Marilyn Pappano - You Must Remember This Part 2

36 Hours Serial

As a devastating summer storm hits Grand Springs, Colorado, the next thirty-six hours will change the town and its residents forever….

You Must Remember This Part 2

Months after Martin Smith walked into the hospital E.R. with no memory, he is still searching for his identity. Solving the mayor’s murder will bring him closer to the truth—and to Juliet, the sexy computer guru who’s helping him with the investigation. Martin’s few sketchy memories have been violent and disturbing. When his identity is revealed, will he have to leave Juliet to keep her safe?

Meeting Martin is the best thing that’s happened to Juliet since she came to Grand Springs. It’s hard to believe there isn’t another woman somewhere praying for his return. She would do anything to help the man she’s grown to love, but solving the mystery of Martin Smith could cost Juliet her heart….

The story concludes in You Must Remember This Part 3.

Dear Reader,

In the town of Grand Springs, Colorado, a devastating summer storm sets off a string of events that changes the lives of the residents forever….

Welcome to Mills & Boon’s exciting new digital serial, 36 Hours! In this thirty-six part serial share the stories of the residents of Grand Springs, Colorado, in the wake of a deadly storm.

With the power knocked out and mudslides washing over the roads, the town is plunged into darkness and the residents are forced to face their biggest fears—and find love against all odds.

Each week features a new story written by a variety of bestselling authors like Susan Mallery and Sharon Sala. The stories are published in three segments, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the first segment of every three-part book is free, so you can get caught up in the mystery and drama of Grand Springs. And you can get to know a new set of characters every week. You can read just one, but as the lives and stories of each intertwine in surprising ways, you’ll want to read them all!

Join Mills & Boon E every week as we bring you excitement, mystery, fun and romance in 36 Hours!

Happy reading!

An author of eighty plus books, Marilyn Pappano has been married for thirty plus years to the best husband a writer could have. She's won a RITA® Award, among many others. She blogs at www.the-twisted-sisters.comand can be found at www.marilyn-pappano.com. She and her husband live in Oklahoma with five rough-and-tumble dogs.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Martin Smith arrived in Grand Springs on the night of the worst rainstorm in history, his memory completely erased. Ten months later he still has no idea who he is. Martin has a connection to the town, but why? Computer guru, Juliet Crandall, is willing to help him find the truth and she is breaking down his emotional walls. But deep secrets always come to light, and if Martin’s past is as dark as he thinks, Juliet’s life might be the ultimate price he pays.

“Maybe I was an accountant.” Martin Smith’s words broke the silence that had settled over the dining room nearly an hour ago and brought Juliet Crandall’s attention from the stacks of papers in front of her to him—exactly where he wanted it to be.

“And why do you say that?”

“Because there’s something familiar about this.” He took in the entire room with his gesture—the empty boxes, the countless stacks and piles of papers, the last two boxes waiting for sorting. “I feel like I’ve done it before. We know I wasn’t a cop. Unless I was a very methodical criminal, maybe I was an accountant. Maybe I was an auditor with the IRS, and that’s why no one would admit to expecting my visit.”

She didn’t smile at his joke, but returned to the statements she was sorting as she absently asked, “Are you good with numbers?”

“I don’t know. Try me.”

“What’s two hundred thousand divided by three?”

“That’s an easy one: 66,666.66 for one, .67 for the other two.”

Holding up an official-looking document, she shook her head. “It’s the amount of life insurance each of Olivia’s children received following her death.”

“She divided her life insurance three ways?”

“One-third to each of her children: Hal, Eve and Roy Jr. I thought Olivia was convinced Roy Jr. was dead.”

“That’s what Sue Marie Harper said.”

“I wish we’d asked Eve yesterday.”

It would have been kind of hard to work into the conversation, he thought as he sorted a half-dozen credit card statements from a pile of utility bills. We’d like to go through all of your mother’s personal records to see if we can prove that I didn’t have anything to do with her murder, and, oh, by the way, did she believe that your brother, who ran away when you were a baby, was still alive, or had she finally given up hope?

“What’s the date on the policy?”

She turned to the last page. “It was signed thirteen months ago. Maybe she’d heard from Roy Jr.”

“Without telling anyone? Not even her other children?” It didn’t seem likely. Hal and Eve had just been kids when their brother disappeared, but surely their mother would have told them if he’d contacted her. “Maybe she just never gave up hope.” Hope died hard—his was still hanging on, and he imagined it was nothing compared to a mother’s hope for her eldest child.

Juliet laid the life insurance policy aside and reached into the box at her feet for yet another handful of papers. Olivia never threw anything away, Eve had said, and the boxes proved her right. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been particularly organized, at least in this area. Kids’ drawings from twenty years ago shared space with utility bills from last year. Credit card and bank statements were spread through every box, along with yellowed Christmas cards, long-done to-do lists and personal correspondence.

Most likely Olivia had meant to organize the boxes at some future date. She had never intended to die and leave her personal things in such a mess.

Suddenly antsy, Martin pushed himself to his feet and stretched. “Let’s go somewhere.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. The hardware store. I’ll change your locks this afternoon.”

She looked wary. “Do you know how to do that?”

“Of course. You drill a few holes and install the lock set. No problem.” He waited until the caution faded, then added, “Besides, the directions are on the back of the package.”

When she smiled but didn’t immediately get up, he wheeled her chair back from the table and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. It’s too pretty a day to stay inside with a bunch of old papers.”

She let him pull her as far as the doorway, where she tugged free. “Let me get my shoes.”

He glanced at her feet. He liked her habit of going barefoot at home. It gave a certain intimacy to a situation that she made a real effort to keep on a business level. He wondered why. Was he so far from her type that the idea of anything personal between them had never occurred to her? Was she cautious enough that she would never allow herself to get involved with a man without a name or a past? Or was she insecure enough to think that business—her help—was all he wanted from her?

Someday he would find out.

While she went to the bedroom, he walked around the table. They’d worked last evening and all morning, together yet separately. He’d sat on the floor, the wall at his back, sorting stacks around him. She had worked at the table, and her stacks were neater. The credit card statements that he’d put in one pile she had sorted by company and year. She’d even sorted the kids’ artwork by signature. The biggest stack was Eve’s work, the smaller pile Hal’s. There were only three items in Roy Jr.’s pile—a Mother’s Day greeting, a construction-paper Christmas card and a drawing.