Brenda Harlen - The Pregnancy Plan / Hope's Child - The Pregnancy Plan / Hope's Child

THE PREGNANCY

PLAN

BRENDA HARLEN

AND

HOPE’S CHILD

HELEN R MYERS

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

Every woman remembers her first love—and her first heartbreak. Cameron Turcotte was both for Ashley Roarke, and when he left town, she was sure she’d never love anyone as much as she’d loved him.

Of course, a lot can change in twelve years, and when Cam comes back after that time, Ashley has no intention of picking up where they left off.

But Cam knows the one thing that hasn’t changed is the chemistry between Ashley and him—if only he can convince her that first love sometimes deserves a second chance.

I hope you enjoy their story.

All the best,

Brenda Harlen

THE PREGNANCY PLAN

BRENDA HARLEN

BRENDA HARLENgrew up in a small town surrounded by books and imaginary friends. Although she always dreamed of being a writer, she chose to follow a more traditional career path first. After two years of practicing as a lawyer (including an appearance in front of the Supreme Court of Canada), she gave up her “real” job to be a mom and to try her hand at writing books. Three years, five manuscripts and another baby later, she sold her first book—an RWA Golden Heart winner.

Brenda lives in southern Ontario with her real-life husband/hero, two heroes-in-training and two neurotic dogs. She is still surrounded by books (“too many books,” according to her children) and imaginary friends, but she also enjoys communicating with “real” people. Readers can contact Brenda by e-mail at brendaharlen@yahoo. com.

To Shelly & Brett—

High school sweethearts who, twenty-three

years later, are still going strong.

Thanks for the example and the inspiration.

“I’ m going to have a baby.”

Ashley Roarke’s statement, made to her sister and her cousin over Sunday brunch, was met by silence.

She glanced from Megan to Paige and back again, but she couldn’t tell what either of them was thinking.

Paige Wilder, a family law attorney who was accustomed to responding quickly to unexpected revelations in court, recovered first. “You’re pregnant?”

“Not yet.”

Megan Richmond, a research scientist, took a moment to absorb the news and consider before she said, “I didn’t even know you were dating anyone.”

Ashley swirled a piece of French toast in the maple syrup on her plate, focusing all of her attention on the task. “I’m not.”

“Then you’re going to have to explain this to me,” her sister—recently and very happily married—said.

Ashley nibbled on the sweet bread while she considered her response.

Megan and Paige weren’t just family, they were her best friends, and she’d always been able to count on their unequivocal support in whatever she chose to do. Though she wasn’t sure they would support her in this, she also wouldn’t be dissuaded.

“I made an appointment at PARC,” she finally said, using the acronym for the Pinehurst Assisted Reproduction Clinic.

Megan set her cup down and turned to Paige. “This is all your fault.”

“What did I do?”

“You were the one who insisted she didn’t need a husband to have a baby.”

“Well, she doesn’t. And she certainly doesn’t need a husband like CBB,” her cousin said, invoking the nickname she’d bestowed upon Ashley’s ex-fiancé.

His real name was Trevor, but after the breakup of their engagement, he’d been referred to as Cheating Bastard Byden, and the initials had stuck.

It was Paige who’d discovered that Trevor was cheating. She’d seen him cozied up in a booth at a restaurant with a colleague, and while she didn’t want to believe he would be unfaithful to his fiancée, the evidence had been irrefutable. Ashley knew that Paige hated telling her, but she would have hated even more for the deception to continue.

Of course, Ashley had refused to believe her. She’d even—she was embarrassed to admit now—accused Paige of being jealous of her happiness. In fact, she’d been so positive that her cousin was wrong, she’d gone straight to Trevor.

She’d expected him to reassure her of his love and fidelity. And while he did insist that he loved her, and that he’d never felt about anyone else the way he felt about her, he’d also admitted that he’d been with other women.

Not another woman—singular, but other women—plural.

And Ashley had felt as if the ground had crumbled beneath her feet.

He’d tried to explain that he’d been feeling a little uncertain since their engagement, and that every woman he’d been with since had reassured him that he was marrying the only woman he would ever love, and he promised her that he would never even look at another woman after they were married.

Ashley was not reassured. As far as she was concerned, he’d made a vow when he’d asked her to marry him, and if he couldn’t honor that vow before the wedding, she knew nothing would change afterward.

She didn’t regret ending their relationship, but she’d been looking forward to her wedding day since she was a little girl. As she’d grown older, her dreams had taken on a more specific focus. It wasn’t just that she wanted a wedding, she wanted to be married. She wanted to fall in love and build a future—and a family—with a man who loved her, too.

She’d thought Trevor was that man. And when she’d handed back his ring, she’d relinquished some of her dreams, too.

That had been almost four months ago. Since then, she’d given the matter a lot of thought. The more she thought about it, the more she resented having to put her life on hold because she’d been wrong about Trevor.

And she’d decided she wasn’t going to put her life on hold any longer.

“You can’t blame Paige for this,” Ashley told her sister now. “I would have thought about artificial insemination on my own if I hadn’t been so preoccupied with planning my wedding.”

Paige wrinkled her nose. “Anything ‘artificial’ can’t be very much fun.”

“I’m not doing it for fun. I’m doing it to have a baby.”

“Just because CBB turned out to be a first-class CB doesn’t mean you should give up hope of finding a wonderful man to father your children,” Megan said.

“I haven’t given up,” Ashley denied, though she wasn’t entirely sure it was true. Two broken hearts in one lifetime were too many for her. “But I’m tired of waiting.”

“You’re not even thirty yet,” Paige reminded her.

“But I’m no closer to having a husband and a baby than I was at twenty,” she pointed out to both of them. “I was devastated when I found out that Trevor was cheating on me. But I’m not sure if I was really heartbroken by his betrayal or because he derailed my hopes of having a child. And I began to wonder if one of the reasons I accepted Trevor’s proposal in the first place was that he seemed to want marriage and a family as much as I do.”

“That doesn’t excuse what he did,” Paige said fiercely.

“No, it doesn’t,” Ashley agreed. “But it made me realize that I want a baby more than I want a husband.”

“But your engagement only ended four months ago,” Megan said gently. “You have to give your heart time to heal.”

“How much time?” Ashley wanted to know. “How long am I supposed to wait until you’ll trust that I’ve considered all the angles, that this is what I really want to do?”