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A Healing Love
Doris English
A MAN WITHOUT A PAST…When Brad Jeremiah's private plane crashed on a foggy hillside, Dr. Laura McBride risked her life to save him. And with Laura at his hospital bed, Brad woke to find he'd lost his memory. Discovering the handsome surgeon's identity was simple, yet his past remained a puzzling mystery….Did their love have a future?The healing touch of his beautiful doctor gave Brad hope and her faith gave him strength. Soon he imagined working beside her in the small mountain hospital. But as Brad prayed for help to uncover the secrets of his past, he feared the truth would destroy Laura's love, and their dreams of a life together….
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#u97d5ddf6-7654-508f-a2bf-05988935d6f8)
Excerpt (#ufe832a65-1ff2-5d37-ba48-c6cf2ae3600f)
About the Author (#ub095bfc9-7420-5639-854e-cd2b62c81d3f)
Title Page (#ub2878b00-72dd-5dfd-9e1f-6555e7263964)
Epigraph (#ua66447d9-ba9b-57db-8b68-ab109a58c6a9)
Dedication (#u506e12f1-25d4-577e-9c34-38f11c9725e4)
Chapter One (#u60da9449-e344-5ec7-9e8e-afa088f2d23f)
Chapter Two (#u76006fb4-54d7-59b3-a06a-e0290efd4d96)
Chapter Three (#ua16fed8c-fbdf-5fce-b5ad-10a56826ebda)
Chapter Four (#u20ef8a3b-f6a3-57ad-92a1-a615f1accf24)
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)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
“But I love you,” he insisted.
“Love is more than attraction, Brad.” Laura smiled gently. “It begins with friendship, compatibility—”
“I think we have that,” he replied.
“Then it grows into admiration and respect, where aspirations and values are shared,” she continued. “It involves being willing to place someone else’s happiness above your own. And I think it’s knowing you’d rather be with someone more than anyone else in the world.”
She paused and gazed up at him. “Those are the benefits of a sacred commitment. I determined long ago, I’d settle for nothing less.”
Brad’s gaze darkened. He took her hand.
“What about us?” he asked.
“Only time will tell. You never know what will happen when you regain your memory,” she reminded him, her voice husky with emotion.
“There’s nothing in this world that could change the way I feel about you, Laura McBride.”
DORIS ENGLISH
After only one year in college, Doris English left school to marry her high school sweetheart. Forty years later and more in love than ever, he is still the man of her dreams and she would do the same thing all over again.
Although marriage and children—three daughters— delayed her education and put her dream to write on hold, she nurtured that dream by pursuing her education when she could work it in between family commitments. In 1990, just one year before her youngest daughter graduated from college, Doris graduated from West Georgia University with a 4.0 average and a B.A. in history and a minor in journalism. Meanwhile, she fulfilled her writing dreams by writing articles for inspirational magazines, historical journals, newspapers and inspirational novels.
Doris and her husband, Bob, live on a small farm just outside of metropolitan Atlanta where she delights in sitting on the front porch of her modified French country home and watching deer graze in the pasture in front of her house. They enjoy travel and their cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains where Doris spends her most productive hours writing.
Doris’s message to young women in whose heart God has put a dream is don’t despair. Set your priorities in order and God will bring you the desires of your heart.
A Healing Love
Doris English
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature. Old things are passed away, all things
become new.
—2 Corinthians 5:17
To the man of my dreams, my husband, Bob,
whose constant encouragement and steadfast belief
in my dream during the times when I struggled and
doubted, kept me faithful.
Chapter One (#ulink_0f7a98f9-7766-5b06-b6de-079e439e0c28)
Dr. Laura McBride eased her red sports car into the morning rush-hour traffic, headed toward the freeway. Once on the main north-south artery, traffic evened out and the young doctor had time to puzzle over why her former medical school suite mate, Darlene Coleman, had invited her into the city for a visit.
They hadn’t been in touch for several years—not since the two had left to do their residencies. When Darlene’s unexpected invitation arrived last week, curiosity had drawn Laura like a magnet. A weekend in the city seemed a welcome relief from her duties in her dad’s clinic, now a fully accredited hospital located in a quiet hamlet in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The congested neighborhoods of the inner city gave way to larger, towering structures. Laura saw the sprawling new medical center ahead, and beside it Darlene’s office complex. A twinge of envy clouded Laura’s countenance. She had rejected a residency at this very hospital to return to her father’s small clinic. Her refusal proved Darlene’s opportunity.
Laura stepped out of the glass elevator tower into a plush reception room of marble floors, lofty ceiling and a magnificent view of the river. Laura still had trouble visualizing her shy, somewhat stodgy, suite mate managing successfully in such an elite urban environment.
A woman in a tailored navy suit and silk blouse looked up from the reception desk and stared at Laura coolly. She reached a manicured hand behind her for an acrylic pad before asking Laura if she were a new patient.
Laura beamed, ignoring the woman’s frosty look. “No. Please tell Dr. Coleman that Dr. Laura McBride is here.”
“Dr. McBride?” the woman repeated as she scanned a computer screen. “I don’t have you down on her appointment list.”
“Nevertheless she is expecting me. Please tell her I’m here,” Laura insisted softly but firmly.
“Have a seat, Dr. McBride. It may be a while before Dr. Coleman can see you. She is quite busy you know.”
Scarcely five minutes had passed before a svelte blonde with long shiny locks pulled back in a fashionable chignon entered the room. Thick lashes fringed her large doe-shaped eyes. Perfectly applied makeup accented high cheekbones, and bright-red lipstick emphasized a full, sensuous mouth. The cranberry wooljersey dress she wore caressed her slender, well-contoured figure, and an expensive cameo surrounded by diamonds and seed pearls nestled demurely at her throat.
“Laura, how good to see you,” the blond vision said. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
“Dar-Darlene?” Laura began hesitantly. “Is that really you?”
Darlene’s laugh was low, melodious. “A new improved version. A change was long past due for me. You, on the other hand, were always disgustingly perfect.”
“You look great!” Laura exclaimed.
“Thank you. I have enjoyed the change. As someone put it—from mousey to peacock.”
“No one would ever dare call you ‘mousey’ again.”
“I hope I’ve put those days long behind me. Now, enough of me. I want to hear about your exciting adventure in that mountain hospital and clinic with your famous dad. Tell me all the details about your work, the hospital, everything, but first give me fifteen minutes to finish seeing my patients and I’m free for the rest of the day.”
“You’re free this afternoon?” Laura cast a questioning glance toward the receptionist.
Darlene chuckled. “I’ve blocked out the rest of the day and weekend for you.”
Laura finished the last bite of her omelet and reached for a steamy cup of tea. Sitting in a sunny nook of Darlene’s kitchen, she relished this last full day in the city. It had been a perfect holiday for her. They’d attended a concert, dined in a fine restaurant and toured the hospital. The highlight of the weekend had been a lecture by Dr. James McNulty, a renowned endocrinologist. Once again, envy tugged her heart at the opportunity Darlene had working here and being exposed to the cutting edge of medicine. She quickly suppressed the thought, feeling somehow disloyal to her father and the choices she had made years ago.
She was about to ask what their plans for the day were, when Darlene interrupted.
“Laura, why did you choose to go home to help your father, when you could have had all this?”
“You captured this job on the basis of your performance,” Laura hedged, ignoring Darlene’s question.
“But why did you go back? I saw your eyes when Dr. McNulty was lecturing. You hung on his every word,” Darlene pressed, refusing to be diverted.
Laura shook her head, her eyes bright, candid. “Can’t deny I enjoyed it, and maybe envied your advantages for a moment, but I chose to go back because it was the right thing to do.”
Darlene narrowed her eyes. “Why do you think that?”
“It was something my dad had looked forward to since I was a little girl.”
“But what about what you wanted to do?”
“I’ve just never considered anything else.”
“What about your skills, your goals? I’ll wager that you live in your father’s shadow.”
Laura winced; her friend had hit too close to home. Having grown up in and around the hospital, she had yet to prove her mettle as a doctor. To most she was still Doc Dave’s little girl, Laura.
Darlene’s keen eyes noted Laura’s reaction and she pushed her advantage. “It’s time to take control of your future. Stop living someone else’s dreams.”
“Easier said than done,” Laura admitted lamely, once again feeling disloyal to her father.
“Why don’t you come to work here with me?”
Laura’s eyes widened; surprise rendered her speechless.
Darlene laughed. “Things are changing here. There is plenty of opportunity for both of us.”
When she found her voice, Laura asked breathlessly, not believing, “You’re offering me a job?”
“Maybe a partnership. As you can gather—” Darlene waved her hand around her well-appointed penthouse “—it doesn’t come without its advantages.”
“I’m overwhelmed,” Laura responded, then after a long moment shook her head, something akin to longing briefly flaring in her eyes. “But I couldn’t.”
“Don’t say no until you’ve met Brad. I’ve told him all about you. You’ll meet him tonight.” A knowing smile twitched one corner of Darlene’s scarlet mouth. “I haven’t met a woman yet who could resist his charms. Even I couldn’t You see—” she hesitated, a flash of uncertainty in her eyes “—we’re engaged.”
Strains of chamber music from a string quartet greeted Darlene and Laura as they entered Dr. Michael Bradford Jeremiah’s lavish apartment perched high above the street facing the river, now a mere ribbon of liquid gold in the departing sun.
People in evening attire gathered in small groups around the large sunken living room. Laura was glad she had worn her new violet crepe. The dress clung gracefully to her slender body, revealing her feminine curves. Above the deep blue, her eyes sparkled like sapphires and excitement flushed her cheeks. Conversation diminished when the two exquisite blond women entered the room. Laura’s hair fell like a cloud in lustrous waves to her shoulders, while Darlene’s was caught up in a French twist, held in place with glittering combs.
A tall man with close-cropped dark hair detached himself from a group in the back of the room and made his way toward them. He moved with the grace of a dancer, his broad shoulders looked wide enough to fill a doorway, yet his torso tapered to slender hips. His evening jacket and trousers were tailored perfectly. When he came nearer, the soft light revealed chiseled features a Greek statue could envy. His generous mouth turned up in a smile of greeting as he reached over to kiss Darlene’s cheek, but his dark, brooding eyes never left Laura.
When he turned to her, having assessed her, he nodded his approval and observed, “This must be the wonder woman I’ve been hearing about.”
Darlene’s smile had a hint of triumph in it as she acknowledged, “The very same.”
Laura handed her hand to the ebony-eyed giant and smiled broadly, her cheek dimpled. “Dr. Jeremiah, I’m pleased to meet you.”
He exuded charm and confidence with almost a touch of arrogance, yet she detected sadness, a wariness in his eyes, as he inquired, “Well, are you?”
