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The Doctors' Baby Miracle
Tina Beckett
Losing a baby tore them apart…Can having another reunite them?Losing their daughter left doctors Tucker and Kady heartbroken, and when Tucker couldn’t face trying for another child it left their marriage in pieces. Meeting again at a medical event, they find their memories are reawakened—along with their scorching chemistry! But Kady still longs for a baby…and Tucker must finally face his fears if he’s to find happiness with her again…
Losing a baby tore them apart...
Can having another reunite them?
Losing their daughter left doctors Tucker and Kady heartbroken and when he couldn’t face trying for another child, it left their marriage in pieces. When they meet again at a medical event, their memories are reawakened—along with their scorching chemistry! But Kady still longs for a baby, and Tucker must finally face his fears if he’s to find happiness with her again...
Three-times Golden Heart® finalist TINA BECKETT learned to pack her suitcases almost before she learned to read. Born to a military family, she has lived in the United States, Puerto Rico, Portugal and Brazil. In addition to travelling Tina loves to cuddle with her pug, Alex, spend time with her family, and hit the trails on her horse. Learn more about Tina from her website, or ‘friend’ her on Facebook (http://www.Facebook.com).
Also by Tina Beckett
Winning Back His Doctor BrideA Daddy for Her DaughterThe Nurse’s Christmas GiftRafael’s One-Night Bombshell
Hot Brazilian Docs! miniseries
To Play with FireThe Dangers of Dating Dr CarvalhoThe Doctor’s Forbidden TemptationFrom Passion to Pregnancy
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
The Doctors’ Baby Miracle
Tina Beckett
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07493-3
THE DOCTORS’ BABY MIRACLE
© 2018 Tina Beckett
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To my kids.
You make me laugh and support me no matter what.
I love you!
Contents
Cover (#ue4b7ee55-af4a-5d3f-bf6c-95be5f80d386)
Back Cover Text (#u6606c5ed-94be-5311-857d-b53c8dce5cda)
About the Author (#u82c995ad-7617-5d31-a1a5-27a90bdb5bf9)
Booklist (#uaa2e3c15-da7f-593e-8516-2e8e4ff55a39)
Title Page (#u4457d970-8cf3-5ead-aaae-a88aea62abdb)
Copyright (#u31b2ca69-85c6-5c78-8a19-420244ddb5ed)
Dedication (#u75d90247-55f0-55cd-be78-0fa788b3908f)
PROLOGUE (#u386bb69a-b160-50d2-8bcc-8a7ec2e93386)
CHAPTER ONE (#u11e715c8-8863-54e5-8548-ae364d3c786f)
CHAPTER TWO (#udf5aed88-0791-54e6-8309-db55f1bd5e6d)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
PROLOGUE (#udc70be5b-6f61-56b0-81cc-de354266d04e)
Two years ago
TUCKER STEVENSON WALKED out of the clinic a new man.
Only he didn’t feel new. He felt old and cynical and very, very tired. But at least he’d severed himself from his past, in more ways than one. What was that old Grimm’s fairy tale he’d read as a child? Seven at One Blow? Well, he hadn’t struck down seven, but two was enough: a vasectomy and a divorce. It did seem kind of ironic that his test for “swimmers” should be scheduled for the very same day his divorce became final.
He’d never in his worst nightmares suspected he and Kady would end this way. Theirs had been the stuff dreams were made of. Or so he’d thought. Yet here he was, making sure what had happened to them would never happen again.
He glanced back at the clinic before pulling his sunglasses off his head and dropping them onto his nose, dimming the view around him as he made his way to the subway station.
It was done. There was no going back.
His doctor, while arguing against the procedure, saying Tucker was too young to make that kind of decision, had finally acquiesced and given him the old snip-snip eight weeks ago. He would not make another woman pregnant, or cause her to go through the horrors and heartache he and Kady had lived through. She’d tried to talk him out of it, saying they were through if he went through with it. But it hadn’t changed his mind.
It hadn’t changed hers either. Four years of marriage gone, in the blink of an eye.
He bumped shoulders with someone with a muttered apology as he stepped into the crowded station. On his way back to the hospital, a twelve-hour shift stared him in the face. But at least work kept him from thinking. And the change in venue from Atlanta to New York had meant a fresh start, even if it hadn’t dulled the heartache of the past. Bracing his feet apart and wrapping his fingers around the grab bar over his head, he closed his eyes and let the steady whooshing of the metro keep the painful memories at bay.
If only they’d known when they’d met, things might have been different.
No, they wouldn’t. Because while the pregnancy—a year into their relationship—had come as a shock, the tearful yearning in Kady’s eyes as she’d shown him the pregnancy test had won Tucker over. She’d desperately wanted that child. Had wanted him to be happy about it. And in the end he had been. A hurried elopement and whirlwind honeymoon had been just like the rest of their relationship, full of explosive passion that left him breathless. It had been that way the moment they’d laid eyes on each other. The rest was history.
“No regrets,” she’d said, lifting her glass of sparkling cider and clinking it against his with a laugh. And when Grace had been born... Magic. Pure magic. The perfect world they’d created had seemed complete. Their love unbreakable.
And yet look at them now.
He opened his eyes and hardened his heart. This solved nothing and only put him in a bad place. His patients needed him. And he needed them.
So that’s what he would focus on, and leave all the other stuff behind.
At least until he hit his bed tonight and fell into an exhausted sleep.
The subway lurched to a stop, the doors peeled apart, and Tucker joined the throng of people vying for the exit. Seconds later he was headed up the escalator where a shaft of sunlight beckoned, promising a brighter day.
And, with a little luck, a less painful future.
CHAPTER ONE (#udc70be5b-6f61-56b0-81cc-de354266d04e)
Present day
KADY MCPHERSON STUFFED the letter from the IVF clinic into her purse as she stepped out of the taxi onto the sidewalk of the conference center. She paused and took a deep decisive breath. As much as she hated being late, nothing could blot her happiness. She was finally going to take charge of her life after all this time.
One glance at her watch had her racing up the concrete steps. She was supposed to have been here five minutes ago. But who knew that getting a cab would be so hard? At least she wasn’t the first speaker. But she still had to somehow slide onto that stage without disrupting the symposium.
She showed her badge to the official manning the registration desk. He pointed her toward the second door on the left, where a large cardboard placard was set on an easel: Managing High-Risk Pregnancies and Deliveries.
High-risk.
Her tummy squelched just a bit. As much as she loved her job, there were moments like this, when seeing it spelled out in crisp emotionless text sent her mind spinning into the past. As did each case that didn’t go the way she hoped it would. She’d spent nights staring at the ceiling in her bedroom, trying to make sense of it all. Which inevitably led to trying to draw her own baby’s face into sharp focus. Instead, the image had blurred with time.
Pregnant women were her passion. And she was committed to doing everything in her power to make each one’s delivery process as safe as possible. Was it because of the pain she’d gone through when she’d lost her child? Maybe. All she knew was that she was driven to help every woman she could. And every baby.
So here she was in New York, substituting for a panelist at the plea from a sister hospital. She’d come straight from the airport to the huge Westcott Hotel complex—her home for the next week. Hopefully the rest of her stay would be less chaotic than today had been.
* * *
She avoided looking at the sign again, instead tugging the heavy door and peering inside. The sound of chattering voices had her sagging with relief. People were still milling around the huge room, looking for empty seats, while someone passed out bottles of water to the panel members on the dais. Evidently she wasn’t the only one running late.
Making sure that envelope wasn’t sticking out, she shifted her purse higher onto her shoulder and made her way up four steps to the top of the platform.
So far so good. No one had noticed her entry.
She edged past the first three panelists as she tried to figure out where she was supposed to sit. The crisply folded nameplates were facing the audience, so she had no idea who anyone was. There were still two empty seats up here. Which one was hers?
She reached the first empty chair and leaned over it, tipping the paper name card so she could see it. Someone named Abe Williams. Okay, it wasn’t this one.
The person sitting to the left turned slightly to look up—did a second take.
Shock and horror snaked up her spine just as the lights from the huge overhead chandeliers faded and came back up. A signal that they were getting ready to start.
A signal she ignored, her tummy muscles spasming in protest. She pressed a hand to it, gritting her teeth to keep the sudden slash of pain from exiting her throat.
She couldn’t think, couldn’t speak...couldn’t move.
Oh, God.
All of a sudden, Grace’s face swam before her eyes in focus once again. Because she was the spitting image of this man, mirrored in those familiar features—that sharp nose, high cheekbones, those blue-gray eyes.
Saliva pooled in her mouth. A quick swallow sent it rushing to join the acidic lagoon growing inside her.
The lights winked again.
“Hello, Kady. Small world.” The low, graveled tone that had once driven her wild with need was now tight. With anger? Hatred?
If so, it wasn’t reflected in his eyes. They didn’t flicker away, just held hers with an impassivity that made her want to cry. The same impassivity he’d shown at the end of their marriage.
It had been two years since their divorce...three years since their daughter’s death.
Hurt made her draw a shaky breath, unsure what to do or say. The lights came back up a third time, and the moderator moved behind the podium. He gave them a pointed glance that sent her hurrying down the row without a word. She felt Tucker’s gaze follow her.
It could be worse. She could be sitting right next to him.
Worse?
What could be worse than attending the same convention as a man who’d had a vasectomy just to make sure he never fathered another child with you?
She’d pleaded with him. Had begged him to reconsider.
Remembered humiliation quickened her steps.
