For a Baby
Heather Sweeney has always wanted a baby. Unfortunately, she's in love with a married man, so her chances don't look good. Then one lonely night she turns to T. J. Collins, who always seems to be there for her when life is at its lowest. A few weeks later Heather discovers that she's about to get her greatest wish–but with the wrong man.Heather and T. J. decide to marry, which makes perfect sense. Even if they're not in love, they've known each other forever. But it doesn't take long before Heather begins to feel as if she's married a stranger.Somehow–for the baby's sake–she has to find a way to make her marriage work. Especially once Heather discovers she may have married the right man after all.
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âHot, isnât it?â Heather said. âI brought food.â She pulled out two sandwiches and passed one to T.J.
He caught her hand rather than the sandwich. âYour fingers are trembling.â
Couldnât he just have let it pass without comment? But T.J. had never been one to let anything go. Throughout their school years heâd teased her mercilessly about her red hair and freckles. And sheâd never made a secret about the fact that she despised him for it.
That didnât stop them from sleeping together, though. No denying the sexual pull between them, much as she wanted to. Even now she felt it, despite the other, weightier, issue on her mind.
âYouâre probably wondering why I asked you to meet me here.â
T.J. didnât say anything. Somehow that made it even harder. Sheâd had a whole speech planned out. But in the end, she managed only two short sentences.
âIâm pregnant, T.J. Just thought you should know.â
Dear Reader,
Have you ever known someone who seemed like such a terrific person, but who never had anything go right for her? Thatâs what Heather Sweeneyâs love life has been likeâup until now.
If youâve read a previous book of mine, Small-Town Girl, you already know the historyâ¦.
Heather was jilted by her first love, Russell Matthew, and sheâs never really gotten over that disappointment. Her subsequent marriage to a cop ended when he was shot in the line of duty. After all that, not even Heatherâs best friend, Adrienne, could blame her for being cynical about her chances for a happy-ever-after marriage.
But in this book, Heather finally gets her chance. For true love, a husband, a babyâ¦the whole package.
I am always happy to hear from readers. Please contact me through my Web site at www.cjcarmichael.com. Or send mail to the following address: #1754 - 246 Stewart Green S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3H 3C8.
Sincerely,
C.J. Carmichael
This book is dedicated to the memory of my grandma Dora,
who used to spin the most wonderful yarns.
CONTENTS
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
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER ONE
Mid-April
SHEâD MADE A MISTAKE COMING to the bar. This place wasnât going to cheer her up. She didnât even feel like drinking.
Heather Sweeney eyed the glass of vodka and orange juice in her hand and wondered how her life had come to this point. She was too young to feel washed up, but that was exactly how she felt. She was a thirty-five-year-old, widowed schoolteacher who loved children but would probably never have any of her own.
Not based on the current state of her love life. Or the state of her uterus, either, according to her doctor. She couldnât claim to be surprised by the results of the ultrasound theyâd discussed at her appointment yesterday afternoon. In her family women tended to develop uterine fibroids at an early age, which was why sheâd ended up an only child even though both her parentsâlike herâadored children.
So far, the noncancerous growths in her uterus were small enough that she could probably carry a baby to term if she were to become pregnant soon. But there was precious little opportunity for that to happen. She hadnât even gone on a date for about four months.
And while the small-town bar was almost full tonight, there wasnât a potential husband in the lot. A few middle-aged women were crowded around the video gambling machines in the back, while a gang of young menâprobably barely drinking ageâplayed pool at the other end of the room. All the tables in between were full of the farmers and miners who lived in and around this town. Most had either a wife or a girlfriend with them. Several she recognized as parents of either current or past students.
Not a decent-looking, single guy to be found.
Heather tilted her glass, watched the liquid slide over the bobbing ice cubes. Why had she come here?
Sheâd had other options for her Saturday night. Her best friend, Adrienne Jenson, had invited her to watch a movie with her family tonight. But it was too soon after her depressing appointment with the doctor to see Adrienneâs three little boysâthree!âlaughing and playing and tumbling around.
She could have opted to spend the evening with her parents. But they usually played cards with the Thomsons on Saturday nights. Five was definitely a crowd when it came to bridge.
And so, because she couldnât stand to spend the night alone at her house, because there was no place else open on a Saturday night in Chatsworth, Saskatchewan, sheâd ended up here. At the town bar. Alone.
The door opened, and she swung around on her stool in time to see Libby and Gibson Browning stroll in holding hands. The couple looked ridiculously young to be the parents of four kidsâtwo girls from previous relationships and two little boys of their own. Their girls, Allie and Nicole, would be in Heatherâs class this year. The couple stopped to say hi to her before joining a table of their other friends.
