A Mommy for His Baby Read online

  The nurse to heal his family?

  When Aurora Hunt returns home after an accident nursing more than physical wounds, she needs local GP and childhood crush Beau Gutterman to help her. Only she hasn’t counted on his offer of a job...or the attraction that reignites between them!

  Recently widowed Beau is bringing up his baby daughter alone, and Aurora’s arrival is a gift. He’s not ready to move on, but working with Aurora stirs long-buried desires. Can they really heal each other’s hearts—and make a family for baby Chloe?

  Beau sat up and looked over his shoulder. Pressure filled his chest at the sight.

  Chloe slept like an angel, cuddled up against Aurora’s chest, and Aurora’s hand rested protectively on her back. Even in sleep they were both angels, for entirely different reasons. One had saved his soul, and the other was going to save his business.

  Some of his movements must have awakened Aurora, because she took a breath and stirred. Her baby blues fluttered open, and she looked over at him with a sexy sleepiness he’d never imagined seeing in her eyes. At this moment he could just imagine waking up with her in his arms, taking his time to rouse her with kisses and caresses and sharing the morning with skin against skin.

  When she looked into his eyes, still half-asleep, and smiled, he realized his body was trying to take him down a road he didn’t want to go. At least not yet.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you very much for reading my latest book! This is a very special one as it is set in my hometown. Some changes have been made to suit the story, but the essence of the area is still true.

  Readers and friends from here have been asking to have our little hometown as a setting for one of my stories and so I finally did it. Some of the characters are named after childhood friends, and my mother even has a character named after her. The town I grew up in is in rural western Pennsylvania, where there are more cows than people, no sidewalks, and it’s miles from the nearest store. As a child, much of my time was spent in the woods, at the lake or catching fireflies on long summer evenings. During the winters I spent hours reading books, which fostered my love of a good story and the desire to write my own.

  I have many fond memories of growing up in this community, and I wanted to share them with my readers. If you are so moved, drop me an email at [email protected] and let me know what you’re up to, what you might like to see in a future story or tell me a story of your own. After all, all good books start with a good story.

  Regards,

  Molly Evans

  A MOMMY FOR HIS BABY

  Molly Evans

  Books by Molly Evans

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  The Greek Doctor’s Proposal

  One Summer in Santa Fe

  Children’s Doctor, Shy Nurse

  Socialite...or Nurse in a Million?

  Her Family for Keeps

  Safe in the Surgeon’s Arms

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  Praise for Molly Evans

  “This was a well-written Medical Romance set in New Mexico and it moves in a fast and exciting pace.”

  —Goodreads on Her Family for Keeps

  Contents

  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

  EXCERPT FROM RAFAEL'S ONE NIGHT BOMBSHELL BY TINA BECKETT

  CHAPTER ONE

  WHAT HAD POSSESSED Aurora Hunt to return to this little town, she didn’t know. She should have figured out on her own how to survive, how to find a new job, how to create a new life. Somehow. But after being beaten down by life during several unforeseeable events she’d given up, given in, and gone home to her childhood home in western Pennsylvania to lick her wounds. Wounds that scarred her on the inside as well as the outside.

  Nothing in this vast wildness settled in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains had changed much in two hundred years. The car models were newer, farmers plowed different fields, and there were more houses built on what had once been pasture. At the heart of it, its people, their culture, hadn’t changed—had refused to change—and that was why she’d left in the first place. In order to grow, things had to change, and she’d wanted to do all of that where there were more opportunities than in this remote village.

  But due to a nearly catastrophic car wreck, she was back to square one. In one second, one dramatic turn of the wheel, her life had taken a path she’d never expected and she’d been forced to move in with her mother.

  For now.

  This situation was only temporary. Until she regained her strength and figured out what she was going to do with her life. A few weeks, tops. Living with her mother on a permanent basis was not an option.

  Getting out of her car wasn’t as easy as getting into it. Nearly every movement she made was difficult, but she was grateful for the pain. At least it meant she was still alive, still moving forward. Nothing was what it had used to be. Nothing.

  Today she was calling on an old friend to help put her life back together, one aching bone at a time.

  The sign for the local medical clinic was a red arrow, pointing to a door. Until a few months ago there had been no medical clinic in Brush Valley. The closest one had been miles away. So it was understandable that this building didn’t quite look like it was a thriving business just yet.

  It looked like the building had once belonged to an animal doctor instead of a people doctor. Faded paint indicated dogs to the left, cats to the right. She didn’t know which one to take, but since she was more of a dog person she entered through the left door. Fortunately both doors opened into the lobby of the clinic, which was nearly deserted.

  “Good morning, can I help you?” A woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy smiled and offered her a clipboard to sign in.

  “Yes. I have an appointment.”

  “Okay, great.” She looked at Aurora’s name, then frowned. “Are you related to Sally Hunt?”

  “Yes, she’s my mother.”

  “Oh, then you must have grown up here!” She held out her hand. “I’m Cathy Carter. I think I went to school just after you.”

  “Oh...great to meet you.”

  Though Aurora didn’t recall everyone who had gone to school around the time she had, the woman did look vaguely familiar, with her big brown eyes and long brown hair.

  “I’m sure you don’t remember me.” She patted her belly. “I looked much different back then.”

  That made Aurora laugh. “Didn’t we all? Nice to see you again.”

  “Have a seat and he’ll be with you in a few minutes. Just one patient ahead of you.” Cathy nodded to a young woman with a sniffling infant, pacing the small waiting room.

  “No problem.”

  “Angie, why don’t you bring Zachary back and we’ll have a look at him now?” Laboriously, Cathy rose from the chair and followed the mom and baby into the first exam room.

  Aurora felt sorry for the woman, who looked like she was carrying a watermelon
beneath her clothing. But although Cathy looked uncomfortable, she also looked happy, and there was something to be said about that.

  While Aurora waited she paced the length of the waiting room as sitting caused her too much pain. As she moved back and forth, trying to keep her joints moving, she noticed a bulletin board, with notices for parents, and a table full of retirement magazines. There was a section of toys for little kids, but nothing for anyone else. It was a sparse attempt to keep those who were waiting entertained. These days, with all the electronic devices and people being plugged in, the corner looked lacking, without at least one charger available.

  “Aurora?” Cathy called her to the desk. “I can take you back and get you in a patient room, take your vitals, while Beau—I mean Dr. Gutterman—looks at his other patient.”

  “Oh, you can call him Beau. I know when we’re behind the desk we all go on a first-name basis.”

  “That’s right. You’re a nurse, too, aren’t you?”

  “Well, yes.” At least she had been. She didn’t want to say that she wasn’t a nurse any longer. Just because she was in between jobs at the moment. “I’m not working right now—but I guess once a nurse, always a nurse, right?”

  “Yes, we’re kind of like the Marines that way.”

  Cathy led the way and indicated a nice patient room. After a quick check, she left Aurora waiting for Beau.

  “Leave the door open, please. I get a little claustrophobic.”

  “Oh, sure. He’ll be right here.” Cathy pressed a hand to her back as a twinge of pain crossed her face.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. It’s just pushing on my back more and more the last few days.”

  “Oh, boy. When are you due?” That low back pain was an ominous sign. Labor could commence at any moment.

  “A few more weeks—but I’m feeling like I want to pop right now.” Cathy paused in the doorway and looked like she was about to pass out. “I’ve been having Braxton Hicks for days.”

  Feeling that nurse’s instinct kick in, Aurora quickly moved to Cathy’s side and began to assess the woman. Maternity wasn’t her specialty, but she could see the swelling in the woman’s hands and face, the flushed cheeks and the fine sheen of sweat on her face and neck.

  “Cathy, I’m not so sure they were false contractions. I think you’d better sit down.”

  “I do, too.”

  Without releasing her grip on Cathy’s arm, Aurora dragged one of the wheeled chairs in the room close, right behind the pregnant woman’s legs. “Here’s a chair.”

  “Oh, boy.” Cathy dropped into the chair, then clutched her abdomen and leaned forward with a groan. “I think I’m going into labor right now.”

  She blew out a breath and her face reddened further.

  “Oh. Oh, no! My water just broke.”

  The amniotic fluid housing the baby and adding cushioning splattered onto the floor. This was going to go hard and fast.

  “Let me call for Beau.”

  Aurora left the room for a second to dash across the hall and rap on the patient room door.

  “Dr. Gutterman—there’s an issue out here!”

  Beau jerked the door open with a scowl, then a surprised look raised his brows and a grin lit up his face. “Aurora! What are you—?”

  “Cathy’s going into labor. Now.” Trying not to panic, Aurora released the doorknob.

  “Oh! I knew she was close, but not that close.” Beau turned back to his patient’s mother. “I’m sorry, Angie. I’ll call in a prescription for Zach as soon as I can. Give me a call if he’s not better in a few days.”

  Dispensing with any more pleasantries or greetings, Aurora grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hallway. “I mean right now.”

  “Oh! I see.”

  Beau headed into the other patient room. He looked at his nurse, struggling against pain in the office chair.

  “Oh, boy. I haven’t delivered a baby in a long time.” He offered a quick glance to Aurora, his eyes wide. “Are you sure she’s going to have it right now?”

  “Yes,” Aurora said as Cathy screamed again.

  “We’d better call 911.”

  “Do it—but you may be delivering a baby before they get here. This looks precipitous.”

  Though Aurora had done several rotations in Delivery, she hadn’t attended a birth in some time—and this one was looking like it was going to be a doozy.

  “No! I don’t want to have it here. I can’t!” Cathy huffed her breath in and out, her doe eyes wide in fear as she looked at Aurora for help. “We have plans.”

  “Honey, those plans are about to go up in smoke,” Aurora said. “Where’s your husband?”

  “Home.”

  “You’d better call him,” Aurora said, and watched as Beau called the emergency services to send an ambulance as soon as possible. Out in the country, nothing was “stat”, or “fast,” as they were miles from everywhere.

  “Okay. Okay...” Cathy took a deep breath and leaned back in the chair as the pain obviously eased. She held the phone to her ear. As she looked at Aurora for reassurance another frown crossed her face and she took a deep breath. “Honey? The baby’s coming!”

  Aurora took the phone before Cathy crushed it to pieces in her hand. “Your wife is at the clinic and she’s in labor. You’d better get here quickly if you want to see your baby being born.”

  Then she hung up. He’d either get there or he wouldn’t. Aurora’s first priority was to see this woman and her baby safe.

  “Cathy, we’ve got to get you ready to have this baby.”

  “What about the ambulance?” She rose from the chair with Beau and Aurora’s help, leaning heavily on both of them.

  “You know as well as I do that it’ll take them half an hour to get here, and you’re going to have this baby long before that.”

  Beau ripped off his lab coat and rolled up his sleeves, then scrubbed his hands and arms vigorously at the sink, jumping into the mode necessary to save both his nurse and her baby.

  He knew heroes weren’t born. They were made. In situations like this.

  “Aurora—good to see you, my friend, but it looks like we’re going to be welcoming a baby in the next few minutes. Are you up to it?”

  “Absolutely.” There was nothing, not even the pain in her back, that would interfere with her ability to save a life or two today.

  “Great. Let’s get her on the exam table and see what’s going on.”

  His jaw was tense, and he didn’t look at Aurora as he scrubbed. When his child had been born his wife had died. That was all she knew. The shock of this unforeseen delivery was obviously stirring that memory. Was he struggling to push it aside? Until now she hadn’t thought of that, and her heart ached for him. Those memories had to be incredibly painful for him, but he was mustering through and doing what was needed in the moment.

  “Oh, no. Oh, no.” Cathy bent at the waist and clutched her abdomen, nearly crushing Aurora’s fingers. “Agh!”

  “Beau, I don’t think the table is going to work. It’s not designed for this. How about we put some blankets and sterile sheets on the floor and let her squat, like she seems to want to?”

  “Okay. Good idea.” Beau grabbed blankets and two sterile packages.

  Together she and Beau turned the room into an impromptu delivery suite. This was so over the top of what she’d expected to be doing today, but knowing there were no other options, and that Beau had her back, she had his—she knew they could do it together.

  “Do you have a surgical kit around in case we need it?” Chewing her lip for a second, Aurora didn’t want to think about the possibility of having to do an emergency C-section, but planning for the worst and hoping for the best had always worked for her.

  “Yes—there.” Be
au pointed to another cupboard over the sink. “It’s a general kit. Everything we need should be in it.”

  “Breathe, Cathy. Just breathe.” Aurora tried to keep her voice calm and not let the woman know about the anxiety pulsing through her body. “I’m going to reach around you and remove your shoes and leggings.”

  “Okay.” Cathy nodded. “It’s easing now.” She took in a few deep breaths, sweat pouring off of her. “Beau, you aren’t going to fire me because I had my baby in your office, are you?”

  Beau barked out a laugh and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, the light in his eyes not as dark as it had been a few moments ago. “No. Although I do have to say it’s going to go down as one of the most interesting days I’ve ever had.”

  “That’s g-o-o-o-o-d!” Another contraction hit, nearly dropping Cathy to her knees.

  “Let’s get you down before you fall.” Aurora tucked a hand on Cathy’s waist and eased her to her knees, then sat her back so that Beau could check and see if the baby was crowning.

  A door slammed in the front office.

  “We have company.”

  “Cathy? Cathy! Where are you?” Hurried footsteps got closer to the room.

  “We’re in the back, Ron!” Beau yelled toward the door.

  “Oh, my God. You are in labor. It wasn’t a joke.” Ron, clearly Cathy’s husband, stood in the doorway, panting from his exertion, his eyes wide as he took in the scene. “I can’t believe it.”

  “No jokes today. Wash your hands over there,” Aurora pointed to the sink. “This is going to go fast.”

  “She’s definitely crowning,” Beau said after he had a quick look.

  “He. It’s a he. I know it.” Cathy began to pant again. “Oh, here he comes! I have to push again—get me up!”

  Cathy struggled to a sitting position, then Beau and Ron helped her to her knees. With one hand she held onto her husband, with the other she clutched the edge of the patient table.

  “Go with it, Cathy. Wait until you can’t wait any longer and then push.”