Abigail Gordon - His Summer Bride - Becoming Dr Bellini's Bride / Summer Seaside Wedding / Wedding in Darling Downs

His Summer Bride

Becoming

Dr Bellini’s Bride

Joanna Neil

Summer Seaside

Wedding

Abigail Gordon

Wedding in

Darling Downs

Leah Martyn

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Cover

Title Page His Summer Bride Becoming Dr Bellini’s Bride Joanna Neil Summer Seaside Wedding Abigail Gordon Wedding in Darling Downs Leah Martyn www.millsandboon.co.uk

Becoming Dr Bellini’s Bride Becoming Dr Bellini’s Bride Joanna Neil

About the Author When JOANNA NEIL discovered Mills & Boon, her lifelong addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical Romance™. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

Summer Seaside Wedding

About the Author

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EPILOGUE

Wedding in Darling Downs

About the Author

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Copyright

Becoming Dr Bellini’s Bride

Joanna Neil

When JOANNA NEILdiscovered Mills & Boon, her lifelong addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical Romance™. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

KATIE stood still for a moment, her green eyes slowly scanning the horizon. Her nerves were frayed. Perhaps taking time out to look around her at this part of the sweeping California coastline was just the medicine she needed right now.

She would never have believed she would find herself in such a beautiful place as this small, quiet town, with its charming cottages and quaint shops and general sleepy atmosphere. As for the bay, it was a wide arc of golden sand, backed by rugged cliffs and rocks, a striking contrast to the clear blue of the Pacific Ocean that lapped its shores. Beyond all that was the magnificent range of the Santa Lucia Mountains, lush and green, their slopes forested with redwoods, oaks and pine.

She drank in the view for a moment or two longer, absorbing the tranquillity of her surroundings. Then she pulled in a deep breath and turned away to walk along the road towards a distant building set high on a bluff overlooking the sea.

One way or another, it had been a difficult day so far, and she could see little chance of things improving. She still had to meet with her father, and even though she had become used to seeing him over these last couple of weeks, it was always something of a strain for her to be with him.

‘We’ll have lunch,’ he’d said, as though it was an everyday, natural occurrence.

‘Okay.’ She’d looked at him and his expression had been relaxed and easygoing. He seemed to genuinely want to meet up with her again. ‘I have a half-day on Wednesday,’ she told him, ‘so that should work out well enough.’

And now he was waiting for her at the restaurant, sitting at a table on the open-air terrace, gazing out over the ocean. Katie guessed he was watching the boats on the horizon. He hadn’t noticed her coming towards him, and she was glad of that. It gave her the chance to compose herself, as well as an opportunity to fix his image once more in her mind.

She studied him. He was not as she remembered from all those years ago, neither did he bear any resemblance to the pictures her mother had carefully stored in the photograph album. She guessed at one time he must have been tall and vital, a vigorous man, full of energy and ambition, but at this moment he appeared frail, a shadow of his former self. His body was thin, his face faintly lined, and his brown hair was faded, threaded through with silver strands.

‘Hi, there….’ Katie hesitated. She was still struggling with the idea of calling this man her dad. It went against the grain to use the word, considering that he was almost a stranger to her. Instead, she asked, ‘Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry I’m a bit late. I was held up at work.’

‘That’s all right. Don’t worry about it.’ Her father smiled and rose carefully to his feet to pull out a chair for her. ‘You look harassed. We can’t have that, can we? Sit yourself down and take a minute or two to settle. Life’s too short to be getting yourself in a tizzy.’

His breathing was wheezy and laboured, and Katie was concerned. She’d heard that he had been ill for some time, but his health seemed to have taken a downturn even in the few days since she had last seen him.

‘Thanks.’ She sat down quickly so that he could do the same. Then she gazed around her. ‘It’s lovely to be able to sit out here and enjoy the fresh air…And it’s all so perfect…idyllic, with the tubs of flowers and all the greenery.’

‘I thought you’d like it. The food’s good, too.’

A waitress approached with menus, and Katie accepted hers with a smile, opening it up to look inside and study the contents. In reality, though, her mind was in a whirl and she was finding it difficult to concentrate, so that the text became a blur.

Her father signalled to the wine waiter and ordered a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, before turning back to Katie. ‘Why don’t you tell me what sort of a day you’ve had?’ he suggested. ‘It can’t have been too good, by the looks of things. Are you getting on all right at the hospital? You’ve been there almost a week now, haven’t you?’

She nodded. ‘I’m really happy to be working there. The people are great…very friendly and helpful. I’m working in Paediatrics most of the time, but I also have a couple of days when I’m on call to deal with general emergencies if they arise locally. Mostly people will ring for an ambulance if there’s an accident or medical incident, but if I’m nearer and it’s likely to be something serious then I’ll go out as a first responder. It’s a good opportunity for me to keep up with emergency work, so I was glad with this job came up.’

Her father glanced at his menu. ‘It sounds as though it’s the kind of work you enjoy. It’s what you were doing in England, in Shropshire, isn’t it?’

‘That’s right.’

The wine waiter arrived, pouring a small amount of clear, red wine for her father to taste, before filling two glasses.

Katie took a sip of her drink, savouring the rich, fruity flavour. She sent her father a quick, searching glance. Somehow he always managed to get her to talk about herself. He very rarely revealed anything of his lifestyle, about what had brought him to where he was now.