The Best Laid Plans

She planned on falling in love. Just not with him!

Emma Everhart’s life is going according to plan. Finish nursing school with flying colours... Check. Get a great job in the ER... Check. Marry a handsome doctor and have two babies, three years apart... Not quite yet. But with a dreamy new doctor joining the hospital staff, she’s so close she can almost taste the wedding cake. Now is not the time to let the tall, dark and flirtatious paramedic Charlie Fletcher distract her! He may be the best date and best kiss she’s ever had, but he’s definitely not part of her plan. No matter how he makes her feel...

“There are tons of great love stories out there. It happens. It could happen to you.”

“Absolutely.” Emma licked some more ice cream off her spoon. “I don’t care what my sister says. I know I’m going to have one heck of a story to tell someday.”

Emma was a hopeless romantic, and Charlie liked the idea of being written into her love story. He just had to figure out how to get the part. So far, this new strategy seemed to be working.

“Mr. Right could be closer than you think,” he said with a wink. So close she could literally reach out and grab him if she wanted to.

“Oh, he’s close all right.” Emma’s eyes lit up and her smile was back in full force. “There’s this new doctor at the hospital, and we’ve kind of hit it off.”

Dear Reader,

I am so excited to have the opportunity to continue telling the story of the Everhart sisters. Lucy, Kendall and Emma are the kind of sisters I wish I had. They’re honest and loyal. They’re always there to provide a shoulder to cry on or to share a laugh.

Emma is the youngest and the one who has never had to worry about how her life is going to turn out because she has a plan. Her plans include marrying a doctor and living happily ever after. There’s only one problem: Charlie Fletcher. Emma’s not supposed to fall in love with the nice-guy paramedic. But sometimes even the best laid plans go awry.

I hope you enjoy Emma and Charlie’s story as well as the other love stories in the Chicago Sisters series. I love connecting with readers. You can find me at amyvastine.com and on Facebook (AmyVastineAuthor) and Twitter (@vastine7).

Amy Vastine

The Best Laid Plans

Amy Vastine

www.millsandboon.co.uk

AMY VASTINE has been plotting stories in her head for as long as she can remember. An eternal optimist, she studied social work, hoping to teach others how to find their silver lining. Now she enjoys creating happily-ever-afters for all to read. Amy lives outside Chicago with her high school sweetheart turned husband, three fun-loving children and their sweet but mischievous puppy. Visit her at amyvastine.com.

To Jake, Alyssa and Ryan. I love you today, tomorrow, forever!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

“WHAT KIND OF hospital is this? Why aren’t you sewing my ear back on?”

Emma felt guilty for wanting to laugh. She thought she had seen it all. Working in the emergency room at Saint Joseph’s was never boring. In the four years she’d been a nurse there, she’d seen a little bit of everything. Babies delivered in and just outside the waiting room. College students who took a dare to drink hand sanitizer when they ran out of beer money. Victims of car accidents. People afraid they were having a heart attack and those who were truly having one. This was new, though. The elderly gentleman was fretting about his missing ear quite unnecessarily.

“Your ear is securely attached to your head, Mr. Wilson. We don’t sew something on that hasn’t fallen off,” Dr. Gavin reassured him. She finished putting the stitches in the old man’s arm and took the gauze Emma held out for her.

“What?” Mr. Wilson turned his head and cupped his other ear. “I can’t hear you, Doc, because my ear fell off! When are you going to put it back on?”

He had been brought in by his wife, who reported that he’d fallen on their front porch steps. X-rays came back clear. No broken bones, thankfully. Mr. Wilson had some bumps and bruises, and there was a nasty gash on his arm, but the bigger concern seemed to be his delusion that his ear had fallen off.

“We’re going to find someone who can help you. I promise.” Dr. Gavin lifted off her stool, removing her latex gloves. Her fiery-red hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, so different from the usual wild mess of curls. Her eyes fell on Emma. “I’m going to find his wife. Can you check on that psych consult? He should have been here by now.”

“I think someone may be avoiding someone,” Emma whispered as she cleared away the suture tray. Dr. Tessa Gavin was a third-year resident and Emma’s favorite doctor in the ER. Spirited and tough, Tessa reminded Emma of her eldest sister, Lucy. Much like Lucy, Tessa was a man-eater. Her most recent victim was a sweet and handsome psychiatrist from the hospital.