Countdown To Baby (Merlyn County Midwives #2) Read online

  “I don’t regret anything that happened last night,” Cecilia said.

  Geoff reached out to cover her hand with his. “It was one of the best nights I’ve had in a very long time.”

  She laced her fingers with his. “For me, too.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “I’m sort of afraid of ruining everything now.”

  “Not possible.”

  “You haven’t heard what I want to ask you yet.” In response to Geoff’s wary expression Cecilia laughed a little and held up her hands. “Relax. I’m not asking you to marry me. Our night together hasn’t turned me into a starry-eyed romantic with dreams of a happily-ever-after.”

  “So what is this request?”

  She drew a deep breath, then blurted the words before she lost her nerve. “I want you to help me make a baby.”

  Dear Reader,

  It’s that time of year again—when every woman’s thoughts turn to love—and we have all kinds of romantic gifts for you! We begin with the latest from reader favorite Allison Leigh, Secretly Married, in which she concludes her popular TURNABOUT miniseries. A woman who was sure she was divorced finds out there’s the little matter of her not-so-ex-husband’s signing the papers, so off she goes to Turnabout—the island that can turn your life around—to get her divorce. Or does she?

  Our gripping MERLYN COUNTY MIDWIVES miniseries continues with Gina Wilkins’s Countdown to Baby. A woman interested only in baby-making—or so she thinks—may be finding happily-ever-after and her little bundle of joy, with the town’s most eligible bachelor. LOGAN’S LEGACY, our new Silhouette continuity, is introduced in The Virgin’s Makeover by Judy Duarte, in which a plain-Jane adoptee is transformed in time to find her inner beauty…and, just possibly, her biological family. Look for the next installment in this series coming next month. Shirley Hailstock’s Love on Call tells the story of two secretive emergency-room doctors who find temptation—not to mention danger—in each other. In Down from the Mountain by Barbara Gale, two disabled people—a woman without sight, and a scarred man—nonetheless find each other a perfect match. And Arlene James continues THE RICHEST GALS IN TEXAS with Fortune Finds Florist. A sudden windfall turns complicated when a wealthy small-town florist forms a business relationship—for starters—with a younger man who has more than finance on his mind.

  So Happy Valentine’s Day, and don’t forget to join us next month, for six special romances, all from Silhouette Special Edition.

  Sincerely,

  Gail Chasan

  Senior Editor

  Countdown to Baby

  GINA WILKINS

  For Sally—she of the untapped wisdom.

  Books by Gina Wilkins

  Silhouette Special Edition

  The Father Next Door #1082

  It Could Happen To You #1119

  Valentine Baby #1153

  †Her Very Own Family #1243

  †That First Special Kiss #1269

  Surprise Partners #1318

  **The Stranger in Room 205 #1399

  **Bachelor Cop Finally Caught? #1413

  **Dateline Matrimony #1424

  The Groom’s Stand-In #1460

  The Best Man’s Plan #1479

  *The Family Plan #1525

  *Conflict of Interest #1531

  *Faith, Hope and Family #1538

  Make-Believe Mistletoe #1583

  Countdown to Baby #1592

  Silhouette Books

  World’s Most Eligible Bachelors

  Doctor in Disguise

  Previously published as Gina Ferris

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Healing Sympathy #496

  Lady Beware #549

  In from the Rain #677

  Prodigal Father #711

  §Full of Grace #793

  §Hardworking Man #806

  §Fair and Wise #819

  §Far To Go #862

  §Loving and Giving #879

  Babies on Board #913

  Previously published as Gina Ferris Wilkins

  Silhouette Special Edition

  ‡A Man for Mom #955

  ‡A Match for Celia #967

  ‡A Home for Adam #980

  ‡Cody’s Fiancée #1006

  Silhouette Books

  Mother’s Day Collection 1995

  Three Mothers and a Cradle

  “Beginnings”

  GINA WILKINS

  is a bestselling and award-winning author who has written more than sixty-five books for Harlequin and Silhouette. She credits her successful career in romance to her long, happy marriage and her three “extraordinary” children.

  A lifelong resident of central Arkansas, Ms. Wilkins sold her first book to Harlequin in 1987 and has been writing full-time since. She has appeared on the Waldenbooks, B. Dalton and USA TODAY bestseller lists. She is a three-time recipient of the Maggie Award for Excellence, sponsored by Georgia Romance Writers, and has won several awards from the reviewers of Romantic Times.

  Merlyn County Regional

  Hospital Happenings

  Welcome to Lily Cunningham, public relations director extraordinaire! Lily’s experience—from dining with royalty to saving billion-dollar corporations—is sure to bring prestige to our hospital and the new biomedical research facility sponsored by Dr. Mari Bingham. If you see Lily in the halls—she’ll be wearing her signature color: red—give her a warm Kentucky hello!

  Congratulations to Eric Mendoza on his promotion—and his engagement to expectant mother Hannah Bingham!

  If anyone has seen any strange behavior at the Foster Clinic or in the pharmacy department of the hospital in the last few weeks, please report this to Dr. Mari Bingham or her receptionist immediately!

  And thanks to midwife Cecilia Mendoza for her hard work and dedication to the Foster Clinic. Please congratulate her on ten years of caring for Merlyn County’s mothers and babies!

  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 One

  The slippery seven-pound boy squirmed in Cecilia Mendoza’s arms. Pink legs flailed with his irritation at being shoved out of his warm, liquid cocoon and into the openness and light of the clinic birthing room. A series of shrill screams issued from his toothless mouth, and his scrunched face was beet red with fury.

  Cecilia thought he was absolutely beautiful. With hidden reluctance, she transferred the child into the arms of his exhausted but eager mother. The stocky young father hovered close by, his ruddy face split with an enormous, proud, and just a bit nervous, smile.

  Pushing her own emotions to the back of her mind, Cecilia concentrated on her job as a certified nurse midwife, turning her attention to the routine follow-up procedures of this blessedly complication-free delivery. Her workday was almost over. She couldn’t go straight home, unfortunately, because of the reception for Lillith Cunningham, the new public relations director for the Foster Midwifery Clinic and the Bingham Midwifery School, both affiliated with the regional hospital in Merlyn County, Kentucky. The reception was to begin at six. Cecilia wasn’t particularly looking forward to the event, but she felt obligated to drop in.

  She could contemplate her feelings of wistfulness, envy and frustration later, when she was alone in her house, longing for a
child of her own. As her thirty-eighth birthday loomed closer, she couldn’t help wondering if she would ever know the joy of holding her own baby.

  Geoff Bingham’s bedroom smelled of freshly applied orange-oil wood polish and a hint of woodlands-scented air freshener. As he precisely knotted an expensive red silk tie around the neck of his tailored white shirt, he wondered if he was only imagining the slightly musty scent of a long-unoccupied room beneath the more pleasing fragrances.

  His efficient housekeeper made sure his condo was always clean and welcoming when he returned from one of his many long business trips, but sometimes the place still felt foreign to him. Like just another of the series of hotel suites and corporate apartments he slept in during his travels—when his demanding job allowed him to sleep, of course.

  Picking up the hand-tailored jacket that had been laid out on his bed, he shrugged into it as automatically as a mechanic might don his blue cotton work shirt. As far as Geoff was concerned, this fifteen-hundred-dollar suit was merely a business uniform, no more indicative of his true personality than his immaculately polished wing-tip shoes. The party for which he was dressing was just another business meeting to him, at which he would smile and mingle and shake hands with the smooth skill he had spent the past ten of his thirty-two years developing.

  Squeezing the tight muscles at the back of his neck with his left hand, he could only hope the reception for the hospital’s new public relations director wouldn’t last long. All he wanted to do was get this over with, come back to his citrus-scented condo and crash in the den with a beer, some chips and his treasured Taylor guitar. An evening of quiet solitude sounded very good to him right now. But he would do his duty. He always did.

  “So, Geoff.” A florid-faced man in a suit that was too tight across the belly clapped him on the back with enough force to make him almost stagger. “How long are you in town for this time?”

  With the benefit of a decade of practice, Geoff held on to his pleasant smile, which was, to him, as much a tool of his trade as a hammer was to a carpenter. “Looks like I could be around for a while this time.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Bob Howard slapped Geoff’s back again. “Maybe we can hit the golf course. Not this weekend, I’m afraid. The wife’s sister is coming for a visit, and I’m expected to entertain my moron of a brother-in-law.”

  That was one thing Geoff could identify with. Family obligations. His entire life revolved around them. “Maybe some other time.”

  “I’ll give you a call.”

  Geoff could think of a couple dozen things he would rather do than spend an afternoon golfing with Bob Howard—root canals and ditch digging among them—but since Howard’s bank was a major financier for Bingham Enterprises, he spoke warmly. “I’ll look forward to it.”

  Howard moved on, and Geoff took advantage of the moment of peace to take another bracing swallow of his lemonade. Around him various members of his family—his father, his grandmother, his sister, his cousins—worked the crowd attending the reception for the new public relations director for Merlyn County Regional Hospital.

  The hospital had been founded by Geoff’s grandparents and was still family controlled, along with their other local and international business interests. The Binghams took their responsibilities to the corporation and to the community very seriously. And to the rest of the family, of course.

  Even Geoff’s late, wild, uncle Billy’s illegitimate offspring—the ones he had acknowledged, anyway—had certain expectations thrust upon them, whether they wanted them or not. Two of those cousins, Dr. Kyle Bingham and Hannah Bingham-soon-to-be-Mendoza, were in attendance at this affair, doing their part to promote the hospital and its upcoming public relations campaign.

  Geoff’s gaze lingered on Hannah, who was several months along in her pregnancy. She had very recently announced her engagement to Eric Mendoza, a rising young executive in Bingham Enterprises. The couple looked radiantly happy, and the engagement had been approved by Geoff’s father and grandmother.

  In their opinions, Hannah needed someone to help her raise the child she had conceived in an ill-advised affair several months ago, and young Eric needed a wife to help him further his career. This marriage was the ideal solution, as far as they were concerned.

  It wouldn’t be long, Geoff feared, before they turned their attentions back to him. Ever since his thirtieth birthday two years ago, they had been pressuring him to find a suitable bride and start producing more Binghams.

  While Geoff had no problem with the idea of fatherhood, the prospect of marriage did not appeal to him at all. As it was now, his free time was almost nonexistent. The opportunities were extremely rare for him to do whatever he felt like doing without taking anyone else’s needs or wishes into consideration. In his opinion, a wife was simply someone else who would claim a right to his time and attention.

  Maybe he could subtly redirect the family’s matchmaking efforts to his sister Mari, he mused. After all, she was thirty-four and firmly established as an M.D. and director of the Foster Midwifery Clinic and the Bingham Midwifery School. Sure, she was busy with her duties and her plans for the biomedical research center she dreamed of founding here in town, but she was no busier than Geoff, whose primary job was to secure funding for those grandiose plans and to keep the other Bingham Enterprises interests viable in an increasingly tough international market.

  Someone walked by nibbling on a fat, juicy-looking chocolate-dipped strawberry, reminding Geoff he hadn’t eaten in a while. He glanced toward the refreshments tables, where a small crowd of attendees munched on summer party fare. His gaze lingered on a beautiful brunette in a flame red dress.

  Cecilia Mendoza. A prominent midwife at the clinic, Eric’s sister was an extremely attractive woman Geoff had admired several times but had never actually met.

  Maybe he would sample the treats before he made his escape from this boring affair.

  The reception was held in the atrium of the administration and education building on the hospital campus. Four stories high, the fully enclosed atrium was a haven of glass, greenery, statuary and fountains. Wrought-iron tables, chairs and benches were scattered artfully around the stone floors. Greenery cascaded from the balconies of the floors above, leading the eye to the angled glass roof high above their heads. Accessed by gently rising ramps, another balcony circled the main atrium, holding more tables and chairs and providing a second level for entertaining and activities.

  There was very little empty space, Cecilia noted as she entered the atrium from the back hallway that led into the main clinic building. When Mari Bingham arranged an official event, few members of her staff or the surrounding business community failed to make an appearance.

  This affair had been billed as an informal after-hours welcome for the new PR director. Cecilia was a bit late because she had taken the time to change out of her wilted scrubs and into a bright red sheath dress she’d chosen to counter the weariness of a long day’s work. Sleeveless and scoop-necked, it fit closely to her hips, then flared out just a little and fell to her knees.

  She had reluctantly swapped her comfortable walking shoes for a pair of black high-heeled sandals, and her feet were already protesting. Several tendrils of dark hair had escaped the upswept style she had worn for convenience, tickling the back of her neck and her freshly made-up cheeks when she turned her head to greet friends and business associates who had already gathered around the refreshments tables.

  In deference to the heat of a July evening, the caterers served frosty lemonade, iced raspberry tea and light snacks—chilled shrimp, crisp vegetables, tiny sandwiches, fresh fruits and flaky pastries. Cecilia looked longingly at the food. She had worked through her usual lunchtime—the McAllister baby having chosen just then to make her appearance—and she was hungry. But since she had never quite mastered the art of eating, mingling and conversing all at the same time, she settled for a clear-plastic tumbler of lemonade and a single chocolate-dipped strawberry, which she barely
had time to eat before a deep, masculine voice spoke from close behind her.

  “I don’t know about you, but I wish they’d served pizza and cheeseburgers. It would take a whole platter full of these little munchies to fill me up.”

  Uncertain if he was talking to her, she turned her head to make sure. She found herself looking straight into the clear hazel eyes of Geoff Bingham, a top executive of Bingham Enterprises and brother to the administrator of the clinic where Cecilia had spent her entire career as a certified nurse midwife.

  She identified him immediately, of course—few people in these parts would not—but she had never actually spoken to him before. “I think it would be hard to gracefully eat pizza and cheeseburgers standing in a crowd of dressed-up people,” she replied in the same light tone he had used. And then she smiled. “But it does sound good.”

  Geoff studied the selection of finger foods spread on the tables and shook his head. “It all looks very nice, but there’s no real food here. I’ve got to talk to Mari about putting out buckets of chicken or stacks of burritos or something for the next official event.”

  Cecilia couldn’t help but laugh at the image of this restrained and proper crowd munching on chicken legs and burritos. “I’m sure that’s going to happen.”

  His gaze drifted down to her mouth. “So, do you have any recommendations for a guy who’s very close to starvation?”

  He was definitely flirting with her, and she wasn’t too tired to appreciate the attentions of such a handsome and charming man. It had been too long since she had been studied with such open masculine approval—and not in an insulting way, she decided, but decidedly flattering. This brief exchange would give her something to smile about later while she was sitting alone in her house with her feet up and a cup of coffee beside her.