The Unexpected Father

Title Page CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN Copyright

“Josh!”

She tried to sit up, but as she moved she was struck with a pain deep down inside. She gasped, and instinctively her hand moved to her stomach.

“Sam, what is it?”

His voice seemed to be coming from a great distance away as another pain struck.

Her eyes lifted to his, filled with fear. “It’s the baby...Josh. I think I’m going into labor.”

Relax and enjoy our new series of stories about

spirited women and gorgeous men, whose

passion results in pregnancies...sometimes

unexpected! Of course, the birth of a baby is

always a joyful event, and we can guarantee that

our characters will become besotted moms and

dads—but what happened in those nine

months before?

Share the surprises, emotions, dramas and

suspense as our parents-to-be come to terms

with the prospect of bringing a new little life into

the world.... All will discover that the business of

making babies brings with it the most special

love of all....

The Unexpected Father

Kathryn Ross

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

WHEN Samantha found out that she was pregnant she could hardly believe it. Once she had recovered from the shock, the delight and excitement set in. Although she knew a baby would change their lives radically, she never for one moment suspected that her husband would be anything other than ecstatic about the news.

Even now, as she lay in a hospital bed drifting between consciousness and the depths of darkness, his reaction haunted her. Their marriage had been a whirlwind affair, and their relationship tenuous at times. Yet even through all the insecurities of loving Ben she hadn’t been prepared for the truth. He just didn’t love her. It was a bitter twist of fate that she should find out now, when she was just six weeks pregnant.

Through a mist of confusion people were saying her name over and over again, but she was too tired to open her eyes; she just wanted to sleep and sleep into oblivion. The bomb blast that had hit the hospital might have bruised and battered her, but it was nothing compared with the ache deep in her heart.

She opened her eyes once and saw a man standing beside her; he was just a hazy, blurred shadow.

‘Ben?’ She murmured his name, her voice sounding strange to her ears. ‘Ben?’

Someone called for a nurse; it didn’t sound like Ben’s voice. She closed her eyes, too weak to think any more.

When she opened her eyes next it was like coming through a thick fog. Then gradually things became clearer and she could see Sister Roberts looking down at her, her expression concerned. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asked gently.

It took a moment even to be able to find her voice. ‘As if I’ve been run over by a steam train,’ she murmured at last. Her eyes moved past the nurse. She recognised the general care unit where she had worked for the last two years, though now she was viewing it from a very unfamiliar angle. She tried to sit up, and winced as pain shot through her body.

‘Don’t try to move.’ Sister Roberts put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

‘I don’t think I can.’ Samantha swallowed rawly. Then her eyes sought the nurse’s anxiously. ‘Am I still pregnant? Is...is my baby all right?’ She held her breath as she waited for the woman to answer.

The sister nodded. ‘Perfectly all right...you were very lucky.’

A wave of relief washed through Samantha’s body. If Ben had previously given her any doubts about whether or not she wanted this baby, they were gone for ever now. She wanted her baby with all her heart; that much was certain.

‘Try and get some rest,’ the sister urged as she watched a tear trickle down the girl’s cheek. ‘You are badly bruised but there is no permanent damage.’

Samantha shook her head restlessly. She could hear the distant sound of gunfire—not an unusual sound in the remote African township of Chuanga. For four years now civil war had torn the beautiful little country of Nuangar apart. Samantha had been here with the aid agency for two and a half years, but she still hadn’t got used to the tragic futility of it all.

‘What happened?’ Her voice was hoarse and strained as she remembered the direct attack on the hospital—the first of its kind. ‘I remember running through the ward and out into the corridor to see what was happening, then the explosion...’ Her voice wavered alarmingly at the memory. ‘Were many people killed...? Where’s Ben...is Ben all right?’

‘We’ll talk about Ben later...when you’re feeling stronger.’

Cold, clammy hands felt as if they were squeezing Samantha’s heart as she looked up at the woman. She had been a nurse for too long not to recognise the expression in her colleague’s eyes, in her voice.

Regardless of the pain, she hoisted herself up from the pillows. ‘Ben’s dead...isn’t he?’ Her voice wobbled precariously.

The sister hesitated before answering truthfully. ‘The ward he was working in got a direct hit, Sam... He wouldn’t have known any pain.’

For a moment Samantha seemed to take the news stoically, then she collapsed back against the bed.

Josh watched the sleeping woman with a deep, brooding gaze. Something about Samantha Walker got to him. He couldn’t have said what it was...the air of vulnerability... the fragile, almost ethereal beauty...just something about her.

His eyes moved over the pallor of her skin, made even paler by the mass of dark hair that framed the delicate oval of her face. She had incredibly long dark lashes, and soft lips that were tinged with gentle colour. In sleep she had a childlike, extremely vulnerable quality about her.

She moved in a fretful way and murmured something incoherently. Then suddenly she looked directly at him.

Her eyes were an unusual shade of deep hyacinth-blue, an arresting contrast with the darkness of her hair. There was confusion in the wide gaze. ‘Ben?’ she murmured, her voice husky with sleep.

‘It’s Josh.’ He corrected her gently. ‘Josh Hamilton.’

Her eyes closed and he thought she had drifted back to sleep again. He was surprised, therefore, when she spoke quite clearly to him after a moment’s silence, an edge of derision in her voice. ‘Oh, it’s you.’

‘There’s no need to sound quite so disappointed,’ he answered laconically.

‘You mean you want me to sound grateful?’ She couldn’t help the bitter note, though why she felt so strongly against this man she couldn’t have said. She had met him only once, just before the bomb blast that had destroyed part of the hospital. According to Sister Roberts, he had risked his life to save hers. She should say some words of thanks.

‘I’m not here for gratitude,’ he said abruptly. ‘I just wanted to see if you were all right. I thought I owed Ben that much at least.’

Guilt flooded through her. She lifted her eyes and looked up at him again. ‘I’m sorry...I do appreciate what you did.’

He waved her words aside impatiently. ‘I told you, I’m not here for that.’

Her gaze moved over the darkness of his hair and the tanned, rugged contours of his face. He had light green eyes, she noticed absently, and his lithe frame was powerfully built. He seemed to personify the outdoor, strongly masculine type. Perhaps it was that aura of strength that unnerved her so much.

‘Sister tells me that you have been in to see me nearly every day.’ She pushed her hair away from her face with a self-conscious hand. ‘Haven’t you anything better to do?’ She wondered if that had sounded rude. She hadn’t meant it to, it was just that she felt disconcerted by Josh Hamilton’s presence. The knowledge that he had sat next to her while she slept made her feel embarrassed; she didn’t like the thought that he might have watched her closely while her defences were down. ‘I thought you were a busy reporter who was in a hurry to get out of this place.’

‘I am.’ His mouth twisted in a rueful smile. ‘I should have been out of Chuanga last week.’ He held up his left wrist, which was heavily bandaged. ‘Unfortunately this has put paid to my travelling for a while.’

‘How did you do that?’ She struggled to sit up further and he stretched across with his right hand and helped her adjust the pillow. The sudden closeness made her visibly flinch away from him before she could check the impulse.

‘All right now?’ He sat back as if he hadn’t noticed the awkward moment.

‘Yes, thank you.’ Her voice held a slight tremor, and for a second her eyes collided with his direct, steady gaze. Hurriedly she looked away. For some reason Josh made her feel completely ill at ease. ‘You... you were about to tell me how you hurt your arm. Did it happen during the raid on the hospital?’ she forced herself to continue lightly.

He hesitated. He could have told her that it had happened when he had gone down into the debris of the hospital corridor to drag her out. Instead he shrugged. ‘No—got out of the war without a scratch.’ He grinned. ‘Got this arm-wrestling with Sister Roberts...she’s some lady.’

Samantha didn’t smile; there was a part of her that felt she would never laugh at anything again. She shuddered. ‘I still can’t believe that anyone could be so evil as to attack a hospital.’

‘It’s beyond comprehension.’ He hesitated before continuing gently, ‘Ben will be a sad loss.’

Dark lashes closed over her eyes. She wasn’t able to talk about Ben, not yet...and certainly not to Josh Hamilton.

‘Samantha?’ His voice was gentle.

Her eyes opened, their beauty lit by an inner light, an inner pain. ‘It’s OK,’ she told him awkwardly, then changed the subject abruptly. ‘If I hadn’t delayed you that evening in the ward you would probably be back in Salanga now.’

‘Maybe.’ His lips curved in a wry grin. ‘I knew you were trouble the minute I set eyes on you. I should have heeded my instincts.’

For a moment Samantha’s mind veered back to the nightmare of that evening.

Josh had been just another patient in her ward. He had been injured on the way in to Chuanga when the supply convoy he had been travelling with had come under attack. Luckily he had escaped with just a minor wound to the side of his head.

She remembered that she had found him extremely infuriating. He had sat on the edge of his bed fully dressed, and had made it plain that he was in a hurry to get out of the place because he had a deadline to meet for a story. Samantha couldn’t have cared less and had told him so in no uncertain terms.

She had been stretched to the limits of her endurance, with a full ward, a shortage of staff and a feeling of sickness curling around in her stomach. She hadn’t been sure if that feeling had been due to pregnancy or the fact that her husband had told her that morning that their marriage was definitely over. Whatever it had been, she had felt that Josh Hamilton was the final weight to tip the balance of her temper.

The other nurse who had been on duty with her had had no such reservations. She had fluttered around him, flirting with him flagrantly.

Even now the memory made Samantha cringe with embarrassment. Joanne had made it very clear that she was attracted to him and Josh had looked lazily amused, as if he was used to women throwing themselves at him.

Samantha had stopped next to them and told them in a clear, icy tone that if there had been such a thing as a bucket of cold water in Chuanga she would have thrown it over them.

Joanne had looked totally disconcerted. Josh had merely laughed, and his eyes had moved in an assessing way over Sam’s slender figure with a gleam of male approval that had completely thrown her.

‘Anyone ever tell you that frosty manner of yours is sexy as hell?’ he had drawled outrageously.

She had known he was deliberately taunting her, and her cheeks had flared with furious colour.

‘Did anyone ever tell you that there is such a thing as a common line of decency, and you have just crossed it?’

‘You mean I’ve offended you.’ He was totally unperturbed. ‘Tell you what—the sooner you check the stitches on my forehead, the sooner I can be out of here and out of your way.’ He gave her an exaggerated salacious wink. ‘How about it?’

‘I’m sorry, but no matter how outrageous you are I am not going to let you jump the queue. I have other people to attend to and so has Joanne.’ She gave her colleague a meaningful look. ‘Mr Hamilton will just have to wait his turn—’

‘Mr Hamilton is out of here.’ Josh interrupted decisively. ‘I’ve never liked waiting in queues anyway.’

She watched him gathering up his things with a feeling of intense annoyance.

‘I want to go across and have a word with Ben Walker before I leave, anyway.’

Samantha had been in the process of turning away from him.

She swung back with a frown marring her smooth features. ‘What do you want to see Dr Walker for?’

‘We’re old friends.’ He bent to put his shoes on. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not putting in a complaint about you,’ he added with a tinge of humour.

‘I’m not in the slightest bit worried.’ She glared at the top of his dark head, hardly able to believe that she could feel such strong antagonism towards a total stranger. ‘For one thing I’m doing my job well, for another Dr Walker is my husband.’

He straightened then, his expression incredulous. ‘You are Ben Walker’s wife?’

‘Yes.’ She met his gaze steadily.

He looked down at the wedding band on her finger as if noting it for the first time. ‘He never mentioned a thing about being married,’ he said after a moment. ‘I spoke to him this morning for about half an hour and he didn’t mention you once.’

Ordinarily Samantha would just have laughed. She had a sunny nature, and usually a smile came readily to her lips. The situation with her husband, however, had changed all that.

She couldn’t say she was surprised that Ben hadn’t mentioned her, but nevertheless it still hurt. ‘Well, he’s never mentioned you either,’ she muttered sharply.

His eyes swept over her in a long, leisurely appraisal. ‘Ben always did have good taste in women,’ he remarked reflectively. ‘Never thought he would get married, though. Didn’t think he was the marrying kind.’

Those words rang hollowly inside her now. She was overwhelmed by a sudden urge to cry. Ridiculous to cry now, she told herself sternly. She hadn’t cried when Ben had made his feelings clear to her. She hadn’t cried when the sister had told her that Ben was dead. Now, remembering Josh Hamilton’s words, she wanted to break down.

She breathed deeply. She had to get a grip, think logically. She had decisions to make—decisions that were painful.

Her head turned towards the table next to her, searching for a glass of water.

‘Would you like a drink?’ Josh asked immediately, stretching to pick up the glass for her.

‘Thank you.’ Her throat cracked slightly as she controlled the emotional storm inside.

Her fingers brushed against his as she took the glass he held out to her. Their eyes locked for a moment, then Samantha looked hastily away.

Josh was a total enigma to her. She couldn’t work him out at all Obviously he was being nice to her now because he felt sorry for her, because Ben had been his friend.

She didn’t want anybody’s sympathy; she certainly didn’t want Josh Hamilton’s. Her hand trembled badly as she held the glass. He didn’t let go of it, helping her as an adult would help a child. Annoyance mixed with gratitude. She wished to hell she could understand the way she was feeling.

After a few sips she lay back against her pillow again.

A young nurse walked past them and smiled provocatively at Josh. She noticed that he returned the smile in a warm, lazy kind of way.

Samantha looked away from him. ‘Don’t let me detain you here.’ She muttered the words abrasively. ‘I’m sure you must have better things to do.’

‘Am I to take it that’s your way of telling me to go?’ he asked sardonically.

‘If you like.’

‘Fine.’ He stood up. He seemed to tower over her bedside. He was tall—well over six feet. ‘I hope you feel better soon.’

Her reply was interrupted by Sister Roberts as she came to check up on Samantha, her trained eye moving over the girl’s pallor with concern.

‘Well, how is my favourite patient today?’ she asked light-heartedly.

‘Not bad.’ Samantha shrugged. ‘When can I get up from here? I’m starting to feel as if I’m taking root in this bed.’

‘You’ve only been there a few days,’ the sister said with a shake of her head. ‘You need the rest, Sam.’

‘I need to get back to work...that’s what I need,’ Samantha said bleakly. ‘You must be really short-staffed.’

‘We are managing,’ the sister assured her quickly.

Josh moved from the bedside. ‘Well, I’ll leave you two ladies to talk.’ His eyes moved over Samantha’s face, then he smiled. ‘See you later.’

‘Nice man.’ Sister Roberts sat down in the chair he had vacated. ‘He must have nerves of steel the way he was able to run into the hospital corridor to get you out. Parts of the roof were still falling in.’

‘Was that when he hurt his arm?’

The sister nodded.

Out of the side of her eye she could see Josh speaking to the nurse who had smiled at him. Then Nurse Joanne Kelly walked over to him as well. Josh said something to them and they both laughed.

‘He certainly seems to be a hit with the staff,’ she said, and for some reason couldn’t get rid of the asperity in her tone.

‘I suppose.’ Sister Roberts darted a glance over at her two members of staff. ‘Anyway, I haven’t come to talk about Josh Hamilton. I thought maybe you were ready to discuss what you want to do.’

‘Do?’ Samantha swallowed nervously.

‘You are going to have to return home, Sam.’ The woman’s voice was gentle. ‘You are in no fit state to continue working here. You are in shock and—’

‘Pregnant. Dreadful combination,’ Samantha said with dry humour.

‘I was about to say you need peace and quiet for a while,’ the sister finished with a small smile. ‘Have you a home, a family you can go to in England?’

‘You mean you’re kicking me out of Chuanga?’ Samantha’s voice was light, almost jovial. ‘And I thought I was indispensable.’

‘Come on, Sam!’ The sister shook her head. ‘You have a baby to consider. You know you can’t stay. We’ve already discussed that. You were already making plans to leave us...weren’t you?’

‘Yes.’ Samantha closed her eyes. If the truth were known she hadn’t really got around to the point of making plans; she had been too busy thinking about her husband, about the fact that he didn’t want their baby.

‘You...you haven’t told anyone that I’m pregnant, have you?’ she asked suddenly, her eyes flicking open anxiously.

‘Just your doctor... I’ll have to fill in a report for headquarters, though, Sam.’

That was to be expected, but even so her heart sank.

‘Shall I make some enquiries about getting you back to civilisation?’ the sister asked gently now.

‘I suppose you should.’ Samantha nodded. ‘As you say, I can’t stay here.’

She watched as the sister walked away across the ward. At least her baby was all right, she told herself positively. Ben—had he been here—would probably have been disappointed by that news.

Across the ward she could see Josh leaning indolently against the doorway, listening intently to something Joanne was telling him.

He was very handsome. His very presence seemed to dominate the small ward, radiating powerful, vital waves of strength.

What was Joanne talking so earnestly to him about? Samantha wondered. Josh seemed very interested, his eyes serious, watching her with complete absorption.

She sighed and turned on her side, away from them. She was grateful to Josh for rescuing her but she still didn’t like him. He was too arrogantly sure of himself. He was probably a womaniser into the bargain. A man who enjoyed breaking hearts.

Ben had broken her heart. She stared at the wall and tried not to think about her husband. There was no point in analysing their relationship any further. If the truth were known their marriage had been a terrible mistake from the beginning. She had tried very hard to make it work, but Ben had killed her feelings for him with his cold, almost indifferent attitude.

She remembered his reaction when she had told him she was pregnant. ‘Get rid of it,’ he had said stonily, with no hesitation. The memory made her shudder.

Ben was dead, and she grieved for the tragic waste of his life. But her respect for him had gone. Now her priority was her unborn child.

CHAPTER TWO

A WEEK later they let Samantha out of hospital. In one way she was relieved to be out of the ward. It had been frustrating to have to lie there when she knew the nurses around her could use some help. However, going back to the room she had shared with Ben would be hard.

She was making her way out of the hospital when she saw Josh Hamilton walking towards her.

‘Almost didn’t recognise you with your clothes on.’ He grinned as he stopped beside her. ‘I’ve only ever seen you in a uniform or a white nightshirt.’

Samantha tried not to look embarrassed by the remark, or by the way his eyes were assessing her in a light-hearted manner. She was wearing a cotton summer dress which had a faded floral print in blues and pinks. It was not a sophisticated dress but it was pretty, or rather it had looked pretty before she had lost so much weight. Now it hung on her slender frame in a way that was not exactly flattering. Not that she cared about her looks, and she certainly didn’t give a damn what Josh Hamilton thought of her.

‘I thought you might have left by now,’ she said crisply, pointedly ignoring his remarks.

‘If you can’t drive, getting out of here is not so easy,’ he said, indicating his wrist, which was still bandaged. ‘Believe me, I’ve explored all the options.’

‘I know what you mean.’ Samantha nodded. ‘I was hoping to be able to catch a plane to Salanga, but unfortunately none of the air relief has been able to get in.’

She turned to continue walking and he fell into step beside her. ‘You’re leaving?’ He sounded surprised.

‘Yes... I’ve been given my orders to go home. Apparently I need peace and quiet so as to heal my emotionally traumatised body.’ She made a joke of the subject, her lips curved in a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘What about you? Are you going back to England?’

‘No, I’m not due to leave Nuangar for a while yet.’

They walked out into the heat of the day. The sky was a perfect dazzling blue which contrasted sharply against the brown mud huts and the dusty red earth. People were going about their work as usual. The sound of children’s singing drifted up from the school at the far end of the compound.

The hospital was the only brick building among a collection of mud huts huddled together at the edge of the African bush. Chuanga had once been a thriving little community, but since the war conditions had become unbearable. They were surrounded by hostile terrain, where the warring factions allowed very little to come in or out. Except for the radio, they were cut off from the outside world.

It was early afternoon, and quiet for once. She realised suddenly that the gunfire had stopped. The calm, tranquil sound of silence was like a blessed balm to her stretched nerves.