âWe didnât get off to a very good start this morning. Letâs start over.
âIâm Turk Garrison. Iâm new in town and looking for someone to show me around. Wanna volunteer? I promise I donât bite, scratch or drool in public. So whaddya say? Are you game?â
Unable to take her eyes off his engaging smile, Rachel tried hard not to be charmed. She wanted to say yes so badly she could taste it. Instead she said, âNo.â
If he hadnât been so damn sure of himselfânot to mention boyishly attractiveâshe might have said yes. But a woman only had to glance over at him to know that he was trouble any way you looked at it.
âHey,â Turk said, grinning, âthatâs okay. Iâm a patient man. And itâs not like I donât know where to find you.
âAfter allâ¦youâre right next door.â
Dear Reader,
People always ask me where I get my stories, and my answer is always the same: They float around in the air. People tell me that I hear or see something that triggers an idea, and suddenly, the story is there. This particular book was told to me by different people at different times. Years ago, I heard about a woman who wasnât looking for love, just a doctor to father her baby. She really did go to a bar near the medical center and had a one-night stand with a doctor. When she got pregnant and had the baby, she never told the father of her child.
That woman, whose name I never knew, became my heroine, Rachel Martin. The rest of her story is based on another true story. Somewhere in south Texas, there is a woman who married a man who had a vasectomy without telling her. She, too, desperately wanted a baby and didnât know for years that that was never going to happen.
I wanted more for Rachel Martin. Determined to get the baby she wanted at all cost, she thought she had everything worked out. Then Fate moved in next door. Donât you just love that?
Enjoy!
Linda Turner
The phone rang promptly at eight oâclock, just as Rachel Martin had expected. Grinning, she snatched it up without bothering to check the caller ID. âHi, Lily. Youâre right on time as usual.â
âHi, Rachel.â
Surprised, she almost dropped the phone. âNatalie? Is that you? I was expecting Lily.â
âIâm here,â Lily said with a chuckle.
âMe, too,â Abby chimed in cheerfully. âWe wanted to surprise you with a conference call.â
âWell, you certainly did that,â she retorted, smiling. âWhatâs going on? I know a conspiracy when I smell one. Whatâs up?â
âI want you to be in my wedding,â Natalie said.
âMe, too.â
âDitto.â
Stunned, Rachel felt as if the three of them had just reached through the phone and knocked her off her feet. âAll three of you are getting married?â
Lily laughed at her shocked gasp. âItâs crazy, isnât it? I didnât think Iâd ever be happy again, and then almost overnight, everything changed.â
âI took one look into Loganâs eyes and it was all over,â Abby added. âOf course, I didnât tell him that. I didnât even tell myself.â
âBut then you realize that even though youâre scared of making another mistake, you donât even want to think about living without him,â Natalie said huskily. âI think Max was just as stunned as I was when he asked me to marry him.â
âBut you didnât give him a chance to take it back, did you?â Lily teased. âI didnât with Tony, either.â
âSo will you do it?â Abby asked Rachel. âWill you be in our weddings? We need you. This all started last summer. Remember? When we all sat around at our class reunion, talking about how miserable we were?â
âSo we changed our lives and found the happiness weâd always been looking for,â Lily said. âYou have to be a part of our weddings, Rachel. We all encouraged one another that day. The four of us have to stick together.â
âBut nothingâs changed in my life,â she replied. âI still want a baby. Just a baby. No husband. No one to lie to me and pretend he wants the same thing I do.â
âNot everyone is like Jason,â Abby pointed out quietly. âThere are good, honest men out there. I know. We know. We all found one.â
âTheyâre out there,â Lily told her. âYou just have to give yourself a chance to meet one.â
âNo,â she said flatly. âI canât. Iâll never trust a man again.â
âOh, sweetie, donât say that!â
âItâs the truth,â she retorted. âYou know how much I wanted a baby. I spent years trying to get pregnant. And all the time, Jason knew it was never going to happen. Do you have any idea how devastated I was when I found out heâd had a vasectomy before we got married? I cried in his arms every time I had a period! How could I have been such a fool?â