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No. He was pretty sure his gut reaction last night had been on target. The caller sounded surprised that the woman would take a man up to her room. So hopefully she had simply been a lonely traveler looking for a little excitement and companionship.
His official discharge from the military was right around the corner and he didn’t want to worry about any risqué photos or incriminating evidence ruining his career.
Still. He’d hate for any news about him to leak to the press. He’d spent his whole adult life avoiding the cameras, and the only place he’d been able to feel comfortable in his own skin was in the navy. Garrett had purposely volunteered for the most remote assignments whenever possible just to escape the constant media attention that came from being Dr. Gerald McCormick’s son.
He damn well wasn’t going to blow his cover now, which was exactly what he’d told his father at dinner yesterday evening when they’d gotten into their heated argument about the career path he’d just taken.
Garrett sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at the abandoned luggage stand in the open closet. He remembered the woman had an open suitcase there last night. And she’d already had a key to this room when they’d come upstairs. He let out a breath and eased back onto the bed. So she had obviously been a registered hotel guest, and since even he had no idea that he’d end up at some hotel bar when he’d stormed out of the restaurant a few blocks away, then nobody would’ve had the foresight to set him up.
That was one crisis averted. There was also the fact that he’d been the one who’d approached her. Fragments of conversation were slowly coming back to him. She’d said she was a dancer—well, she’d definitely had the lithe and graceful body to prove it. She’d also mentioned not being from Boise. Maybe she was just some bored housewife who had to fly home before her husband and kids woke up.
Wait, she’d said she didn’t have kids. He couldn’t remember anything about a husband, but would she have been honest if she’d had one?
He pulled a pillow over his head, wishing he could bury his shame along with his guilt. He took a deep breath, hoping he wasn’t the cause of some poor cuckold’s broken heart. But inhaling was a big mistake because when he did, the lingering aroma of jasmine tickled his nose, reminding him of her intoxicating fragrance and of how he hadn’t been able to get enough of her heady scent. Of how he’d smelled, kissed and tasted every square inch of the woman’s perfect, flexible body last night.
Crap. The woman? He still didn’t even know her name.
This wasn’t like him. Lieutenant Commander Garrett McCormick was a trained battlefield surgeon and an orthopedic specialist. He was cool under pressure and never got rattled. He for sure never let his guard down and didn’t do anything unbecoming an officer. So then why had he allowed some sad-eyed, incredibly stunning woman get to him? What had come over him?
He took one last sniff and then threw the pillow to the floor. Lust, he thought before standing up and striding toward the bathroom. That’s what had gotten into him. Pure, old-fashioned lust combined with frustration at his old man and a need to establish his autonomy with a woman who’d actually taken the time to listen to him and could relate to having an overbearing and egotistical parent.
He wasn’t his dad. He didn’t sleep with every beautiful woman who fluttered her eyelashes at him. But Garrett deserved to have a little companionship in his life, didn’t he?
He stepped into the shower and turned the water on as hot as he could stand it before trying to unscrew the cap off the miniscule shampoo bottle. He’d wash all trace of the woman from his body and then try to banish all indications of last night’s events from his mind.
The problem was, he didn’t think he could forget how perfect she’d felt in his arms. How warm and willing she’d been when he’d eased himself inside her. Or how her breath came in short gasps when she’d reached her peak and begged him not to stop.
Man. He needed to get over it. To get over her.
He dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist before going out into the room to look for his clothes. He spotted his smartphone on the bedside table, and his heart flipped over when he recalled her slim fingers running along his screen in the bar, showing him how to block his incoming calls.
Maybe she had programmed her telephone number in his list of contacts.
His pulse picked up speed as he scrolled through his phone, only to slow down until it was a disappointing lump in his throat. Nope, there was nothing but four missed calls from his father and one from his dad’s assistant, Marty. Well, Dad and Marty would have to wait until hell froze over.
Control yourself, McCormick. He hated getting worked up like this. But he was angry with himself for falling for the beautiful woman in the first place and coming upstairs with her. And he was angry with her for disappearing into thin air.
He got dressed and took one last look around the room, maybe so that he could memorize this moment or maybe because he was searching for one last clue about the woman’s identity. A knock sounded and his stomach flipped over.
Was that her? Had she come back after all? Or was it security?
He opened the heavy door and frowned when he saw a tall, older lady in a maid’s uniform. “Sorry.” She spoke in halting English. “I thought you checked out already.”
She picked up the clipboard hanging off her service cart, as though to make sure she hadn’t made a mistake. Likely, she hadn’t, and the woman who’d spent the evening with him had in fact checked out of the hotel. Garrett took a step closer, thinking he might be able to find out the woman’s name by looking at the guest info sheet.
But the motion forced him to accidentally release the room door, and it whooshed closed with a heavy thunk. The sound caused the maid to look up at him sharply, and she pulled the clipboard to her gray uniform. She stared at him and he glanced at the locked knob and realized he couldn’t get back in.
If he stood here much longer, this employee would also realize that he didn’t have a key and he had no way to prove that he was a guest of the hotel. The walkie-talkie on her cart crackled to life and Garrett decided the last thing he needed was to have security made aware of his presence.
“Yes, my wife already checked us out,” Garrett finally said, thankful he’d at least gotten dressed and that his wallet and keys were still in his pants pocket. “I’m supposed to meet her at the bar.”
What in the world had made a confirmed bachelor like him refer to the woman from last night as his wife? Or mention that they were meeting at a bar. Who met at a bar at oh eight hundred?
The maid lifted an eyebrow at him and he couldn’t blame her for being suspicious. Then again, this was a hotel and he was sure the employees had seen more scandalous behavior than his. But just to be on the safe side, he pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to her. “Here. We forgot to leave a tip for the turndown service last night,” he mumbled before making his way to the elevator and down to the lobby.
The bar was deserted except for the lone bartender reading a newspaper and a busboy wiping down the tables from the night before. He flashed back to a memory of entering the lounge last night, hell-bent on drinking his anger away. The nerve of his dad trying to talk him into moving back to California to film a new show. Those cuff links had been the icing on the smug cake his father had served after dinner over a nice cold glass of familial guilt.
Garrett patted his coat pocket and pulled out the velvet case. He snapped it open, a visual reminder of what had brought him storming in here last night.
Then he frowned when he realized one of the cuff links was missing. Had he left it in the room? He looked back at the bank of elevators and wondered if it was worth the risk of having the maid call security on him. He remembered taking them out of his pocket last night as he and the woman had been drinking. But before they’d left, he clearly recalled her handing the box back to him. She must have known that he wasn’t the kind of guy who would throw away something so personal and expensive, even if he didn’t understand his father’s purpose in presenting him with such a questionable gift.
He also remembered picking up both his jacket and the cuff link case off the elevator floor last night, then smiled at the memory of how those items had gotten there in the first place. He walked back over to the elevators and wasted several minutes looking into each one for the missing cuff link. But like the woman from last night, it was long gone.
So then what happened to it?
And what had happened to her?
The front desk was busy and Garrett quickly dismissed the thought of asking the clerk for a guest’s information. The cleaning lady upstairs had eyeballed him as if he was a criminal. So what was he supposed to ask the college-age-looking kid behind the desk? Excuse me, but can you tell me the name of the woman who was staying in room eight oh four? I spent the night with her, but I never thought to ask her myself.
Please. Maybe if this was some no-tell motel, he could bribe the employee. But he doubted that a high-quality establishment, which had most likely already been put on notice by his mystery caller this morning, would be willing to bend the rules.
And did he really want it leaked to the press who was asking? He’d be lucky if he didn’t appear on some sleazy tabloid show for this stunt.
His thoughts were circling around like the whirling blades of a Huey helicopter, and he couldn’t decide on a course of action.
Or inaction for that matter. Maybe he’d just dodged a bullet. It wasn’t as though he was in the market for a relationship anyway, so he really didn’t need the extra chaos that this situation might cause. Especially during this transitional time in his life. It was best to get the woman and this whole experience out of his mind.
Leaving the hotel, he walked down the busy Boise street to where he’d left his car, doing a double take at any woman with long dark hair to see if it was her. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and when he pulled it out, he saw Matt Cooper’s name on the screen. A year ago, the chief of police for Sugar Falls had been one of Garrett’s more stubborn patients. But the former marine had also become a friend and had been instrumental in talking him into opening a specialized clinic in the small Idaho town.
Cooper had sold him on the concept that where there was a tourist trade that catered to extreme sports such as downhill skiing, river rafting and hiking, there was a need for orthopedic surgeons. It wasn’t a hard sell since not only was the town unpretentious and as far removed from the limelight as Garrett could get, it also desperately needed a physician who could actually serve the local community for the better.
“What’s happening, Coop?” Garrett said by way of greeting.
“I just got off the phone with Mayor Johnston and the city approved the zoning for converting that old lumber mill you bought into medical offices. My wife’s friend has a brother who is doing some contracting and thinks he can have a crew start construction tomorrow.”
“Is he any good?”
“As far as I can tell. But now that you’re going to be living in a small town, it’s best to realize that’s how they do things here.” Cooper was a transplant himself, first from Detroit and then the military, and during a previous conversation he’d confided that he was still adapting to the slower-paced life. “Everyone knows somebody who is related to someone else who can get things done for you. It took me a while to get used to it, but the system can be beneficial.”
“Okay. Have him email me an estimate and a contract. As long as people up there know how to mind their own business, then I’ll hire whoever they want.”
Coop laughed. “Now, I didn’t say they know how to mind their own business. But the community as a whole is a tight-knit group, and if they like you well enough, they wouldn’t sell you out to some big-city paparazzi. How did that talk with your old man go, by the way?”
Cooper was one of the few people who knew Garrett was related to the famous television producer. But that’s because the guy would investigate the depth lines on a ship’s anchor if he felt like it. And when he’d been hospitalized with two consecutive knee surgeries and nothing else to look forward to, the marine had been bored enough to investigate his surgeon.
“It went as expected. He wanted what he always wants, which is for me to return to California and start filming alongside him. I told him about my new plans. He said there’s no reason for me to go into private practice in some—no offense—Podunk town where my patients will only be able to pay for my services in taxidermy animals and squirrel meat casserole.”
“Ouch. Although, that’s what I expected, too, before I actually visited Sugar Falls.”
“Well, let’s hope for everyone’s sake that my dad and his entourage of cameras never decide to visit.” Garrett thought about his former patient’s family history and realized he might sound like a spoiled, ungrateful child. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the man. But I should’ve known better than to meet him last night. If it weren’t for that stupid dinner, I never would’ve gotten so pissed off and...”
What? He never would’ve walked to the hotel bar and experienced the most magical evening in his life?
Of course, he couldn’t say any of that to Cooper. Even though the two men’s relationship was moving into friendship territory, Garrett wasn’t ready to confess to anyone that his unsinkable heart had nearly been caught in a rip current.
He climbed into his late-model truck and dropped his head to the leather-covered steering wheel. He was too embarrassed to say anything to anyone and didn’t need a bored police chief to start asking too many questions.
Wait a second. Having Cooper asking questions on Garrett’s behalf might be another thing altogether. The idea of having his friend assist him in finding the mystery lady was ridiculous, but that wouldn’t stop him from exploring the possibility of it later. When he didn’t already have eight hundred things to do before the big move.
“Anyway.” Garrett started his engine. “Speaking of expectations, tell me more about some of these small-town neighbors I’m going to be meeting in Sugar Falls.”
Chapter Three (#ulink_ef7e224f-083d-587d-b951-c865e6c7f6dd)
Eight weeks later, while her two best friends sat in her living room for their regular Thursday night dinner together, Mia came out of the bathroom holding the small plastic stick in her hand.
“That was quick,” Kylie Gregson said, looking down at the empty box. “It says that you needed to wait three minutes for the results.”
“I know. But I didn’t want to wait in there alone to find out. Here.” Mia set the pregnancy test on a paper towel on the kitchen counter then rushed back to the couch and pulled her favorite throw blanket up to her chin. “It probably needs about two more minutes. I can’t look. You guys tell me what it says.”
Maxine Cooper walked over to the counter and looked at the stick. “Well, I don’t think we need to wait that long. The second blue line is pretty clear already.”
“What do two blue lines mean again?”
“It means positive,” Kylie said, checking the instructions.
“Let’s give it a little more time,” Mia whispered. “Maybe the other blue line will go away.” But she was a smart woman with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She knew none of this was going away.
She was pregnant. Single and pregnant.
A flood of emotion overcame her and she didn’t know how to feel at first. Even though she’d thought about this possibility well before she’d sent her friend around the corner to Lester’s Pharmacy to pick up the test, she knew she wasn’t upset.
She was terrified, but she’d dealt with scarier things in her life. She was in denial, but then, she’d lived as a shell of herself for the past few years, so the feeling wasn’t too uncommon. She was ashamed, but there was something else pushing her guilt aside and giving her a glimpse at a happiness she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
“Aw, sweetie,” Kylie said. “I know this is overwhelming, but you’re a strong woman. And you have us to help you.”
“I know,” she said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “I promised myself I would forget about that night in Boise. And it was almost getting easier until I realized my cycle had never been this late. I guess in my determination to forget everything, I didn’t think about the consequences, either.”
“Do you want to talk about your plans?” Maxine asked.
“I’m scared. Obviously. I don’t know how I’ll do it.” As soon as she realized she was late, a fear set in. But so did another emotion—excitement. “Like a tiny part of me is kind of looking forward to having this baby. I know this sounds selfish because I hated growing up without a father and I always swore that if I had kids of my own I wouldn’t make the same mistakes that my mom made with me. But I’m actually a little bit excited.” She rubbed her knee, which was getting sorer with each passing day. “That bastard Nick took so much from me—and not just physically. I thought I’d never recover after he attacked me, that my life was ruined. Yet, the thought of having a baby—having someone who is only mine and who needs me—is unreal, but in a positive way. This pregnancy might make me feel like I have a purpose again.”
Both of her friends looked at each other before turning back toward her. Then Kylie asked, “What about the baby’s father?”
“What about him? It’s not like I know him or would even know where to find him.”
Maxine hesitated before saying, “Cooper has some connections with the Boise PD and he can talk to the hotel security, maybe ask some questions on the down low—”
“No,” Mia interrupted. “What if the guy is married? Or a psychopath? I don’t need him. We don’t need him,” she corrected, as she put her hands protectively over the not yet visible bump of her tummy.
Her friends looked at each other again and Maxine shrugged. “Nobody has to make any decisions right this second. How about you let everything sink in and then, if you change your mind, we’ll help you find him.”
Mia nodded, but knew she wouldn’t ever change her mind. She was about to take control of her own life, of her own destiny, and she wasn’t going to invite some strange man into her world to start calling the shots or vetoing her decisions—even if she knew where to find him.
The women turned their conversation to pregnancy symptoms and childbirth and their doubts about ancient Dr. Suarez, who was the town’s only general practitioner and should have retired twenty years prior.
“I think I might look for an obstetrician in Boise,” Mia said.
“Thank goodness I’m covered under Drew’s insurance,” said Kylie. She was married to a lieutenant commander in the navy and twenty weeks pregnant. “I only have to drive as far as Shadowview Hospital when it’s my time to deliver. Don’t you think going all the way to Boise might be a bit far?”
Mia flexed her knee, trying to stretch out the pain that had only increased over these past weeks. Her friend was right, but going to the town doctor would be tantamount to hanging a huge banner outside her dance studio announcing to the world that she was pregnant and unmarried. Some of her students’ parents might think she wasn’t a fit role model for their precious offspring. She also helped coach the high school cheerleading team and knew the PTA would surely call her morals into question. Sugar Falls was a small town, and her career didn’t need that kind of negative publicity.
“What about that new medical center out at the old lumber mill?” Maxine asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Kylie was nodding her head. “My brother, Kane, has been doing the construction on the building and said the first offices are unofficially opening next week.”
“What kind of doctors will they have?” Mia was skeptical but any physician who was new to town would still be considered an outsider and wouldn’t be so quick to divulge patient information to the rest of his cronies in the Kiwanis Club, as Doc Suarez was known to do.
“Cooper’s surgeon from the base hospital is opening up an orthopedic clinic there now that he’s out of the military. And I heard there was a new dentist moving in next month. But no OBs, as far as I know.”
“Actually,” Max added, “it would probably be a good idea to talk to Dr. McCormick about your knee, Mia.”
“I know. It’s been killing me lately. But now that I’m pregnant, I probably shouldn’t have surgery or anything.” Besides, a retired navy doctor sounded just as old and cantankerous as Dr. Suarez.
“That’s true.” Kylie patted her own stomach. “But trust me, when you start packing on the pounds, it’s only going to get worse. Maybe he could give you a cortisone shot or something to get you through the next several months.”
“Yep, the last thing you want is a bum knee when you have a newborn to take care of,” Maxine said. “Trying to run the dance studio on top of everything else is going to be taxing on you.”
These women knew Mia better than anyone. They were her former teammates on the Boise State cheer team and her lifesavers when she’d later fled Miami to start over in Sugar Falls. And now Mia was turning to them again.
Maxine was the owner of the Sugar Falls Cookie Company, the star attraction of the downtown Sugar Falls tourist industry and a famous bakery specializing in flavored cookies. She’d opened her shop when her eleven-year-old son had been a toddler and had firsthand experience on raising a child alone while managing a growing business. Kylie was a CPA and had spent last summer raising her husband’s twin nephews while singlehandedly maintaining the financial records for half the town. Mia was glad she had friends who had already gone through something similar and could help her navigate the unfamiliar terrain.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Give me his number and I’ll make an appointment.”
Her friends left and, as much as she adored the two women, she was glad to finally be alone to come to terms with her new reality.
After securing the dead bolt, she grabbed the paper towel off the counter, sat down on her comfy old sofa and stared at the little test stick with the two blue lines. She was going to be a mother. Mia could hardly believe it. Growing up, whenever she’d complain about not wanting to audition for a certain play that had nothing to do with dancing or not wanting to move to an entirely different state because her mother had it in her head that Mia could land a talent agent if she would only take up acting classes, Rhonda Palinski would tell her daughter that she didn’t even know what she wanted.
And for the past few years, Mia had allowed herself to believe that maybe her mom was right and she didn’t know what she wanted out of life.
Putting the stick down, she stroked her still-flat belly. She knew with a certainty she hadn’t felt in years that she wanted this child more than she had ever wanted anything. She’d always lived her life for others, having her dreams diminished or jerked out from under her feet. But this baby was hers. And nobody, not even GP What’s-his-name, could take this away from her.
She reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out the gold and onyx cuff link, looking at the initials.
GPM.
The morning following their lovemaking she’d almost made it down to the lobby when she’d spotted a small bit of gold winking at her from the corner of the elevator. When she’d picked it up, she remembered the way he’d had her body pressed up against the mirrored walls, her hands pulling him in closer and slipping under his suit jacket—which had gotten in her way. She’d heard a thunk right before the ping of the elevator alerted them that they’d reached her floor. But he’d scooped up the fallen case along with his discarded coat before they exited and fatefully made their way to her room.
Mia didn’t wear much jewelry and had no idea what the cuff link was worth, but its potential monetary value wasn’t what made her slip it into her satiny pocket that morning. She should’ve turned it in at the front desk lost and found. And if she hadn’t been completely embarrassed by her lack of inhibitions and the threat of discovery, maybe she would’ve.
