Read Online The Army Doctor's Christmas Baby by Helen Scott Taylor - Free Book Online Page A

wine. The fire
crackled and the lights on the Christmas tree sparkled, reflecting off the dark
windows.
    Her instinct was to speak, to fill the awkward silence.
Instead she held her tongue, giving Sean time to think.
    He glanced up thoughtfully. "The only person I've told
the full story to is Dan. Until now." He dragged in a breath and blew it
out. "The truth is, Eleanor walked out on me before she died."
    "Oh!" Kelly pressed a hand over her mouth. So what
she'd heard was right; Sean and Eleanor hadn't been happy together.
    "Two weeks after the girls were born, she announced she
was leaving me for a wealthy Swiss guy who'd bought some of her paintings. I
think she'd been seeing him for a while. I'm not sure. To be honest, all I
could think about was losing the twins."
    "Oh, Sean, that must have been awful." An inane
thing to say, but she couldn't summon anything better with her mind racing to
take this in.
    "The worst few weeks of my life." He knocked back
the rest of his wine and refilled his glass from the bottle. "I had my
lawyer working overtime trying to stop her taking the girls out of the country.
I was frantic. Then her boyfriend called me. Eleanor had been hit by a taxi
outside their hotel and pronounced dead at the scene. He wanted me to come and
get the babies.
    "I was at work. I walked out of the hospital in a daze,
still wearing my scrubs, and drove to central London. Both the girls were
hungry and had dirty diapers. The guy wouldn't even touch them. I was numb
after hearing about Eleanor, but so unbelievably happy to have my children
back."
    Kelly's heart pounded in distress imagining how upset Sean
must have been at the prospect of losing the two babies he obviously doted on.
"Eleanor was going to take them to Switzerland?"
    "Yes."
    "So you wouldn't have been able to see them."
    Sean shrugged. "She told me I was welcome to visit them
in Switzerland."
    "Why did you keep it a secret that she left you?"
    "I was desperately relieved she couldn't take the girls
away." He scrubbed a hand over his face and screwed up his eyes. "I
felt so bad, so guilty for being pleased to get them back that way."
    Rounding the island, Kelly wrapped him in her arms. He
turned into her embrace, resting his forehead on her shoulder. She stroked back
the sleek golden strands of his hair, willing him to gain comfort from her love
and compassion.
    "It wasn't your fault she died." Despite her
words, Kelly could understand his feelings. What a horrible situation to be in.
    "I swore I would never marry again. I won't ever give a
woman that sort of power over me and the girls."
    Disappointment flashed into Kelly and gripped her heart.
She'd been right. He wasn't ready for a relationship. Although she could hardly
blame him after what he'd been through.
    He lifted his head and ran a thumb across her cheek, staring
into her eyes. "You've made me reassess. I like having you here, Kell. I
like coming home to you, but I want to take things slowly."
    "That's okay with me." Kelly's heart raced, her
fingers tracing the soft hair on his nape. She'd keep Sean and his little girls
in her life any way she could.
    "I'd like to start by dating, but I know you're
planning to work overseas. Perhaps we can stay in contact and see each other
when you're in this country?"
    Kelly's emotions swung all over the place. Despite his
earlier comment that he liked coming home to her, he obviously didn't want her
living here.
    "Why don't I ask the charity if I can work in the
UK?"
    "You'd do that for me?"
    "Of course. I'd love to see you and the girls
regularly."
    "That sounds great. When Monique comes back we'll be
able to spend more evenings out, just the two of us."
    The idea of Monique moving back here with Sean grated on
Kelly. In the two short weeks she had been here, Sean and his girls had become
hers. Given a chance, she would rather stay here and care for them than do any
other job. But she could hardly say that. Anyway, it would be mean to steal
Monique's