The Wife He Chose. Susan Fox

the problem of her starting for San Antonio in the morning before he could get back here to talk to her. And that didn’t make him uneasy at all.

      Muscle spasms brought Colleen awake that next morning. The battle was always to get out of bed and walk off the pain before the spasms worsened. If not for the pain, she might have lain in bed hours longer because waking up meant she had to face another hard, disappointing day.

      Remembering what had happened with little Beau made this day stretch impossibly long before her. How many more difficult, joyless days could she face? So far they’d been a test of endurance as she’d slowly worked toward her goal.

      But now the goal that had drawn her on when she was most discouraged and hurting, had been lost. She had to find a way to move forward without it, to fix something else in her mind that held the promise of home or belonging.

      The world was a lonely, unloving place. She was a lonely woman with no one to love and no purpose beyond herself. Surely there was some way to connect, someone or some cause to pour herself into. But she was no good to anyone like this and it might be a long time before she was recovered enough to have anything of value to offer others.

      Perhaps she’d take a few college classes in the fall. The trucking company whose driver was responsible for the crash had made a very substantial settlement offer to avoid going to court. She hadn’t accepted it yet, since she wanted to be certain it was enough to cover ongoing medical care. And she wasn’t yet certain of the level of permanent disability she’d have to cope with, or whether she’d need more education to do another job.

      She’d worked as a bookkeeper, but so far, she hadn’t been released to go back to the office. And she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to do the job now. Recovering her math skills had been frustratingly slow because of her head injury. She couldn’t even reconcile her checkbook yet and sometimes she despaired of ever again making consistent sense of complicated math calculations.

      It made her worry that she’d fail the college courses. Her confidence was shaky and she was still too fragile to face the challenge of retraining for a new job or learning something new.

      Colleen leaned heavily on her cane and braced her weaker right hand against the wall, then along the desk and armoire as she walked painfully up and down the room to stop the spasms and reclaim some semblance of supple movement before she tried to undress and take a shower.

      When she at last was able to walk into the bathroom, she caught sight of the note propped up beside the sink.

      She instantly recognized the handwriting she’d never seen before only because it so clearly indicated the forceful personality of the man who’d written it.

      I’ll return your keys at breakfast. Cade.

      The peculiar sensation that went through her sent a tingle over her skin. Cade Chalmers had been in her room and she’d never known it. He’d come after her and taken something of hers hostage to enforce his will.

      Colleen stared at the note. The sheer novelty of Cade’s minor pursuit was dangerous for someone like her. She’d moved in and out of the lives of most of the people around her all her life and was accustomed to the indifference of those who neither objected to her presence nor seemed particularly bothered by her absence. She was not a woman who tried to be noticed, either by her entrances or her exits or in her daily life, and she was too unremarkable to believe that would ever change, though she sometimes fantasized that it might.

      Sharon had attracted all the attention there was to be had for the James sisters, and lackluster Colleen had existed at the edge of her sister’s beauty and sparkling personality without a single resentment or second thought.

      Not that she hadn’t wished that, just once, someone would notice her and single her out for the attention Sharon received as naturally as air and sunshine.

      Cade’s intention to keep her from leaving and this note were hardly a fulfillment of that silly, secret wish, but it was a nice surprise to have a small taste of what it might be like.

      Suddenly annoyed with herself, Colleen set the note aside. It was more likely that she’d angered him by slipping away from the ranch. He was too domineering and probably too controlling to tolerate a nobody like her sidestepping his wishes.

      And nothing could have happened to explain or resolve Beau’s feelings toward her this soon. It was even possible that Cade would have her investigated for child abuse. His taking her car keys had to be the result of his decision to either start the wheels in motion for that or to officially issue a stern edict to her in person that would forever forbid her access to Beau and Amy.

      Suddenly so disheartened and depressed that she could barely move, Colleen had to force herself to shower and dress to prepare for a new disaster.

      CHAPTER THREE

      CADE knocked briskly on the motel room door and waited. When Colleen opened it, she looked flustered and not ready for company. She’d showered and dressed and put on a touch of makeup, but her rapidly drying hair was proof she hadn’t tamed it yet. As he’d suspected, without some kind of hair goo, her hair stood straight out all over her head just like Beau’s and Amy’s had as babies before it got long enough to lie flat.

      Obviously, a night’s sleep had done her good. She looked fresher than she had yesterday, though there was still a pained weariness about her and he couldn’t have missed the anxiety in her eyes.

      She didn’t greet him and he said nothing to her, but she stepped back and he walked into the room. He could feel her uncertainty, her wariness, and he got the impression that she was terrified of being further hurt and traumatized.

      “H-how are Beau and Amy?”

      The self-conscious way she asked about them suggested that the only topic that would ever be truly important or significant to her was the kids and how they were. Was that true? But one look at her face told him it was. She was deeply uneasy, which told him how worried she still was about Beau’s reaction to her yesterday.

      “They’re fine. Playing on the patio with Connie when I left.” He paused when he saw that she was alert to his mention of a stranger’s name. “She’s the nanny.”

      Colleen glanced away and gave a stiff nod. “Did you have a chance to talk to Beau?”

      Now he heard the faint tremor in her voice and he was blunt to spare her further suspense. “Craig convinced Beau that Sharon’s death hurt them all, Beau and Amy most. Beau was never saying that you did him or Amy any physical harm.”

      Colleen’s gaze veered back to his and held. The hope he saw in her now touched him, so he told her the rest. “Craig was bitter when Sharon left and then went crazy when she was killed. You were handy to blame.”

      He felt a pinprick of disloyalty to Craig, as if he’d switched sides to stand with an outsider. And a female outsider at that. But the truth was, Colleen James was one female who deserved to have someone on her side. He hoped he was right, but God help her if he wasn’t.