Whose Baby Is This?. Patricia Thayer

      “How many times do I have to tell you, she’s not my daughter?”

      Tara’s back straightened. “Don’t worry, Dr. Landers, I already have custody of my niece and I plan to raise her like my own.” Her glare was heated with anger. “But it was my sister’s last request that you be told about your daughter.”

      Matt glanced down at Tara’s ringless hand. Was she alone? He shook away the feelings of sympathy. She wasn’t his problem.

      “For one last time, I never met your sister.”

      Just then the baby stirred and began to cry. He wanted to soothe the infant…and her beautiful aunt, to take them in his arms and protect them from the world. None of this was their fault—or his!

      He could not allow this little angel and her loving guardian to play with his feelings. And he would not be taken advantage of. But could he help them find the real father?

      Whose child was Erin Landers…?

      Dear Reader,

      During the warm days of July, what better way to kick back and enjoy the best of summer reading than with six stellar stories from Special Edition as we continue to celebrate Silhouette’s 20th Anniversary all year long!

      With The Pint-Sized Secret, Sherryl Woods continues to delight her readers with another winning installment of her popular miniseries AND BABY MAKES THREE: THE DELACOURTS OF TEXAS. Reader favorite Lindsay McKenna starts her new miniseries, MORGAN’S MERCENARIES: MAVERICK HEARTS, with Man of Passion, her fiftieth book. A stolen identity leads to true love in Patricia Thayer’s compelling Whose Baby Is This? And a marriage of convenience proves to be anything but in rising star Allison Leigh’s Married to a Stranger in her MEN OF THE DOUBLE-C RANCH miniseries. Rounding off the month is celebrated author Pat Warren’s Doctor and the Debutante, where the healthy dose of romance is just what the physician ordered, while for the heroine in Beth Henderson’s Maternal Instincts, a baby-sitting assignment turns into a practice run for motherhood—and marriage.

      Hope you enjoy this book and the other unforgettable stories Special Edition is happy to bring you this month!

      All the best,

      Karen Taylor Richman,

      Senior Editor

      Whose Baby is This?

      Patricia Thayer

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To Jennifer Nauss, for all your hard work helping me find just the right story for Dr. Matt. It’s nice to have someone in your corner. And always, Steve.

      PATRICIA THAYER

      has been writing for fourteen years and has published over ten books with Silhouette. Her books have been nominated for the National Readers’ Choice Award, Virginia Romance Writers of America’s Holt Medallion, and a prestigious RITA Award. In 1997, Nothing Short of a Miracle won the Romantic Times Magazine Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Special Edition.

      Thanks to the understanding men in her life—her husband of twenty-eight years, Steve, and her three sons—Pat has been able to fulfill her dream of writing romance. Another dream is to own a cabin in Colorado, where she can spend her days writing and her evenings with her favorite hero, Steve. She loves to hear from readers. You can write her at P.O. Box 6251, Anaheim, CA 92816-0251.

      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

      Epilogue

      Chapter One

      Did the man deserve to know he was a father?

      Tara McNeal wasn’t so sure as she stood at the office door of Dr. Matthew Landers, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon.

      Had she done the right thing coming to Santa Cruz? Tara looked down at her tiny three-month-old niece, Erin Marie, strapped in the carrier against her chest. From the moment the precious little girl had been born, Tara had wanted nothing more than to shower her with everything, especially love.

      But Tara had made her deceased sister, Briana, a promise. That meant Erin’s father, Matthew Landers, had to be told about his daughter. Tara doubted the man cared. Not when he’d walked out of Bri’s life long before he knew she’d gotten pregnant.

      So why would Dr. Landers care now? But it still frightened Tara to think he might take Erin away from her, might want to raise his daughter.

      Well, I’m not going to get any answers until I talk to the man, she thought.

      Tara’s hand shook as she opened the door. Inside, the surgeon’s waiting room had been decorated in soft blue and gray. A comfortable-looking sofa and four barrel chairs were grouped at a coffee table with several books scattered along the top.

      At the desk sat a receptionist, a woman in her forties with dark hair and half-glasses perched on her narrow nose. She pulled them off and smiled. “May I help you?” she asked.

      “Yes, I need to see Dr. Landers.”

      “Do you have an appointment?”

      Tara cuddled Erin’s tiny body closer. “No, but it’s important. We’ve come all the way from Phoenix.”

      The woman glanced at Erin and smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

      Matt sat at his desk, going over the report on a child who had been brought into the hospital last week. No matter how many times he’d studied the X rays, it didn’t change the fact that the six-year-old boy needed corrective heart surgery.

      But the million-dollar question was could the weakened child survive the procedure? And could Matt once again live up to his illustrious reputation and pull off another miracle? He sure as hell hoped so.

      The phone rang and he picked it up. “What is it, Judy?”

      “I know you’re busy, Doctor, but there’s a woman with her baby here who wants to see you.”

      He sighed, knowing his secretary was a pushover. “I’m really busy. Can you make an appointment for her later in the week?”

      Judy’s voice lowered. “I would, but she came from Phoenix and the baby is only a few months old.”

      Matt’s heart tightened. He knew he couldn’t turn away any child, not if there was something he could do. “Okay, send them back.”

      Matt stood and slipped on his physician’s coat, then opened the door just as Judy was escorting the young mother and baby down the hall.

      Matt couldn’t help but admire the tall attractive woman with short chestnut hair and pale, creamy skin. Her large green eyes were wide-set and slightly tilted at the corners. He glanced at the infant she held so tenderly in her arms. “Hello, I’m Dr. Landers and you’re Mrs.…”

      “Ms. Tara McNeal,” she corrected. “This is Erin.”

      Matt motioned for her to go in his office as Judy mouthed a thank-you, then disappeared. “Well, Ms. McNeal,” he began as he shut the door. “Have a seat.”

      She