by Meryl Sawyer
“True, once the doctors would have made me stay flat on my back for days.” Matt leaned forward in his chair, watching Amy take his sister’s baby and cradle the infant to her breast. She was going to make a fantastic mother. “People need to know techniques are changing. Now, they’re performing heart surgery without stopping the heart from beating. The medical world is being transformed every day.”
Trevor sat in the chair next to him and nodded his head toward the group on the beach. “Why don’t you do an article on reconstructive surgery, contrasting it to cosmetic surgery?”
“Good idea.” Matt knew Trevor was proud of the new turn in Clive’s career. After Matt’s revolutionary surgery, Clive had devoted more of his time to helping patients disfigured by accidents or birth defects and performed fewer cosmetic surgeries.
“Shelly, I mean Amy changed us all, didn’t she?” Trevor asked.
“Yes, I—” Matt began but the telephone rang and Trevor rose to answer it.
A few minutes later, he came back. “It’s for you.”
Matt didn’t like Trevor’s strange tone.
Amy cuddled the sleeping infant. “Is there anything more beautiful than a baby?” she asked Emily.
“No, and Samantha is the most beautiful baby on earth, right?”
Amy giggled softly, not wanting to awaken her niece. Niece. Once she wouldn’t have thought it possible, but she had a family to call her own.
“Oh, Mama, you should see me now,” she whispered under her breath as she gazed up at the flawless blue sky, doming over Half Moon Bay.
She knew her mother was in heaven, watching her. Her mother would be thrilled that she was married and expecting a child. Thrilled. “You would have made the perfect grandmother,” Amy said to herself. “That’s my only regret. You haven’t met Matt in person, and you won’t be here when I have the baby.”
She put her hand on her stomach. A slight swell was the only visible sign of her pregnancy, but soon that would change. They’d only been married three months; she’d conceived shortly after the small wedding at Half Moon Bay.
Matt’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Amy, let’s go for a swim.”
She hadn’t heard him coming, but she was glad to see him. She handed the still sleeping infant to Emily, then stood up. Matt was looking at her the way he often did—as if he couldn’t get enough of her.
Once The Beast would have gazed down at her toes, but that person no longer existed. Amy smiled at her husband and took his hand. They walked along the shore together, heading for the shallow part of the cove where the swimming was best.
“Aw, man, look at that.” Matt pointed to Bingo chasing Jiggs through the mangroves at the far end of the beach.
She laughed. “The odd couple, for sure. Now that Bingo is out of his cast, he’s hell on wheels.”
Matt stopped and turned toward her, his expression serious. “I just had a call. Irene has decided to plead guilty. You won’t have to testify at her trial.”
“That’s good news, I guess. It’ll save the taxpayers money, but I wanted to stand up in court and tell the jury how she tried to kill me.”
He slipped both arms around her waist and pulled her close. “A long trial like that wouldn’t have been good for you … or the babies.”
“Babies? What are you talking about?”
“After I found out about Irene, I called Dr. Robinson for the Ultrasound results.” He paused to give her a pleased grin. “We’re having a boy and a girl.”
“Twins?”
“Yes. You’re happy, aren’t you? I’ve always wanted a big family. I thought you did, too.”
Tears seeped from her eyes. She seemed to be on the verge of tears all the time now. Hormones, Emily assured her, but it made Amy upset with herself.
“Of course, I’m happy. I’m just worried that I won’t be a good mother.”
Matt kissed her forehead. “That’s natural, darling. I’m worried about being a father. I never had a role model, you know. But we love each other. That’s what counts. We’ll figure it out together.”
“I’m the luckiest woman on earth.”
“No, I’m the luckiest guy. I’ve got my life in balance now. I know what counts. You … my family, my friends.” He kissed her on the lips this time, a light, tender kiss. “I owe it all to you. I can’t tell you how very much I love you.”
About the Author
Meryl Sawyer is the New York Times–bestselling author of more than twenty-five romantic suspense novels. Among her accolades are the Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards for Contemporary Romantic Suspense and Contemporary Romance, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Romantic Suspense, and the Georgia Romance Writers’ Maggie Award for Contemporary Romance. Sawyer grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and lives in Newport Beach, California, with her golden retriever.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1999 by M. Sawyer-Unickel
Cover design by Mimi Bark
ISBN: 978-1-5040-2719-9
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
EARLY BIRD BOOKS
FRESH EBOOK DEALS, DELIVERED DAILY
BE THE FIRST TO KNOW—
NEW DEALS HATCH EVERY DAY!
THE KEY WEST NOVELS
FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA
Available wherever ebooks are sold
Open Road Integrated Media is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.
Videos, Archival Documents, and New Releases
Sign up for the Open Road Media newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign up now at
www.openroadmedia.com/newsletters
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM
FOLLOW US:
@openroadmedia and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia
