Lightning Only Strikes Twice by Stanalei Fletcher Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t she remember driving to White Rock for the celebration? She’d completely forgotten the first part of the day. She couldn’t recall returning to White Rock since…
    Since she’d sold the property.
    An ache gripped her. She’d sold her grandfather’s land.
    Closing her eyes, she shoved the feeling away. It was done. Signed and delivered. She had to move on.
    What was it Luke had asked?
    He wanted to know the last thing she remembered. Why the odd question unless…Had her head injury caused amnesia? Was that why she couldn’t remember anything?
    When had she received an invitation to the celebration? She would’ve had to schedule time from work to attend. In fact, the last thing she remembered before waking up in the forest was being with Luke in the grove, by the tree.
    And then that storm…
    How many days had passed?
    Something must have happened to change Luke’s mind about the ghost town. Maybe some historical preservation organization had demanded a final celebration before the construction project started. The fake town must have been quickly erected, like a movie set.
    What had happened to her? How could she have forgotten everything between the day Luke had shown her the development plans and now?
    She staggered to the bed and sat heavily.
    A soft knock sounded on the door and then it creaked open. Luke poked his head around the corner. “I thought I heard you stirring,” he said. “Mind if I come in?”
    He stood silhouetted in the doorway, filling the small frame. The glow from lamplight behind him barely reached inside her room.
    When she looked at him, that strange pitch in her stomach happened again. “I guess.”
    He stepped inside, leaving the door open. “How are you feeling?”
    His face remained in shadows until he pulled a straight-back chair closer and sat. Concern shone in his brown eyes.
    “I’m not sure,” she said, hoping the flutter in her chest had nothing to do the bump on her head.
    “The doctor left to grab something to eat. Should I get him?”
    “No. I mean…I feel fine, physically.” She touched the lump. It was tender. “My headache is mostly gone. I’m just a bit out of sorts.”
    “That’s no surprise.” He leaned toward her. “You haven’t processed what’s happened, have you?”
    She shook her head. Should she share her concerns with him? She hardly knew the man. They’d barely spoken today, and at their previous meeting, she’d been contrary and impolite. “Did the doctor say I have amnesia? Did I hit my head that hard?”
    “I thought the same thing happened to me.” His smile was as gentle as it was devastating.
    She tried not to stare. “You’ve lost your memory before?”
    “I wish. It would have explained a lot.” He rested tanned forearms on his thighs. “What do you remember before waking up in the forest?”
    Annie met his intense look. “You.” She spoke before thinking. “You’re the last thing I remember.” She licked dry lips, embarrassed by her admission. “We were together in the grove, during the storm. How many days has it been since then?”
    His brow wrinkled. “You don’t have amnesia. What I don’t understand is why it took you two months longer to get here.”
    “Two months?” Annie asked incredulously. “I’ve forgotten two months of my life?”
    Luke shook his head. “No, you don’t understand.” He settled back in the chair, his face serious. “How am I going to explain this, when I haven’t figure it out myself?”
    His cryptic answers made him sound like he was the one with a bump on the head. Annie sensed his frustration, but it didn’t help her feel better.
    “You don’t need to explain anything.” She stood, grateful her legs didn’t give out this time. “I appreciate everything you and the doctor have done. But if you can tell me where my car is, I’ll go home now.”
    Luke shook his head with a mirthless chuckle. “If only it was that easy.”
    “It is. You don’t have to take me to