Elizabeth Duke - The Parent Test

Cover Page

About the Author ELIZABETH DUKE was born in Adelaide, South Australia, but has lived in Melbourne all her married life. She trained as a librarian and has worked in many different types of libraries, but she was always secretly writing. Her first published book was a children’s novel, after which she successfully tried her hand at romance writing. She has since given up her work as a librarian to write romance full-time. When she isn’t writing or reading, she loves to travel with her husband, John, either within Australia or overseas, gathering inspiration and background material for future romances. She and John have a son and daughter, who are both married and have children of their own.

Title Page The Parent Test Elizabeth Duke www.millsandboon.co.uk

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

Copyright

ELIZABETH DUKEwas born in Adelaide, South Australia, but has lived in Melbourne all her married life. She trained as a librarian and has worked in many different types of libraries, but she was always secretly writing. Her first published book was a children’s novel, after which she successfully tried her hand at romance writing. She has since given up her work as a librarian to write romance full-time. When she isn’t writing or reading, she loves to travel with her husband, John, either within Australia or overseas, gathering inspiration and background material for future romances. She and John have a son and daughter, who are both married and have children of their own.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ROXY’S nerves were strung tight by the time her plane touched down in Sydney after the long flight from Los Angeles. Her emotions were swinging from joyful anticipation at the thought of seeing her baby niece again, for only the second time, to a shivery dread at the prospect of coming face to face again with Cam Raeburn, the man she was prepared to fight for custody of her niece.

Nobody was at the airport to meet her, which didn’t surprise her. Nobody but her father knew that she was arriving back in Australia today, and he was living in Western Australia now, with Roxy’s stepmother Blanche. Crabby old Blanche had wanted to live near her own daughter’s family, as far away from her husband’s family as possible.

And now that Roxy’s sister Serena and brother-in-law Hamish had tragically gone, Blanche was doing her best to sever all ties with her remaining stepdaughter—and the orphaned baby girl Hamish and Serena had left behind.

‘No, of course the baby’s not with us!’ Blanche had squawked when Roxy had called from northern Mexico after hearing the shocking news of the tragic boating accident. ‘How could I take care of a baby with my arthritis? And your father has a bad heart, remember? Don’t worry, the child’s in good hands. Hamish’s brother, Cam Raeburn, is looking after her.’

Roxy wouldn’t have wanted Blanche taking care of her baby niece anyway, even temporarily. Even Cam Raeburn was preferable to Blanche. As the baby’s uncle and godfather, Cam should at least have his niece’s best interests at heart

Roxy humphed as she hailed a cab to her Sydney flat. Best interests or not, she had to make Cam see that she was the best one to take care of their niece from now on. She was Serena’s sister—the baby’s aunt—while he was a single man…a divorcee…a womanising bachelor who surely wouldn’t want to be lumbered with a baby indefinitely.

With a bit of luck the novelty of looking after his seven-month-old niece was already wearing off.

She hoped so—fervently. It would make things so much easier and less traumatic for the baby if he would simply hand their niece over. Once she had little Emma safely back here in Sydney, she would apply for formal custody.

It didn’t take long to reach her two-bedroomed flat in suburban Coogee—the flat where she’d be bringing baby Emma soon, hopefully. As she carried her bags into her bedroom Roxy caught sight of herself in the full-length mirror.

She looked a fright. She couldn’t let Cam see her like this!

Her cotton top was like a crumpled rag. Her old faded jeans had stains from the coffee she’d spilt on the plane. And her short-cropped hair, normally sun-bleached and glowing with natural golden highlights, looked dull and drab and even more of a mess than usual.

She always wore her hair short, in a naturally tousled style—with her fine-boned face and slight build it suited her best that way and was easier to manage. But her new choppy hairstyle had short jagged bits sticking out all over. The nursing aide who’d cut it for her at the hospital in Los Angeles had called it a ‘dishevelled bob’, supposedly the latest trend in L.A. salons.

As her gaze settled on her drawn face, Roxy sighed. Normally tanned and healthy, she looked thin and pale after her three-week stay in hospital, and the long flight had left her blue eyes darkly shadowed and lacking their usual lustre.

She fingered her bottom lip tentatively. At least the surgery on her mouth had had time to heal…thanks to that ghastly virus which had kept her in hospital for an additional two long weeks. In fact, the extra time in hospital had been a blessing in another way too. It had given her time to mourn Serena and Ham-ish…time to recover from her grief and shock before coming home to face further trauma in the shape of Cam Raeburn.

Before taking a quick shower and changing into a fresh shirt and jeans, she called her father to let him know she was back and that she was planning to head down the coast to Raeburns’ Nest to claim her niece.

‘I’m home to take care of Emma now,’ she told him firmly.

‘Oh, Roxy, love, how can you look after a baby?’ Her father sounded frailer each time she talked to him. Part sorrow at losing a daughter, and part Blanche, Roxy thought with a grimace. Her stepmother would wear anyone out.

‘She’ll be better off with me than with Cam Raeburn,’ she insisted.

‘But you’re always away in some far-flung country, love. Emma would be stuck alone in your flat for months at a time and it would cost you a fortune in baby-sitters. How could you afford it? At least with Cam Raeburn caring for her, Emma will have an uncle and a live-in nanny with her all the time. And with his wealth, Cam can afford a daily housekeeper and every possible luxury.’

A live-in nanny…a daily housekeeper…every possible luxury. Roxy’s heart dipped.

‘And now that Cam owns Raeburns’ Nest,’ her father ploughed on, ‘he’s able to keep Emma in her own home, in familiar surroundings. With a rich uncle like Cam Raeburn, love, the baby won’t want for anything.’

Roxy pulled a face. ‘Anything but a mother.’

‘Roxy, love, with your field trips…’

‘I’ll give up my field work! I’ll try to get extra teaching hours at Uni. They have a creche there now.’ But the long summer break had just started at Uni and lectures didn’t resume until next March—four months away. ‘I’ll manage,’ she asserted, but her voice wavered. Whether she gave up her field work to stay at home all the time or not, how could she compete with what Cam Raeburn had to offer Emma?

‘You’d better have it out with Cam.’ Her father sighed. ‘I don’t think he’ll be prepared to give her up.’

‘Once he knows that I’m back and that I’m prepared to—’