SH Medical 09 - The M.D.'s Secret Daughter Read online

  A Time For Truth

  What were the odds of Dr. Zack Sargent turning up at Safe Harbor Medical? Nurse Jan Garcia’s former fiancé would be on staff here—and assigned to work closely with her as she launches the hospital’s new egg donor program. It’s more than a little awkward.

  Years ago, a terrible misunderstanding tore them apart. And now Zack, a widower raising his young stepdaughter alone, learns that Jan secretly kept the daughter—their daughter—he thought she’d given up for adoption.

  Zack has become the kind of steady, caring father both girls need, and he and Jan can’t ignore the sparks that still fly between them. But to become a family, they must learn to trust each other again. Could two little girls and two stray cats be enough to bring them back together?

  Throughout the evening, she sensed Zack’s attention skimming over her.

  No matter what else he was doing. Their eyes would meet, and then he’d go back to refilling glasses, joking with the girls or watching a recap of the day’s football highlights.

  Her skin prickled with excitement. They were going to be alone tonight. She knew what that might mean, and judging by the quick intake of his breath whenever they came close, so did he.

  Ever since she’d seen Zack standing in front of the third-grade classroom a couple of months ago, Jan had longed to touch him all over. She couldn’t stop now, even though her instincts warned that she’d be running a risk. If this relationship blew up in their faces, their delicate balance over Kimmie’s upbringing might shatter.

  No matter how much caution I’ve learned, I’m still impulsive. And this particular impulse refused to be ignored….

  Dear Reader,

  At Safe Harbor Medical Center, the next step after establishing the new fertility center is to set up an egg donor program. This book introduces Jan Garcia, RN, former fiancée of an obstetrician who’s appeared in several previous books in the series. She’s just arrived to head up the program, with which Dr. Zack Sargent is closely involved.

  He has a big surprise in store.

  There’s a natural tension and attraction between these former lovers, who parted eight years earlier. Jan was unfairly accused of harming a patient and Zack believed the charges. Furious, Jan threw his ring at him.

  When she discovered she was pregnant, he signed papers so she could relinquish the baby for adoption. Although Jan had a change of heart, she never told him she kept little Kimmie. After all, by the time she was cleared of charges, he was already engaged to someone else.

  Now she’s back in town, and they both have to face their shared parentage. Zack, a widower, must connect with the daughter Jan kept from him all these years. And he has to do that without hurting his adopted stepdaughter, who’s only a year older than Kimmie.

  How can two wounded and very different people work together, professionally and personally? Especially when, against their better judgment, they’re falling in love again? Welcome to their story!

  Jacqueline Diamond

  The M.D.’s

  Secret Daughter

  Jacqueline Diamond

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Writing about a fertility program at a medical center draws on Jackie’s longstanding interest in medicine, her own fertility treatments (result: two terrific sons, now in their twenties) and her skill, as a former Associated Press reporter, in researching the latest developments in the field. An author of ninety romances, mysteries, Regencies and paranormals, Jackie lives in Orange County, California, with her husband of more than thirty years. You can visit Jackie at www.jacquelinediamond.com and follow her on Twitter @jacquediamond. Thanks!

  Books by Jacqueline Diamond

  HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

  1046—THE BABY’S BODYGUARD

  1075—THE BABY SCHEME

  1094—THE POLICE CHIEF’S LADY

  1101—NINE-MONTH SURPRISE‡

  1109—A FAMILY AT LAST‡

  1118—DAD BY DEFAULT‡

  1130—THE DOCTOR + FOUR‡

  1149—THE DOCTOR’S LITTLE SECRET

  1163—DADDY PROTECTOR

  1177—TWIN SURPRISE

  1209—THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR*

  1223—BABY IN WAITING*

  1242—MILLION-DOLLAR NANNY*

  1273—DOCTOR DADDY

  1295—THE WOULD-BE MOMMY**

  1320—HIS HIRED BABY**

  1335—THE HOLIDAY TRIPLETS**

  1344—OFFICER DADDY**

  1358—FALLING FOR THE NANNY**

  1375—THE SURGEON’S SURPRISE TWINS**

  1392—THE DETECTIVE’S ACCIDENTAL BABY**

  1400—THE BABY DILEMMA**

  ‡Downhome Doctors

  *Harmony Circle

  **Safe Harbor Medical

  In Memory of Dr. Bonnie Hock Lamar

  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

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  “If I can’t have a kitten,” said Kimmie, “how about a daddy?”

  Jan Garcia, R.N., nearly spit her morning coffee into the windshield. She quickly swallowed, grateful the car was stopped at a red light. Of all the concerns on her mind this morning, how had her seven-year-old daughter managed to hit on the one that troubled Jan most?

  Returning her cup to its holder, she regarded the girl belted into the passenger seat beside her. Intense frown lines puckered Kimmie’s forehead beneath straight dark bangs. Uh-oh. She’d seized on a theme and her daughter had the tenacity of a bulldog.

  First tactic: make light of the matter. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Fiona has a daddy. She used to live with just him and no mommy,” Kimmie said earnestly. “I bet he’ll bring her to school today.”

  “And I’m bringing you.” This morning she’d pressed Kimmie’s pink blouse and the ruffle on the pink-and-tan skirt, and applied a curling iron to her daughter’s long dark hair, the same color as Jan’s. Still, a little girl couldn’t be expected to appreciate how much love her mommy lavished on her.

  “Now Fiona has a daddy and a mommy,” Kimmie continued stubbornly. “Why can’t I have both?”

  When the light changed, Jan eased the car forward. Thank goodness she was driving through a quiet section of Safe Harbor, because she had to force herself to focus.

  That’s what I get for trying to do the right thing. Concerned about how her daughter would adjust to starting second grade at a new school—they’d recently relocated from Texas to California—Jan had made a point of getting together last weekend with an old
friend and coworker, embryologist Alec Denny, his new wife, Patty, and his six-year-old daughter. Even though Fiona was a year younger, Jan thought knowing a girl at the new school might help soothe Kimmie’s anxiety.

  Good intentions didn’t always work out as expected. She should have remembered daddies had become a frequent topic of discussion since Kimmie read a book about a girl finding her father.

  Next tactic: change the subject. “I’m sorry you can’t have a kitten at our apartment. I promise to look for a place that accepts pets. But I’m starting a new job, so it may take a while.”

  “I miss my kitties.” A world of sadness laced the little girl’s voice, making Jan sorry she’d switched to such a painful topic.

  “We were only fostering those kittens till they could find good homes,” she reminded her daughter.

  Big green eyes regarded her hopefully. “We can do that here.”

  “No pets means no pets. Not even foster kittens.” To her right, between two-story stucco buildings, Jan glimpsed the small harbor that gave the town its name. “Look. Isn’t that pretty?”

  “Huh.” Moodily, Kimmie shifted the backpack on her lap and stared straight ahead.

  She’ll adjust. Maybe if Jan repeated that about a dozen times, she’d believe it herself.

  When world-renowned fertility expert Dr. Owen Tartikoff, Jan’s former boss from a previous job in Boston, offered her a position as head of the new egg-donor program at Safe Harbor Medical Center, she’d leaped at the chance. She’d be working with a top-notch medical team that included some old friends.

  Another factor in moving West was being close to family. Jan had grown up half an hour’s drive from here in Santa Ana, where her mother, brother, sister-in-law and two nieces lived. Her mother had even volunteered to pick Kimmie up after school whenever Jan needed her.

  There was one major drawback. Jan preferred not to think about him right now. Okay, if she weren’t in total denial, she would have contacted Dr. Zack Sargent as soon as she saw his name on the hospital’s staff roster. But what did you say to the man who’d dumped you when you needed him most and married someone else while you were still hurting? By the way, I didn’t give up our baby for adoption like I said I would, so get over it?

  Sooner or later, Jan would have to tell him the truth. When she did, she could picture Zack getting all rigid and judgmental; he was good at that. She doubted he’d want to be a part of their lives and, although that posed problems in its own way, she was glad.

  Kimmie didn’t need a reluctant daddy. She didn’t need to play second fiddle to Zack’s wife and any kids they’d had in the intervening years. Jan didn’t intend to let him break Kimmie’s heart the way he’d broken hers.

  All the same, she dreaded the inevitable confrontation. If she’d been smart, she’d have let him know about Kimmie while they were still safely in Texas, and while she had time to change her mind about the move. How come she was so good at planning her professional life and so lousy at dealing with her personal one?

  She drove past the stucco Civic Center buildings and joined a line of cars inching into the elementary school’s parking lot. When Jan enrolled Kimmie last week, the assistant principal had given her a map. Arranged like a fork with three detached prongs, the school’s low white buildings lay between City Hall Park and the middle school.

  As the car rolled forward Jan grumbled under her breath about an oversize vehicle hogging an extra space. Mercifully, she found an empty one, although it was a tight squeeze for her red sedan.

  “Got everything?” she asked as she cut the engine. She’d downloaded a list of recommended supplies from the school’s website and checked it twice. Still, in the stress of preparing for her first day at work, as well as the start of school, she might have overlooked something. “Paper? Pencils, markers and glue? Lunch?”

  “Mischief,” Kimmie said as she shrugged on her backpack.

  Her door half-open, Jan hesitated in confusion. Then she noted the well-worn teddy bear in her daughter’s grip. The school encouraged students in the early grades to bring a favorite stuffed animal on opening day.

  “Absolutely. We can’t forget Mischief.” Chuckling at her misunderstanding, Jan got out, smoothed her tailored aqua dress and straightened the matching jacket.

  Parents and kids, the smaller ones also toting stuffed animals, streamed toward the buildings while cars continued prowling for spaces. The website had advised parents to use the middle-school lot—classes didn’t start there until tomorrow—or park a block away at the community center. Busy day for everybody, Jan reflected, grateful she’d found a spot so close.

  In the distance she glimpsed Fiona clutching a panda on one side and her stepmother’s hand on the other. Alec prowled alongside, video-camera recording his daughter’s arrival for the start of first grade. To Jan’s relief, Kimmie was too short to see them through the crowd.

  At moments like this, she wished her daughter had a loving father. Not just at moments like this, either. Maybe someday Jan would meet the right guy. After all, she was only thirty.

  Resolutely, she turned her attention to the map. Mrs. Humphreys’s second-grade classroom lay at the end of the right-hand building, and there it was, straight ahead.

  In the doorway stood a smartly dressed woman a little taller than Jan’s five foot three, her broad features warm with welcome as she greeted a blond boy and patted his green dinosaur. “Brady? I’m delighted to have you in my class this year.”

  “Me, too,” he said in a high voice, speaking as the dinosaur. “I’m Sneezer.”

  The boy’s mother, hanging on to a little girl, added playfully, “He packed plenty of tissues in case Sneezer starts snuffling.”

  “Meeting everyone’s stuffed animals is fun. We’ll take a class picture that I’ll post on my web page. It’s downloadable.” Glancing at Jan, the teacher said, “Hi, I’m Paula Humphreys.”

  “Jan Garcia.” She ushered Kimmie forward. “We just moved here from Houston, so this is quite a change for Kimmie.”

  “For Mischief, too,” the girl added solemnly.

  “I’m sure you’ll both feel at home very soon.” The teacher indicated a wall of photos inside the classroom, depicting raccoons, brown bears, opossums, bobcats, coyotes, skunks and other native wildlife. “As you can see, I love animals.”

  “Me, too!” Brightening, Kimmie hurried inside, holding up her teddy so it could see the pictures.

  Jan retreated to make room for new arrivals. Although her mothering instinct urged her to stay, it would be best to leave while her daughter was occupied. Besides, she faced her own challenges this morning.

  As she walked toward the parking lot, Brady’s mother, a short brunette with a warm smile, fell into step. Jan slowed to accommodate the toddler.

  “I overheard your name. You’re new at the hospital, aren’t you?” the woman said. “I’m Kate Franco and this is my daughter Tara. My husband, Tony, is the staff attorney.”

  “It’s good to meet you.” Jan was glad the woman had introduced herself. “There must be a lot of hospital employees with kids here.”

  “Quite a few,” Kate agreed. “Oh, there’s one of them now.”

  Following her gesture toward a third-grade classroom, Jan nearly forgot to breathe.

  Near the doorway stood a man with tawny hair as thick as it had been seven years ago, while the September sunlight gave his skin a bronze glow. She had no time to prepare before intense green eyes, the same color as Ki
mmie’s, fixed on her with a startled expression.

  “That’s Dr. Zack Sargent, one of the obstetricians,” Kate noted. “Would you like me to introduce you?”

  Swallowing a lump in her throat, Jan dredged up the words. “No, thanks. I’m sure I’ll meet him at work.”

  What was he doing here? He and his wife—her name was Rima, Jan had heard—hadn’t been married long enough to have a third-grader. “Which kid is his?”

  Nodding at a dark-skinned girl in jeans and an aqua T-shirt, Kate said, “That’s his stepdaughter, Berry. Her mom died when she was five and he’s been raising her alone.”

  “How...fatherly.” Jan struggled to grasp what this meant. For years she’d carried an image of her former fiancé as a happily married man, but Zack was widowed. Yet he obviously had strong parental instincts.

  What was that going to mean when he learned about their daughter? She’d assumed he would want as little to do with Kimmie now as he had when, early in Jan’s pregnancy, he’d signed papers waiving his paternal rights.

  When she glanced back toward him she saw Zack turn in her direction. Mercifully, the teacher in the doorway finished talking to another parent and reached to shake Zack’s hand. While he was busy, Jan made an excuse to Kate and strode along the walkway as fast as her high-heeled pumps would carry her.

  Her heart thumped, leaving her breathless. Even after all this time, her fingers remembered the softness of Zack’s hair and the rough texture of his cheeks in the morning. She hadn’t expected this deep-down yearning... Or this jolt of fear.

  While he apparently hadn’t seen her with Kimmie, he must be wondering why Jan was at the school. She’d omitted any mention of her daughter from her résumé or Facebook page, focusing strictly on business. She’d hoped to dodge him until she could select the right opportunity at work, but that possibility had flown out the window.