The Texan's Surprise Return. Jolene Navarro

his nose. “Cassie and Lucy?”

      Eyes wide, Belle nodded. Raising her hand to touch his cheek, she smiled. “You remember the girls?”

      “Just now, when you mentioned them, their names came to me. I was there when they were born.”

      “You were my birth coach. You and Selena.”

      How did he know their names but had forgotten hers? Selena bit her lip. Now was not the time to cry, not here in front of them.

      “So we were raised together? What about your parents? How—” His words just stopped. He closed his eyes.

      “My mother is your aunt. She dumped Elijah and me here when we got in the way. No clue about our fathers. But it doesn’t matter. We’ve always had each other’s…” she bit her lip. “And now your back.”

      Xavier wrapped an arm around her and pressed his forehead to hers. “You were the only thing I remembered from my past.”

      “They told us that the company you were traveling with was ambushed. Everyone was killed when your vehicle took a direct hit and exploded. So how are you here?” Belle now had both of her hands wrapped around his left one, as if she was afraid he would disappear again if she let go.

      Horror filled Selena’s brain. Her voice cracked several times as the words came out, one by one. “Should we have come looking for you?”

      “No. It wouldn’t have made a difference.” Xavier tilted his head back. “The only information I have on the timeline of events is the version the authorities gave me, but it still feels like it all happened to someone else.”

      She could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. The strain of stringing the words together took so much from him. She stood and was going to suggest they stop for the night and get some rest, but he spoke.

      “At first my brain was a complete blank. When I woke up, I was a hostage in a guerrilla camp.”

      Belle’s fingers tightened around his.

      Selena took his other hand in hers. The calloused skin over strong fingers was so familiar. It was as if he had never been gone.

      “You’ve been a hostage for the last two years,” Belle whispered.

      Selena could hear the harsh emotion in Belle’s voice.

      He took his hand out of hers and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Belle’s ear. “My memories had been confused. I thought they were lying when the authorities told me you were my cousin.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We were raised together? We survived my father?”

      Belle’s breath caught, as if she was holding back a cry. She nodded. “And you survived Colombia.”

      He cut his gaze across the room, where several family pictures were thumbtacked to the wall. “Elijah’s your brother. Damian’s my younger brother. Is there anyone else?”

      Selena could tell that Belle was too emotional to talk, so she took over. “There’s a much younger sister, Gabby. But you haven’t seen or heard from her in years.”

      With a deep scowl on his face, he leaned back.

      Selena reached out a hand and rested it on his arm. “We have time for this later,” she said with a catch in her throat.

      The boys. She needed to tell him about their sons. But that wasn’t news she could just drop now. Oh, by the way, you have triplets.

      “Selena, I’m so sorry—”

      “Shh. We’ll talk later.”

      Since the moment she saw him, her insides had been numb. What if she was dreaming? People didn’t return from the dead, not in real life. But the scars on his face and the gauntness were too real. How much weight had he lost?

      The haunted shadows in his eyes were the worst thing. He was struggling to remember her.

      She gave him space, but her hand rubbed his arm. “It’s okay. You don’t have to—”

      His hand covered hers. Desperation haunted his Spanish-moss eyes.

      “I had flashes and images of things that I didn’t understand.”

      He had always been too proud to beg, but he seemed to be on the cusp of falling to his knees and crying.

      “It’s okay,” she whispered. “You don’t have to understand tonight.” She stroked his hair. “I think this has been a little too much for all of us. You need rest. There are a million questions, but right now I can’t organize my thoughts, so I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

      She pushed his hair back from his temple. “When was the last time you ate?”

      “I’m sure it hasn’t been that long. I don’t reme—”

      She gave him a look that stopped his words. “If you don’t remember, then it’s been too long, right? You have something for pain?”

      Belle patted his hand. “When I get a headache, a dark room and an ice pack work wonders.”

      “An ice pack and no light or sound would be great right now.” He kept his eyes closed.

      “You’re home, now you need sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.” Selena stood and stepped back. “Do you have meds?”

      He nodded. “In my backpack. I think I dropped it by the car.”

      Belle went to the door. “Cantu brought it in. I’ll get it for you. I’ll get you something to eat, too. Do you need anything else?”

      “Just a dark room.”

      “You might not recognize it with all the pink, but this was your old room. It’s Cassie’s and Lucy’s now.”

      He moved to stand. “I’m not going to take their—”

      “Stop. They’re at a sleepover tonight.” Belle opened the door. “Tomorrow you’ll go home with Selena, but for tonight let me take care of you. I’ll fix all your favorite breakfast foods before sending you home with your wife.”

      Selena forced her lungs to work. Of course, everyone would assume he’d go home with her. That was his house. She rubbed her temples. There had to be another solution.

      Belle firmly shut the door behind her, unaware of the seed of panic she had planted in Selena’s mind.

      “Does anyone ever win an argument with her?” he asked.

      Selena snorted and stood. “Nope. Tomorrow will be time enough to plan out where you’ll stay.” She had until morning to come up with a legit reason he couldn’t come home with his wife. No one knew that their marriage had been over.

      “I didn’t come back for people to take care of me.” Low and gravelly, his voice turned her spine to mush. She straightened.

      “You can’t drive. You can’t see, and you can’t speak some of the time. Living on your own is not an option right now. And where would you get the money?”

      He growled. Actually growled at her.

      “I know you don’t remember our house or me, but there had been a garage added and you converted it into a man cave. It’s right next to the house. You can stay there. Xavier, I’m sorry but—”

      “Let’s make an agreement not to apologize every time we speak the truth, or the word sorry is going to get repetitive and obnoxious.” He didn’t look very happy. “I have money in an account. It’ll take care of any needs I have.” His back was straight, his jaw set in a very familiar hard line.

      No doubt about it, his pride was still intact.

      She wanted to ask him when they started keeping secret accounts. He wouldn’t remember anyway.

      He sighed. “I hate this.”

      “We’re