Carol Marinelli - St Piran’s - Rescuing Pregnant Cinderella

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Cover Page

Title Page St Piran’s: Rescuing Pregnant Cinderella Carol Marinelli www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader Dear Reader I am thrilled to be a part of the St Piran’s Hospital continuity series, and have loved working alongside my favourite authors and being involved in such an exciting series. My heroine Izzy is going through such a difficult time that my first instinct was to send in a hero that would fix everything for her—and, with a baby on the way, fix things soon! I was delighted to find, though, that Diego had other ideas. He’s my ultimate sort of hero—he lets Izzy find her own solutions, trusts her perhaps more than she trusts herself, and is also incredibly sexy—I mean, way too sexy for a heroine who’s sworn off men to deal with! Happy reading! Carol x

About the Author About the Author CAROL MARINELLI recently filled in a form where she was asked for her job title, and was thrilled after all these years to be able to put down her answer as ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation. After chewing her pen for a moment Carol put down the truth—‘writing’. The third question asked—‘What are your hobbies?’ Well, not wanting to look obsessed or, worse still, boring, she crossed the fingers on her free hand and answered ‘swimming and tennis’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, and the closest she’s got to a tennis racket in the last couple of years is watching the Australian Open, I’m sure you can guess the real answer! Carol also writes for Mills & Boon® Modern™ Romance

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

Epilogue

Copyright

Dear Reader

I am thrilled to be a part of the St Piran’s Hospital continuity series, and have loved working alongside my favourite authors and being involved in such an exciting series.

My heroine Izzy is going through such a difficult time that my first instinct was to send in a hero that would fix everything for her—and, with a baby on the way, fix things soon! I was delighted to find, though, that Diego had other ideas.

He’s my ultimate sort of hero—he lets Izzy find her own solutions, trusts her perhaps more than she trusts herself, and is also incredibly sexy—I mean, way too sexy for a heroine who’s sworn off men to deal with!

Happy reading!

Carol x

CAROL MARINELLIrecently filled in a form where she was asked for her job title, and was thrilled after all these years to be able to put down her answer as ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation. After chewing her pen for a moment Carol put down the truth—‘writing’. The third question asked—‘What are your hobbies?’ Well, not wanting to look obsessed or, worse still, boring, she crossed the fingers on her free hand and answered ‘swimming and tennis’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, and the closest she’s got to a tennis racket in the last couple of years is watching the Australian Open, I’m sure you can guess the real answer!

Carol also writes for Mills & Boon® Modern™ Romance

‘I’M READY to come back to St Piran’s.’

No words filled the silence, there was no quick response to her statement, so Izzy ploughed on, determined to make a good impression with Jess, the hospital counsellor. ‘I’m really looking forward to being back at work.’ Izzy’s voice was upbeat. ‘I know that a few people have suggested that I wait till the baby is born, I mean, given that I can only work for a couple of months, but I really think that this is the right thing for me.’

Still Jess said nothing, still Izzy argued to the silence. ‘I’m ready to move on with my life. I’ve put the house on the market…’ She felt as if she were at an interview, effectively she was at an interview. After the terrible events of four months ago, Ben Carter, the senior consultant in A and E, had told her to take all the time she needed before she came back to the unit where she worked as an emergency registrar.

It would have been far easier to not come back, and at nearly twenty-eight weeks pregnant she’d had every reason to put it off, but Izzy had finally taken the plunge, and instead of ringing Ben to tell him her decision, she had dropped by unannounced. But to her surprise, instead of welcoming her back with open arms, Ben had gently but firmly informed her that it would be preferable if she see one of the hospital counsellors.

‘I’m fine!’ Izzy had said. ‘I don’t need to see a counsellor.’

‘You are seeing someone, though?’ Ben had correctly interpreted the beat of silence.

‘I was.’ Izzy had swallowed. ‘But I’m fine now.’

‘Good!’ Ben had clipped. ‘Then you won’t have a problem speaking with someone else.’

‘Ben!’ Izzy had hardly been able to contain her fury. ‘It’s been four months! You know me—’

‘Izzy!’ Ben had interrupted, refusing to be manipulated. ‘I worked with you daily, I’ve been to your home, I got on well with Henry and yet I had no idea what you were going through, so, no, I’m not convinced I do know you or that you’d come to me if you had a problem.’

Izzy had sat with pursed lips. Ben could be so incredibly kind yet so incredibly tough too—he would let nothing jeopardise the safety of his patients or his staff and he was also completely honest and open, so open it actually hurt to hear it sometimes. ‘I’ve spoken with my senior colleagues…’

‘You’ve discussed me?’

‘Of course,’ Ben had replied. ‘And we all agree that coming back to A and E after all you’ve been through is going to be tough, that we need to look out for you, and rather than us asking every five minutes if you’re okay, which I know will drive you crazy, I’m going to insist that you see someone. I can page Jess Carmichael—she’s good, all very informal, you can go for a walk, have a coffee…’

‘I’m not sitting in the canteen, chatting about my life!’ Izzy had bristled. ‘I’ll see her in her office.’

‘Fine,’ Ben had responded, and then his voice had softened. ‘We want what’s best for you Izzy’.

So here she was, on a Friday lunchtime, just before her first shift back, again sitting in a counsellor’s office, telling the same thing to Jess that she had to Ben, to her mother, to her friends, that she was fine.

Fine!

‘It’s often suggested,’ Jess said, when Izzy had told her that her house was on the market, ‘that people wait twelve months after a bereavement before making any major life changes.’