In Love with John Doe (5 page)

Coraline didn’t argue the point, but the suspicion in her eyes remained.

Lexi wasn’t surprised. She couldn’t think of one person who’d believe there was anything simple about the kiss she’d shared with Jack. Their mystery man might be a great kisser, but he was a poor liar. She tucked the knowledge away and refocused on Coraline.

“Todd has this fantasy that I’m going to be his girlfriend,” Lexi said. “That’s not happening.”

But Coraline had already shifted her attention to Jack. “You could very easily be married, young man. Yet, here you are kissing a woman you just met.”

Jack opened his mouth but didn’t have a chance to speak because while Coraline might be through with him, she wasn’t finished with Lexi.

“I’m proud of the choices you’ve made so far in your life,” Coraline said to Lexi. “But your contact with this man needs to be kept to a minimum.”

Warmth stole up Lexi’s neck. What Coraline had said was nothing she hadn’t told herself. Still, she was an adult, not a wayward child, and she didn’t appreciate the chiding tone.

“You’re right,” Jack said before Lexi could respond. “Though I don’t believe I have a wife in the wings, until I know for sure, I’ll be keeping my lips to myself.”

Coraline nodded approvingly. Her gaze shifted to Lexi. “I better get the french toast out. I think that will be enough, so if you want to start cleaning up—”

“I’ll help.” Jack rocked back and forth on his heels. Perhaps he should leave. But to walk out the door now seemed like it would be running away, and he had the sense he’d never been a running away kind of guy.

“She means well,” Lexi said once Coraline was out of earshot. “She never had any children. She thinks of me as a…surrogate daughter.”

“There are worse things than having a mother hen clucking around.” A wave of sadness washed over Jack, though he wasn’t sure why. Had his mother died? Were they estranged? Otherwise wouldn’t she be looking for him?

“I know you’re right.” Lexi dumped the egg and cream mixture into a plastic container and popped on a lid. “I just wish Coraline would deep-six the matchmaking.”

“She’d like you to date Todd.” A twinge of something that felt an awful lot like jealousy stabbed Jack in the side and gave a cruel twist.

“What was your first clue?” Lexi straightened and her lips tipped upward. “Coraline has always liked Mr. Salesman-of-the-Year and for whatever reason she can’t see past his slick exterior. Though Todd isn’t the first guy she’s tried to push on me.”

“Are you serious?” Jack lifted a brow. “She’s a matchmaker?”

“Oh, the stories I could share.” Instead of saying more, Lexi laughed. “It frustrates the heck out of her that I’m not interested in the guys she picks out.”

“What’s the issue? No chemistry?” Jack couldn’t help thinking of the electricity that had been snapping and popping in the room when Coraline had walked in.

“That’s part of it. I’d sooner kiss a moose than Todd Cox.” Lexi wrinkled her nose. “But it’s even more basic than that. I’m not in the market for a man. I have Addie to raise. She’s my priority.”

“You don’t plan to ever marry?” Jack could hear the surprise in his voice. But heck, he
was
surprised.

“Ever is a long time.” Lexi sprayed the stovetop with a special blend of cleansers and wiped the surface with a paper towel. “But probably not until Addie is out of high school.”

Jack opened his mouth to argue until he reminded himself that whether Lexi married or remained single was none of his concern. In a matter of days he’d be back in his old life. Assuming his family and friends saw the press release that had been put together to draw attention to his plight.

“The press release should have gone out today.” Hope rose inside him. As soon as tonight he could be on his way home.

Lexi paused, baking sheet in hand. “Unless the snow delays it.”

The snow. Jack hadn’t even considered that the blizzard might present an obstacle. He fought to hide his disappointment but must not have been successful, because Lexi’s eyes softened.

“I know you’re eager to get home,” she said.

“I’d just like to know who I am.” Jack raked a hand through his hair. He hated peering into his mind and finding only a void. “When Coraline talked about me having a wife, I wanted so badly to tell her I didn’t. But I couldn’t.”

“It won’t be long.” Lexi leaned over and slipped the baking sheet into the dishwasher. “You’re young and attractive. Once the paper releases the story, the wire services will eat it up.”

What she said made sense. Still, the story would come out of Wyoming. Would that make a difference in its distribution? Would the fact that he was found with a wad of money and no identification spark interest in the story? Would the pictures tip the scale? Jack’s adrenaline surged. There was nothing he liked more than analyzing a case….

A
case?

Whatever had been there only seconds before was gone. He pushed hard but couldn’t get close enough to get a handle on the memory.

A gentle hand settled on his arm. “What’s wrong?”

“I remembered—”

Her fingers tightened around his sleeve. “What?”

“Something about…a case.” Whatever certainty had gripped him moments before was quickly slipping away.

“A suitcase?” Lexi prompted. “A briefcase?”

“No.” Jack shook his head, which had begun to ache. “Not an object. A realization that I like to analyze situations.”

“Anything else?” Lexi’s eyes snapped with excitement.

He thought for a moment. “Earlier I had a feeling I’d been under pressure and I was here on vacation.”

“Oh, my goodness.” Lexi leaned back against the counter. “You’re starting to remember. That is so exciting.”

“It’s not so much exciting as puzzling.” Jack massaged the back of his neck with one hand. “I also remembered a stone building with a bell tower.”

The memories couldn’t have been more disjointed or any less clear, but Lexi’s smile was like the sun breaking through the clouds. “Don’t worry about the memories making sense or not. It won’t be long until the thoughts organize together in your mind. Then you’ll have it all. I’m happy for you.”

Jack found her joy infectious and the light scent of her perfume intoxicating. It took all his strength to keep his hands off. Yet, while he may have promised not to kiss her, he hadn’t promised to stay away. “You were right. The more we talk, the more things I experience, the more it jogs my memory.”

A dimple Jack hadn’t known she had flashed in Lexi’s left cheek. “I sense a question.”

“Not knowing my circumstances, let me say first this wouldn’t in any way be a date,” he began with a confidence and smooth manner that was as puzzling as it was refreshing. “But in the interest of helping me regain my memory, would you be interested in attending the fundraiser with me tonight?”

“I’d love to go with you,” she said without hesitation. “Under one condition.”

There was a gleam in her eyes he couldn’t quite decipher. “What’s that?”

“That you don’t mind if
I
bring a date.”

The tension, which had gripped his shoulders, slid to the floor, where he kicked it aside. Lexi had assured him that the event was casual, but he’d been skeptical. It seemed to him that the dress code for a fundraiser at a country club would be at the minimum suit and tie, most probably a tux. Definitely not blue jeans. He’d worried she’d told him it was casual because she knew those were the only types of clothes he’d been given by the hospital auxiliary.

But looking around the room now, he realized Lexi had been right. Based on what he was seeing, jeans and boots were indeed de rigueur for men. The women were almost evenly divided between jean-wearers and those who’d chosen to step it up a notch with a skirt or dress.

Both Lexi and her “date,” Mary Karen Vaughn, had gone the dress route. Mary Karen’s blue dress brought out the color of her eyes. Lexi’s gold-colored dress was the perfect foil for her dark hair. Though Jack hadn’t seen every single woman in attendance, he had no doubt he was escorting the prettiest blonde and most gorgeous brunette this area had to offer.

Jack wasn’t sure what he’d thought before his accident, but tonight he preferred a brunette on his arm. Of course, right now, he didn’t have either by his side. Lexi and her friend had abandoned him several minutes ago to check out the ladies’ room.

While they’d been gone, he’d purchased the admission tickets to the event as a way of saying thank you for allowing him to tag along on their “girls’ night out.”

On the ride to Mary Karen’s house, Lexi had shared that her friend was a divorced mother of three little boys and the sister of the doctor who’d treated him in the E.R. She was also one of Lexi’s closest friends.

Jack had felt comfortable around Mary Karen from the beginning. She’d introduced him to her sons, her grandmother and her dog, Henry. An RN by profession, Mary Karen had been interested in every aspect of his case. There’d been no lull in the conversation on the ten-mile trek from Jackson to the Spring Gulch Country Club.

The young nurse had asked question after question but Jack hadn’t minded. Every time he repeated the story he found himself hoping something in the telling would jog his memory. So far there’d been no revelations, but the night was still young.

“You’re looking better than the last time I saw you.”

Jack turned. Before him stood a man close to his own age. Dressed like the other guys in jeans and a casual shirt, he shouldn’t have stood out but he did. Mainly because this was someone Jack knew, someone he remembered. As if by habit, Jack stuck out his hand. “Dr. Wahl, it’s good to see you again.”

The doctor gave his hand a firm shake. “Please, call me David.”

“You can call me Jack Snow,” he said with a grin. “John Doe was too pedestrian for my tastes.”

“I firmly support a man’s right to choose his own temporary name.” David smiled. “How’s the memory coming?”

Jack shrugged, doing his best not to let his impatience show. “Bits and pieces. Nothing substantial.”

“You’re the one who had the skiing accident.” The man standing next to David was tall and thin with a mop of unruly sandy-colored hair.

“When my wife’s not here, my manners seem to go out the window.” David chuckled. “Jack Snow, this is Travis Fisher. Travis is also a physician, but not the kind you’ll ever need.”

At Jack’s curious look Travis smiled. “My specialty is obstetrics.”

As the three talked Jack realized not only was he at ease in social situations but he could discuss sports without missing a beat.

“So you guys came alone?” he asked, keeping an eye out for Lexi and Mary Karen as more and more people began to stream into the great room.

“My wife is home with our son nursing a sore ankle,” David said, an extra warmth to his voice that hadn’t been there moments before. “She’s a wildlife photographer and those backwoods trails can be treacherous.”

“David hated to leave his cozy little family but his wife told him she was sick of all the lovebird stuff and needed some alone time,” Travis said, deadpan.

David laughed out loud. “No. That’s your ex-girlfriend’s line.”

“Travis Fisher. Are you stirring up trouble again?” Mary Karen teased.

Jack slid his gaze past the dark-haired beauty to the pretty blonde. “I’ve got our tickets.”

“Those tickets are fifty dollars each,” Mary Karen protested. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Jack smiled. “I’m your escort. A gentleman doesn’t allow a lady to pay.”

Travis’s blonde brows pulled together. His gaze shifted from Mary Karen to Jack then back to Mary Karen. “You came with him?”

Lexi didn’t wait for her friend to answer. She looped her arm through Mary Karen’s and then took Jack’s arm. “The
three
of us are here together.”

The tense set to Travis’s jaw eased. Although Lexi’s friend had made it clear on the way over that, like Lexi, she was too busy to date, it appeared that wasn’t from lack of interest. Dr. Fisher clearly had designs on the pretty divorcée.

“Is July feeling better?” Lexi asked David, her eyes filled with concern.

“The swelling in her ankle is almost gone,” the doctor said. “She planned to come tonight, but Adam came down with the sniffles. I wanted to stay home, too, but I’m accepting one of the awards on behalf of the hospital tonight.”

“Jackson Hole Memorial is a big supporter of community endeavors,” Lexi explained. “The hospital and several other large donors are being recognized for their contributions.”

Food bank. Hospital. Donors.

None of it seemed the least bit familiar to Jack. Whatever he’d done, he’d bet money it hadn’t been anything in the health-care or non-profit arena.

“Where are you two sitting?” Mary Karen asked her brother as they made their way into the crowded ballroom.

“We’re not telling.” Travis flashed an impudent smile.

“That’s okay,” Mary Karen said with a nonchalant shrug. “If you don’t want two beautiful women sitting with you, it’s definitely your loss.”

“We’re at that table.” David gestured with his head toward a large one just off the dance floor.

Mary Karen’s gaze lingered on the tented sign in the middle of the table. “It’s reserved.”

“For award recipients and their families,” David said. “You qualify.”

The band swung into a song well-suited to the over-sixty crowd. Travis held out a hand to Mary Karen. “Dance with me?”

“Since I don’t have any better offers…” Mary Karen ignored his hand but turned toward the dance floor.

Travis merely grinned and let her lead the way.

“If you two will excuse me,” David said. “I need to talk to the food bank director and get an update on the awards ceremony.”

This left Jack alone with Lexi. Though they’d come to the event in the same vehicle, he wasn’t sure how much togetherness she wanted. Still, it never hurt to ask. “Would you care to dance?”

Lexi nodded and Jack exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. It wasn’t until they stepped onto the dance floor that he hesitated. “I have a confession to make.”

Lexi stopped and lifted a brow.

“I’m not sure I know how to dance,” he admitted.

To his surprise Lexi didn’t appear overly concerned. She took one hand in hers and placed his other on her hip. “I guess that means we’re going to live dangerously tonight.”