Tempted By The Single Mom (Yoxburgh Park Hospital)

by Caroline Anderson

  ‘I love you, Nick. I love you so much. I didn’t dare believe in it, I thought it was too quick to be real, but I was wrong, wasn’t I? Because it is real, it isn’t a dream. We did fall in love. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. I just didn’t know how to tell you, or if you’d want to hear it.’

  ‘Is that a yes?’

  She laughed, but it cracked in the middle and she reached for him at the same time as he reached for her.

  ‘Yes, it’s a yes,’ she said, and he gathered her up against his chest and held her so tight she thought her ribs would crack.

  ‘Thank you.’

  She eased away and looked up at him again. ‘Don’t thank me, Nick. You’ve given me so much. You’ve given me back my faith in love, my ability to trust. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. And—I’ve been thinking. You know how you talked about IVF, how it might be possible for you to have a baby that way?’

  He looked away. ‘I don’t need a baby, Ellie. You’ve got three beautiful children, and I already love them. Why would I need more?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe because I do? Maybe because I want to carry your child, if I can?’

  He looked back at her, his eyes bright. He blinked hard and sucked in a breath. ‘You’d do that for me? It’s not easy, Ellie. IVF is tough.’

  ‘I know. But I’ve sailed through every pregnancy and delivery, I think I can tolerate a little bit of tough for something so important.’

  He shook his head, disbelief in his eyes, and maybe the dawning of hope? ‘I’m nearly forty-one, Ellie. I’ve survived this long without my own children.’

  ‘No. You’ve put away hope. You don’t have to do that any more, not if you don’t want to.’

  ‘I can’t believe you’d do that for me,’ he said, his voice cracking, and she felt her eyes welling with tears.

  ‘I love you, Nick. Why wouldn’t I? And I’m only thirty-five. We’ve still got time. Let’s see how it goes, eh? Just leave it there for now.’

  ‘It’s not a deal breaker?’

  ‘Of course it’s not a deal breaker. It’s an offer, that’s all. A part of my unconditional love for you.’

  He was silent for an age, and then he nodded. ‘OK. We’ll think about it. And—more importantly, how about your children? How will they take this? Will they accept me?’

  ‘Accept you?’ She laughed softly, her eyes welling again. ‘They haven’t stopped begging to see you again since we moved out. Maisie cries herself to sleep, Oscar talks all the time about Rufus, and every time the doorbell rings they look hopeful.’

  She took his hand. ‘They miss you, Nick. I miss you. We just want to come home.’

  EPILOGUE

  THE APRIL SUN was warm on their faces as they sat in the garden, watching the children play.

  They were running around on the grass with Rufus, their happy laughter filling the air, and Nick looked down at her and smiled.

  ‘Happy?’

  ‘Of course I’m happy. You?’

  ‘What do you think? I reckon it’s all going perfectly.’

  It was. David had bought her old house as a base for his weekends now he was bringing his pilot girlfriend with him and wanted privacy, and they were planning to use the money on Nick’s house. Especially now...

  ‘So, how do you feel about starting that extension?’ he asked. ‘We’ll need another bedroom soon, and the garage needs to be a playroom before the winter. Can you stand it?’

  ‘I should think so. We can always ship the children out to David and Ava. She loves having them and he’s so much more reasonable now. I never thought that would ever happen.’

  He gave a chuckle, then lifted her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her wedding ring before laying his hand over the smooth curve of their baby. ‘I never thought this would, either. I can’t believe it.’

  She laughed softly. ‘I can. I’d forgotten about morning sickness, but at least it’s over.’

  He laughed and hugged her closer against his side, his arm around her shoulders.

  ‘I’m so glad. I wonder what the children will make of him?’

  ‘They’ll be delighted. Maisie was thrilled when Evie was born, and Oscar will be so happy to have a brother.’ She looked up at him. ‘Can we call him Samuel?’

  His eyes were suddenly bright, his smile a little crooked as he bent his head and kissed her.

  ‘I think that would be wonderful...’

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Caroline Anderson

  From Heartache to Forever

  A Single Dad to Heal Her Heart

  One Night, One Unexpected Miracle

  Their Own Little Miracle

  All available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Heart Surgeon’s Second Chance by Allie Kincheloe.

  WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM

  Life and love in the world of modern medicine.

  Escape to the world where life and love play out against a high-pressured medical backdrop.

  6 NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE EVERY MONTH!

  Heart Surgeon’s Second Chance

  by Allie Kincheloe

  CHAPTER ONE

  Rhiann

  DREAD POOLED LOW in Rhiann’s stomach as the door to the exam room opened with a slow and ominous creak. Broad shoulders in a white coat filled the space and her eyes roamed the doctor’s familiar form, taking in the subtle changes time had wrought.

  Three years ago he hadn’t had those deep lines etched into his face. His dark hair had a little more silver at the temple than she remembered, but he was as lean and handsome as ever.

  Dr. Patrick Scott stepped into the room, his eyes looking down at the screen of the silver laptop in his hand. His movements carried the spicy aroma of his cologne into the small room, the pleasing notes covering the harsh antiseptic and teasing a part of her that had gone dormant since her divorce.

  But on top of the overtly masculine scent he brought with him a wave of sadness that hinted at tragedy.

  “Hello, Mrs.... Masters...um...”

  His deep gravelly voice trailed off and his sky-blue eyes jerked up to meet hers when he recognized her name. The slight fake smile he’d had on his lips when he’d opened the door faded fast. Judging from the ice that frosted over his gaze, the animosity he held for her hadn’t eased since she’d last seen him.

  The exam room door shut behind him with an audible click and the laptop clattered slightly as he set it roughly on the counter.

  “What are you doing here?”

  The uncharacteristic coldness in his tone sent a shiver coursing down her spine. Patrick’s voice had always held such emotion, its rich timbre broadcasting his feelings with the simplest words. In all the years she’d known him Rhiann had never heard this distant tone.

  Rhiann hugged the baby in her arms close to her chest, tears filling her eyes as she fought to keep her emotions from overwhelming her. She’d hoped the time since they’d last seen each other might have given Patrick clarity and smoothed the raw edges of his anger, but clearly not enough time had passed. Now she could only hope that he would be professional enough to put their personal grievances aside and focus on her child’s best interests.

  She needed to keep a clear head today, so she stuffed her feelings away as best she could. She had known coming here was a risk, but there was no other way or she’d have explored it already.

  “I need your help. Well, he needs your help. This is my son Levi. He has a heart defect, and the cardiologist at St. Thomas’ wants to do surgery to fix it. But if anyone is cutting my baby open I want it to be the best surgeon I can find.” She paused to swallow down an oversized lump in her throat. “And that’s you.”

  “You expect me to save someone you love. How ironic.”
>
  A single dark eyebrow raised as he stared down at her, his expression unreadable and as cold as marble. His eyes searched hers—for what, she didn’t know.

  Just as she was sure he was about to tell her to leave, to scream at her like he had the last time she’d seen him, his gaze flicked down to the baby in her arms and the ice in his eyes melted the tiniest bit.

  “Please, Dr. Scott.”

  The formality felt stiff and awkward as it rolled off her tongue without the teasing tone she’d used each time she’d called him by his title in the past. Years ago they had been the closest of friends, sharing every secret with each other. They had even flirted with the idea of a relationship on an occasion or two.

  But it no longer seemed appropriate to call him by his given name. Not when their friendship had crumbled on the back of accusations and misplaced blame. Their personal connection was more of a hindrance than a help in her quest to get her son the care he needed, so she kept things formal, hoping to appeal to his professional side.

  His eyes snapped up to meet hers and that hint of softening was gone. “You ask too much.”

  The once happy-go-lucky Patrick had earned a reputation over the last couple years for taciturnity. His white-hot talent was tempered by his ice-cold bedside manner, but he was the best pediatric cardiac surgeon in the southeast, and that fact made people overlook his brusque manner.

  He’d changed three years ago—just as she had.

  Rhiann remembered the caring man he’d used to be, though, and she hoped there was enough of that man left deep inside for him to agree to help. Her son’s life depended on it.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here, but I had to try. I had to give my sweet baby every chance possible. Because he’s just a baby.”

  She reached for any way to connect with the man standing before her, sensing that rejection sat poised on his lips.

  “Look at him. He’s an innocent child who needs your assistance. Can you live with yourself if you don’t at least try to help him?”

  “I’ll have my partner—”

  “I didn’t come here for your partner. And even though I know he’s an excellent surgeon, I refuse to let you pass Levi off to Clay. Because I came here for the best surgeon I know. Not for second-best.”

  He muttered a curse, so low it was barely perceptible, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know if he needs surgery we’ll be seeing each other a lot over the coming weeks and months? Do you know what seeing you that often is going to do to me?”

  Clearly not a single thing had changed between them. He still hated her. But that fact changed nothing about her mission today.

  Emotions threatened to clog her throat and Rhiann coughed a bit to clear it. She swiped at a hot tear that had leaked from her eye and run down her cheek. With a hard inhalation she tried to lock those feelings away, because she needed to keep a cool head. She had to convince Patrick to help Levi.

  “Whatever you think I did or didn’t do, that was in the past and between us. It has nothing to do with my son. I’ve run that day through my head no less than a thousand times, but there’s nothing I could have done that would have changed anything. I can’t change the past, but you can change Levi’s future. You can give him a future.”

  His brows furrowed, Patrick pressed his lips together tightly, but her words must have touched something in the man she’d once known because he was pulling his stethoscope from around his neck.

  “Let me take a look at him, run a few tests, and we’ll go from there. His records from his previous doctors haven’t been transferred yet, and I’d like to review those as well.”

  “That’s all I ask.”

  Rhiann’s heart thudded in her chest as Patrick sat on a rolling stool and pushed it over to listen to Levi’s heart. His hand brushed hers, warm despite his cold manner, as he moved the stethoscope gently over her son’s back. He sat close, his knee bumping into her thigh when he shifted to listen to Levi’s chest.

  She inhaled sharply at the touch and he looked up at the sound, their gazes meeting over Levi’s head. The spark that fired up in his eyes brought back a time when distance between them hadn’t existed and their lives had been far easier, and she wished they could return to the easy-going camaraderie of those days.

  The exam room suddenly shrank in size as new strain filled the space and fire warred with the ice in Patrick’s eyes.

  The silence amped up the tension until finally he snapped back to the present enough to speak. “What tests has he had done? And how recently?”

  “Most recently he’s had chest X-rays and an EKG. Two weeks ago.”

  Rhiann swallowed hard. Her own medical training made this harder, because as a paramedic she knew enough to know that Levi’s heart condition was really bad.

  “They told me Levi had a heart murmur when he was born—but a lot of babies have murmurs, you know? So, I was watching it, but it only kept getting worse. Then he started turning blue, and I knew it was more than just a murmur. I pushed and pushed until we saw a specialist. Six months ago he had a shunt put in that was supposed to help. But, as you can see from his coloring, it’s not enough. I’m not even sure the shunt has helped at all.”

  “I’m not sure it has either.”

  Patrick rolled the stool over to his computer and Rhiann breathed deeply for the first time since she’d made the appointment to see him. The keys clicked and clacked beneath Patrick’s nimble fingers as he made some notes on Levi’s chart.

  He spoke without looking at her. “You might want to have Pete with you for the tests, for emotional support. How’s he handling all this, anyway?”

  “I have no idea. Pete sent me divorce papers shortly after Levi was born. I haven’t seen or heard from him since before Levi had his shunt put in. Last I heard he had moved back home to California and was living near his parents. Despite loving all the music here, you know he always hated Nashville. Not close enough to the water for him. And once he gave up on the idea of a music career—well, I’m afraid it’s just me and Levi now.”

  Patrick spun on the stool and stared at her for a minute. “I didn’t know,” he finally acknowledged.

  “Well, now you do.”

  Patrick had never liked Pete, so it would surely make him happy to hear that he’d been right when he’d warned her it would never last. The teensiest bit of joy flashed in his eyes and his lips curled up momentarily before he brought his emotions back under the icy veneer.

  Her spine stiffened as she waited for the I told you so from her former friend.

  “What happened?”

  She sighed and let an abbreviated version of the story slip past her lips—a story she’d told more than once. “I had a hard time getting pregnant. We needed help from a donor. Pete never really connected with the thought of a baby that wasn’t his biological child, and... Well, when the news came in that Levi wasn’t absolutely perfect, that he had a heart problem, Pete just couldn’t escape fast enough.”

  Levi was her family now. The only person in the world she had to love and to love her in return. She didn’t need a man like Pete. She didn’t need anyone at all except Levi. And for Levi she’d cross as many rivers and boundaries as she had to in order to get him the help he needed.

  Right now Levi needed the surgeon sitting in front of her, and she was definitely crossing over the boundary lines he’d thrown up between them. Not just crossing them, but stomping on them and maybe setting them on fire for good measure.

  Patrick snorted. “If only someone had told you that loser wasn’t worth your time...”

  Despite expecting the rebuke, the frigidness in his tone shocked her. Rhiann blinked away more tears. The man sitting before her bore little resemblance to the friend she’d once known. That man would never have spoken to her with such vehemence.

  She hugged Levi closer, knowing she couldn’t leave here with
out Patrick agreeing to help her son, and determined to take whatever Patrick felt he had to dish out in order to make that happen.

  Very little in her life had come easily, and if there was one thing she knew it was how to stay strong and fight for what mattered. Levi was worth every fight she’d faced already, and he’d remain worth any fights there were to come.

  The baby squeaked in protest as she unconsciously tightened her grip on him as she stiffened up her resolve. She eased her hold and rested her cheek on the top of Levi’s head, murmuring an apology.

  She’d surprised Patrick, based on how his body stiffened beneath her hand when she reached over and put her hand on his white-cotton-clad forearm. His arm was warm beneath her fingers, which was surprising, since she’d almost expected his arm to feel like solid ice to match his demeanor.

  “You can fix him, right?”

  Patrick

  Emotions rolled over Patrick. Waves of anger swirled around spikes of sympathy, and even a hint of something he didn’t want to put a name to. He shut his feelings down and didn’t allow himself the luxury of emotions.

  No feelings meant no pain. And if anyone had ever perfected the art of depriving themselves of all emotion it was Patrick.

  He pushed the stool back away from the teary-eyed blonde and her tiny son before the sweet scent of vanilla and apricots that wafted from her overwhelmed his sensibilities and made him do something stupid.

  Like pull her into his arms and whisper reassurances about her son’s future that he wasn’t sure he could fulfill. Or kiss her to see if she still used the strawberry lip gloss he’d been so desperate to taste once upon a time.

  He cleared his throat and pulled up the cold professionalism that had served him well these last few years. No matter how good Rhiann smelled, no matter how many sparks shot up from his arm at her simple touch, he would not allow himself to think of her that way—not her, not after what she’d done.

  “I don’t want to make any promises until I see exactly what we’re looking at. But I don’t like what I’m hearing. You have to know that Levi’s in poor condition.”