From Duty to Daddy. Sue MacKay

      

       Dear Reader

      Taupo is one of those places from my childhood that I’ve never forgotten. We went there so my dad could go trout fishing. It was a much smaller town than nowadays; the houses were small, plain holiday homes, the footpaths unpaved, and no one was in a hurry. I have been back often for holidays, staying with my brother and his family, and seen Taupo grow into a busy, vibrant town. Despite the changes it is still the same wonderful place at the edge of a stunning lake and with a backdrop of mountains.

      I chose Taupo for Charlie and Marshall’s story as it seemed the perfect setting for a wounded hero trying to find his place in life. It’s the antithesis to his constantly changing army life. It’s where Charlie grew up, where she went to school, learned to sail on the lake, where her mother is buried, where her daughter was born.

      Marshall has never lived in the same place for much longer than a year at a time. Charlie has never lived anywhere else than in the house that was her mother’s family home. Does Charlie give this up to follow Marshall’s erratic lifestyle? Or does Marshall take the plunge and learn to stay put in one place long enough to get to know it and the inhabitants well? Follow these two as they nudge their way towards the right solution for them both.

      I’d love to hear from you at [email protected]

      Or visit my place at www.suemackay.co.nz

      Cheers!

       Sue

      With a background of working in medical laboratories and a love of the romance genre, it is no surprise that SUE MACKAY writes Mills & Boon^® Medical Romance™ stories. An avid reader all her life, she wrote her first story at age eight—about a prince, of course. She lives with her own hero in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, where she indulges her passions for the outdoors, the sea and cycling.

      After completing a degree in journalism, working in the advertising industry, then becoming a stay-at-home mum, ROBIN GIANNA had what she calls her mid-life awakening. She decided she wanted to write the romance novels she’d loved since her teens, and embarked on that quest by joining RWA, studying the craft, and obsessively reading and writing.

      Robin loves pushing her characters to grow until they’re ready for their happily-ever-afters. When she’s not writing, Robin’s life is filled with a happily messy kitchen, a needy garden, a tolerant husband, three great kids, a drooling bulldog and one grouchy Siamese cat.

      To learn more about her work, visit her website, www.RobinGianna.com.

      From Duty to Daddy

      Sue MacKay

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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       Dedication

      Hannah, Phil and Austin—you rock. Love you heaps.

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       About The Author

       Title Page

      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

       Copyright

       CHAPTER ONE

      CHARLIE LANG FOLDED her laptop shut and put it aside on the outdoor lounger she sat on, but continued to stare at the blasted thing as though it was to blame for all of her problems. Angst at her continued failure ate deep inside. ‘I’m never going to find him, am I?’

      Dad sat back on his haunches at the edge of the over-grown flowerbed he was weeding below where she sat. ‘Aimee’s father? Who knows, love? You’ve got so little to go on.’

      Make that next to nothing. ‘How many doctors are there in the US army called Marshall Hunter?’ Her head spun with the frustration of it all, whizzing the ever-present fear into a maelstrom in the pit of her stomach. ‘I must’ve sent hundreds of emails.’

      ‘I take it the latest one bounced.’

      ‘Yep.’ Like every one before it. ‘Why did he give me that address if he intended shutting it down?’ Why had Marshall given her an address at all when he’d gone to great lengths to ensure she’d understood there couldn’t be any contact between them after their fling finished?

      On that last day, when he’d been heading back to war and she would shortly return to New Zealand, had he felt a sense of losing something special? She’d certainly been gripped by an awareness of impending loss. Had he suddenly found it impossible to walk away without some way of reaching her again? His note with the email address had been slipped into her shirt pocket while she’d been too busy kissing him goodbye and trying desperately not to cry. Trying to ignore the heat flaring through her body that one touch from Marshall had instantly triggered. Had always triggered—right from the get-go.

      But he must’ve had another change of heart after he’d left Honolulu because not once had an email of hers got through to him. Fickle? Doubtful. Unsure of himself? Definitely not. Marshall had to be the most self-assured man she’d ever come across. Except when she’d asked about his family. Uncertainty had filtered into his steady green gaze then, only to be hurriedly blinked away and replaced with a cold, distant glare.

      She’d understood instantly that to remain onside with him meant talk of his family was banned. Naturally, living with the outcome of that fling, she often wondered what he’d been hiding. Not that that was important right now. Only finding him was.

      ‘Ever thought that the guy doesn’t want to be found?’ Dad never minced his words when he wanted to make a point.

      ‘If