My Heart Remembers Read online

  My Heart Remembers

  Wyoming Wildflowers, Volume 4

  Patricia McLinn

  Published by Craig Place Books, 2015.

  Also by Patricia McLinn

  A Place Called Home

  Lost and Found Groom

  At the Heart's Command

  Hidden in a Heartbeat

  A Place Called Home Trilogy Boxed Set

  Bardville, Wyoming

  A Stranger in the Family

  A Stranger to Love

  The Rancher Meets His Match

  Bardville, Wyoming Trilogy Boxed Set

  Caught Dead In Wyoming

  Sign Off (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 1)

  Left Hanging (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 2)

  Shoot First (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 3)

  Last Ditch (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 4)

  Look Live (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 5)

  Back Story (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 6)

  Cold Open (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 7)

  Hot Roll (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 8)

  Reaction Shot (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 9)

  Body Brace (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 10) (Coming Soon)

  Flores Silvestres de Wyoming

  Flores Silvestres de Wyoming: El Principio

  Casi una Novia

  Pareja Hecha en Wyoming

  Mi Corazón Recuerda

  El corazón de Jack

  Colección de trilogía Flores Silvestres de Wyoming

  Innocence Trilogy

  Price of Innocence

  Marry Me Series

  Wedding of the Century

  The Unexpected Wedding Guest

  A Most Unlikely Wedding

  Baby Blues and Wedding Bells

  Rodeo Knights

  Ride the River: Rodeo Knights, A Western Romance Novel

  Seasons in a Small Town

  What Are Friends For?

  The Right Brother

  Falling for Her

  Warm Front

  Secret Sleuth

  Death on the Diversion

  Death on Torrid Ave.

  Death on Beguiling Way

  Death on Covert Circle

  Death on Shady Bridge

  Death on Carrion Lane (Coming Soon)

  Serie I Fiori di Campo del Wyoming

  I Fiori di Campo del Wyoming: L'inizio (Il Prequel)

  Innamorarsi In Wyoming

  Il Mio Cuore Ricorda

  Il Cuore di Jack

  The Wedding Series

  Prelude to a Wedding

  Wedding Party

  Grady's Wedding

  The Runaway Bride

  The Christmas Princess

  The Surprise Princess

  The Forgotten Prince

  Hoops

  Not a Family Man

  The Wedding Series: The Complete Collection (Books 1-7 and Prequels)

  The Wedding Series Trilogy

  The Wedding Series Box Set Two (Books 4-5, The Runaway Bride and The Christmas Princess)

  The Wedding Series Box Set Three (Book 6, The Surprise Princess, and Hoops prequel)

  The Wedding Series Box Set Four (Book 7, The Forgotten Prince, and Not a Family Man prequel)

  Tod in Wyoming

  Tod in Wyoming: Sendeschluss

  Tod in Wyoming: Hängengelassen

  Tod in Wyoming: Abgeschossen

  Tod in Wyoming: Grabenbruch (Coming Soon)

  Wyoming Wildflowers

  Wyoming Wildflowers: The Beginning

  Almost a Bride

  Match Made In Wyoming

  My Heart Remembers

  A New World

  Jack's Heart

  Rodeo Nights

  Where Love Lives

  A Cowboy Wedding

  Making Christmas

  Wyoming Wildflowers Trilogy Boxed Set

  Wyoming Wildflowers Box Set Two (Book 5, Jack’s Heart, and A New World prequel)

  Wyoming Wildflowers Box Set Three (Book 6, Where Love Lives, and Rodeo Nights prequel)

  Wyoming Wildflowers: The Complete Collection

  Wyoming Wildflowers: The Complete Series

  Standalone

  Courting a Cowboy

  The Games

  To Love a Cowboy (A Western Historical Duet)

  Widow Woman

  Wyoming Wild: Western Romance Series Starters

  Christmas Romance: Three Complete Holiday Love Stories

  Proof of Innocence

  Survival Kit for Writers Who Don't Write Right

  Watch for more at Patricia McLinn’s site.

  MY HEART REMEMBERS

  Wyoming Wildflowers series

  Book 4

  Patricia McLinn

  Wyoming Wildflowers series

  Wyoming Wildflowers: The Beginning (prequel)

  Almost a Bride

  Match Made in Wyoming

  My Heart Remembers

  A New World (prequel to Jack’s Heart)

  Jack’s Heart

  Rodeo Nights (prequel to Where Love Lives)

  Where Love Lives

  A Cowboy Wedding

  Making Christmas

  More romance by Patricia McLinn

  Bardville, Wyoming series

  A Stranger in the Family

  A Stranger to Love

  The Rancher Meets His Match

  A Place Called Home series

  Lost and Found Groom

  At the Heart’s Command

  Hidden in a Heartbeat

  Seasons in a Small Town

  What Are Friends For? (Spring)

  The Right Brother (Summer)

  Falling for Her (Autumn)

  Warm Front (Winter)

  The Wedding Series

  Marry Me series

  The Games

  Copyright © 2017 Patricia McLinn

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-939215-13-0

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-944126-02-5

  Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-944126-45-2

  EPUB Edition

  www.PatriciaMcLinn.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

  *

  Dear Readers: If you encounter typos or errors in this book, please send them to me at [email protected]. Even with many layers of editing, mistakes can slip through, alas. But, together, we can eradicate the nasty nuisances. Thank you! — Patricia McLinn

  Join Patricia McLinn’s Readers List and get news on releases and special deals first.

  https://www.patriciamclinn.com/readers-list

  *

  This book is dedicated to:

  Dad, Joe and John

  Topnotch technical consultants

  And fixers of all things broken.

  *

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  The Wyoming Wildflowers series

  Also by Patricia McLinn

&
nbsp; More about the Wyoming Wildflowers series

  About the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  “You cut your hair.”

  There was nothing ominous about those four short words coming from behind Lisa Currick.

  Except that they were spoken in a low, male voice she hadn’t heard in eight years.

  “I’ll be with you in a minute,” she said, keeping her back to him, buying herself time.

  Time to put the memories that came with the voice — and the man — back in storage where they belonged. Except, if eight years hadn’t been long enough, how could another minute be?

  She slid a file into place. One corner was crumpled where she’d clutched it. She would replace it later. Right now she wanted the sign of her agitation out of sight. If the man behind her was anything like he’d been eight years ago he wouldn’t miss that sort of detail.

  She closed the drawer, and faced him.

  “May I help you?” She stepped behind her desk. From this desk she efficiently ran the Knighton, Wyoming, law office of Taylor Anne Larsen. It represented all that she was now — and had not been when she had last seen Shane Garrison.

  “Hello, Lisa.”

  She had intended to play it out, to ask if he had an appointment with Taylor, to pretend she didn’t know who he was, to pretend she didn’t remember him. It wasn’t unreasonable. It had been eight years. A lot had changed in that time. She had changed a lot in that time.

  And they hadn’t known each other all that long back then — the tail end of one dreary New York winter and the blossoming of one perfect New York spring.

  Contrary to her fantasies at the time, she also hadn’t known him well.

  It was entirely plausible that she might not remember him…

  Then she saw his face.

  The square-jawed, strong-boned face, softened only by a mobile mouth and black-lashed blue eyes. She remembered it perfectly, yet it was different from her memory. Eight years had changed him, too. If anything, it had deepened the lines of determination in his face.

  Seeing that, she decided against playing out the farce that she’d forgotten him. It would simply waste resources she might need.

  “Detective Garrison.” She gripped the back of her desk chair to give her hands something to do.

  One side of his mouth lifted. Once, she’d seen that as a challenge to win a full smile from him.

  “You used to call me Shane.”

  “Your professional title seems more appropriate.” The needs of his profession had been the bedrock of their connection — the reason it started and the reason it ended.

  “Does that mean you want me to call you Miss Currick — or is it Mrs. something now?”

  “Ms. will do.”

  “You’re not married?”

  “You’re slipping if your detective work learned only that I had cut my hair.” The tartness of that was a mistake. Bland was safer.

  His left eyebrow — the one with the small scar above it — rose. “My powers of observation haven’t slipped. No ring on your left hand.”

  Fighting the urge to put her hands behind her back, she curled her fingers into the chair’s padding. His gaze focused on the motion, and his grin shifted. He sat on the chair across from her desk, leaning back, crossing his jeans-clad legs, totally at ease.

  “Detective Garrison, I have work to do. If you would please—”

  “You rent a house with your name alone on the lease, and your vehicle’s registered in your name — but you could still be married and using your maiden name. However, you left home alone this morning, departing in the only car that had been parked there all night. You arrived at your place of business at 8:50 a.m., left at 12:08 to walk to the Knighton Café, where you sat at the back booth — again alone — until 12:53, when you—”

  “You’ve been following me?” The accusation was clear, but she condensed the outrage into unemotional chill.

  He nodded. “Yup. And before that, I checked your public records.”

  “Then why ask if I’m married? You must have known the answer.”

  “I wanted to see what you would say.”

  “Why? No—” She held out a hand, standing straight, no longer gripping the chair. “No, don’t tell me. It would be a waste of your time and mine, because there is no reason that could make me care why. And there is no excuse for following me. You’ve invaded my privacy enough. Please leave.”

  “Aren’t you going to ask why I’m here?”

  “No.”

  For half a second she thought relief flashed across his eyes — as if he didn’t know what he would have answered if she’d said, yes, she wanted to know why he was here. But that was ridiculous, because Detective Shane Garrison had always known what he wanted — and didn’t want — from Lisa Currick.

  “With your help, Lisa, I can—”

  “You’re not going to get it.”

  She said that just the way she wanted. Solid. Unemotional. Determined. And now she called on the discipline of the past eight years to return his look the same way. It wasn’t easy.

  Those dark-lashed, deep blue eyes had once made her girl’s heart quake like an aspen buffeted by a Wyoming wind. Her heart was no longer a girl’s, but those eyes still held power.

  “I need your help, Lisa — Ms. Currick.”

  She refused to think about how easily she would have melted eight years ago at the idea of his needing her in any way.

  “I believe the expression that covers this situation is, Been there, done that.”

  “I’m going to find the necklace, Lisa. You could make it easier—”

  “No.”

  “It won’t hurt his chances at parole. It might even help them.”

  He thought she was trying to protect Alex? A little late, wasn’t it?

  Alex had been her dream mentor — more than that, he’d been another grandfather to her. Beaming with pride at her accomplishments, instructing her, introducing her into the realm of jewels and gems that a girl from Wyoming had dreamed about before going to New York City.

  The day she’d been picked for the plum internship with the man famed for restoring only the best pieces for only the best clients, had been the proudest of her life. And her months in the Alex White Studio had been even better than she’d dreamed. She’d learned so much, she’d been given so many opportunities, and she’d formed a bond of affection and respect with a living icon of jewelry design.

  And then Shane Garrison entered her life.

  “I’ve put it — all of it — behind me, and that’s where it’s going to stay. I’d like you to go now.”

  He studied her. Once that concentrated regard would have driven color into her cheeks, flustered her into speech that sped ahead of her brain, and set her heartbeat thundering.

  But she’d outgrown blushing, she’d learned to guard her tongue, and her heartbeat was her own business.

  She gave him back look for look.

  Slowly, he stood then advanced until the width of the desk separated them. This close she saw the flecks of black among the blue that gave his eyes such depth. She imagined she felt the heat of his body.

  “I won’t give up, Lisa.”

  “That’s entirely up to you, Detective Garrison. As long as you don’t try to involve me in your quest.”

  As long as you go back where you belong, so three-quarters of a continent separates me from the memories.

  “Can’t undo what’s done.”

  While she tried to decipher that, he turned and walked out. As the door closed, she decided it didn’t matter what his cryptic remark meant as long as he was gone.

  She heard his tread on the wooden sidewalk in front of the office. Not boot heels like most men around here, but thick-soled running shoes.

  Running shoes’ soles were made for sneaking up on someone, unlike the straightforward here-I-come announcement of boot heels. But Detective Garrison might not have counted on the wooden sidewalks many Knighton businesses had in front of
them. On wooden sidewalks, even running shoes gave plenty of warning.

  He wouldn’t take her by surprise again.

  “Lisa?”

  Her employer and friend, Taylor Anne Larsen, stood at the door to her inner office, looking at her quizzically.

  “Do you need something, Taylor?”

  Taylor shook her head. “I thought I heard voices. And you look … distracted. Is everything okay?”

  “Someone came in the wrong door, and he took some convincing to see his mistake. As for distracted, I’m thinking about the project for my management topics class that I told you about.”

  “I thought you had it almost done.”

  “I decided last night that it needs another layer. I was reading at lunch about how management styles need to adapt to the new economy.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’ll miss the Book Pass, does it?”

  “No. I said I’d come, and I will.”

  If she felt a twinge as she steered the conversation toward the day planned to celebrate the library addition that Taylor’s husband Cal Ruskoff had funded, it was because Taylor’s question reminded Lisa of how many times she’d begged off a social function with friends and family because of school work.

  The twinge was not — definitely not — because she’d lied. Because she hadn’t. Shane Garrison had come in the wrong door if he thought she would help him. And he had needed convincing of that.

  It wasn’t that she couldn’t trust Taylor. She could — she did. But she hadn’t told anyone in Knighton — not even her family — about what happened after she’d left home thinking she could conquer New York, and instead learned just how unprepared she was for anything beyond quiet, sleepy little Knighton.

  If it had been something really serious, something dangerous, something they could have helped with, of course she would have turned to them. They wouldn’t condemn, they wouldn’t play I-told-you-so. But it had been her mistake, and her failure. She would keep both to herself.

  She’d believed in two men back then, and she’d been wrong about both. One had disappointed her hopes. The other had disappointed her heart.