Karen Smith - Their Baby Bond

He’d had a tight feeling in his gut ever since his life had crossed with Tori’s again. Ever since the night Andy had been born, he couldn’t seem to disconnect himself from her and the baby she wanted to mother so badly.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he slid closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. Even with his vast experience with words—the calm make-a-deal tone, the believe-and-you-can-trust-me phrases, the coaxing supplications, the firm stand-his-ground negotiation—in all of it there were no words for a situation like this. Tori was worried she’d lose her son in so many ways. He wouldn’t give her platitudes that might not be honest.

When Tori’s shoulders relaxed and she leaned against him, he knew she’d finally accepted his support. That seemed to be majorly important to him, and he didn’t examine too closely the reasons why….

Dear Reader,

Well, the new year is upon us—and if you’ve resolved to read some wonderful books in 2004, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll begin with Expecting! by Susan Mallery, the first in our five-book MERLYN COUNTY MIDWIVES miniseries, in which residents of a small Kentucky town find love—and scandal—amidst the backdrop of a midwifery clinic. In the opening book, a woman returning to her hometown, pregnant and alone, finds herself falling for her high school crush—now all grown up and married to his career! Or so he thinks….

Annette Broadrick concludes her SECRET SISTERS trilogy with MacGowan Meets His Match. When a woman comes to Scotland looking for a job and the key to unlock the mystery surrounding her family, she finds both—with the love of a lifetime thrown in!—in the Scottish lord who hires her. In The Black Sheep Heir, Crystal Green wraps up her KANE’S CROSSING miniseries with the story of the town outcast who finds in the big, brooding stranger hiding out in her cabin the soul mate she’d been searching for.

Karen Rose Smith offers the story of an about-to-be single mom and the handsome hometown hero who makes her wonder if she doesn’t have room for just one more male in her life, in Their Baby Bond. THE RICHEST GALS IN TEXAS, a new miniseries by Arlene James, in which three blue-collar friends inherit a million dollars—each!—opens with Beautician Gets Million-Dollar Tip! A hairstylist inherits that wad just in time to bring her salon up to code, at the insistence of the infuriatingly handsome, if annoying, local fire marshal. And in Jen Safrey’s A Perfect Pair, a woman who enlists her best (male) friend to help her find her Mr. Right suddenly realizes he’s right there in front of her face—i.e., said friend! Now all she has to do is convince him of this….

So bundle up, and happy reading. And come back next month for six new wonderful stories, all from Silhouette Special Edition.

Sincerely,

Gail Chasan

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

In memory of my grandparents, Antonio and Rosalie Arcuri,

who gave me my first glimpse of life outside of Pennsylvania.

With thanks to Jill Brown, who patiently explained the answers to my questions about pyloric stenosis. In appreciation to Megan Walsh, an expert on adoption in New Mexico. With deepest thanks to Detective Jeff Arbogast, Public Informations Officer for the Albuquerque Police Department. Their expertise and experience were invaluable.

Award-winning author Karen Rose Smith first glimpsed the Southwest on a cross-country train ride when she was sixteen. Although she has lived in Pennsylvania all her life, New Mexico has always called to her. The mountains there have a power and beauty she hopes she managed to convey in this book. Readers can reach Karen at her Web site (www.karenrosesmith.com) or write to her at P.O. Box 1545, Hanover, PA 17331.

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

Epilogue

E xcitement, anticipation and fear danced inside Victoria Phillips all at the same time. In less than a month, she’d be bringing home a baby.

Deep purple and muted orange streaked the early September Santa Fe sky as Tori hurried up the three steps to the porch of her adobe ranch-style house. She let herself inside, thinking again about bringing home her baby boy if all went as planned…if Barbara Simmons—the eighteen-year-old who wasn’t ready for motherhood—didn’t change her mind. Tori had agreed to an unusual request, and now it haunted her more each day.

As she set her leather purse on the counter, her doorbell rang.

Quickly she returned to her living room. Maybe it was Barbara. She stopped in every now and then to report on all that was happening in her pregnancy. From the moment Tori had seen the sonogram of that little baby boy…

Swinging the door wide open, her breath caught as she recognized the man standing there—Jake Galeno. She’d called the number in his ad just last night. When she’d left a message, she’d never expected him to get back to her this soon, and certainly not show up on her doorstep! It had been twelve years since she’d last seen him, twelve years since he’d taken her to her prom and at the end of the evening given her a heart-stopping kiss she’d never forgotten.

In spite of the fact that she was a very confident thirty now, she was flustered. “Jake! I didn’t know if you’d remember me. I never expected you to get back to me this quickly.”

The breeze tossed his blue-black hair. The mixture of Native American, Spanish and Anglo heritage evident in his high cheekbones, angular face and slightly crooked nose reminded her she’d once thought he was the most handsome, the most sexy, man in the world.

He still is, a little voice whispered.

“Of course I remember you. How could I ever forget a night in Camelot?” he teased.

She’d never forget her senior prom and the legendary world that had embraced them for one wonderful night. Jake Galeno’s rugged outward appeal had always been enhanced by a deep, calm, sensual voice that vibrated through her like the ancient notes of the Native American music she loved. Now her thoughts scattered like dust in the wind as his almost-black eyes held hers for interminably long seconds.

Finally he stepped into the silence. “You called me because you have work you need to have done on your house?”

He was going to think she was an absolute idiot! Brushing a few strands of her tawny, pageboy-cut hair behind her ear, she swallowed. “Yes, I did. Please come in.”

When Jake moved into her house, he seemed to take up all the space. He was six-foot-two, broad-shouldered and lean-hipped. Due to her friendship with his sister, Nina, he’d taken her to the prom out of kindness. Afterward they’d gone their separate ways. Back then, he’d just finished training at the police academy and had taken a job on the Albuquerque police force. She wondered why he’d returned to Santa Fe.

“You told me your work hours when you left your message,” he reminded her. “I looked up your address in the phone book. It will be easier to give you an estimate for your repairs if I see them.”

“The last two contractors I phoned never called me back,” she explained. “One didn’t get back to me for two weeks and then told me his schedule was full until after Christmas. So I guess I expected the same from you.”

Casually, Jake slipped a tanned hand into the pocket of his jeans. “I just got my business off the ground officially about six months ago. I’ve been consistently busy, one project turning into the next. I’m finishing up a house near Espanola. I can fit you in, probably start next week—Tuesday, since Monday’s Labor Day.”