Read Online A Bride Worth Fighting For by Sara Daniel - Free Book Online Page B

pumping her arms, more energetic than she’d been since racing up the church aisle over a month ago. The only other time he’d witnessed such excitement and happiness on her face was dancing at the Christmas party.
    He opened the door to the lodge and marched down the sidewalk to meet her.
    She beamed at him, placing her hand on his forearm. “I have to talk to you.”
    “About what? Where did you go this morning?” A chill swept through him. Her excitement likely had to do with her memory returning, but if that were the case, she wouldn’t be happy to see him.
    Her happy expression faded, and she released his arm.
    Their relationship might be a fraud, but his attraction to her from the moment she’d awoken in that hospital bed had grown into something real. He not only wanted the real person inside her to break forth and shine, he wanted a part in making that happen. Instead, he’d been pacing the lobby, excluded.
    “Sage suggested I try a yoga class, but I barely finished the first position when I remembered that I like to run.” Her smile returned, and her eyes sparkled. “I’m a runner.”
    He’d had no idea. What a joke that he pretended to be engaged to her when he was clueless as to her favorite hobby and the things that brought her joy.
    “While I was running,” she continued, “I discovered a lake. The view is gorgeous and stunning, just like everything else here. It reminds me of another lake, a place just as beautiful but with tall grass all around it. I can picture frogs jumping in the water as I wander around the shore. Did I ever take you there? Can you tell me more about it and help me remember?”
    He froze, his worst nightmare coming to life, even as she remained eager and excited. Instinctively, he retreated to his position against greedy developers. “The natural habitat of the lake needs to be preserved, not commercialized so you can make a profit.”
    Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. “I plan to destroy the natural beauty of my lake?”
    He hadn’t come to the Wiccan Haus on vacation or to fall in love with his brother’s jilted fiancée. As much he wanted to ignore his conservation duties, he couldn’t give her a free pass to destruction. “The lake isn’t yours. It belongs to the plant life it supports and the animals and fish who need it to maintain their ecosystem.”
    “I don’t want to change it or jeopardize anything that grows in the area.”
    Tenderness and hope whipped through him, even though he couldn’t hold her to that declaration until her amnesia completely faded. “Do you remember believing that, or are you just telling me what I want to hear?”
    She rubbed her temples. “Okay, I don’t know what I actually wanted before, but it seems like this lake memory connects with my urge to run a resort. Does every resort have to leave a giant carbon footprint? What if I planned to create one that supports conservation efforts and makes people more aware of their environment and what they can do to preserve it?”
    Lakes and resorts weren’t part of who she really was. Instead of focusing on preservation efforts that had never been on her agenda, he needed to help her focus on her true self, the things that made Gwen Fairfax shine. “Tell me about the jog you took today. What’s it like to be a runner?”
    The bright excitement didn’t return to her gaze. If anything, she appeared annoyed with him. “Give me a little credit for knowing you well enough to understand you care a lot more about what happens to plant habitats than how many miles I run each day. If my plans weren’t environmentally friendly, what if I changed them going forward?”
    Conservation had always mattered more to him, and he couldn’t deny the appeal of partnering with her to build a nature-friendly business plan. But opening any contentious topic could destroy the fragile trust and fledgling relationship between them.
    Memories didn’t change the essence of who she was. They