Traci Douglass - Finding Her Forever Family

Dedication To my wonderful editors, Sheila Hodgson and Charlotte Ellis, who helped me craft this story into something worth reading. To Laura McCallen, for finding me in a flurry of entries and working with me until her departure. To my agent, Dawn Dowdle, who shepherded me through the process on these first two books. To my critique partner, Coleen Burright, the best beta reader in the world. To my wonderful tribe in the SHU Writing Popular Fiction Program and my Secret Keepers, who are all a beacon of light in the storm. To my family, for always believing in me. And, last but not least… To my readers, who make all of this possible. THANK YOU. I wouldn’t get to do what I love without all of you!

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

Extract

About the Publisher

“WHERE’S THE SERVER?” ER Trauma Nurse Wendy Smith asked as she and her sister-in-law, Aiyana, grabbed a table at the Snaggle Tooth. The pub was all but empty, and she was disappointed to find no trace of an employee anywhere.

“Welcome!” a guy finally shouted from the kitchen doorway, eyeing Aiyana’s enormous belly with trepidation. “Be with you in a second.”

Her sister-in-law, besides being married to Wendy’s oldest brother, Ned, was also thirty-seven weeks pregnant with twins. Wendy felt sorry for her, and a bit envious, to be honest.

Not that she’d share those feelings with anyone.

Having children of her own wasn’t in the cards.

It had been Aiyana’s idea to eat a late lunch at the pub today and against Wendy’s better judgment she’d said yes. The place held special memories for her sister-in-law. It was where she and Ned had gone on their first date. The pub was also where Wendy’s friend and boss, Dr. Jake Ryder, had taken his new wife, Dr. Molly Flynn, after their first date. Seemed the place was crawling with love bugs. Wendy did her best not to itch.

But at least the food was good. And when a hungry pregnant woman suggested the place that served her favorite comfort meal, you didn’t argue.

Aiyana picked up a menu off the scarred wooden tabletop, then shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. At near full-term, however, it wasn’t happening.

“Need help?” Wendy asked.

“What I need is a crowbar.” Seemed the only part of her usually effervescent sister-in-law that functioned properly these days was her appetite. Everything else had gone wonky because of sleep deprivation and abundant hormones.

“How about we split the salmon nachos?” Wendy suggested, perusing her menu. “Looks like they have your favorite Peanut Butter Brownie Surprise for dessert too. Anything else?”

“A side of Pitocin.” Aiyana winced and rubbed her lower back. “All the books I read made having a baby sound like a breeze. This is not my idea of fun.”

Wendy hailed the waiter to place their order, then settled back in the booth. “Have you and Ned decided on names?”

Aiyana shook her head as the server brought them water. “We’ve been busy.”

True. In addition to becoming a new dad soon, Ned was learning the ropes to take over the family mechanic shop from their father. Her other two brothers, Jim and Mike, were also busy, shouldering the extra duties Ned had left behind when he’d become the manager. Wendy helped out there when she could, despite her busy schedule at Anchorage Mercy, figuring it was the least she could do since they’d raised her after Mom had died.

Wendy had been just ten when it had happened, but she remembered it like yesterday.

She sighed. Her thirtieth birthday was looming, and she’d begun to hear the ticktock of her biological clock louder than ever, no matter how improbable.

But getting pregnant, for her, would be a huge disaster, even if she did secretly want a baby of her own. Life was hard when you could be a walking genetic time bomb. Huntington’s disease had taken everything from her poor mother by the end of her too-short life. She’d been unable to walk, talk, swallow. She’d died a shell of the vibrant woman she’d once been.

The thought of leaving behind a husband and children was too devastating to consider.

So it was best not to go down that route at all.

Wendy had been tested, of course, at age eighteen, just as her brothers had been before her. But they’d all been in serious relationships at the time they’d gotten their results, so it seemed more urgent for them to find out. She hadn’t been seeing anyone when she’d had her testing. In fact, she’d been ready to head off to college and begin her nursing career. With all that pressure, the last thing she’d wanted was a Huntington’s positive result looming over her head too. She’d always figured there’d be plenty of time to find out later. Then, as the years had passed, and her life had moved on, the time had never seemed right.

Her brothers had all been negative for the gene mutation that caused Huntington’s disease. There was a fifty-fifty shot of inheriting. Being the last out of four siblings...well, Wendy knew the odds weren’t in her favor. It would’ve been a miracle if she was negative too, and when it came to her own mortality she wasn’t the betting type. So, twelve years on, she’d never requested her results, never wanted to know, never wanted to play Russian roulette with her own life. Just the thought of spending the rest of her days like a dead woman walking, terrified of every twitch or stumble, thinking the end was near, was terrifying.

Instead, she’d gone in the opposite direction, living life to the fullest. All to conceal the shame and fear of possibly being afflicted with an incurable disease. Maybe some people took that as running away from her problems or being a coward. Wendy didn’t care. Let those people walk a mile in her shoes.

No sense pretending a happily-ever-after was in her future.

Not when those you cared for could be ripped away from you at any time.

Love was a definite no-go for Wendy. No risk. No reward. No problem.

Across from her, Aiyana inhaled deeply and slowly, her hands sliding across the table, fingers splayed in an effort to control her breathing, her lung capacity compromised by the twins shoving up against them.

“You should probably get on that whole naming thing,” Wendy said, raising a brow. “Looks like you don’t have much longer to go.”

The server interrupted them with a platter of hot nachos and two plates.

Wendy grabbed a handful of chips and put them on her plate, knowing if she didn’t act now Aiyana would devour the food and she’d never get any.

Their waiter’s gaze darted from her sister-in-law’s belly to Wendy’s little pile of nachos then back again. “Did you want ice cream with the dessert, ma’am?”

“Two scoops, please,” Aiyana said.

The server departed, and Wendy flicked open her napkin. “That’s a lot of food.”

“What difference does it make? I’m already as big as a house.” Aiyana’s bottom lip trembled, and her eyes sparkled with tears. Wendy felt awful. She’d not meant it that way. “But I’m always hungry and Ned’s working overtime to make up for when he’ll be off after the babies are born and I haven’t found another person to cover for me at the souvenir shop and...” Aiyana flinched and grabbed her belly, bending over and inhaling sharply. “Braxton Hicks contractions.”