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Their Secret Baby Bond
Stephanie Dees
He wanted roots. She chose career. Can a baby bring them back together?Wynn Sheehan planned to change the world—not return to Alabama alone and pregnant. Her life is in shambles, but at least she can help take care of Latham Grant’s ailing grandpa. Latham isn’t ready to trust the woman who eagerly left him and their small town behind. But can they ignore the spark rekindled by unexpected Family Blessings?
He wanted roots. She chose career.
Can a baby bring them back together?
Wynn Sheehan planned to change the world—not return to Alabama alone and pregnant. Her life is in shambles, but at least she can help take care of Latham Grant’s ailing grandpa. Latham isn’t ready to trust the woman who eagerly left him and their small town behind. But can they ignore the spark rekindled by unexpected Family Blessings?
Award-winning author STEPHANIE DEES lives in small-town Alabama with her pastor husband and two youngest children. A Southern girl through and through, she loves sweet tea, SEC football, corn on the cob and air-conditioning. For further information, please visit her website at stephaniedees.com (http://www.stephaniedees.com).
Also By Stephanie Dees (#u57e11b02-ad30-5cf7-9a0f-209bff0f3e55)
Love Inspired
Family Blessings
The Dad Next Door
A Baby for the Doctor
Their Secret Baby Bond
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Their Secret Baby Bond
Stephanie Dees
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08244-0
THEIR SECRET BABY BOND
© 2018 Stephanie Newton
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)
A man’s heart deviseth his way:
but the Lord directeth his steps.
—Proverbs 16:9
“Move your hand over just a little bit.”
His hand settled on her belly and she had to remind herself to breathe. The baby kicked again. “There. Did you feel it?”
“Wynn,” he said, his voice quiet. “It’s a baby.”
It was crazy and weird and somehow perfect, to have this little life growing inside her. She nodded. “Yeah, she’s really there. Isn’t that just the coolest thing?”
The look of wonder in his eyes nearly undid her. She took a couple of steps away and he tugged her back, scooping her into his arms again. “Break’s over. Now you’re going in the pond.”
“What? No!” She gave him her sternest face. “Latham, you can’t throw me in the pond.”
“Oh, all right.” He set her on the ground. “Come on, Mama, let’s go paint your door.”
She followed him onto the porch, heart slamming in her chest. No, no, no, no. It was not possible for her to be falling for Latham Grant again.
Not possible at all.
Dear Reader (#u57e11b02-ad30-5cf7-9a0f-209bff0f3e55),
I knew Wynn was a larger-than-life character when she first appeared in A Baby for the Doctor. She’s a world-changer with big dreams...and she’d made a big mistake. She needed a hero who could show her that even big mistakes can be redeemed by the God of restoration! Thankfully Latham (and his grandpa) were up for the job!
I hope you’ve enjoyed your time in Red Hill Springs as much as I have. I love hearing from readers! If you’d like to connect, you can contact me via my website at www.stephaniedees.com (http://www.stephaniedees.com) or facebook at www.facebook.com/authorstephaniedees (http://www.facebook.com/authorstephaniedees).
Stephanie
To my family
Love is real and it looks a lot like you.
Contents
Cover (#ua7e1b00d-9a81-55b0-9b5a-ebdc0c808eaa)
Back Cover Text (#uc3b72087-2d1f-55fc-8057-50d81045bb03)
About the Author (#u83f66b0a-29d2-5ae1-9e74-15cf123d5933)
Booklist (#u67b26384-5407-5222-b098-28765ddf2b32)
Title Page (#u1da18840-9182-5e80-946e-0d672a3d2f86)
Copyright (#u3e5c6d23-bed2-542b-ae77-dc1b393bd3b8)
Bible Verse (#u2ab86fb7-eb0e-572b-88eb-38da6d6e3084)
Introduction (#ud11ec03f-d359-5795-831d-022a77e606c1)
Dear Reader (#u039c5a28-8605-55c3-b54a-1abe7ab91b93)
Dedication (#ub5aceda6-8f60-5a85-82aa-90e505892dd0)
Chapter One (#u9ddfd791-7ee9-5365-a781-00fdacf2bb2b)
Chapter Two (#ua0c012a3-1ac2-5257-9f0f-5a82c94c8d22)
Chapter Three (#u5e325b93-4ae0-5ec0-95ef-b4284b7163b3)
Chapter Four (#u5c3b216f-741f-576c-81c5-73a1c72f45d2)
Chapter Five (#ua739bded-5cd7-5de2-bc56-564d72be574e)
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)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u57e11b02-ad30-5cf7-9a0f-209bff0f3e55)
Wynn Sheehan unlocked the back door and stepped inside the dark storage room. In less than an hour, the quiet would be overwhelmed by clanging pots, sizzling bacon, coffeepots hissing and the murmur of simultaneous conversation. For now, though, she had the Hilltop Café all to herself.
She tucked her long blond hair into a knot and started the morning checklist. Open the blinds, turn on the lights, start the first pot of coffee and the first batch of cinnamon rolls, scramble the eggs, make the batter. She’d watched her mother go through these same motions, and there was something comforting about it. No matter where she had gone, or what she had done, things here, at least, stayed the same.
Measuring flour, shortening and buttermilk, she made the biscuits from a recipe she would’ve sworn she’d long ago banished from her memory. She’d had plans, a sackful of dreams to leave this little town and make her mark on history. She was going to change the world. She’d been passionate and driven.
And naive. So unbelievably naive.
Never would she have thought she would be back at the Hilltop, or back in Red Hill Springs, for that matter, but the Wynn who left for college with stars in her eyes, never planning to come back, was gone.
She’d found herself with no choices and worse, no friends. She didn’t even know when it had happened, how she’d gotten so isolated. Well, looking back, she did know how. She’d been so focused on her job and her boss, the charismatic congressman from Virginia, that she hadn’t had time for anyone else.
She hadn’t even seen anyone else.
The timer dinged and she pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven, then slid the first pan of biscuits into place. Next up, the frosting for the cinnamon rolls.
By the time she got to the task of unlocking the doors, it had been an hour and a half. Six a.m. straight on the dot. And Mr. Haney and Mr. Donovan were waiting outside the door, just like they always were.
Mickey, the cook, let himself in the back door and made his way into the kitchen, lifting his apron off the hook and dropping it around his neck.
“Cutting it close, aren’t you, Uncle Mickey?”
His bushy gray eyebrows lowered even farther over his eyes. “Where’s your mother?”
“She’s out at the farm helping Claire get the kids ready for school. Joe had an emergency callout in the middle of the night. Don’t worry, I didn’t mess anything up.”
He slid his hand into a pot holder and pulled out the biscuits before sending her a sideways glance. “Never said you did, girlie. Now get out there and see what the customers want. Lanna doesn’t come in until seven today.”
Armed with a pot of coffee, Wynn rounded the counter with a smile for Mr. Haney and Mr. Donovan. “Hello there, gentlemen.”
Mr. Haney looked up from squinting at the menu, his reading glasses tucked into the front pocket of his overalls, as usual. “Well, hello, darlin’. I’m going to be back here tomorrow if I get to look at that pretty face.”
“You’re here every day, Mr. Haney.” Wynn sent him a wink, filled his mug and dropped a handful of creamers onto the table for her favorite farmer.
Mr. Donovan nodded to her as she poured his coffee. “I’ll have the blueberry pancakes.”
“Cinnamon roll and bacon on the side for me, Wynn.” Mr. Haney slid his menu back into the holder. “I don’t know why I look at the menu. I get the same thing every day.”
“I’ll keep the coffee coming.” She turned back toward the counter and discovered that when she’d been in the kitchen with Mickey a couple more men had settled in a booth toward the front.
The practiced smile firmly in place, she started toward them, her feet stumbling to a stop as she realized one of them was her brother’s friend Latham Grant. He’d practically grown up in the room next door to hers, and when they were teenagers she’d had the most miserable crush on him, one which left her stuttering over her words and tripping over nonexistent things.
They’d been friends, too, until they weren’t. She closed her eyes for a brief second. There were so many things she needed to do here, so many relationships to repair. Nothing like returning home to give you some clarity about all the people you’d hurt along the way.
She hadn’t seen him around in the month or so she’d been back. Maybe it was wishful thinking to have hoped it would stay that way. He was just as ruggedly good-looking as he always had been, with muscles from actual work and not the gym, and that lock of dark hair that curled onto his forehead as he studied the menu.
She took a deep breath and stepped forward with a brisk smile. “Hey, Latham. Good to see you again.”
He looked up, an easy grin on his face. “Wynn Sheehan. I heard you were back in town. Never thought I’d see the day.”
