She blinked. “But Jon isn’t—”
“No,” he said quickly. “He’s still alive. Still in a coma. But officially, Jon Harper is dead. His being dead means that no one will be looking for him anymore.”
Kate sat back. She didn’t know what to say. “You made that happen?”
Earl Ray nodded. “If he pulls through—”
“When he pulls through,” she corrected. “He’s strong. He won’t leave me.”
The older man’s smile was filled with both hope and sadness. “I certainly hope that’s true. When he pulls through, he can’t go by Jon Harper again. That life is over. He can’t go back to Buckhorn—at least not as the man he was. You’ve seen the damage to his face. Plastic surgeons will be reconstructing it, resetting broken bones and covering the scars—all of them, including those from his burns.”
“What are you trying to tell me?” she asked, suddenly terrified that she already knew. She began to cry, shaking her head, silently screaming No!
“I know how much you love him,” Earl Ray said, his voice breaking. “That’s why I know you can and will do this to save him—if he doesn’t die from his injuries. I know how strong you are. But this means you are going to have to be very strong.”
“If you’re going to tell me that I can’t see him ever again—”
“No,” Earl Ray said. “That would be too cruel for both of you. But it is going to take time for him to recover if he—when he comes out of the coma,” he quickly corrected. “There will be months of reconstruction to his face and possibly some physical therapy, depending on what parts of his brain might have been injured. What I’m trying to tell you is that it could be a very long time before he’s well enough to even leave the hospital.”
“But after that?” she asked, her heart in her throat.
Earl Ray reached for her hand, sending a chill through her. “When he is completely healed, he will have a new face, a new name, depending on his injuries maybe even some disabilities. He isn’t going to be the same man.”
“I don’t care,” Kate said adamantly.
Earl Ray nodded and looked even more serious. “It’s not just that. We don’t know how he’s going to feel when he comes out of the coma. There might be too much damage to his brain. He might not—”
“Remember me?” Her laugh came out a sob. “I’ve been here before, remember? This time, he will remember me. I’ll wait.”
He smiled through his own tears as he squeezed her hand. “For both your sakes, I certainly hope so. Now, the hard part. You have to return to Texas and get back to your life as you knew it. We have a cover story for Collin Matthews. He was killed in a car accident on your trip. He’d left you at the motel to run and get a present for you. It was a single-car rollover. He hadn’t been wearing his seat belt. His...remains will be cremated. You will take them back to Texas where you will bury them as if the two of you had never changed your minds about getting married. I understand he has no family.” She nodded, wondering how she could manage such a lie. “You need to stick to that.”
“Wait, no, I can’t leave here until Jon regains consciousness.”
Earl Ray was shaking his head. “I’m sorry. That’s not possible. Any more time here, and you will be jeopardizing Jon’s life.”
She felt the hard, blunt force of his words. “What is Jon’s story?”
“He had left Buckhorn and was attacked on the highway. It was believed to have something to do with his past and a bounty out on him. His life as Justin Brown will come out. In fact, someone will collect the bounty.”
All she could do was nod as she thought of Jon lying in that hospital bed and her not being with him when he woke up.
“I pulled some strings,” Earl Ray was saying. “I wanted your life in Texas to be as normal as possible. But first, we need to bury Jon Harper in Buckhorn. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but everyone back there was betting on you and Jon. You think you can handle his funeral?”
“I can handle anything as long as he lives, and we can be together again,” she said quickly.
“I knew I could count on you. He is much loved in Buckhorn. You stole a few hearts in the short time you were there as well.”
She wiped at her tears. “You don’t know what that means to me.”
Earl Ray nodded. “His remains have been shipped back to Buckhorn. The funeral is tomorrow afternoon.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
WHEN KATE LEFT BUCKHORN, MONTANA, she’d thought she’d never see the town again. It had broken her heart because it had meant never seeing Jon again. Now returning, she still didn’t know if she would ever see him again. Earl Ray had checked. Jon was still in a coma. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done, leaving him at the hospital, but Earl Ray had insisted the only way to save him was to bury him.
Kate knew she had to trust the older man. He’d already done so much for her and Jon and her daughters, by keeping them safe. Still it had been hard to go shopping for new clothing and shoes, to call her daughters and not tell them everything. But for Jon, she would keep the secret. He’d saved her life, hopefully not at the cost of his own.
Earl Ray assured her that he wouldn’t leave Jon alone long. He was planning to head back there as soon as the funeral was over—after he dropped her at the airport for her flight to Houston.
“Jon Harper is dead,” Earl Ray told her as they drove through the middle of downtown Buckhorn. She nodded, not surprised how little the town had changed. So much had happened to her, and yet everything appeared the same, including all the snow.
“Just remember that the man you knew died trying to escape his past.”
“The man I knew died saving my life,” she said. “How can I ever forget that? I took so much from him, his name, his life here...” She couldn’t bear to think of him still lying in that hospital bed in a coma. What if he never woke up?
“Kate,” Earl Ray said. “You brought Jon back to life. He was slowly dying in Buckhorn from regrets, and I suspect you were one of them.”
Her worst fear had been that she would return for Jon Harper’s funeral and now here she was. She kept thinking of that day when she’d pushed open his workshop door and seen him standing there. She couldn’t lose him now. Not after everything they’d been through.
“Are you ready?” Earl Ray asked as he parked in front of the bar where it appeared everyone had gathered. “Jon’s funeral will give you a chance to grieve for him openly because he’s gone, Katie. That man won’t be back.”