The Forgotten Cowboy
After a near-fatal car accident, Willow Marsden discovers she has a form of amnesia that prevents her from recognizing faces, including those of friends, family–even her own. Adding to her shock is that the new man in her life is none other than her former high school boyfriend, Cal Chandler, whom she blames for derailing her young dreams…. wrapped up in each other's lives again and Willow's heart has trouble remembering all the reasons she and Cal split in the first place. Because their new–and more mature–relationship is giving them a second chance at a once-in-a-lifetime love.
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“You worry too much about things ‘ruining your life….’”
Willow knew her grandmother was referring to more than her amnesia-related recognition problem. She’d always thought Willow had overdramatized the humiliating incident that had turned her parents against her and changed the course of her life, that she’d been too quick to thrust all the blame on Cal Chandler. Okay, so it wasn’t all his fault. No one had forced her to sleep with Cal. She’d just loved him so fiercely, and she’d been so afraid of losing him. How could she know her parents would catch them?
“I wish he’d just get married,” she mumbled. Then maybe she could really forget him and move on.
“He still pines for you, you know. You can’t hate a man forever simply because he loved you too much.”
Willow chuckled. “He didn’t love me. He was horny and ruined my life.”
“You know he loved you,” Nana scolded. “And still does…”
Dear Reader,
Imagine being unable to recognize your own mother—or your ex-lover. This is the dilemma Willow Marsden faces in The Forgotten Cowboy. (If you read The Millionaire Next Door, my previous Mills & Boon American Romance novel, you might remember that Willow was injured in a car accident during a tornado.)
Willow's condition is known as prosopagnosia, and it really does exist. I became aware of it when reading a book about how to improve your memory. I was fascinated, and the first thing I thought of (predictably) was What if I created a character with this disorder? And what if she couldn’t recognize her ex-boyfriend, with whom she shared a disastrous past? It’s always fun to come up with a new way to cause trouble for my characters.
If you would like to learn more about this unusual disorder and hear firsthand from people who cope with it every day, check out the Internet for extensive information.
I love to hear from readers!
E-mail me at [email protected]
or contact me via regular mail at P.O. Box 4845,
Dallas, TX 75148.
All best,
Kara Lennox
Books by Kara Lennox
MILLS & BOON AMERICAN ROMANCE
841—VIRGIN PROMISE
856—TWIN EXPECTATIONS
871—TAME AN OLDER MAN
893—BABY BY THE BOOK
917—THE UNLAWFULLY WEDDED PRINCESS
934—VIXEN IN DISGUISE*
942—PLAIN JANE’S PLAN*
951—SASSY CINDERELLA*
974—FORTUNE’S TWINS
990—THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR
1052—THE FORGOTTEN COWBOY
Contents
Prologue
Willow Marsden studied the strange woman in her hospital room. She was an attractive female in her twenties, her beauty marred by a black eye and a bandage wound around her head. The woman looked unfamiliar; she was a complete stranger. Unfortunately, the stranger was in Willow’s mirror.
She lay the mirror down with a long sigh. Prosopagnosia—that was the clinical name for her condition. She’d suffered a head injury during a car accident, which had damaged a very specific portion of her brain—the part that enabled humans to distinguish one face from another. For Willow, every face she saw was strange and new to her—even those of her closest friends and relatives.
“You’re telling me I could be like this forever?”
Dr. Patel, her neurologist, shrugged helplessly. “Every recovery is different. You could snap back to normal in a matter of days, weeks, months or…yes, the damage could be permanent.”
“What about my short-term memory?” She couldn’t even remember what she’d had for breakfast that morning.
Again a shrug. Why was it so difficult to get a straight answer out of a doctor?
“Do you think I’ll be up to speed for medical school in the fall?” She asked the question as casually as she dared.
Dr. Patel abruptly dropped his professional-doctor mask. “I didn’t know of your plans. I’m sorry.”
“I guess that’s a big, fat no.” Willow softened her comment with a smile, but she had to force it. She should be grateful to be alive, to be walking and talking with no disfiguring scars. Her car accident during last week’s tornado had been a serious one and she easily could have died if not for the speed and skill of her rescuers. Right now, though, she didn’t feel grateful at all. Her plans and dreams were in serious jeopardy.
Dr. Patel closed Willow’s chart and offered a tentative smile. “Sometimes life throws us curve balls. But if your dream is to be a healer, you will find a way.”
Maybe, but not at University of Texas Southwestern. Willow had fought so hard to be accepted in the first place. If she withdrew at this late date with no explanation, she had very little chance of being accepted again. And if she told them the truth…well, no medical school wants a student with cognitive dysfunction.
For Willow, that meant only one thing. She would recover sooner rather than later. Damn the prognosis. She was not going to let anyone—not even fate—snatch away her dreams.
Not this time.
She was in control of her future. In six weeks, she intended to be at med school with a fully functioning brain.
