Windy City Romance: Boxed Set: Prequel - Book III

by Barbara Lohr

  She had no claim on Logan Castle.

  Easy to think, but hard to feel in her heart.

  They'd reached his ball and Logan swung out of the cart. “For me, it's an ultimatum.”

  Watching him position himself for his next shot, McKenna fought the feelings coursing through her. Admiration. Love. Lust. And sadness. All in that order. She knew she wanted more than passionate nights with Logan. But she didn’t know if he could give any more…to any woman. Not with his tragic history.

  “Don’t look so serious. It’s just a game.” Priscilla came to stand with her.

  McKenna tightened her grip on her club. Ahead of them, Cecile had apparently asked Logan a question and now he was giving his grandmother a short lesson about her stance.

  “She's really something, isn't she?” Priscilla mused with admiration.

  “Logan adores her, doesn’t he?”

  “They’ve always had a close bond. She’s a good friend of my grandmother's. They play bridge together. Cecile hasn't changed a bit over the years, even though Logan’s mother, well, she hasn’t been around much.”

  McKenna had a lot of questions about Logan’s parents, but she wasn’t about to mine Priscilla for information. No wonder Logan had hired Priscilla so quickly. He'd grown up with her.

  “Guess we're up,” Priscilla said, adjusting her visor.

  Hole after hole, their foursome cheered each other on. A breeze helped make the heat bearable. McKenna began to feel a little better. Maybe getting out in the sun had been a good idea.

  The day improved with every hole. With great effort she left her useless worrying behind. Her future would unfold, somehow. And she’d learn from her mistakes. She knew that much about herself.

  By the end of the day, McKenna was sunburned and exhausted. Logan had picked up the pace, and they had a decent score. Probably wouldn’t win any awards, but they’d had a great time. By the time they played the back nine holes, her stalwart acceptance was weakening. Every touch, every look–she felt drained from keeping herself in check.

  After the last hole, Priscilla and Cecile took off for the clubhouse. Logan tallied their scorecard, and they drove in silence to drop off the cart. McKenna perched on the edge of the seat, ready to spring out. But when Logan pulled the cart into line at the club, he turned to her with such sweet intensity burning in his eyes. “McKenna, I—”

  “Logan! Logan and McKenna!” His grandmother waved to them from the doorway.

  McKenna waved back. “Looks like we better join the party.”

  “Fine. But we will talk later. Are you sure you’re feeling well enough for this dinner?”

  “Absolutely.” She swung out of the cart.

  This project was her baby, and she had to see it through. Hair a frizzy mess, McKenna went in search of a ladies room.

  “Oh, there you are!” Cecile Montclair grabbed her hand when McKenna emerged from the restroom and tugged her into the dining room. “Now, come and sit next to me. We can have a nice chat.”

  Held firmly by Cecile’s deceptively delicate hands, McKenna smiled. Cecile was so darn cute. “You want to talk to me?”

  “Well, of course, dear.” Taking a seat, Cecile motioned to the chair next to her. This was a woman used to giving orders. “After all, you’ve brought the spark back in my grandson. And you got him to go on that wonderful mission trip to Guatemala. Good for you.”

  “It wasn’t a pleasure trip,” McKenna pointed out through her surprise. “Logan worked hard.”

  “Oh, I love to hear you defend him, McKenna. That’s when he’s at his best, you know. Helping people.” Cecile whisked her fingers through silver blond hair, delicate gold earrings winking at her ears. “About time he gave up that brooding. Of course, we all felt terrible about the baby, but there you have it. That's life.”

  How did his grandmother know that McKenna was aware of Logan’s loss?

  A waiter took their drink orders. After he left, McKenna’s eyes drifted to the front of the room where Logan was examining the silent auction items, Priscilla at his elbow.

  Cecile followed her glance. “Beautiful girl, isn’t she?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Talented too. And she’s been through so much. That awful husband. Not as strong as you, I dare say. These days women need to be strong, or they end up coming home.” With a tsk, tsk, she nodded toward Priscilla.

  So that’s how it was? Sympathy readjusted McKenna’s assumptions about the new member of Logan’s practice.

  Cecile pursed her lips, as if she’d already said too much. “What a good man. Thank you,” she murmured as the waiter served their ice tea. “Anyway, here he comes.”

  Logan was headed their way. When his eyes sought her, the heat could have melted the ice cubes in McKenna’s glass.

  “Now, don’t tell him we’ve been discussing…you know,” Cecile murmured.

  “Oh, of course not.” McKenna was still turning Cecile’s words over in her mind.

  “Hungry?” With a light touch on her shoulder, Logan slid into a seat next to her.

  “And who’s this lovely lady? Heard you burned up the fairways, Cecile.” Warren had joined them and, by heavens, began flirting with Logan’s grandmother.

  McKenna hardly knew what she ate that night. Besides, with her cold she couldn’t taste a thing. Under the tablecloth, Logan squeezed her hand. Every logical thought fled while awards were given out and silent auction items distributed to the highest bidder. Lots of laughter, lots of camaraderie. The event was a huge success and enthusiasm ran high for the OB unit and all the planned improvements in the OR.

  Her head began to throb from all the applause. By the time the activities wound up, she felt this day had really been too long. The crowd filtered out of the banquet room into the foyer. Priscilla’s smile had seemed genuine when they’d said good-night. She was taking Cecile home.

  “See you again soon, I hope.” Cecile gave McKenna a tight hug.

  “So nice to meet you.”

  Cecile glanced at her grandson. “Better take this girl home and give her some of your chicken soup.”

  Logan nodded with a grin. “Good idea. I’ll walk you to your car,” he told her as they waved good-bye to his grandmother.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I want to.” When he took her hand, she was too exhausted to protest.

  “Your grandmother is something else,” she told Logan as they strolled in the summer evening. Katydids sang in the tall grass along the back of the parking lot.

  “She wants to have you over for dinner soon.”

  “Really?” Seeing Logan’s ancestral home would tell her so much more about him. But did she really want to know more? Wouldn’t that make this whole thing harder?

  He backed her up against her jeep, still warm from a day in the sun. “I don’t want you overwhelmed by my family.”

  “Family? Who else, beside Cecile?”

  “Occasionally my mother stops in.” His eyes were gray velvet and his lips, warm as the summer breeze when he kissed her. “She’ll want to know everything.”

  “Everything, huh? And what is everything?”

  “Look, McKenna, I needed to think about things after, well, you know…”

  “After I told you I loved you.” She wanted all the cards on the table.

  He tipped her chin up. “Right, you caught me off guard. You’re outrageous and funny. Bossy and brilliant...”

  “You could give a girl a big head.”

  She was joking but Logan's expression was so serious. The katydids seemed to stop, along with the rest of the world. “I love you, McKenna. You caught me by surprise but of course I want everything for us together."

  She sucked in a breath and he kissed her. “You’re going to get my cold,” she murmured against his lips.

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m going home with you to whip up some chicken soup.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”

  He tip
ped her chin up. “I want to. That’s the point. That bossy part in you? Get used to me doing stuff for you. You don’t have to take on the world alone, McKenna Kirkpatrick.”

  The idea felt disturbingly new. And nice.

  One hand on his chest, she pushed back and swallowed. “Logan, I have to tell you. My future includes kids. Just the way it is for me.” She could hear the tears in her voice and clamped her lips shut.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Trust me. You’ve brought hope to my life.” When Logan grinned, his entire face lit up. “Of course I want children, McKenna Kirkpatrick, and I want them with you. Sassy red-headed gremlins who poke their fingers into food.”

  “Oh, Logan.” Relief and gratitude left her limp as his lips found hers. His cheeks felt warm and scratchy from the long day in the sun. Good thing night was falling and the valet had parked her car in a far corner of the lot.

  He pulled back. “Have patience with me?”

  “Just pick up the pace, okay, Hot Doc?”

  “Sometimes I’m a slow learner.”

  She laughed. “You? Really?”

  “For both our sakes, I wanted to take the sure and steady route with you. But you’re not a girl who goes slow. With me, that’s probably a good thing. Don’t ever give me too much time to think. I might get into trouble.”

  She snuggled closer. “Trouble, huh? Tell me when I get too bossy. I just thought I was a self-actualized woman.”

  McKenna could feel his chuckle. Oh, how she wanted to have these arms around her for the rest of her life. “So we’re both looking for new ways to do things?”

  “Absolutely. I like to do research. Let's enjoy getting to know each other.”

  The car blazed warm behind her back but Logan’s lips felt hotter. She stilled his roving hands. It wasn’t that dark out here. “We’re definitely making a scene.”

  “And I definitely don’t care. You’ve been so distant since we got back.”

  “I’m about to close that gap.” She wrapped her arms around Logan, so glad she wasn’t on call.

  Epilogue

  Eighteen Months Later

  Mounting the platform at the foot of the birthing bed, McKenna grabbed the snap-up rail for support. “With this bed, you can take a lot of positions or you can deliver in the birthing pool if that’s your choice.” The group of visitors craned their necks. If she counted right, this was the seventh tour coming through the Open House for the new Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Post Partum unit.

  “When are you due?” one of the pregnant mothers asked.

  Running one hand over her taut belly, McKenna smiled. “In about a month.”

  She hobbled from the bed and pointed to the next room where they could see what looked like a tub with a glass viewing panel. “Every room in this new unit has a birthing pool. You can use it as a Jacuzzi to ease your labor or remain in the water and deliver your baby. Up to you.”

  A ripple of wonder ran through the group. It was such fun to introduce so many new parents to the concept. “My sister-in-law delivered twins a couple of months ago. Water birth, and I assisted. It can be done.” McKenna smiled as she remembered. Amanda and Connor were now settling in with their new family of three children. They’d adopted Sean, Angie’s little boy, only to discover that, with Logan’s help, Amanda was pregnant with twins.

  Slipping through the door, Logan hovered in the back of the room. “There’s my husband. Do any of the guys have questions?

  Logan gave a small wave. God, he was one hunk of a handsome man and he’d make a great dad. Logan was now lobbying to have a childcare center in the hospital. The summer before, he’d brought huge changes to the summer mission trip to Guatemala. Ana Lena and her husband had agreed to come up for an evaluation arranged by Logan. To Selena’s delight, specialists were now on board with the program.

  Sitting on the edge of the birthing bed while couples asked Logan questions, McKenna marveled at how her husband advocated for the new unit. He’d done a complete one-eighty in his views about water birth and had even brought portable birthing pools to El Limar last summer.

  He’d changed and so had she.

  The tour group moved on to the next room, where Selena picked up the tour.

  “Happy?” McKenna asked after Logan had found a quiet corner to give her a kiss that was definitely not part of the tour.

  His relaxed smile widened. “More than happy. You will never know.”

  “I’ll give you plenty of time to explain,” she whispered.

  “Might take a while.”

  “Gosh, I hope so.” The baby inside gave an impatient kick when McKenna’s Hot Doc turned up the heat.

  THE END

  From the Author

  If you enjoyed Her Favorite Hot Doc, I’d sure appreciate it if you would post a short review where you purchased this book. Many thanks for taking the time!

  Acknowledgements

  Many thanks to Romance Writers of America and Central Ohio Fiction Writers. My core of fellow writers have been invaluable. Also a huge thank you to the other writers on the loops that share their wisdom on a day-to-day basis. On a more personal level, Sandy Loyd and Marcia James, can’t thank you enough for your sage advice and sense of humor. I look forward to enjoying this journey together. Thanks to Kim Killion for covers that rock and to Nicole Zoltack for her input and editing skills. For Her Favorite Hot Doc, a grateful shout out to Dr. Wayne Lippert, technical advisor on the obstetric clinical questions. Any misinterpretations would be mine!

  For my daughters, Kelly and Shannon, reading has always been a shared joy for us, from Judy Blume to Janet Evanovich. I am thrilled to have you as my “advisors.” My grandchildren, Bo and Gianna, bring me such joy and can’t help but pop up in my work. Both of you experienced water birth first-hand basis, although you didn’t realize it! To my husband Ted, words aren’t adequate to thank you for your love and support. You’re my rock who quickly steps into the role of IT guy when emergencies arise. May we have many more wonderful years together that include trips to Leopold’s for ice cream.

  About the Author

  Barbara Lohr writes contemporary romance, adult as well as New Adult, often with a humorous twist. Her early career included teaching writing and lit. When her career broadened to advertising and marketing, her love of literature and writing remained. Her books present feisty women who take on hunky heroes and life’s issues with an enduring sense of fun. Barbara lives in the South with her husband and their cat, that insists he was Heathcliff in another life. In addition to travel, golf and biking, she loves old bookstores and new adventures, as well as lots of dark chocolate. For more information on the author and her work, please see:

  www.BarbaraLohrAuthor.com

  www.facebook.com/Barbaralohrauthor

  www.twitter.com/BarbaraJLohr

  Read Barbara's

  Man's from Yesterday Series

  Coming Home to You

  Excerpt follows:

  Coming Home to You

  The thumping started when Kate Kennedy reached Greta’s Gifts on Red Arrow Highway. Cheese curls churned in her stomach as she tapped the brakes. Almost home but something was wrong with the kayak strapped to her roof. Gravel crunching beneath the tires, she pulled into Greta’s and parked. The sun bounced off the hood of her SUV, but a cool May breeze bathed her face when she cracked open the door.

  Welcome to Michigan. Her eyes felt grainy from fourteen hours on the road, but she was home.

  Stretching, Kate breathed in the lake, damp and beachy. The tightness in her shoulders eased. Pine trees caught a high spring gust and the familiar rustle made her smile. Her stomach gurgled. Not much to eat the whole ride from Boston except peanut butter and jelly, plus bags of cheese curls washed down with coffee.

  Looking up, she exhaled. At least she hadn’t lost Gator, her green kayak. A red security tie flapped in the breeze. Must have lost the other strap along the way. Kate scrubbed her face with hands shaking from all the caffeine. A semi roare
d past, kicking up dust. She tugged up the zipper on her hoodie.

  “Doggone it, Gator.”

  The kayak slid a bit farther. Too bad she’d left her small kitchen stepladder in the Boston condo, along with a lot of other stuff. When she yanked the remaining red band, it fell away in her hand. One frustrated shove and Gator retaliated, smacking her square in the chest before clattering to the ground. The pain bent Kate over like a paper clip. She almost didn’t hear the door slam behind her.

  Blinking furiously, she pulled herself up, grateful for the sunglasses. No way would anyone see Kate Kennedy cry. A man ambled toward her in work boots, worn jeans, and shoulders that tested the seams of a beat-up jean jacket. That walk looked familiar and her heart kicked up a beat. He wore aviator sunglasses, so no telling for sure. A black and white dog hung out of the pickup, Great Dane ears pricking forward. Big muzzle, big dog.

  “Need some help?”

  Yep, it was him. Kate’s legs weakened. “No, I’m fine.”

  His eyes shifted to the kayak on the ground. “Doesn’t look fine to me.”

  She fisted her hands on her hips. “I’m fine. And so is Gator.” Her chest throbbed.

  Blue eyes swept like a July wave over the tops of his sunglasses. “Gator?”

  She swallowed. “My kayak. Seemed appropriate.”

  “I see.”

  But Cole Campbell had never understood why Kate wanted all her belongings named and in their proper place. Shoot. They’d been on the high school debate team together, and he didn’t recognize her? Maybe it was her recent drugstore dye job. She’d had brown hair in high school. Now she ran a hand over blonde hair, crisp from two days of neglect.

  He swayed back on his heels, a Good Samaritan with second thoughts. The two empty seats of the kayak stared up at them. “Lucky you didn’t lose it on the road. Could have smashed into another driver. You need to batten it down.”