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“Father,” he said, wishing she would say the word.
Ashley crossed to a set of double doors opening onto a balcony, and Hunter followed her outside into the crisp night. She stood at the railing, rubbing her arms, and Hunter found himself wanting to hold her. “Should you be out in the cold?”
When she didn’t respond, he took her hand and turned her. “I’m not entirely heartless, despite popular opinion.”
She lifted her eyes to meet his. The heartache and fear he saw there made him long to pull her into his arms and protect her. Which was stupid, because he would be shielding her from himself.
“This morning you mentioned wanting custody,” she whispered.
He knew he had, but now he found himself unable to bear the thought of hurting her. “Yes, but I’ve had a chance to think and wondered if we might reach a compromise….”
Dear Reader,
Have you started your spring cleaning yet? If not, we have a great motivational plan: For each chore you complete, reward yourself with one Silhouette Romance title! And with the standout selection we have this month, you’ll be finished reorganizing closets, steaming carpets and cleaning behind the refrigerator in record time!
Take a much-deserved break with the exciting new ROYALLY WED: THE MISSING HEIR title, In Pursuit of a Princess, by Donna Clayton. The search for the missing St. Michel heir leads an undercover princess straight into the arms of a charming prince. Then escape with Diane Pershing’s SOULMATES addition, Cassie’s Cowboy. Could the dreamy hero from her daughter’s bedtime stories be for real?
Lugged out and wiped down the patio furniture? Then you deserve a double treat with Cara Colter’s What Child Is This? and Belinda Barnes’s Daddy’s Double Due Date. In Colter’s tender tearjerker, a tiny stranger reunites a couple torn apart by tragedy. And in Barnes’s warm romance, a bachelor who isn’t the “cootchie-coo” type discovers he’s about to have twins!
You’re almost there! Once you’ve rounded up every last dust bunny, you’re really going to need some fun. In Terry Essig’s Before You Get to Baby… and Sharon De Vita’s A Family To Be, childhood friends discover that love was always right next door. De Vita’s series, SADDLE FALLS, moves back to Special Edition next month.
Even if you skip the spring cleaning this year, we hope you don’t miss our books. We promise, this is one project you’ll love doing.
Happy reading!
Mary-Theresa Hussey
Senior Editor
Daddy’s Double Due Date
Belinda Barnes
www.millsandboon.co.uk
To my darling husband for his endless support,
patience and encouragement…and for developing
a taste for bologna sandwiches.
Books by Belinda Barnes
Silhouette Romance
His Special Delivery #1491
The Littlest Wrangler #1527
Daddy’s Double Due Date #1587
BELINDA BARNES
A romantic at heart, 1999 Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart winner, Belinda Barnes grew up in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, on the banks of the Arkansas River, where she dreamed of faraway lands, castles and princes. Though Texas is not all that far away, it is there Belinda found her prince. Together in their two-story castle, they have raised two sons, a daughter and a menagerie of pets, including dogs, cats, tropical fish, turtles, hamsters and ferrets. With sons whose interests run the gamut from bull riding to racing cars and motorcycles, Belinda is more than ready for her daughter’s more sedate passions of dancing, singing and acting.
Belinda lives in Elm Mott, Texas, with her husband, her daughter and spoiled cat, Precious. In addition to fiction, she is published in magazine and book-length nonfiction. In her spare time she enjoys clogging, painting, reading, country-and-western music, dancing, fishing, scuba diving, camping and getting together with other writers.
Belinda loves to hear from readers. Write to her at P.O. Box 1165, Elm Mott, Texas 76640.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Chapter One
“Congratulations, Mr. Morgan. You’re going to be a father.”
Hunter Morgan clutched the phone in one hand, the steaming cup of coffee in the other paused halfway to his mouth. “Who is this?”
“The Spangler-Moore Fertility Clinic. The in vitro was a success.”
“Ma’am, this is Hunter Morgan. Who are you calling?”
“Did you say Hunter Morgan? The sperm donor for the in vitro?”
“No. My sperm was for an insemination on Lauren Ann Morgan, my sister-in-law,” he said. “This is her residence.”
“Insemination? Hold on. Let me check something. The pregnancy test is that of Laura Ashley Morgen. M-o-r-g-e-n.”
Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. “My sister-in-law is Lauren Ann Morgan. M-o-r-g-a-n. She saw her doctor this morning and is not pregnant.”
“Oh, I see what happened. The test results were inadvertently attached to your sister-in-law’s file, probably because of the name similarity. I apologize for having bothered you.”
When the dial tone buzzed in his ear, Hunter hung up. Yet the eerie feeling that had settled heavy in his gut remained.
“Who was that?” Jared asked from the doorway.
“Wrong number.” Hunter joined his brother and sister-in-law in the kitchen, hoping that’s all it had been—a wrong number.
Thank God he’d been in the living room near the phone. After the hell Jared and Lauren had gone through trying to conceive a child and then learning the insemination had failed, a mistake like that call could be emotionally devastating.
The phone call. Something about it made Hunter as uneasy as he’d been his first time before a judge, in his pre-attorney days. He tried to convince himself it was only a mix-up, nothing more than a clerical error. Despite his attempts to dismiss the conversation, parts of it kept coming back to him. The in vitro was a success. Hunter Morgan…the sperm donor for the in vitro?
Lauren hadn’t had an in vitro, but the other woman, Ms. Morgen with an “e,” had. And Hunter, the sperm donor, was the only common thread between the two.
Hunter knew from his own scrutiny of the clinic that an error was unlikely. Still, trouble had always had a way of finding him, even when he hadn’t deliberately gone looking for it. And he knew how conceiving a child could change the course of a man’s life. He couldn’t afford to be involved in another scandal. Not now. Not when he’d worked so hard to gain respect and finally had a shot at becoming the next district attorney, a surefire way of proving he’d changed and was no longer a hell-raiser. He had to investigate.
Hunter poured the remaining coffee down the drain and left his cup in the sink. “I need to pass on lunch.”
Lauren pulled lettuce and tomato from the refrigerator. “Do you want a sandwich to take with you?”
“No, thanks,” Hunter said, noticing Lauren’s slumped shoulders—the only outward sign of her anguish over once again failing to conceive. “I’m sorry. If you decide to try again—”
“We appreciate everything you’ve done. This whole ordeal has been very difficult.” Lauren turned away, but not before he saw the tears pooling in her eyes. “I don’t think we’ll try again for a while. I need some time away from the stress.”
“I understand.”
Jared pulled his wife to his side. “Hunter, you’ve been a good sport about this. It’s not your fault it didn’t work out.”
Then why did he feel responsible? Hunter thought. “I’d better be going.” He headed for the front door, wanting to get outside to draw a breath of fresh air, to get away from the pain etched in their faces. And the guilt threatening to choke him.
Hunter hurried to his pickup and backed down the long drive. He had to know if a stranger had been impregnated with his sperm. Ten minutes later he hurried inside the antiseptic-smelling fertility clinic where the receptionist flashed him a smile.
“I’m Hunter Morgan. Someone called me this morning about Laura Ashley Morgen. Do you know who it was?”
“No, sir, but I’ll see if I can find out.” She picked up the phone and punched in a number.
A moment later, a nurse he recognized hurried toward him. “Mr. Morgan, without a consent, I can’t discuss—”
“I received a call this morning indicating my sperm was used to impregnate a Laura Ashley Morgen. Is that true?”
The nurse’s brows puckered behind her wire-frame glasses. “Wasn’t your sperm designated solely for your sister-in-law?”
“Yes, but what about the call this morning? I want to see documentation ensuring my sperm didn’t go to this other woman.”
“We use a double-check system. A mix-up is virtually impossible.” Opening a folder on the reception desk, the nurse scanned its contents. Her eyes grew wide, then wider still.
Hunter moved closer, his fears confirmed. He muttered a curse and ripped out the page containing his name from the file. Anger shot through him, swift and hot, followed immediately by a rush of painful memories he refused to think about now. He crushed the paper in his fist.
The nurse grabbed for the sheet. “Give me that.”
“Not a chance.”
“I know you’re upset about this. So am I. We’ve worked hard to develop a foolproof system. Something like this shouldn’t happen. I intend to do a thorough investigation. When I find the person responsible, they’ll be fired. I’m sorry about this, but you can’t take that page. It’s confidential. Surely you understand—”
“Lady,” he said, struggling to maintain what little control he had left, “right now this record is the least of your worries. I want to know how this happened and what you plan to do to prevent a recurrence. Give me answers or I’ll shut you down.”
“What about the good we do for so many couples?”
He met her gaze. “It’ll be up to a judge to decide whether this is an isolated case of negligence or common practice and if the potential for harm outweighs the good.” Hunter turned on his heel and stormed from the building, not slowing until he reached his truck. He yanked the door open and dropped onto the leather seat, remembering another day fifteen years ago when he’d learned he was going to be a father. The painful memories of what had followed ripped through him. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel. The sound of paper crumpling drew his attention to the sheet still clutched in his hand. It felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked from the cab of his truck. He inhaled three deep breaths until the ache in his chest began to subside.
A baby. Speculating over how it had happened wouldn’t change the fact that Hunter was going to be a father. Last time he’d been too young and had no say in his child’s future or his own. This time, things would be different. He knew nothing about the woman who carried his child except her name, but by sunset he would know everything.
Hunter pulled the cell phone from his pocket and dialed. His secretary answered on the second ring. “Dianne, I need information on a woman ASAP.”
She laughed. “Is this personal or business?”
“Personal, but it’s not what you think.”
“Too bad. What’s her name?”
“Laura Ashley Morgen with an ‘e.’ She may live in Hale.”
“Do you want a partial or full report?”
“Everything you can find.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Dianne said.
“Great. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Something’s come up. Can you clear my calendar for the rest of today?”
“It’s done. Do you want me to cancel your meeting with that Johnson boy and the high school counselor or reschedule?”
“Go ahead and reschedule as soon as I have an opening. That kid is headed for trouble unless we can get him to find a new set of friends.”
“If anyone can reach him, you can.”
“Thanks. I wish I felt that confident.”
“Who is this Laura Ashley Morgen?”
He considered her question. Dianne had a penchant for being nosey, but this was personal. “You tell me.”
Back at his office, Hunter spent the next six hours thinking about the situation. Even though he’d had nothing to do with the clinic error, he knew everyone, including his family, would fear he had gone back to his old ways of drinking and carousing. Given his past, he really couldn’t blame them. He couldn’t expect them to believe those days were over. Forever.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbed his burning eyes with his thumb and forefinger, then reread the clinic’s report for the twentieth time. Patient: Laura Ashley Morgen. Sperm donor: Hunter Morgan. He punched in his brother’s speed dial number, needing to talk to the one person who would shoot straight without judging him. But after realizing how news of the baby would hurt Jared, Hunter hung up.
He scanned the report Dianne had given him as she’d left for the day. Since moving to Hale a year ago, Ashley Morgen had been employed at Barnett & Williams. How ironic she should work for the defense firm that opposed him on most cases. Fate obviously had a cruel sense of humor. His gaze skimmed over the information. He paused. Dread knotted his gut. His heart raced. He held his breath and glanced at it once more. Marital status: single.
A sick feeling replaced the knot in his stomach. He scrubbed a hand over his face and swore. Events from his past rushed at him. There hadn’t been a day in the last fifteen years when he hadn’t mourned the loss of his unborn baby. He’d been the only one to grieve, a fact that had irreparably stretched his already-strained relationship with his father to the breaking point. Hunter had never been able to be the perfect son his dad had wanted. By the time Hunter had become a teenager, he’d given up trying to please his dad and turned rebellious. He’d done things to annoy his dad like spinning his tires in front of Buck’s law office. He’d even tried to outrun the police once. It all seemed so long ago.
Now, despite Hunter’s diligence to use protection, he had fathered a child with a woman he’d never met. A single woman who would likely have to struggle to get by. A woman who, without regard for the hell she would put him through, had made him a father, when that was something he hadn’t thought he would ever be ready to endure again. Especially not now when he still awoke sometimes at night with tears in his eyes over the child he had never had a chance to hold.
When Hunter had agreed to let his brother raise any child resulting from Lauren’s fertilization, it was because he’d known they would take great care of the baby. But more than that, he couldn’t bear to see his brother suffering the same want of a child that would never be. Even though donating his sperm would make him an uncle, godfather and part of the family, the decision had been much more difficult than he’d expected. But this situation was entirely different. He knew nothing about this woman, except for a few impersonal facts. Hunter had made a hell of a lot of mistakes in his life. He wouldn’t make another. Not when an innocent child was involved. His unborn child.
Ms. Morgen wouldn’t like his interference. By this time tomorrow, she would likely hate him. Hell, if the situation were reversed, he would pull together a brutal team of lawyers who would go for the jugular. But the clinic had set things in motion when they’d used Hunter’s sperm without his knowledge. If he was more like his father, he would put his feelings on hold and view this as an inconvenience. But he wasn’t like his father.
Fifteen years ago, he’d been way too young. A kid who had no say in his future much less a child’s. Back then he could only watch as his and Courtney’s parents had decided what was best. Hunter’s father had even prepared voluntary relinquishment papers for Hunter and Courtney to sign. Now Hunter was a grown man who knew that sometimes all the medical technology in the world couldn’t stop a woman from miscarrying. This time he would have a say. This time his father couldn’t force him to sign relinquishment papers. He would go to any length to see that this stranger safely delivered his child. Then he would get custody because unlike his father, Hunter intended to be there for his child.
Tomorrow he would pay Laura Ashley Morgen a visit. She needed to know he wouldn’t walk away from the child he had fathered.
Despite not wanting to take a child from its mother, he intended to have a say in any decision involving his child. The only way to make sure that happened was to seek full custody. He didn’t want to hurt this woman, but this time he would take care of his baby.
He had lost one when Courtney had miscarried their child in her fourth month. He wouldn’t lose another.
“I’m Hunter Morgan. I’m the father of your baby.”
Laura Ashley Morgen stared at the man she recognized as the assistant district attorney. She couldn’t think, couldn’t accept what he had just said. No one but the clinic knew she was pregnant. “No,” she said as a wave of dizziness made the room spin.
“Aw, hell. I knew I should have waited and talked to you at home tonight, but was anxious and afraid you’d run if you learned what had happened at the clinic.” Hunter swept Ashley up into his strong arms, despite her protests, and settled her in a conference room chair. He pushed her hair back and gave her a searching look with blue eyes that seemed to see into her soul, then he frowned as if not liking what he saw there. “Talk to me, Laura. Are you okay?”
Without waiting for her answer, he scooped ice into a plastic cup and filled it with water from a beverage tray she’d earlier carried into the conference room.
Recovering from the shock of his words, Ashley realized just how close Hunter Morgan stood and what he had called her. “Ashley,” she managed to say. “I go by Ashley.”
He nodded, then pressed the cup to her lips. “Drink this.”
Ashley sipped, not that he gave her much choice as he tipped the cup. Once the room stopped turning, she pulled away and drew a shaky breath, noticing that what she’d initially thought was anger in his eyes had been quickly replaced by concern.
His sudden lack of arrogance surprised her almost as much as the claim he’d made. She didn’t know a lot about Hunter Morgan, but hadn’t thought him the type to go out of his way for others. Even more surprising was her noticing something personal about the man she’d come to think of as aggressive, condescending, and disagreeable. And those were his good qualities.
He stared down at her hands clasped tightly over her abdomen, her child. Their eyes met and held when he touched the frosty container to her temple. Then he pushed her bangs back and eased the cup across her forehead, the condensation wetting her skin. His tender care was in direct opposition to the determined man she’d seen in action. “Feeling better?”
Ashley captured the hand holding the water and moved it aside. Somewhat off-balance by his nearness and her own confusing reaction, she responded with a nod. Still, she found herself unable to look away from the big man dressed in a dark suit that strained against his shoulders, the same shoulders that now blocked her view. “I—I just found out yesterday. That information is confidential. How could you possibly know?”
“The clinic made a mistake,” he said, as if that should explain it all. “They called me first because your test results were attached to my sister-in-law’s chart.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I have proof that they fertilized your eggs with my sperm.”
“But I talked with the clinic at length before deciding to go there. I can’t believe this happened.”
“They’re investigating now. Believe me, by the time I’m done with them, they’ll make sure it won’t happen again.” When Hunter offered her another drink, Ashley declined with a shake of her head. She noticed the tiny lines fanning outward from the corners of his blue eyes, eyes that made it hard to concentrate.
He placed the water on the tray, his movements sure and confident. “What happened isn’t my fault or yours, but there’s a baby involved. My baby. That’s why I’m here.”
Not liking the turn of the conversation, Ashley pushed from the chair, disregarding the hand he offered to steady her. The initial panic, which had caused the room to tilt, hadn’t eased much, but she refused to let him walk in and start issuing orders the way he did on legal matters. This involved her child. “I don’t know what this is all about or what you expect to accomplish, but you’re wasting your time. You have no right to this child. It’s mine. All mine. Only mine.”
He gave no outward reaction to her statement, but studied her for a long moment with crystalline eyes that made her uncomfortable. “I can prove I’m the father.” He ran his hand along his jaw, his whisker stubble making a rasping sound. “I don’t want to make this any more difficult on you than it has to be, but Texas law gives me certain rights. I want custody.”
Ashley’s knees almost buckled. “No. This is my child. If it’s money you want, then I can pay you for your…services.”
He watched her, his gaze intent. “You think I want your money? Lady, I’m the Kern County assistant district attorney.”
She returned his glare. “I know exactly who you are.”
“Morgan, I thought I heard you.” Ashley’s boss, Richard Williams, lumbered across the conference room’s plush carpet to face Hunter Morgan. “Is there a problem here?”
Ashley froze, unable to do anything but wait to see what, if anything, the assistant D.A. intended to say.
Hunter glanced at her. “Problem? No. Ashley and I were having a friendly disagreement over a common interest.”
Mr. Williams warned Ashley with a cutting look before turning his attention back to Hunter. “If you have a few minutes, I’d like to discuss the Thompson case.”
Without missing a beat, Hunter slipped into his prosecutor persona. “All right.”
“Have a seat, and I’ll get my client. I was going over with him what to expect at tomorrow’s arraignment,” Mr. Williams said.
When Ashley tried to follow her boss from the conference room, Hunter caught her arm, his hold firm, but gentle.
Once assured Mr. Williams wasn’t waiting outside the door, Ashley glanced at the long fingers that held her, then met Hunter’s frown with one of her own. “If I want to keep my job—and I do—then I need to get back to work.”
“We’ll continue this conversation over dinner tonight.”
Ashley checked the urge to chew on her bottom lip. She met his gaze, pleased she accomplished the feat without flinching. Father indeed. What proof could he possibly have? Under other circumstances, being assistant district attorney would give him a lot of bargaining power. But not for her child. Never for her child. “I’m busy.”
“Tomorrow at lunch, then?”
“I already have plans.”
His jaw tightened. “Tomorrow night?”
She tugged her arm free, rubbing the spot that still burned from his touch. “I can’t. If you’ll excuse me.”
“It doesn’t end here, Ashley. I won’t go away. Either agree to meet me, so we can do this nicely,” he said, the underlying threat in his voice letting her know nice was the last thing he intended to be. “Or, refuse, and we can engage in a custody battle in court with the entire world watching our lives being dissected, detail by ugly detail. Which do you want? It’s your call.” The flames leaping into his eyes blazed blue.