by Anne Fraser
Thirty minutes later, Elizabeth was holding her son in her arms. He was perfect. His mouth like a rosebud, tiny fingers and toes all accounted for, and blue eyes, although of course that could change.
Kendrick was gazing at his child with a look of wonderment on his face.
‘Is he …?’ He cleared his throat. ‘Is he all right?’
For a moment Elizabeth wondered what he meant. ‘Do you mean you don’t know?’ she said. ‘But you gave a blood sample to be tested. Didn’t you get the results?’
Kendrick shook his head. ‘I didn’t want to know. I never doubted I’d love our child, perfect or not. But until I knew I could be a father, I knew I had to stay out of his life. Both your lives.’
‘What do you mean?’ Elizabeth kissed the wispy hair on her son’s head as he suckled. The nurses had left them on their own, promising to come back in a little while to check up on mother and son.
‘The reason I didn’t meet you as I promised is because I was in hospital.’
Elizabeth looked up from her child, seeking the eyes of the man she knew she would never stop loving.
‘What happened?’ she asked.
‘Remember I told you in Brazil that I needed to go back to California?’
Elizabeth nodded.
‘Philip decided he needed to do the car-off-the-cliff stunt again. Something went wrong. I was pretty badly hurt.’
Elizabeth felt her heart squeeze. He’d been hurt and she hadn’t even known.
‘I had a compressed fracture of the spine and they thought I might not walk again,’ Kendrick said. ‘I knew then that I couldn’t come to you. I couldn’t put you through all that again. Caring for me like you had to care for Charlie. I love you too much to do that to you.’
‘You should have told me!’ The cry was wrenched out of her. Kendrick had been hurt, had needed her and she hadn’t been there. ‘I would never have left you on your own. I would have looked after you. You should have trusted me.’ And she should have trusted him.
The look he gave her was one of ineffable sadness. ‘I know you would never have left me, Lizzie. That’s why I couldn’t tell you.’
He sat on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms.
‘I wanted to be with you. I wanted to be a father to our baby. It was what gave me the strength to fight. I wouldn’t give up. Every small movement I regained brought me closer to you and our child.’ He looked down at their baby and smiled.
‘It took me all this time to learn to walk again,’ he said. ‘But I did it. When you walk down that aisle to become my wife, I wanted to be standing there waiting for you. On my feet. Without support.’
‘But isn’t that what people who love each other do, Kendrick?’ she said. ‘Support each other? In sickness and in health? The works?’
‘It’s what you do and what I would do for you. But can you try and understand why I couldn’t come to you before now? It’s because I love you that much I would rather walk away than see that love diminished over time as you cared for me. I’m not the kind of man who could accept that. I wanted you to have me whole or not at all.’
Her heart was beating fast within her chest. He loved her. She knew that now. He loved her as much as she loved him. There would be no more leaving, no more doubts, only certainty and love.
She looked up at him. ‘What does a woman need to do to get kissed around here?’ she said.
EPILOGUE
ELIZABETH bent and placed a posy of flowers on her daughter’s grave. Kendrick was standing a step behind her, holding their baby in his arms. Tomorrow they’d be going back to the States. Kendrick’s leg would never heal well enough for him to go back to the army. Flying helicopters demanded peak physical condition and it was likely he’d always walk with a limp. He wouldn’t be going back to stunt work either. Instead, he’d be working behind the scenes as a second director, with full control over organising and ensuring the execution of the stunts. He’d told Elizabeth that it had always been part of his plans.
She had told the ambulance service that she wouldn’t be coming to work for them after all. When baby Josh was old enough, she would probably retrain as an emergency specialist. It was what she enjoyed doing most.
She stepped back and took their baby from Kendrick, holding her child close, knowing that this one would never replace the one she had lost. Kendrick pulled her against him and she leaned against him, savouring his strength and his love.
‘Sleep tight, my darling Charlie,’ she whispered. ‘Mummy will never forget you.’
She stood in the circle of Kendrick’s arms, holding their child, and as the wind pushed the clouds away and the sun beat down on her shoulders she knew that life was going to be good.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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First published in Great Britain 2011
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Anne Fraser 2011
ISBN: 978-1-408-92485-3
Table of Contents
Cover
Praise
About the Author
Title Page
The Playboy of Harley Street
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Doctor on the Red Carpet
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Copyright
