My Wife Now - Closed

Calvin Twocrows looked down at the sleeping woman and his heart jumped again. Not because she was gorgeous. Oh, she was pretty enough. A full figure with a womanly bosom; halfway along in her pregnancy, she was still attractive. Her dark waist-length hair had been neatly gathered into a ponytail by the hospital staff. She had a pretty face and was in her young twenties. No, it was because of who she was that his heart skipped a beat. Gwen Ryder - wife of Mack Ryder, head of the Oklahoma Gang.

He had come from his office, which was perched on the border of the reservation. Ryder and his people had used the federal laws regarding Indian sovereignty to their advantage. As the area’s federal agent, Calvin was the only man in the area able to work in both worlds, so he was constantly getting called in when pursuit hit the border. Dark eyes set in a solid face more rugged than handsome, he had few attachments. After the way veterans of the great war had been treated, and with his heroism and medals, Uncle Sam had realized that his tribal status and mixed blood made him perfect as an Indian agent.

Reading the doctor’s report; attempted strangulation, beaten, loss of all personal memory…this poor girl had been through a lot. If she went back, she’d likely be killed. Well, Ryder had done enough damage.
“Doctor, I’m signing her out. She’s now under witness protection and you will release all her records to me. No one here saw her or remembers her, got it?”

The Doctor started to protest, but something in the eyes of the tanned man before him froze the words in his throat. He just nodded and gathered all the papers. She’d been given a sedative, so getting her into a wheelchair and down to Calvin’s car was easy.

Stopping at the Court records office was not hard. A judge there owed him big and was willing to backdate a marriage certificate for him. He also destroyed the record of Ryder’s marriage to her.

He’d been driving for an hour, and was still trying to decide just what to do when she awoke. Her frightened eyes asked him unspoken questions and he made a fateful decision. “Gwen, honey. It’s me, Calvin, your husband. I’m so glad I found you again. After those bastards kidnapped you, I thought I’d go mad. But now you’re safe and I’ll never let them have you. We’re heading back to our house on the edge of the reservation. Do you remember the reservation? It’s OK, don’t worry darling.” His hand lifted hers to kiss.

“You’ve been through too much. I’ve taken some time off my police work so we can get reacquainted.”

This could work. He’d joked with the people that he had a white wife he was hiding before, so producing one would not cause alarm. And there was the fact that he knew Gwen. She was eight years younger than his thirty, and has literally been the little girl next door in his white neighborhood where his white father had insisted they live. Now, her family was gone and there was no on to say he wasn’t what he claimed.

He turned to her as he stopped the car in the driveway. Softly, he took her chin and kissed her.

RE: My Wife Now - A Romantic Wife Stealing (Lan and LeDamsel91)

The only reason she knew her name, was because the doctor had told her when she had woken up the first time. She woke to the feel of a car moving and then turned to see a man. She gasped and jumped but her head was hurting so much so that she couldn't move away. Swallowing, she let him kiss her and then looked at him. "You...You're m-my husband?" she asked softly and then looked away, taking a deep breath, just as the baby kicked about inside of her. She put her hands to her belly. She had woken up in a hospital bed about a week ago with a pregnant belly and no way of knowing who she was. Attacked they said. And she was apt to believe it. She was still bruised and battered and her head still hurt from where someone had hit her. Taking a deep breath, she just looked at the house. It was a rather nice house.

Swallowing, she closed her eyes and then glanced back at him. "I don't remember you...why...why am I not at the hospital? Why am I here? And where have you been all week if I am your wife. Surely if a man knew his wife that he loved was injured and carrying his child he would of come the day that she was found...to the hospital..." She felt on the cusp of having a panic attack and slowly grabbed the handle of the door and opened it up, stepping out, holding onto the door of the Model T ford and just dragging in deep breaths. She hated this. She knew nothing of her life. Not her name, except what had been told to her, not her husband, not the place she lived in. She was pregnant with a man's child. A stranger to her because she knew nothing at all. She closed her eyes, running her fingers over her face, trying hard not to collapse into tears.

As she grew more stressed and upset, the baby moved and kicked abut and so she had to take deep breaths to keep the child from falling apart. She sank down on the bench underneath the large oak tree in the front yard. It seemed that they were surrounded by pastures and beautiful oaks. She swallowed and closed her eyes, trying hard to keep herself from crying. She didn't know what to think or do.

RE: My Wife Now - A Romantic Wife Stealing (Lan and LeDamsel91)

"Calm down. When you disappeared, it took me a week to locate you. No one here knew who you were. I've driven all over the places and spent so many hours on the phone. I was so scared you were lost.

Gwen, darling, please come inside. I want to show you something. The fire we had may have destroyed most of our things, but I want you to see something."

He pulled out the photo of him going to college. There was ten year old Gwen hugging his side. "It took me eight years to realize just how wonderful you are. I don't want you to leave me again. Not for anything. Know that that is the absolute truth. I want to love you and care for you the rest of my life, no matter what you remember. Can you understand that? I have never hurt you and never will. But can you remember to love me...like you did way back then..."

RE: My Wife Now - A Romantic Wife Stealing (Lan and LeDamsel91)

Gwen looked at the picture. Was that her? She didn't know. And what fire? It was all so confusing. She took a deep breath and just wiped her eyes, looking at the worn and weathered picture that he had kept in his pocket. The black and white faded at the edges. Her gaze went to his. "Fire?" she asked then shook her head. "I don't remember anything," she whispered, close to sobbing. "I don't even know if that is me in that picture," she said, handing him the picture back and taking a deep breath. She got up slowly, walking into the house she was supposed to live in, looking around and seeing that it was small but quaint. Just as she imagined a house she would want to live in would look like. But it didn't feel right.

She took a deep breath, walking to the kitchen and running her fingers over the black cast iron stove and the counter top. "I'm sorry I don't remember anything," she whispered softly.

RE: My Wife Now - A Romantic Wife Stealing (Lan and LeDamsel91)

"I know it's you. Can you remember your mother, Janet?" He was feeling terrible about fooling her, but he knew how loyal she was, and how vicious her temper when betrayed. If he told her all, she'd go straight out to find the Ryder gang and end up dead. He would not allow that. Ryder had to die. He was beyond seeking the law. He was seeking safety.

"If you don't like how things are, we can change them. I just want you to be happy. Gwen, with your memory loss, I don't know what else to do. Honey, I'm sure things are hard missing your memory. But I can start to fill some things in. I know your home town, high school... Maybe it's a good time to start anew. So...me...Calvin Twocrows. My mother is Navajo, my Dad was Irish. I'm thirty years old compared to your twenty-two. You used to think I was ruggedly attractive. Now I don't know what you think. I like apple pie, you prefer cherry." He was glad for all the time he'd spent around them before Ryder went rogue. Between that and his personal knowledge of her childhood, he had a pretty good background like no one else could provide.

"So even though I ache to take you in my arms and hold you close. The look on your face that says 'stranger' holds me away from you. So there is our bedroom. Go ahead and take it. I'll sleep here on the pullout tonight." He looked and felt miserable for several reasons, and he went to lie down, grabbing a beer.