From Bachelor to Daddy

by Meredith Webber

  Emma dressed in the little flat Pop had fixed up for Izzy when she’d brought Nikki home from hospital—Nikki, the birth daughter of Liane, the sister who hadn’t survived her horrendous early childhood.

  And Dad was with her in the flat, helping with the last-minute touches, fastening the pearls he’d given her as a wedding gift—pearls that had been his mother’s.

  ‘Why didn’t my mother take them?’ Emma asked, and watched him closely for they rarely spoke of her mother.

  ‘She felt they were yours,’ he said. ‘She wasn’t bad, or uncaring, Emma, she was just a square peg in a round hole and she had to escape or die. She loved you and in her own way loved me, but once she’d met Helena and realised what true love was, she couldn’t live a lie anymore. Helena took her back to Europe, to Hungary where she was from, and from there they roved the world—or that had been the plan when they departed.’

  ‘She never thought to keep in touch?’

  Her father drew her close and hugged her, heedless of creases in the soft green dress Emma was wearing.

  ‘She said that that would make it too hard for all three of us, and she was probably right, for it would have awoken memories that hurt both of us.’

  He paused, then added, ‘Have you missed her?’

  Emma eased away from him and looked into his eyes.

  ‘Not for a minute. You’ve been all I’ve ever needed and more as far as parents go.’

  She kissed his cheek.

  ‘Now, let’s go and get this wedding over with,’ he said. ‘Knowing Hallie, she will have organised a tremendous spread, and everyone will be getting hungry.’

  They walked down the stairs and out into the big back yard, where Marty and his family would have played so often. And the family had obviously been busy, for the rather saggy old grape arbour had been fixed and covered with fresh flowers, and a carpet laid beneath it.

  And there was Marty, waiting for her, Stephen beside him as support, while Hallie held the hands of two little boys, dressed in smart new clothes for the occasion, Puppy, with flowers in his collar, sitting docilely beside them.

  ‘It’s Mummy,’ Xavier yelled, and everyone turned to watch her and Dad walk towards them, the two boys, obviously under strict instructions from Hallie, standing very still.

  It was Marty who’d insisted they be part of the wedding party, because, as he’d explained, he was marrying all three of them. Well, four of them it would be by the end of the year—but only she and Marty knew that.

  And in that flowery bower, looking out over the town towards the sea, they committed to each other, repeating words that echoed down through the mists of time, yet still had the power to bring tears to the eyes of the onlookers.

  ‘You may kiss the bride,’ the celebrant declared at last, and as Marty bent to kiss her, the boys broke free, rushing towards Emma, who knelt to hug them both, before Marty lifted them, one on each arm, and turned to his family and all their friends.

  ‘My new family,’ he said, and the pride in his voice, and the promise it held, made Emma smile through blurry eyes.

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Meredith Webber

  A MIRACLE FOR THE BABY DOCTOR

  ENGAGED TO THE DOCTOR SHEIKH

  A FOREVER FAMILY FOR THE ARMY DOC

  A SHEIKH TO CAPTURE HER HEART

  All available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A SURGEON TO HEAL HER HEART by Janice Lynn.

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  A Surgeon to Heal Her Heart

  by Janice Lynn

  CHAPTER ONE

  “I’M TELLING YOU, that man has the hots for you.”

  At her co-worker’s words, the corners of nurse Carly Evans’ lips inched upward. Still, she shrugged as if the comment was no big deal. She needed to fight the excitement Rosalyn’s claim incited, not give her heart free rein to jump up and down with joy.

  Jump up and down? Ha. More like her heart was somersaulting worthy of a world-class medal.

  The same flip-flopping routine her heart went into any time she thought of the hospital’s newest general surgeon.

  Not that she had a right to feel that way. Not when she couldn’t do one thing about her heart’s acrobatics or any hots Dr. Stone Parker might have for her.

  Stone.

  Just thinking his name, how his eyes, his mouth had immediately crinkled with a smile when they’d met hers on this morning’s rounds, had her blood pounding. The erratic rhythm practically demanded a giddy schoolgirl dance with fists thrust into the air.

  Maybe her friend should be saying Carly had the hots for Stone.

  She did.

  For all the good it would do her.

  Which was the problem.

  She’d have been better off if she’d never met Stone, never felt the way he made every nerve cell inside her hum with life.

  That she wasn’t free hadn’t been a problem, until she’d met him. Now...now, she was torn and hated herself for it.

  Closing the medicine cart and nearly dropping the medications she’d just taken out, Carly took a long, steadying breath, and grimaced.

  “Uh-huh, I saw that so don’t go pretending you’re immune to the man.” Rosalyn’s dark brown eyes glowed with eagerness at Carly’s tell-tale motion. “I’ve seen you two talking, the sparks that fly back and forth. You like him, too. Admit it.”

  Wasn’t that the same as saying she liked to breathe? How could any sane, straight woman not like Stone? The man was gorgeous and the total package.

  Just over six feet tall, dark brown hair with the slightest hint of curl, green eyes that twinkled when he smiled, and a face that had inspired numerous fantasies... Yeah, Stone was ‘likable’.

  Just a tad.

  “He seems to be a great doctor and, of course, he’s a good-looking man.” Understatements of the year. “I can appreciate that, just as most females, including yourself, can,” Carly pointed out, using all her willpower to keep her voice level, cool, and as unaffected as possible. “But that does not mean I ‘like him’ like him.”

  Like liking Stone was a waste of emotions she didn’t have to spare.

  “Honey, you’re protesting too much.” Chuckling, Rosalyn practically rubbed her hands with glee. “Admit it. He makes you all hot beneath your nursing uniform.”

  Carly rolled her eyes at the nurse she’d worked side by side with for the past five years. Rosalyn was a big-hearted African American woman raising four teenagers with her mechanic husband. There was no one Carly would rather
work with than the long-time med-surg nurse.

  Except maybe for this moment. None of her other co-workers would initiate this particular conversation.

  Squaring her shoulders, Carly stared straight into her friend’s dark eyes.

  “I’m sure Dr. Parker is a very nice man.” He was. “I enjoy our conversations very much.” She did. “But whether or not he has the hots for me is totally irrelevant.” Sadly, the truth. “I’m not interested in a relationship with him, or anyone else, outside these hallowed walls.” Also, sadly, the truth.

  Inside the hospital walls Carly was a very different person from who she was outside them.

  Inside these walls she could focus on being a shining light to her patients and cling to the shadows of the Carly she’d once been.

  Part of her worried that Carly was shriveling into nothingness to disappear forever. Which might be why she enjoyed time around Stone so much. He gave her glimpses of a younger, carefree version of herself.

  Made her insides spark as if trying to relight a fire that used to brightly burn. In her fantasies, it still did.

  In the real world, that fire couldn’t be relit. Unfortunately.

  “Why is that?”

  Carly jumped at the question that came from behind her. Literally and figuratively. What? How?

  She’d been expecting Rosalyn to respond, not the familiar masculine voice that had the effect of morphing her insides to melted butter.

  When had he walked up behind her?

  Why hadn’t Rosalyn told her?

  Or at least given some indication he was on the medical floor and within earshot? She had to have seen him behind Carly.

  Rosalyn had set her up, playing matchmaker.

  Slowly, Carly turned to face the man she’d just been talking about.

  Insides quaking, she stared into the most beautiful green eyes she’d ever encountered. So green she could almost be convinced the color was the result of contact lenses. If she’d had any doubts, he was now close enough to put that question to rest. All she could see was gorgeous bright green eyes, the color of spring bringing life back after a long cold spell.

  Dark, long lashes fringed his eyes, giving them a surreal look that only added to his already handsome face. No doubt about it. Stone was easy to look at.

  She opened her mouth, meaning to tell him something, anything, but not the truth.

  The truth was something she kept private. Something she didn’t talk about with her co-workers because she needed to keep her life compartmentalized. At the hospital, she worked hard, was free to laugh with her co-workers and patients, to just feel normal and pretend life was grand.

  She wouldn’t let home creep into work.

  She couldn’t.

  Not if any part of her was to survive.

  Compartmentalization was her friend and kept her sane.

  “Yeah,” Rosalyn added, her amused gaze bouncing back and forth between Stone and Carly.

  Her co-worker was definitely having Cupid inclinations. In another lifetime, Carly would have welcomed her help, would have welcomed a man like Stone being interested. Welcomed and been over the moon. But that wasn’t where she was and probably wouldn’t be for years.

  Lord, she hoped it would be years.

  The alternative was unthinkable.

  Stone’s gaze cut to the grinning nurse who was watching them with the eagerness of a movie-goer. All she needed was a seat and some popcorn.

  “Rosalyn, would you mind getting a warm blanket for Room 207?” he asked. “That’s what I stepped out to do, but fortunately I ran into you lovely ladies.”

  Carly was one hundred percent sure “fortunately” was not what she’d call him overhearing her and Rosalyn’s conversation.

  Heat flooded Carly’s face and she glanced down at her tennis shoes, staring at the neon-green laces. Good work shoes were the one luxury she allowed herself. With the long hours she worked, good shoes mattered.

  “Yes, sir.” Rosalyn grinned at him, and then winked at Carly. Chuckling, she took off toward where the blanket warmer was located. “Just you remember what I said, Carly Evans,” she called without turning around. “It would do you some good to think about that.”

  Carly was pretty sure her cheeks were as red as her scrubs. Maybe more so as her scrubs were a little faded from too many washings.

  When Rosalyn was out of earshot, Stone turned back to Carly. One side of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. “I didn’t intentionally listen in, but will admit that I’m intrigued by what I heard. You mind explaining?”

  She minded. “How much did you hear?”

  “Enough to know I want to hear more.”

  Being careful not to spill Room 204’s medication from the cup, Carly put her hands on her hips. “Which tells me nothing.”

  “How much could I have overheard?” His eyes twinkled.

  Good grief, he’d heard everything. Was the fact that he was standing behind Carly why Rosalyn had mentioned him in the first place?

  “Not a lot.” Carly decided to go for nonchalant. Nonchalant was good and meant she didn’t care what he’d overheard. He didn’t know her private thoughts, nor would he ever. “Rosalyn had a theory about you. I told her that her theory was pointless as I wasn’t interested in anything beyond friendship.”

  “Which is where I asked why you weren’t interested.” His lips twitched, his eyes sparkled, and he was enjoying that he’d caught her having a conversation about him.

  “Yes,” she said for lack of knowing what else to say, a little flustered by the fact Stone didn’t mind that Rosalyn had said he had the hots for Carly. Which meant what?

  That he did have the hots for her?

  He’d flirted, but he was such a good-natured person, talking with everyone, so she’d consoled herself that her talking back was harmless, that nothing would come of their shared conversations. He wouldn’t really be interested in her outside of having a little fun at the hospital.

  He was a gorgeous doctor. She was just her. An overworked, over-stressed, financially stretched nurse doing all she could to provide care for her seriously ill mother.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” he pointed out, his intent gaze warning she’d been fooling herself on thinking their conversations didn’t mean anything.

  Her pulse drummed rapidly at her temple.

  “I wasn’t having a discussion with you,” she reminded him, knowing she had to get her thoughts, her reaction to him, under control. Better to stay in denial than to acknowledge what she couldn’t have, what she couldn’t let herself have. “You weren’t a part of the conversation you interrupted.”

  She wanted to be irritated with him, but how could anyone be upset with him when he had such an all-encompassing smile on his face? A smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes, dug dimples into his cheeks, and made his eyes sparkle?

  Good grief. The man was incorrigible. And so gorgeous. And so out of her reach. Still, the way he made her feel was addictive, like a magic spell that gave everything a shiny glow.

  A shiny glow she’d like to bask in, but life had other plans for her. Plans that didn’t include time for a dalliance with the most intriguing man she’d ever met.

  She arched a brow and shook her head. “Some would say eavesdropping was rude, you know?”

  His left dimple dug a little deeper. “I’m part of the conversation now.”

  She rolled her eyes upward. “Not by my choice.”

  He laughed. “You saying I’m holding you here against your will?”

  Carly shrugged. “Obviously not. If you’ll excuse me?” She went to push past him.

  “I won’t.”

  Eyes wide, Carly stopped, met his for once serious gaze. “Pardon?”

  “I won’t excuse you,” he clarified. “Not this time. Eavesdropping was rude. You’re
right. But since I was the topic of conversation, surely I’m forgiven for jumping in?”

  Her insides shook so that she still might end up spilling those meds she held yet. “There’s no rule that says I have to forgive you for butting into my conversation.”

  “Even when the conversation is about me?”

  “Especially when the conversation is about you.”

  He chuckled. “You should have dinner with me tonight and let me convince you to forgive my so-called rudeness. Plus, we can discuss why my having the hots for you doesn’t matter because it matters a great deal to me.”

  Guilt hit Carly. This was her fault. She should have put a stop to whatever sparks Rosalyn said were flying between them but she’d not dared to believe he was really interested in her.

  Sure, he’d gone out of his way to start conversations, asking her things he could have asked any hospital employee. He’d sat back in the break room with her a few times while she’d quickly swallowed down whatever she’d packed from home.

  His sitting with her while she ate should have made her horribly uncomfortable, but instead she’d found herself regretting how quickly her short lunch break had slipped by while they’d talked. He’d asked about her favorite parts of Memphis and, drawing upon her childhood and college memories, she’d told him. No need to tell him that for five years she’d not been to any of those places. Surely, they hadn’t changed that much in such a short time?

  Then again, she’d changed that much.

  Aged a hundred years, at least.

  But for all that, she’d thought their interactions innocent. She’d figured Stone had svelte, glamorous women lined up in droves out there in the real world. Talking with Carly was just a fun way to pass time when he was at work.

  Had she really believed that?

  Or had she refused to believe anything else because she enjoyed his attention and hadn’t wanted to give it up?

  She didn’t lead on men when she had no intentions of following through. So if he was interested then, yeah, she had to put a halt to it right now.

  Carly’s throat tightened as she said, “Our discussing that would be an utter waste of both of our time.”