Kris Fletcher - First Came Baby

The perfect reason to stay?

Kate Hebert’s fling with Jackson Boone wasn’t supposed to be anything more than good fun. When she got pregnant, they married to please her dying grandmother, and Boone headed home to Peru. Now he’s in Comeback Cove to arrange their divorce and meet his baby son. But when Kate injures her ankle, Boone is forced to stick around—and step up his dad game.

A little hands-on healing makes Kate realize how great a real marriage with Boone could be. But family had never been Boone’s priority, and as far as he’s concerned, Kate deserves the life she’s always dreamed of. Seems they’ve done everything backward, and now Boone faces the toughest choice he’s ever made...

KRIS FLETCHER would like you to believe that her children’s science-fair volcanoes were all perfectly sculpted from papier-mâché, but the truth is that the mashed-potato episode of this book just might have a basis in fact. Ahem.

Kris grew up in Southern Ontario, went to school in Nova Scotia, married a man from Maine and now lives in central New York. She shares her very messy home with her husband, some of their many kids, two Facebook-fodder cats and a growing population of dust bunnies.

Books by Kris Fletcher

Comeback Cove, Canada

A Better Father

Now You See Me

Dating a Single Dad

A Family Come True

Picket Fence Surprise

Other titles by this author available in ebook format.

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

First Came Baby

Kris Fletcher

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08110-8

FIRST CAME BABY

© 2018 Christine Fletcher

Published in Great Britain 2018

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.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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For Piya Campana. For five years, you soothed my nerves, calmed my fears and guided my thoughts and words to the place where I became proud to share them with the world. Most of all, you made me laugh, always in the very best of ways. I was truly blessed to begin my career with such a gifted and compassionate editor, and will forever raise my Iced Capp in your honor.

“I wasn’t trying to get away from you.”

It took Boone a second. It wasn’t until he let that slightly emphasized you sink in that he got the message. And even then, he didn’t want to believe it.

Kate shifted on the sofa, digging into her pocket. “Jamie’s sleeping longer than I thought,” she said, pulling out her phone. “Why don’t you peek on him. I’ll see if Allie can come...”

Her voice trailed off.

He reached for her phone and plucked it from her fingers. She made a sound of protest, but her grip didn’t tighten.

“Boone,” she whispered. “This isn’t a good idea.”

She was right. Totally and completely right.

But that didn’t stop him from sliding off the footstool and onto the sofa. Once he was at her side, hip bumping against hip, he wondered why the hell he had resisted before. Because nothing felt as right as being close to Kate.

Except, maybe, being closer.

Dear Reader,

Building a family is always a challenge. Imagine, though, trying to build one when the baby was a surprise...and Daddy isn’t sure he can be the kind of parent his child deserves...and by the way, Mommy and Daddy live on separate continents. That’s the situation Kate and Boone find themselves facing in this story. Believe me, it was a challenge and then, ultimately, the greatest treat to be able to face this dilemma with them!

By the way, if you missed the story of Kate’s younger sister Allie, Best Man Takes a Bride, you can find it on www.Harlequin.com. I do hope you’ll have the chance to check it out.

It’s been a privilege to spend the last five years visiting Comeback Cove with you. Whenever I visit the real-world town of Morrisburg, Ontario, which was the inspiration for Comeback Cove, I half expect to turn the corner and find myself at the Flip Flop Fudge Shop, or to walk into a store and buy ice cream made by the Northstar Dairy. If you should ever find yourself there—perhaps to visit Upper Canada Village—I hope that you will feel the same way.

Yours,

Kris

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Dear Reader

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

KATE HEBERT HAD always prided herself on being able to multitask. But even she was amazed when she realized she was painting a wall with her right hand while cradling her five-month-old in her left arm—and that she was doing both while breastfeeding.

“Check it out,” she said to her sister, Allie. She raised the paint roller and wiggled little Jamie. “Call me vain, but I’m feeling seriously badass at this moment.”

Allie started laughing. “Wonder Woman has nothing on you.”