The family she’s always wanted...

With the man she doesn’t expect!

Midwife Lana Sanders is about to adopt little Maggie, and gain the family she never thought she’d have, when pediatrician Trent Montgomery arrives claiming to be Maggie’s uncle! Lana won’t give up without a fight, but resisting the tempting Texan is her greatest battle. They work well together in the delivery room and sparks fly in the bedroom, but can Lana trust Trent with her heart?

DEANNE ANDERS was reading romance while her friends were still reading Nancy Drew, and she knew she’d hit the jackpot when she found a shelf of Harlequin Presents in her local library. Years later she discovered the fun of writing her own. Deanne lives in Florida, with her husband and their spoiled Pomeranian. During the day she works as a nursing supervisor. With her love of everything medical and romance, writing for Mills & Boon Medical Romance is a dream come true.

From Midwife to Mummy is Deanne Anders’s debut title

Look out for more books from Deanne Anders

Coming soon

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

From Midwife to Mummy

Deanne Anders

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09002-5

FROM MIDWIFE TO MUMMY

© 2019 Denise Chavers

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 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.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

MILLS & BOON

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

This book is dedicated to my parents,

Rev. and Mrs. J. A. Atkison, who loved and supported

me and made sure I always knew I belonged.

And to Lucretia Lee, R.N.

The best Labor and Delivery nurse I ever had the

privilege to work with. I can never thank you enough

for the gift of your mentorship.

And to Theresa Lee.

While you might not be my sister by blood or

adoption, you will always be my sister of my heart.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

DIM LIGHTS AND the sound of soft waves crashing against the shore had created an atmosphere of a calm retreat, but midwife Lana Sanders knew that her patient had long passed the point of caring.

“You’re doing great,” Lana said as she coached Kim through another contraction and watched the fetal monitor. She watched the fetal heart-rate accelerate, then come down to its baseline. So far this had been a perfect labor.

“You’re going to be late,” Jeannie whispered to Lana as she arranged the delivery table.

“It won’t be long now,” Lana said, as much to reassure the labor and delivery nurse as well as her patient.

“Push. Now.” Kim ground out.

“Wait, I’ve got to get the camera!” Kim’s husband Tom called out as he turned his back and started going through a duffle bag laid upon the bedside table.

“Wait?” said Kim. Her voice rose an octave and took on that gravelly sound that only a woman in transition, or one possessed, could reach. “What have you been doing all this time?”

“It’s okay, Tom, we have a couple minutes,” Lana said.

A deep growl escaped from Kim.

“Okay, maybe we don’t,” Lana said as she watched a circle of dark wet curls crown.

She positioned the delivery table so that it would be within easy reach, then undraped it, letting the protective covering fall to the floor.

“Kim, we’ve done this before, right?” Lana waited till she had Kim’s attention. “The baby’s starting to crown so whenever you’re ready go ahead and push.”

“Now!” said Kim, then took a fast breath.

Tom rushed to his wife’s side and helped her get into position as she curled her body and pushed down. Lana watched as the couple worked together for their child. Kim’s face was flushed and glowing with color as she concentrated on nothing but this moment—the moment she would bring a new life into the world. It was both beautiful and heart-wrenching for Lana to watch this miracle.

“Take another breath,” Lana said. “Is the contraction gone?”

“No,” Kim said, before she took a deep breath then returned to pushing.

“Okay, Kim, I need you to listen to me,” Lana said.

She waited as Kim looked up at her.

“Next push we’re going to have a baby, okay?” Lana watched as both excitement and fear filled her patient’s tired eyes. “You can do this. I promise.”

Kim nodded her head and grabbed Tom’s hand as she positioned herself again, then pushed.

Seconds later a screaming, squirming baby boy was delivered. Lana carefully suctioned the baby’s mouth, then handed Kim her new baby and watched as the experienced mom caught him close against her body, putting him skin to skin to keep him warm while Jeannie dried him off with some fluffy towels. She clamped then cut the umbilical cord that had been the baby’s lifeline. Seeing both mom and baby meeting for the first time, she was amazed, as always, by the miracle of life that she was blessed to witness.

“You did wonderfully,” Lana told Kim.

Lana delivered the placenta, then made sure her patient’s bleeding was controlled. A quick glance at the clock above the bed had her suddenly feeling a sense of panic. She had to get out of the hospital in the next twenty minutes or she was never going to make it to court on time.

She gave the new mom a hug, then posed for a picture with the rest of the Callahan family once they were allowed in the room. She headed to the nurses’ lounge for a quick change of clothes, then headed out of the hospital. This was going to be one of the most important days of her life. Today she would officially become a new mom herself—something that until a year and a half ago she had thought would never happen.

There was no way she was going to be late.

* * *

Lana white-knuckled her way through the nightmare of Miami traffic. The multiple lanes all seemed to be going nowhere, and Lana was short on both time and patience. For the first time she was scared she really was going to miss her appointment with the judge who would be finalizing Maggie’s adoption.

The thought of her sweet, adorable little toddler had her taking a deep breath and relaxing. It would be okay. She was cutting it close, but she would make it. After over twelve months of social workers’ visits and court appearances, there was no way fate would fail her now.

It had been fate that had brought the little girl into her life, after Lana had just happened to take on her young mother as a patient. When Chloe had later decided she couldn’t handle the responsibility of a new baby and showed up on her doorstep, handing Lana the child along with a notarized letter saying she wanted Lana to adopt her, it had been nothing short of a miracle.

A lane opened up to her right and she swung into it and followed it to the next exit. Fifteen minutes later she made it to the judge’s chamber where her appearance was scheduled to be. She was surprised to see that neither her lawyer nor her babysitter and Maggie were outside the room, waiting for her. She had texted both of them to let them know she was going to cut it close.

A note on the door explained that there had been a change in where the session would be held. Lana rushed down the hall to the courtroom. As she reached for the handle of the door a large hand reached around her.

“Let me,” said a male voice in a slow drawl that almost curled her toes.

Lana turned and followed the outstretched arm up to the man behind it. The sight of coal-black hair curling around an angular face with a pair of deep blue eyes was startling. Forgetting that she was blocking the door, she let her gaze continue down the tailored black suit to the pointed toes of black leather cowboy boots peeking from beneath his pants leg.

A cowboy in Miami?

The thought had Lana smiling as she looked up at the handsome man and with a quick “Thank you” continued into the courtroom.

A frantic Amanda waved at her from the front of the courtroom, where she and Lana’s lawyer Nathan had taken their seats. As soon as Maggie got a look at Lana the toddler started protesting. She wanted to get down and see her “mama” right then.

Amanda had dressed her in the new pink sundress Lana had recently bought, and with her dark curls and big deep blue eyes she looked like a china doll come to life. Lana reached over and took her little girl. She gave her a big tight hug that had Maggie giggling and squirming in her lap.

“Why the change to the courtroom?” she asked Nathan as she scooted into the seat next to him.

“Shh...” Nathan whispered back as he studied some of the papers in his hand.

Amanda looked at the two of them, then shrugged her shoulders, letting Lana know that she didn’t have a clue about what was going on.

Nathan was always a little uptight-looking, which Lana put down to his job in family law. She knew that sometimes his cases were very stressful, with emotions riding high, but there was something about the way he was studying the papers in his hands that told her something was wrong.

Suddenly her heart kicked into panic mode. It was the same feeling she had when she woke up in the middle of her repeated nightmare about Chloe showing up at her door and telling her that she had changed her mind. That she didn’t think Lana would be a good enough mother for Maggie and she was taking her away. Taking the little girl Lana had fostered since she was six weeks old. Taking her far away to somewhere Lana would never see her again.

It was the same nightmare she’d had for months now, but after today it would surely go away. Once the adoption was final Lana would be Maggie’s mother, just as if she had given birth to her. There would be no way anyone would be able to take her away then.

As Judge Hamilton entered the courtroom everyone rose, then sat when the bailiff indicated. Taking a second to look around the courtroom, Lana noted that the social worker, Ms. Nelson from the Florida Department of Children and Families, who had been handling her case, was seated on the right at the front of the courtroom. She watched as the older woman handed the bailiff some papers that were then given to the judge.

Apprehension sent a shiver down her back. Lana looked at her lawyer again, to see his attention glued to the judge, who was now reading over the documents the social worker had presented to him.

“This is the hearing for the final placement of the child known here as Maggie. I know that Maggie has been fostered with Ms. Sanders since...” Judge Hamilton paused as he read the documents in front of him “...since she was six weeks old, and that the child’s biological mother personally requested that Ms. Sanders be allowed to adopt her daughter.”

The judge looked up and gave Lana a smile. Lana felt the tension ease and relaxed back into her seat. Judge Hamilton had always been encouraging in her quest to adopt Maggie. She knew her case was in good hands as long as he was on the bench.

“Ms. Sanders has been forthcoming in all the demands the court has placed on her, and she has met every requirement that the Department of Children and Families demands.”

Judge Hamilton once more picked up the documents. This was it—finally he would say the words she had been waiting for and Maggie would be all hers.

“To be clear, this was to have been the last hearing and the adoption was to have become final today.”

Was to have become final? Were they going to make her jump through another hoop today?

“Ms. Nelson, you have indicated in your request to postpone the adoption that you have some new information that needs to be considered. Is that correct?”

Lana watched the social worker as she rose and walked to the front of the court room. Glancing at her lawyer for some sign as to what was happening, she noted that there was no look of surprise in his eyes as he watched the judge and the social worker quietly discussing the new documents she had handed him. When Nathan turned and took Lana’s hands his look of concern pierced her heart.

Only something truly wrong would cause that kind of reaction in Nathan.

Amanda reached for her other hand and, looking at her, Lana saw the fear that she knew mirrored her own. Maggie, thinking this was a game in which she was not included, pulled at the adults’ hands and started babbling in her sweet baby voice.

Lana released her hold on the others and wrapped her arms around her little girl. Okay, so there was another delay. There had been several over the last year. They had managed to clear each hurdle to get to this point, and if there was something else the court wanted from her she could handle it.

“It has come to the court’s attention that there is a new petition to stop this adoption by someone who claims to be a family member—a brother of the biological father,” Judge Hamilton stated.

Lana’s heart stuttered for a moment, then raced forward at a speed that had a gasp escaping into the quiet court room. She pressed Maggie closer to her chest as she felt the adrenaline rush hit her, telling her either to run or prepare to fight. She clasped Maggie tightly, needing to feel the reassurance that only physically holding her child in her arms could give her.

“Is the person petitioning the court present?” the judge asked.

Lana watched her nightmare play out in front of her as the cowboy she’d seen earlier rose to his feet.

“I’m Trent Montgomery, Judge Hamilton, and I have reason to believe that I’m Maggie’s uncle.”

* * *

Trent walked into the small room at the side of the courtroom and took a seat at the small rickety table. Across the table sat the young woman he had met going into the courtroom—the woman he now knew as Lana Sanders.

He was surprised he hadn’t recognized her from the picture he had found among the items his brother had had when he was taken to the hospital. Of course the young woman pictured smiling at the toddler whose hand she held looked young and carefree, with her hair flying all around her face as a breeze blew through the blond strands, while the woman he had opened the door for was all business, in her tailored skirt and blouse and her hair pulled back in some sort of clip.

Now the woman had let her hair down in more than one way, and her bright green eyes shot daggers at him as she talked with an older woman with steel-gray hair and eyes to match. He had no doubt that at that moment she wanted nothing more than to come over to the table where he sat.

Not that he didn’t understand the kind of anger she was feeling. When his brother’s lawyer had contacted him about the child he had wanted to hit something—anything—just to be able to take out the anger he’d felt at his brother. How could his brother have kept it from him that he had a little girl?

The lawyer had stated that Michael hadn’t believed the contents of the letter he had received from his ex-girlfriend. But when the private detective he had hired had brought back pictures of a smiling toddler with coal-black ringlets and bright blue eyes, he’d known that the child was his.

After the lawyer had read Michael’s will, and left some pictures of the child, Trent had come to the same conclusion as his brother. The child could only be a Montgomery. Another Montgomery child that had been abandoned.

He’d looked at those pictures a lot during the last two weeks, as he had tried to decide what to do about the child. She looked happy, smiling at the pretty blond woman, who smiled back with a love that seemed to pour out of the picture.

Why would he want to take this child away from this woman who appeared to love her? And what did he know about raising a little girl? Sitting there across from a woman who plainly wished a hole would open up and swallow him, he wondered for the hundredth time why he’d uprooted his life to come somewhere he didn’t want to be and where he certainly didn’t have a clue about what he was doing.

But he would go through with it. Because his brother had asked him to take care of this child if something happened to him. And because the little girl was a Montgomery, and that made her his responsibility.

He had failed to keep his brother safe from his father’s destructive influence, but he wouldn’t fail this child. On paper, Lana Sanders looked like the perfect mom, but Trent knew better than to believe everything he read. He would protect Michael’s child as he should have protected Michael.

Once the court awarded him custody of his niece he would pack up and head back to Houston, where he belonged. Somehow he would have to find a way to make things work till then.

* * *

“Lana, I want to tell you first that I know this isn’t going to be easy for you. You’ve been taking care of Maggie for months now, and I know you love her very much. Second, you need to know that the court has to consider any interest the biological family has in Maggie.” Ms. Nelson the social worker stated. “I’ve seen the letter they have from Chloe, telling Mr. Montgomery’s brother about her pregnancy. And then, of course, there’s the resemblance that none of us can deny.”

“And where was this biological family when she was six weeks old with no one to take care of her?” Lana spat out.

She looked across the table at the man who had been sitting quietly as she had questioned the social worker. Those blue eyes that she had found so appealing earlier now seemed ice-cold as they followed her every movement. He might as well just be an onlooker into this catastrophe he had orchestrated. Her life had suddenly been turned upside down, and he acted as if this was just another meeting for him to attend. As if he had no interest at all in the outcome.

But then he shouldn’t have any interest in her and Maggie’s life. He shouldn’t even be here.

The pain of her nails biting into her hands had her uncurling her fingers. So far she had managed to rein in her temper. Now, running her hands through her hair, she pushed it back from her face and wished she had left it up in the clip. She could feel the heat of anger in her face and she knew the sight of her reddened face and scattered hair couldn’t be a pretty picture.

She would have to get herself under control before she reached panic mode. That was not something she wanted either of these two people in the room to see. Taking a deep, steady breath, she willed her body to relax. Turning back toward the social worker, she pleaded her case once more.

“What about when she was just born and she was going through withdrawal? Was there anybody from this so-called family interested in Maggie then?” Lana said, glad that she no longer heard a tremor in her voice.

“I’m sorry,” Trent said. “I wasn’t aware of the child until a couple of weeks ago. If I had known I would have seen to it that my brother was here when she was born.”

“And where is this brother of yours, huh? Why is it that you’re here without him?” Lana asked. “If he’s Maggie’s father why isn’t he here?”

Lana watched the man she had earlier thought of as cold turn glacial.

“My brother passed away three weeks ago.”

The shock of the statement stunned her into silence. The man who was supposed to be Maggie’s biological father was dead? She stared at the man sitting across from her, who had shown no emotion while discussing his brother’s death. He was just full of bombshells, wasn’t he?

“So why are you here? Why are you so interested in Maggie’s life when apparently your brother had no interest at all?” Lana asked.

Turning toward the social worker, she noticed that the older woman had shown no reaction to this new information. Realizing that Ms. Nelson must already know about the death of the supposed biological father, she felt the relief of earlier fade.

“There is no way you can expect me to give Maggie up to a man who isn’t even her father. It’s one thing to consider the father’s rights, but this man is a stranger to Maggie. You have to see that Maggie is better off in a home where she feels safe and loved. That’s why Chloe didn’t take her. Why she left her with me. She wanted to make sure Maggie would always be in a stable home. She didn’t want to ever have to worry that her baby was not being properly taken care of,” she said as tears spilled from her eyes.

No way. No way would she let them take Maggie.

“We’re not making any changes as far as Maggie is concerned until we investigate the situation, Lana,” the social worker said as she took Lana’s hand and squeezed. “The first thing we’ll do is have a DNA test done on both Maggie and Mr. Montgomery.”

“I’ll give you the information you need to contact me,” Trent volunteered.

“Thank you,” the social worker responded. “And your lawyer has given us the information you have in relation to your brother’s alleged paternity.”

“And, having given you that information, I would like you to consider allowing me some visitation with the child,” Trent said.

“‘The child’ has a name. It’s Maggie. And why should I let you anywhere near her?” Lana asked.

“It’s your decision at this time, Lana, but we do have good reason to think that Mr. Montgomery’s brother was Maggie’s father,” said Ms. Nelson. “And if the DNA tests come back to show Mr. Montgomery as being her uncle, he will be able to ask for visitation while the court decides on custody.”

Lana looked at the man across from her. Cool blue eyes watched her from beneath thick dark lashes. She’d seen that calculating look before, only then it had been on the face of a toddler trying to figure out how to get another cookie after she had eaten her limit.

There was no denying the similarities this man shared with Maggie. And she feared that the DNA test would only confirm what her eyes were telling her now. Chloe had never said much about Maggie’s father, but she had said she’d written him a letter telling him she was pregnant when she hadn’t been able to get him to answer her calls. She had listed Maggie’s father as “unknown” on the birth certificate when she hadn’t heard anything from him, and she had refused to discuss him any further with Lana.

Lana rubbed at the tight knot she felt forming at the back of her neck. How could this day have gone so wrong? She was suddenly bone-tired. She knew she had to accept the fact that this fight wouldn’t be won here today.

“I’ll consider it,” Lana said. “But if I agree, I will be present at all times.”

“Thank you,” Trent said.

“About the DNA, Mr. Montgomery... I’m sure your lawyer has made you aware that the results when testing for an aunt or uncle of a child will not be definitive. It will give us more of a likely match than proof of a biological relationship.”

“Actually, it’s Dr. Montgomery, Ms. Nelson. But please call me Trent.”

For a moment Lana thought her brain would explode at this new piece of information. While she knew the court wouldn’t show any prejudice as far as financial circumstances were concerned, it would surely still consider if a child’s needs could be met. What if they felt that this Dr. Montgomery could provide better for Maggie?

“I’ll contact you both after we receive the DNA results and set up another appointment,” Ms. Nelson continued as she stood, letting Lana know that there wasn’t anything else to be said today.

Lana stepped out of the room and drew her keys out of her purse with trembling hands. She was glad she had sent Maggie home with Amanda instead of having them wait for her. She would have to use the time it would take her to get home to get herself together.

Thank goodness she had found Amanda, a medical student, while she had been looking for a roommate. With Amanda able to fill in as babysitter in exchange for rent, she had the extra help that a single parent needed.

She’d go home and get Maggie into bed, call Nathan to see what her options were, and then she would come up with a plan. Dr. Trent Montgomery might think that he had everything going his way, but they said possession was nine-tenths of the law and right now Maggie was hers.

Lana had only been fifteen when she had beaten the cancer that had been growing in her body. She’d lived through chemo and radiation treatment. She’d stumbled a bit when she had learned that the treatments that had saved her life had destroyed her dreams of having children, but she had managed to keep going even though she’d been hurting.

She was a fighter and she didn’t give up. And she was about to make a certain cowboy wish he had never left Texas.

CHAPTER TWO

LANA WALKED OUT of LDR Four and headed for the OB nurses’ lounge. The delivery had been complicated, due to the size of the baby boy, and the new mom had needed extra reassurance that everything was fine with both her and her baby. Now she would have to hurry back to the office as soon as she’d finished signing off on her orders.

She could hear the whispers and laughter of the nurses as she turned the corner of the nurses’ station. There had to be some new rumor spreading through the hospital, because she noted that everyone was gathered around Kat, the queen of hospital gossip. Usually she would have paused to hear what the newest bit of gossip was, but today she didn’t have time.

As soon as her paperwork was completed she changed out of her scrubs and headed back to her office. She didn’t want to leave her patients waiting any longer. Irate pregnant women could be downright scary, and her staff could only appease them with promises of her return for so long.

John Lincoln, one of the pediatricians employed by the hospital working the obstetric hall, waved from the nursery hallway as she passed. A few seconds later she heard her name called and turned to find John was following her, with another man dressed in the hospital’s light blue scrubs beside him.

Lana stopped and stared at the two men even as she shook her head in denial. There was no way this could be happening to her.

“Hey, Lana,” John said as he approached. “This is Dr. Trent Montgomery. He’s taken the locum tenen position we’ve had open since Dr. Lee left.”

“We’ve met,” Lana said as she turned toward Trent. “What are you doing here?”

“As John just told you, Ms. Sanders, I’ve accepted a temporary job with the pediatric department,” Trent said. “I’m looking forward to the two of us working together.”

Work with the person who was trying to take Maggie away from her? No way was that going to happen.

“But why? Why are you here?” Lana asked.

John looked at Lana, then back at Trent with a frown. “I take it you two know each other?” John asked.

“We’ve met.” Lana said as she moved to one side of the hall to let a nurse pushing a patient in a wheelchair pass.

She noticed the look the nurse gave this new doctor in town. Yeah, she hated to admit it, but he was something to look at. Even with his high-dollar suit and cowboy boots gone he looked good. The pastel color of the cotton scrubs should have dimmed some of that masculine power that he threw off, but instead it seemed to amplify the hardness of the body they covered.

There would be a swarm of women circling around him as if he was roadkill as soon as they got a good look at him. And she would just leave them to it. Because no matter how good he looked she didn’t want him anywhere near her and Maggie. Why was he doing this to her? Her life was stressful enough without him in her hospital, where she would be running into him all the time.

Crossing her arms, she leaned against the wall. There was no way she was going to let him know how rattled he made her. She didn’t care how sexy he looked standing there, she was going to let him know exactly how she felt about this ploy of his. Because that had to be what this was—just one more way to intimidate her into giving up Maggie.

But it wouldn’t work, she was tougher than that. She would not let him get to her. There was too much at stake here. She had too much to lose to let a hard-bodied, hard-headed man get the best of her. She’d play his game if that was what it took to beat him.

“I’ll catch up with you in the lounge,” Trent said to John.

Lana waited till John was out of hearing range before asking the question that was burning her tongue. “What do you think you’re doing here, Dr. Montgomery?” she asked. “Why aren’t you back in Houston?”

Lana watched him take in her knowledge of that piece of information. Yeah, she’d done a little online stalking and it had paid off.

She’d found out that he worked in one of the largest women and children’s hospitals in Houston as a pediatrician, for Pete’s sake. Why he worked as a doctor at all, when he came from a family loaded with oil money, she didn’t understand.

After seeing several pictures of him at different social affairs, all with a different beautiful woman on his arm, she had thought her heart would stop when she’d found an article that listed him as one of Houston’s most eligible bachelors and had seen what was listed as his estimated net worth.

After that she had read everything the internet had on him, looking for something—anything—to use against him. But she hadn’t found anything, and with every article her fear of losing Maggie had increased.

And apparently all the while she had been checking him out, he had been checking her out too. Because even if he had a good reason for leaving the hospital in Houston, the fact that he’d shown up at the hospital where she practiced out of all the hospitals in Miami meant he’d done his research. Or paid someone else to do it.

Wasn’t that what the rich did? Hired someone else to do all the dirty work for them? There were no coincidences with men like Trent Montgomery. No, he had an agenda in coming here, and she would find out what it was one way or the other.

“After my lawyer informed me that the courts would look favorably on me being within their district, I took leave from my job in Houston. Also, it made sense that it would be easier to work with you as far as visitation goes if I was living in the area. A temporary position opened up here, so I inquired and was offered the position.”

As if the pediatric department was going to turn down a qualified pediatrician who had graduated from Emory and done a residency in neonatology when they were so short on staff.

“Besides, Miami is a beautiful city,” he said as he moved closer, leaning in toward her as a group of staff members came down the hall. “Who wouldn’t want to live here?”

She knew better than to let his look of innocence fool her, and she certainly wasn’t going to let the fact that his body was now only inches away affect her.

“What did you tell the interviewers?” she continued, as she tried to ignore her speeding heartbeat. She hadn’t discussed her court appearance with anyone at work—had just told those who’d asked that there had been a small delay in the paperwork at the court.

“I told them I had an interest in the position due to some business I had here in Miami,” Trent said as he moved back a few inches. “I don’t see why the hospital should have any concern for our private affairs.”

Realizing she had been holding her breath, Lana let her lungs expand fully. The racing of her heart let her know she was allowing this man to get to her, and that wasn’t acceptable. She would have to stop letting him intimidate her.

“And I’m supposed to believe that you just happened to end up at the same hospital where I work?”

Trent shrugged a shoulder, then gave her a smile that set her teeth on edge. This was a man who not only knew he was charming, but also knew how to use it to his advantage.

“That’s what I thought,” Lana said as she moved once more to let one of the unit nurses pass.

The fact that it was the same brunette nurse who had walked by earlier didn’t surprise her. Word had clearly already gotten out that there was a new male doctor on the unit, and the fact that he was sexy as hell meant that he would be getting even more attention than usual.

Soon the fact that she knew the new doc would come to the attention of the staff. And that was something that she didn’t want to deal with right now.

* * *

Trent watched Lana as she stomped off, then stopped to pull a ringing phone from her pocket and answer it. He’d known she’d be angry when she found out he’d obtained a job at the hospital she worked at, and he couldn’t blame her. What had surprised him was his reaction to her anger. The woman was as feisty as a wild filly, and reluctantly he had to admit that he’d found it entertaining and even a little arousing to watch her spit and sputter as she reached her boiling point with him.

And that was the strangest thing. Normally the sight of a woman’s anger sent him running in the opposite direction. He’d seen enough of his mother’s tantrums with his father to know he didn’t want any part of that in his life. But this woman’s anger was different. It was hot and furious, but at the same time it was controlled and non-threatening.

And she was sure something to see when her green eyes started to spark lightning strikes at him.

The woman would have his head if she knew that while she’d been doing all that ranting and raving he’d been thinking about how cute she was, trying to intimidate him with her five and a half feet against his six-feet-two-inch self.

The insistent screech of the beeper attached to his scrub bottoms went off and he read a message from the ER, concerning a preterm imminent delivery coming in.

“Which way to the ER?” he asked Lana as she ended her call.

For a second she just stared at him. Then, shaking her head, she turned down another hallway. “Come on, I’ll show you,” she said, not looking back to see if he was following her.

“There’s a thirty-three-week antepartum coming in by ambulance,” he said when he caught up with her.

“She’s thirty-four weeks and six days. That was her husband on the phone,” she said.

He knew those six days could make a big difference in the outcome of the delivery.

“Your patient?” he asked as they boarded an empty elevator to the bottom floor.

“Her name is Taylor. Her husband Dean says that her water suddenly broke and contractions started immediately. She has a history of preterm delivery and was on bedrest.”

“How early were her other deliveries?”

“She’s only had one. Her son Phillip was born at thirty-six weeks.”

Trent waited for Lana to leave the elevator, then followed her through the double doors leading into the emergency room. Multiple glass-doored rooms opened up from what looked like the hub of the department, where nurses and doctors could be seen in front of monitors and answering phones.

“This way,” Lana said as she turned left. “The department is basically set up with the trauma rooms on this end and the less urgent patients on the other.”

She stopped in front of a large monitor set up at the end of the hallway then preceded into a room labeled Trauma Four.

As he entered the large room he noted the baby-warming unit set up in the corner, and the nurses around them opening up the delivery set on a stand near an empty stretcher.

He grabbed Lana’s arm and moved her back as a couple of emergency responders pushed a stretcher into the room, holding a pregnant woman panting and gripping the hands of the female responder.

As he gowned and gloved up he listened as the other responder gave his report to the room. “Spontaneous rupture of membranes twenty minutes ago with contractions starting immediately. Contractions now every two minutes. Vital signs with blood pressure elevated and heart-rate tachy at one-twenty.”

He watched as Lana, also gowned and gloved, helped move the patient to the trauma bed then immediately did a vaginal exam, all the time talking to her patient in a calm voice.

“Is there time to move her upstairs?” he asked. He knew everyone would feel better if they could do the delivery on the obstetric unit.

“Nope,” Lana said. “This one is coming right now.”

A young nurse he was sure he had been introduced to earlier as belonging to the NICU team laid a blanket over his arms and he moved over to where Lana stood.

A breath later and Lana was holding out a small baby for the sobbing mother to see, then reaching for clamps and scissors as she made fast work of freeing the baby from its cord.

Rubbing its back to stimulate a cry, she turned toward him. Pausing for a second, she gave him an assessing look, then with a hesitant nod she handed the baby girl to him.

He took over from where Lana had stopped, and rubbed the baby’s back as he did his assessment. A small cry started as he reached the warmer, and had turned into a howl by the time he laid her down.

The whole room broke out in cheers. He looked back to where Lana was comforting the new mom and saw big smiles on both their faces.

“Sounds like she has a good set of lungs to me,” he said.

He waited for the nurses to bundle her up, then brought the squalling baby to its mother and introduced himself.

“She’s a little early, so I’d like to take her up to the nursery to observe her a little closer, but I’ll get her back to you as soon as possible.”

“But she’s going to be okay?” the new mother asked.

“Her color looks good...she’s going to get a seven and an eight on her Apgar. She was a bit slow starting up, but she’s got the hang of it now, I’d say.”

“As soon as you’re ready I’ll take you up to her,” Lana told Taylor.

Trent laid the baby in the transport crib—she had calmed down some once she had been swaddled into a striped pink blanket—and followed the assigned nurse up to the nursery.

Considering everything that might have happened, he and Lana had managed to keep their personal issues out their jobs, thought Trent. He’d consider that a win for now.

He had no explanation for the way he responded to this woman. Since their first meeting thoughts of her had filled his mind, along with a deep pang of guilt at being the one who would to separate her from the little girl he could see she loved very much. But his agenda was set and nothing could change it now. He’d take care of his niece, just as his brother had asked him to, and he’d find a way to work with this midwife without everything around them exploding, while at the same time using the opportunity to find out everything he might be able to use in the custody battle.

He had to stop this adoption from going through. He wouldn’t let his father ruin his niece’s life the way he had ruined his brother’s and mother’s. He would protect her from his father no matter what it took, and once he had custody of his niece his brother’s will would make sure his old man never had the power to hurt anyone again.

* * *

Lana took her place at Ms. Nelson’s desk and waited for the social worker to finish her phone call. For once she had made it early for an appointment, and she planned on taking advantage of the time she had before Trent arrived.

Why the social worker felt it necessary for the two of them to meet together with her she didn’t understand. The man rubbed her the wrong way, and she had spent the last few days doing her best to avoid him at the hospital, but there had been no way to get out of this meeting.

She would have to keep control of her temper, no matter how hard it was to stay in control when Trent Montgomery was in the room. Making a good impression with the social worker was too important. And, while her lawyer had given her his opinion of Trent’s case for custody, she knew that a lot of the custody decision would be based on the social worker’s investigation.

“Sorry about that, Lana,” said Karen Nelson as she hung up the phone. “It’s been a busy day today. I know this might sound cold, with your situation, but I just wish every child had two adults like you and Mr. Montgomery wanting them.”

“That bad?” Lana asked.

She knew that there were a lot of children in foster homes who would never be adopted. She had seen it in her practice as a midwife, when one of her patients might give birth to a child she couldn’t take care of and the child would go into the system. Then the mother wouldn’t agree to give up her rights to the child, making it impossible for the child to be adopted, so they just continued to stay in the foster system year after year.

Thankfully Chloe had made it clear in her notarized letter, and later in her correspondence with the court, that she wanted Maggie to be adopted. If only more mothers like her could see that they wouldn’t be letting their children down but instead opening up a better option for them.

“Yeah,” the social worker said as she finger-combed the back of her hair, took a deep breath and then seemed to reset herself back into work mode as she started going through the files on her desk.

Not for the first time Lana wondered why someone would ever go into social work—especially in Children and Families. The pressure to ensure the safety of all the children they were responsible for must be mind-boggling.

“While we wait for Dr. Montgomery to arrive let’s talk about how you’re doing. I know this isn’t easy for you. Are you hanging in there okay?”

“I know you’re right about Maggie being a lucky little girl. I get that,” Lana said, “but how much harm will come to her if she’s taken away from the only home she’s ever known and placed with a stranger? She’s been through so much already.”

“I’m her uncle—not a stranger. And surely you can see the advantages of a child being raised among her biological family?” Trent said as he stared down at Lana.

“She’s not even two. She’s not really interested in your stock portfolio,” Lana said.

How had she let him sneak up on her like that?

“Dr. Montgomery—” the social worker started.

“Ma’am,” Trent said as he tipped his big cowboy hat before sitting down beside her. “Please, call me Trent.”

Lana watched as he gave the woman what she had overheard one of the nurses call his “killer” smile. He was such a suck-up.

“Trent, please take a seat.”

The social worker’s smile beamed back at Trent, causing Lana to knot her hands into fists in her lap when what she really wanted to do was wrap them around the man’s neck.

“I was just telling Lana that I know this is not easy for her. It must be hard for you too, having just lost your brother and now moving to Miami on such short notice. I was surprised when your lawyer notified me that you were relocating temporarily. I’m sure this has disrupted your life. You must have been very close to your brother to be willing to make these changes.”

Lana saw the smile on his face tighten. She didn’t have any doubt that there was a story there. Had there been trouble between the brothers? Was there something she could use?

“With my brother gone, I feel that it is my responsibility to make sure his daughter is taken care of,” Trent said, and then he turned in his chair toward Lana. “That’s what families are for. Wouldn’t you agree, Lana?”

Lana looked into Trent’s eyes. Somehow he had managed to turn the tables on her, making any protest she might come up with seem heartless and uncaring. Well, two could play that game.

“Yes, families are important. That’s why I’ve decided to agree to you spending some time with Maggie,” Lana said, and she watched Trent to see his reaction to this piece of news.

She’d thought her lawyer crazy when he’d advised her to consider the visitation, but after he had explained that it would be a way to show the courts that she was willing to allow Maggie to see her biological family after the adoption it had made sense. She was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep her little girl—even if it meant spending time with an irritating cowboy.

“That sounds great, Lana. I’m so glad that the two of you are working together so well,” Ms. Nelson said. “The reason I asked for this meeting was so that we could discuss where we go from here. I know the two of you are on different sides in this case, but I want you both to remember the most important thing to consider here is Maggie and her wellbeing.”

“Of course,” Lana said, and then looked over at Trent.

“Certainly, Ms. Nelson,” Trent said.

Lana watched the corners of Trent’s mouth twitch, as if trying to hold back a smile. Why did she suddenly feel she had fallen into a trap? A trap with a big, bad smiling wolf in it, waiting to devour her.

“Good,” said Ms. Nelson. “I take it you two will come to terms with the visitation arrangements, so unless there is anything else that comes up I won’t need to see either of you again till the DNA test results come back.”

“That’s fine,” Trent said. “I feel sure me and Lana will be able to come to an agreement.”

“I’m sure we will,” Lana said. An agreement? She’d have to remind him that she would be the person in control of their meetings.

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Nelson,” Trent said, blessing the social worker with another one of his smiles as they rose to leave.

Lana walked beside Trent as they left the office building. He’d been quiet as they had ridden down on an overcrowded elevator. It had been uncomfortable, being squeezed next to him. It seemed that no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get away from the man.

They could play nice together in front of the social worker, but that was as far as she could go with it. Just standing next to him was enough to fire up her defenses. This man was a threat to her and she knew she had to stay alert.

Of course there was that saying about keeping your enemies closer than your friends. Was that what Trent was doing by coming to work where he knew he’d be able to observe her? Not that there was any dirt he could dig up on her. She had never lived much of an exciting life. She had even started to think lately that she was getting to be just plain old boring.

Maybe after Maggie’s adoption had taken place she’d take up a hobby, or get back in the dating pool. Maybe.

Thoughts of Joe and the way their relationship had ended left her shaking her head. Even though the man had professed that he loved her, it hadn’t been enough. Not enough to make him want a future with a woman who couldn’t give him children.

Her dream of a forever marriage—a marriage filled with love and support like her parents’—had been destroyed the day they’d broken up and she’d had to accept that she would probably never be able to find a man who would accept her as she was, damaged and broken.

No, she wasn’t going anywhere near heartache any time soon. She had created her own little family with Maggie and that was enough. Now she just had to find a way to keep her family intact and get this cowboy back to Texas. And, as much as it was going to kill her, it was going to mean spending some time with him.

“Look, we need to talk about this visitation. There will have to be some rules. Are you hungry?” Lana asked.

“Yeah, I skipped lunch so that I could get off on time,” Trent said.

“There’s a little Cuban deli I usually stop by when I’m down here,” Lana said. “The food’s good and the people are friendly.”

Lana watched as Trent’s lips twitched, as if he was unable to decide how to take her invitation, and then they parted. Something about his bright smile caused her warning bells to go off. Danger, danger, they said, but it was too late. For the second time that day she felt as if she was the fly that was getting caught up in Trent’s web.

Maybe from now on they should discuss these visitations over the phone.

“Sounds good,” Trent said. “Do we walk or drive?”

“Walk,” Lana said.

She found herself about to smile back at him before she caught herself. She couldn’t let herself be influenced by this man’s charms. They would discuss the necessary arrangements and maybe she’d also try to pry a little information out of him. This was about Maggie—not the stupid way his smile made her legs wobble as she started walking up the street.

She had found Café MaRita on one of her visits to the Children and Families Department office, and she was glad to see the two sisters who owned the deli were working when she arrived at the walk-up window.

“Hey, Rita,” Lana said, then waved to Mary in the back, where she was putting together the spicy sandwiches they were known for. “Can I get two Cubanos, an iced tea and...?” Lana turned to Trent questioning.

“A coffee, please,” Trent said. “A cafecito?”

The small Cuban woman smiled at his pronunciation of the word for a coffee topped with sugary foam.

“I like this one,” Rita said, and she winked at Trent. “He’s dark and hot. Like my coffee. If you decide to get rid of him let me know.”

“Oh, no,” Lana said as she felt heat spread up her face, “it’s not like that—”

“I’ll make it a point to look you up when she’s finished with me,” Trent said, interrupting Lana.

Did the man have to flirt with every woman he met? Taking the sandwiches, she found an empty picnic table set out in the front of the deli and started dividing the food while she waited for Trent.

Watching him as he talked to the older Cuban woman while she prepared their drinks, Lana was impressed at how at ease he seemed with people. He had the ability to charm everyone he met—well, everyone except for her. The only thing she would find charming about him would be his backside headed out of town.

* * *

Trent watched Lana as she bit into her sandwich. He could see she was concentrating on something, and he didn’t think it was just the sandwich she was eating—though she did seem to be enjoying it. It was nice to see a woman eat her food without any posturing about diets and calories.

He watched as the pink tip of her tongue slipped out and caught some of the juice running down the side of her mouth. From nowhere a burst of desire filled him, and he felt a jolt of arousal as it spread down his groin. Another swipe of her tongue along the crease of her mouth had his pants becoming uncomfortably tight.

He shifted in his seat, causing Lana to suddenly look up from her meal, and he knew the second their eyes connected that he wasn’t hiding the hunger that had hit him. The surprise came when her eyes changed and she lifted her eyebrows, silently questioning him. If this was any other woman he might have thought she was purposely playing with him, but that just didn’t seem like Lana’s style.

“Sorry, I haven’t found a way to eat these without making a mess,” Lana said.

“That’s okay. I’m actually enjoying watching you.” Trent said, then watched spots of color flush her cheeks.

“Tell me why you decided to go into medicine instead of staying in the family business,” Lana said, changing the subject.

His gut tightened as he thought of the decision he had made to follow his dreams. Would his brother still be here if he hadn’t left him behind with his father? He had let Michael down when he’d walked away from his father’s expectations for him. In saving himself from becoming the heir apparent to the Montgomery empire he had left his brother to deal with their father’s unreasonable demands and bouts of temper.

No one had ever been good enough for their father. No one had been able to stand up to the old man’s expectations. Not him, not their mother, and certainly not his brother. He had urged his brother to follow after him and get away from his father’s influence, but Michael hadn’t been strong enough. He’d even tried to talk his brother into the two of them joining together and using their share of the company stocks to oust their father from his position as head of the company, but Michael had refused.

Instead, Michael had continually tried to earn their father’s approval, and when that hadn’t happened he had turned to the same thing their mother had used to escape their father: alcohol. And when that hadn’t been enough he had turned to drugs, until finally the two had killed him.

“You could say I did follow in one of my family’s footsteps. My Uncle Jim was a surgeon. He had a lot of influence on my decision,” Trent answered. She didn’t need to know the turmoil his decision had caused to his family.

“Any regrets?” Lana asked.

“What?” Trent asked, startled by the question.

Did she know about the division in his family? Had she somehow learned about the threats and bribes his father constantly sent him, trying to get him to come back to the family-run business?

“I don’t know much about the oil business, but I do know about all the demands and sacrifices a medical career requires. It just seems you could have had a pretty good thing going for you, working in your own company,” Lana said.

“I find being a pediatrician very satisfying and challenging. And I can make far more of a difference as a pediatrician than as a businessman, don’t you think?” Trent said.

He stood and started gathering up items from the table to throw out. For now, the less this woman knew about his business, the better.

“You said you wanted to discuss the visitations?” Trent said.

“Yes, I do. I hope you understand that just because I’m letting you spend time with Maggie it doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind about keeping her?”

“I think you’ve made that plain,” Trent said.

The only way she could have made her intentions any plainer would have been for her to tattoo them on her body. He had no doubt this woman was going to fight him all the way.

“Okay, then. I’m willing to allow visitations as long as it’s understood that I’m in charge of everything that concerns her. I’ll always be present and I’ll have the final word on when and where.”

* * *

After the short walk back, Trent watched as Lana’s car pulled out of the parking garage. Nothing he had learned so far, today or at the hospital, indicated that she was anything other than a young woman working as a midwife and raising a child she loved as her own. He couldn’t help but like her, and he hated that she was being pulled into this mess with his father, but he didn’t see any way out of it. And it was better that she had to deal with him instead of the old man. At least he fought fair. He couldn’t say that about his father.

They had arranged a time for him to visit Maggie during their walk back to their cars and Lana had been more than fair with him. Everything he had heard around the hospital about Lana had been positive. He even felt a little guilty that he had taken a job here to see what he could dig up on her. From what he had seen so far there wasn’t anything in her character that made him think he needed to be worried about his niece not being cared for, or that there was anything he could use against her in the court case.

But he knew how appearances could be deceptive. Hadn’t his mom had everyone fooled until it was too late? No one had ever known about the fights between his parents. or the times when his mother had never even got out of the bed in the mornings, leaving two little boys to care for themselves.

He knew first-hand that no one ever really knew what went on behind the closed doors of a home. No matter how much Lana Sanders looked like the perfect mother, he would be sticking to the woman like glue until he had custody of his niece and knew without a doubt that she was safe.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.