begin to guess, although earlier she had noticed a shadow of maybe sadness in his eyes when she’d been teasing him about getting married next. She’d been too busy trying to remember what was going on in her own life to think about it then, but she had noticed it.

  She wriggled around to lay back down in the bed and put the ice on the knot at the back of her head. Drew was very kind and conside
rate. Beau and Alyssa had been too, but they were medical professionals. Drew was in law enforcement and she didn’t normally think of people in that profession as being kind.

  Not that she thought of them as jerks, but they always seemed a little aloof, a little stand-offish. He didn’t seem that way. But maybe that was because he was in his home and not on duty.

  Lily snuggled down into her pillow, the pain killers were starting to take effect. She hoped everything would heal quickly she didn’t have much time. As she drifted off to sleep she wondered why she’d thought that, what was the urgency she felt, even though she couldn’t remember.

  The light was peeking in the corners of the window. It was morning, the light wasn’t strong, so it was either early or cloudy. She had no way of knowing. She hoped early, so it didn’t rain. Rain would wash away her trail and Thomas wouldn’t be able to give them any more insight.

  It seemed like Beau and Alyssa had mentioned it was supposed to be nice for the next couple of days, cold but clear, just like it was yesterday. Had it only been one day? It seemed like a lot longer.

  Lily sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed, she wanted to see if she could put any weight on her feet. She needed a bathroom break and she didn’t want to have to rely on Drew to carry her everywhere, if she could do it herself. Lily also knew she had to let her feet heal and not cause the healing process to slow down.

  She would have to walk in heels soon. Why she needed to do that, she had no idea. Lily just knew it was imperative. Sliding her feet to the floor she put a tiny bit of pressure on them. The pain ratcheted up and she knew it was too soon, she didn’t want to pull the stitches open.

  Drew knocked quietly on the door. Lily was thrilled with his timing and called out. “Come in.”

  He pulled the door open and saw her on the edge of the bed. “I thought you might be wanting a potty break.”

  “I do, you have perfect timing.”

  He smiled at her and her heart skipped a beat, strange but true.