A South Texas Christmas. Stella Bagwell

have to be frank, Raine,” he began in a thoughtful tone. “It strikes me as very odd that your mother doesn’t want to search for her past life. Most any woman would want to know if she still had a husband, a family somewhere. Isn’t she curious? I sure as heck would be.”

      Raine turned back to face him and Neil could see the hopelessness etched upon her soft features.

      “I realize it’s strange, Neil. That’s why we’ve argued so many times over this thing. The only reason she’ll give me is that she’s afraid there could have been something wrong in her past life and she doesn’t want to uncover it. In other words, fear of the unknown.”

      “Hmm. Well, we know one thing. There was a man in her life. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been pregnant with you.”

      Raine thoughtfully traced her forefinger around the rim of her coffee cup. In Neil’s newspaper article it had stated that Darla Carlton’s husband, Jaycee, had been found dead in a wrecked car between Progreso, Texas, and the Mexican border. Ever since Raine had read that bit of information she couldn’t help but wonder if the man might have been her father.

      “Maybe this Jaycee could have been my father,” she mused aloud. She looked at him, her green eyes full of skepticism. “But how would I ever know? With him buried—” The doubts in her eyes vanished as she stared at him with sudden excitement. “DNA,” she blurted quickly. “If Jaycee Carlton had other children, I could have my DNA tested against theirs!”

      Neil looked at her with regret. “I’m sorry, Raine. Jaycee didn’t have any children. As far as I know, Darla was the only woman he was ever married to.”

      “Oh.” She tried not to be disappointed, but she knew the emotion was most likely showing on her face. “Then maybe I have wasted your time by having you to come down here.”

      Neil grimaced. He wasn’t about to tell her that there was an offspring of Darla’s that could supply genetic testing. But before he suggested such a thing to Raine or Linc, he wanted to gather concrete evidence that this was a case worth following. Besides, a blood test would clear up the matter much too quickly for his liking, Neil suddenly decided. Raine Crockett was one sexy female. Now that he was down here, he wanted to enjoy himself and get to know her much better. And the easiest way for him to do that was to stick around for a few days and pose a few personal questions, he thought with wicked pleasure. As long as he kept things light and playful, there shouldn’t be any harm come to either one of them.

      “Don’t be so negative,” he told her. “I’ve only just gotten here. There’s lots of research we need to do before we think about throwing in the towel. Are you up to telling me some of the story right now?”

      His question prompted her to straighten her shoulders, as though to tell him that she wasn’t one of those weak-willed women who swoon over the least little stress. Neil wondered if he’d managed to stumble onto one of those rare women who happened to be strong as well as beautiful.

      “Of course, I am,” she said with renewed conviction.

      “Okay,” he said as he shoveled another bite of pie into his mouth. “Then lay it out to me.”

      Raine took a bite of her own pie in hopes it would calm her jumping stomach, but even before she swallowed the sweet concoction, she knew the only thing that was going to ease her nerves was to put miles and miles between herself and Neil Rankin.

      “Since we talked on the phone, I’ve tried to think of anything and everything that might be important. But I really don’t know where to start. At the beginning, I suppose. When Mother woke in the hospital.”

      Neil nodded. “When was this?”

      “The latter part of October, I think, 1982. It was Halloween, she’s said, but with all her injuries she was feeling more tricked than treated.”

      “Tell me about her injuries.”

      As Raine sliced off another bite of pie, she answered, “I’m not exactly sure what the extent of her injuries were. I do know she suffered some sort of trauma to the head, maybe due to a car accident, but maybe not. One leg was broken and several of her ribs. Obviously the head injury was the reason for her amnesia. At first, the doctors believed whatever caused her injuries would surface in her memory. But it didn’t,” she added regretfully.

      “How do you know her memory hasn’t returned?” Neil asked pointedly.

      Raine’s brows rose to two high peaks as she stared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

      “Exactly what it sounds like,” he told her, then reiterated his question. “How do you know that your mother hasn’t remembered and is keeping the fact from you?”

      Raine sputtered with disbelief. That idea had never crossed her mind. To even think such a thing about her mother swamped her with guilt.

      “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said stiffly. “Mother would never lie to me!”

      His direct gaze didn’t waver from hers and Raine shivered inwardly. This man was not only doing strange things to her body, but he was also turning her thoughts in a frightening direction she didn’t want to go.

      “You’re certain about that?” he asked softly.

      Anger sparked her green eyes. “I’m very sure,” she answered. “Mother would never lie to me. Unless she—” Raine broke off as an idea struck her. Then she finally said in a choked murmur, “Unless she was trying to protect me from something. Then she might hide the truth.”

      Neil stifled a sigh. The last thing he wanted to do was upset this woman. No matter how painful the possibilities, she needed to look at this matter with open eyes.

      “I haven’t met Esther yet, but in most instances, it’s the general nature of a mother to protect her young.”

      Horror, confusion and finally disbelief traipsed across her face and Neil realized he was giving her a lot to chew on in just a brief short of time. Besides, no child wanted to believe a parent would deliberately lie to them.

      Feeling unusually soft, he decided to let that subject rest. “Well, let’s set that notion aside for the moment and go back to her time in the hospital. Have you ever seen the police records on this case? Where did they find her? How?”

      “No to the police records. But I did search the newspaper archives in Fredericksburg for a story.” Raine reached for her purse. “I brought a copy just in case it might be helpful to you.” She handed the photocopy to Neil and waited while he read the short article posted in the Fredericksburg Standard:

      Two weeks ago, a local rancher, Louis Cantrell, discovered an injured woman lying at the edge of Highway 87 approximately three miles south of Cherry Spring. At first it was believed the woman had been involved in a vehicle crash, but the police verified to the press today that the woman had been beaten with a blunt object and tossed onto a grassy shoulder of the highway.

      Presently the woman, whose age and name have yet to be determined, remains in a coma in a Fredericksburg hospital. The Gillespie County sheriff’s department is asking the community for help in solving this case. If anyone thinks they can identify this woman, please contact Sheriff Madison at—

      A telephone number ended the piece, and after Neil scanned the whole story one more time, he placed the paper onto the tabletop and tapped it with his forefinger.

      “You implied there wasn’t any reason Esther might be afraid to find her past.” He shot her a challenging look. “What do you think this is? If she was beaten and left to die, someone obviously had it out for her.”

      Refusing to believe that anyone would want to harm her mother, Raine quickly shook her head. “Wait a minute! You’re jumping to conclusions. The police couldn’t positively determine what caused the injuries to my mother. She could have fallen from a car.”

      Neil couldn’t relent, even though it was obvious that the idea of Esther being beaten was torturous