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Daddy On The Doorstep
Judy Christenberry
He was rich, he was handsome…and Nicholas Avery was going to be a daddy! When Andrea Avery realized that her whirlwind marriage to the business tycoon had resulted in a bundle of joy, her protective instincts told her to keep the child a secret. After all, the last thing Nick wanted was a family….Only, suddenly stranded during a fierce storm with her soon-to-be ex, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep her not-so-little secret. But the long days–and nights–spent with each other brought back the deep, passionate emotions that still coursed between them. Now that fate had intervened, was this her last chance to convince Nick that he was the perfect husband and–surprise!–daddy?
He needed to hear her secret.
He wasn’t in the best of moods, but she had to tell him. She had to tell him now while there was still time….
“I have something to tell you, Nick.” She stood up even though her knees were shaking as much as her voice.
“You’re trembling like a leaf,” Nick said softly, then gently settled her on the sofa. He squatted down beside her, bringing his blue eyes level with hers.
This revelation was going to be difficult. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened her mouth to reveal the one thing her husband didn’t want to hear.
“Nick, I’m pregnant….”
Dear Reader,
Spring cleaning wearing you out? Perk up with a heart-thumping romance from Silhouette Romance. This month, your favorite authors return to the line, and a new one makes her debut!
Take a much-deserved break with bestselling author Judy Christenberry’s secret-baby story, Daddy on the Doorstep (#1654). Then plunge into Elizabeth August’s latest, The Rancher’s Hand-Picked Bride (#1656), about a celibate heroine forced to find her rugged neighbor a bride!
You won’t want to miss the first in Raye Morgan’s CATCHING THE CROWN miniseries about three royal siblings raised in America who must return to their kingdom and marry. In Jack and the Princess (#1655), Princess Karina falls for her bodyguard, but what will it take for this gruff commoner to win a place in the royal family? And in Diane Pershing’s The Wish (#1657), the next SOULMATES installment, a pair of magic eyeglasses gives Gerri Conklin the chance to do over the most disastrous week of her life…and find the man of her dreams!
And be sure to keep your eye on these two Romance authors. Roxann Delaney delivers her third fabulous Silhouette Romance novel, A Whole New Man (#1658), about a live-for-the-moment hero transformed into a family man, but will it last? And Cheryl Kushner makes her debut with He’s Still the One (#1659), a fresh, funny, heartwarming tale about a TV show host who returns to her hometown and the man she never stopped loving.
Happy reading!
Mary-Theresa Hussey
Senior Editor
Daddy on the Doorstep
Judy Christenberry
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Books by Judy Christenberry
Silhouette Romance
The Nine-Month Bride #1324
* (#litres_trial_promo)Marry Me, Kate #1344
* (#litres_trial_promo)Baby in Her Arms #1350
* (#litres_trial_promo)A Ring for Cinderella #1356
† (#litres_trial_promo)Never Let You Go #1453
† (#litres_trial_promo)The Borrowed Groom #1457
† (#litres_trial_promo)Cherish the Boss #1463
† (#litres_trial_promo)Snowbound Sweetheart #1476
Newborn Daddy #1511
When the Lights Went Out… #1547
** (#litres_trial_promo)Least Likely To Wed #1570
Daddy on the Doorstep #1654
Silhouette Books
The Coltons
The Doctor Delivers
JUDY CHRISTENBERRY
has been writing romances for over fifteen years because she loves happy endings as much as her readers do. She’s also a bestselling author for Harlequin American Romance, but she has a long love of traditional romances and is delighted to tell a story that brings those elements to the reader. A former high school French teacher, Judy devotes her time to writing. She hopes readers have as much fun reading her stories as she does writing them. She spends her spare time reading, watching her favorite sports teams and keeping track of her two adult daughters.
Contents
Chapter One (#u094a0cf6-94cf-5343-b858-2c306878cab5)
Chapter Two (#u8a543d4c-cf9f-5bf9-8170-ce3b70e86061)
Chapter Three (#u49430464-6bd9-5deb-bc1f-494a9ee802ce)
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)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
Andrea Bainbridge peered through the sheets of rain deluging her windshield and prayed she’d make it to Aunt Bess’s house before her car was swept off the road. She could barely see the pavement. Only the center white line kept her on track.
Afraid to go above a snail’s pace, Andrea thought she’d never reach the long drive that led to Aunt Bess’s farmhouse. When she finally saw the outline of the familiar mailbox through the pouring rain, she turned her car into the drive with relief and then panicked as the wheels skidded beneath her.
Mud wasn’t the right description for what was under her car now. Maybe quicksand would be better. Or shifting sands. Or—
Stop it, Andy! You’re getting hysterical!
With good reason, she argued with herself. Aunt Bess had called her three hours ago, complaining of chest pains. Andrea hadn’t been able to convince the stubborn old lady to go to the hospital without her. Bess had assured her she could wait until Andrea arrived.
Normally she could make the drive in a little less than two hours. But these conditions weren’t normal. It had been raining day and night for almost a month. Andrea knew how Noah had felt. All the rivers and streams had flooded days ago. There was only one road to Bess’s farm which was still above water.
And she wasn’t sure how much longer it would be open. She’d been petrified when she’d crossed that one-lane wooden bridge.
The car slid out of control and she fought the steering wheel. When she finally came to a halt, she was almost sideways in the small lane.
“Hold on, Bess. I’m coming,” she muttered, more for herself than Bess. But the old lady was the one person in this world Andrea loved without reservation. She’d do anything for Aunt Bess.
Carefully backing up, she braked and then put the car in Drive. The tires spun and she swallowed her fear. Easing off the gas pedal, she allowed the forward motion of the gear to move the car. Once the tires had gripped whatever solid ground there was, she pressed slightly on the pedal and breathed a sigh of relief as the car moved forward.
When the dim form of the old farmhouse became visible, Andrea killed the motor and leaped from the car. She wasn’t worried about the rain or the mud, only about Bess. She had to get her to a hospital.
“Bess? Bess?” she called as she swung open the front door.
Silence greeted her. Fearing what she might find, Andrea raced to the kitchen, the true center of Aunt Bess’s home, but it was empty.
From there, she ran to the bedroom. More silence.
“Bess? Where are you?” Panic rising, she raced back through to the living room and the front door. That’s when she saw the message taped to the panel of glass.
Andy,
I persuaded Bess to let me take her to the hospital before you got here. I didn’t think she should wait. Hope I did the right thing.
Roy Evans
Andrea slumped against the door, relieved beyond words that Bess was in good hands. Roy Evans was a nearby neighbor who checked on Bess almost every day. Then, concern about Roy’s statement about not waiting filled Andrea and she ran back to the kitchen and the phone on the wall.
Bess kept her telephone directory on a shelf below the phone and Andrea thumbed through it impatiently, searching for the number to the small hospital in the closest town. As she was dialing the number, concentrating on Bess’s safety with all her heart, she vaguely heard more noise, though it was hard to detect a difference over the roar of the storm.
“Hubbard Hospital,” a clipped voice answered and then spoke to someone else before Andrea could ask about Bess. “No, sir, you can’t go back there. You’re getting in the doctor’s way!”
“Please,” Andrea interrupted, “I need to find out about—”
“Hello? Hello? Is anyone here?”
Andrea stared at the phone receiver briefly before she realized this new voice wasn’t coming over the wire. It was coming from the front door.
And she recogized the voice. It belonged to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Nicholas Avery.
She hung up the phone and hurried to the front of the house, unable to believe her ears. Nick, the last she’d heard, had been missing after he’d gone to Africa on a business trip.
“Aunt Bess?” he called.
“Nick?” she questioned even as her eyes confirmed her earlier guess. “What are you doing here?”
Okay, she hadn’t sounded welcoming, but what did he expect? There was no need for him to frown at her like that.
“I think that’s my line, isn’t it, Andy? After all, Bess is my aunt.”
“But you were missing—”
“And now I’m found. Where’s Aunt Bess?” he snapped.
“At…at the hospital, I think.” His question had made her remember the important person in their little drama. “She left a note. Her neighbor took her to the hospital.”
“She’s hurt?” he asked, urgency in his voice.
“She called me earlier. Told me she was having chest pains and wouldn’t go to the doctor until I came.”
“A heart attack?” Nick asked with even more urgency. She’d never seen her husband lose his cool. Ex-husband, she corrected herself. Or soon to be. But he seemed close to the edge now. That was one thing they’d always had in common. They both loved Bess.
“I was calling the hospital when I heard you. I’ll call again.” This time she asked her question as soon as the operator answered.
“I’ll ring her room, but make your call brief. We’ve got a lot of emergencies and we need to keep the lines open.”
“Aunt Bess,” Andrea said in relief when a quavery voice answered.
“Is that you, Andy? Thank God. I was so worried. Where are you?”
Andrea didn’t get a chance to answer. Nick took the phone from her hand.
“Aunt Bess? It’s Nick. I’m home. Are you okay?”
Bess was his aunt, his mother’s sister, so she guessed Nick technically had the right to be the one to talk to her. And she knew Bess would be relieved. She’d called Andrea almost a week ago to tell her Nick had flown to Africa on business and then disappeared. The State Department had been unable to offer any information about his safety.
She’d talked to Bess each evening, the two of them sharing their fears. That’s why Nick’s appearance had been even more of a surprise than normal.
“Is she all right?” Andrea asked impatiently, watching his face.
Ignoring her question, he continued to talk to his aunt. “Yes, I will. Take care of yourself.”
He replaced the receiver without offering it to Andrea.
