Scarlet Wilson - A Bond Between Strangers

The Most Precious Bundle of All

Tears, triumphs and a tiny miracle

An IVF mix-up turns two couple’s dreams

of parenthood into a nightmare.

But through the tests, tears and triumphs

they find unexpected love…and realise that

happy endings come in all shapes and sizes!

Fighting to keep the baby she’s always

wanted, Olivia turns to dashing doctor

David for love and support in

HER MOTHERHOOD WISHby Anne Fraser

Meet John and Lily. Discovering they’ve

made a baby turns these strangers’ worlds

upside down—but not nearly as much as

when they start falling in love!

A BOND BETWEEN STRANGERSby Scarlet Wilson

Both titles are available now

Dear Reader

I was absolutely delighted to be asked to write a linked duet with fellow author Anne Fraser. After much brainstorming and lots of e-mails this was the story we finally agreed on.

The story is about a wrongly implanted embryo, and is told from the point of view of the father. John Carter created embryos with an egg donor for use in his marriage. But his marriage is long since over and, due to legal issues, he expects to receive a letter from the clinic telling him that his embryos have been destroyed. Instead he receives a letter telling him that his embryo was mistakenly implanted into another woman some months before!

Lily Grayson became an egg donor after learning some family history and to help fund herself through college. Having a gorgeous man accost her at an airfield and ask for help to get his baby back is the last thing she expects!

The outcomes aren’t straightforward either—which gave us lots of leeway with this story. How do both couples get a happy-ever-after from a story like this?

You can let us know if you think we succeeded!

Feel free to contact me via my website: www.scarlet-wilson.com

Many thanks

Scarlet

Scarlet Wilsonwrote her first story aged eight and has never stopped. Her family have fond memories of Shirley and the Magic Purse , with its army of mice, all with names beginning with the letter ‘m’. An avid reader, Scarlet started with every Enid Blyton book, moved on to the ‘Chalet School’ series, and many years later found Mills and Boon®.

She trained and worked as a nurse and health visitor, and now currently works in public health. For her, finding medical romances was a match made in heaven. She is delighted to find herself among the authors she has read for many years.

Scarlet lives on the West Coast of Scotland with her fiancé and their two sons.

A Bond

Between

Strangers

Scarlet Wilson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to my two lovely sisters, Jennifer Dicksonand Valerie Glencross, reliable, beautiful and devoted totheir families. There’s no greater gift than the gift of sisters!

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Praise forScarlet Wilson:

‘Stirring, emotional and wonderfully absorbing,

IT STARTED WITH A PREGNANCY is an

impressive debut novel from a fabulous new voice

in category romance: Scarlet Wilson!’

— www.cataromance.com

JOHN CARTER’S feet thudded along the pavement in rapid, regular beats. The early morning sun was beating down on his back, trickles of sweat pooling around the waistband of his shorts. He rounded the corner of his street, slowing to a stop outside his house.

He leaned forward, taking slow, practised breaths as his heart continued thudding against his chest. He’d been running this same route along the San Francisco Bay area for the last two years, but it didn’t seem to get any easier.

He grabbed his water bottle from his waistband and took a slug. Right now he was wishing it contained anything but water. The flag on the mailbox was up. The mailman had been early today.

John took a few moments to stretch out his aching limbs. His hamstring twitched again. Damn. He’d agreed to play five-a-side soccer tonight with some English colleagues. The last thing he needed was a pulled hamstring.

He reached into the mailbox and pulled out the barrage of catalogues and envelopes. A frown creased his face and he walked up towards his porch. He sat on the decking outside as he sorted through the mail, glancing at his watch. In another fifteen minutes’ time he’d have had a quick shower and be at work, ready to spend most of the day in the operating theatre. There wasn’t even any point going into the kitchen. The fridge was virtually empty and so were his cupboards. He’d discovered as much when he’d got home late last night, starving after spending hours in the office. He didn’t even have any coffee left. No matter how much he tried to avoid it, he was really going to have to do a grocery shop some time soon.

He flicked past the usual array of catalogues containing clothes, make-up, candles, jewellery—or the latest ‘diet’ miracle—all addressed to his ex-wife, Tabitha Carter.

Without blinking an eye, he tossed them all into his nearby rubbish bin. It wasn’t as if she’d come looking for them. Wherever Tabitha had ended up, doubtless she’d re-sent for them all. Two years on, many tears and tantrums later, his divorce attorney still hadn’t tracked the woman down—though thankfully he had managed to acquire her signature.

The only thing she wanted from him these days were the alimony cheques.

His fingers stopped their automatic trawl through the mail. The usual bills and free offers were ignored. One envelope was different from the rest. Bulkier. Heavier-quality paper, premium bonded. And although there was no emblem, he’d recognise their mail anywhere.

This was it. The final nail in the coffin of his disastrous marriage.

He sighed and looked out over the family-friendly cul-de-sac where they’d lived. Tabitha had never fitted in here. She’d hated the fact that everyone’s kids played out in the front yards. She’d hated little people trooping in and out of their home in a search for cookies or someone to fix their bikes.

This was the perfect family home.

Just not for them.

The initial fertility tests had created more toddler-sized tantrums than he’d ever seen. The discovery that Tabitha didn’t have any viable eggs had taken her months to recover from. The selection of an egg donor had almost resulted in their first major fallout. The first round of IVF had been fraught with difficulties—mainly because Tabitha hadn’t followed any of the instructions she’d been given.

The second round of IVF had resulted in an ectopic pregnancy. At this point Tabitha had refused to tolerate any more treatment.

And by this stage John had been inclined to agree. The cracks in their marriage had migrated into a fully fledged San Andreas fault.

Tabitha’s leaving hadn’t really had an impact on him. Emptying the joint bank account and driving off in his new car hadn’t created more than a few minor inconveniences. It had also gave him free rein to buy the Ducati motorbike he’d really wanted.

He’d just been happy she’d left the house intact.

But the thought of never having kids, never having the family that he’d always wanted, cut him deeper than he could ever have imagined.