Dancing in the Dark (21 page)

Seth tried to answer but he couldn’t. There was a lump in his throat. Instead, he gathered Wendy close and kissed her.

The sky had cleared and the moon and stars shone down brightly on the town by the time they reached Twin Oaks. Arms around each other, they went into the B and B. A fire blazed cheerfully in the massive fireplace. Rod Pommier was sitting in front of the hearth. When he saw Seth and Wendy, he rose to his feet.

“Doctor,” Wendy said, “I’m sorry I ran off.”

“No need to apologize, Miss Monroe.”

“Please, call me Wendy.” She took a deep breath. “I want to thank you for your time, Doctor.”

“Rod.”

“Rod. Thank you—but I’ve decided not to have that operation.”

The doctor looked from Wendy’s smiling face to Seth’s. “Why do I get the feeling congratulations are in order?”

Seth’s smile became a grin. “Must be those Aunt Agatha genes kicking in.”

Wendy furrowed her brow. “Who’s Aunt Agatha?”

Both men laughed. “A mutual friend we’ll have to be sure to invite to the wedding,” Seth said, and hugged her close.

“Who’s a mutual friend?” Clint asked as he joined the group.

“You are.” Seth held out his hand. “If it weren’t for you and the twin terrors, Wendy and I might not be announcing our engagement.”

A slow grin spread across Clint’s face. “Hey. That’s great.” He shook Seth’s hand, kissed Wendy’s cheek. “That’s terrific, you guys. Congratulations.” He looked up, spotted Maureen coming into the gathering room from the door that led to the back of the house. “Sis? Want to hear some good news?”

Maureen hesitated. She had some news herself, but she wasn’t sure it was good. She’d gone out to the woodshed a few minutes ago. Clint had asked her not to do that anymore, but a guest wanted firewood in a hurry and Maureen couldn’t see hunting up her brother for something so simple.

Except it had turned out not to be simple at all.

She’d loaded a canvas carrier with some logs and started back to the house. Then, for no reason, she’d stopped. This was her first time in the shed since the accident. She wanted to take a better look.

Slowly, she’d retraced her footsteps and poked at the fallen roof. A couple of logs shifted and tumbled into the snow, exposing one of the braces that had snapped when the roof came down.

Maureen had bent down and peered at the brace. What were those marks on the end of it? Gnaw marks? Could be, if someone had left the door open. There were lots of porcupines in the woods and they loved to chew.

That explanation was logical...unless, like Maureen, you were a former New York City police detective who’d put a man named Carl Nevil in jail. Carl’s brother, Owen, had vowed revenge.

Had a man, not a porcupine, made those marks? Had Owen Nevil found her? Had he, or someone sent by him, deliberately weakened the woodshed so it would collapse and kill her?

Maureen had half run back to the house, her heart pounding, but she’d stopped before she entered the gathering room. The last thing she wanted to do was alarm the guests at Twin Oaks.

And now Dr. Pommier, her brother, Seth Castleman and Wendy Monroe were waving at her and grinning. Good news didn’t deserve to be answered by bad news, Maureen thought, and she managed a cheerful smile as she headed for the little group. What she’d discovered could wait until later.

“Hi,” she said. “What’s up?”

Seth’s smile, and Wendy’s answering one, were enough to light the room.

“We’re getting married,” Seth said, and even Maureen forgot her worries as she watched him take Wendy in his arms and kiss her.

* * * * *

Welcome to Twin Oaks—

the new B and B in Cooper’s Corner.

Some come for pleasure, others for passion—

And one to set things straight....

COOPER’S CORNER

a Harlequin continuity series

continues with

ACCIDENTAL FAMILY

By Kristin Gabriel

Ex-TV soap star Rowena Dahl wanted to be a mom, but her biological clock was ticking too fast to wait for some slowpoke Mr. Right. So she opted for the fertility clinic—and was thrilled to be pregnant. There was only one problem. She got the wrong sperm!

Here’s a preview!

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EXCERPT

A
SURGE
OF
joy shot through her and her eyes blurred with tears. “I can't believe it. This is so...” But she couldn't put her feelings into words. After so many years of living on her own, she was finally going to have a family again.

“Here,” Dr. Milburn said, reaching over to hand her a tissue.

“I've never been happier,” she said at last, wiping her wet cheeks with the tissue. “Thank you.”

He sighed. “I hope you'll still feel that way when you hear what I have to tell you.”

Apprehension fluttered through her. “What?”

“I was hoping we wouldn't need to have this discussion,” he began, then took off his bifocals and folded them in his hand. “But I'm afraid it's unavoidable now.”

Her fingers gripped the armrests as she prepared herself for another roller-coaster ride. “Please just tell me, Dr. Milburn. Is something wrong?”

“There was a problem with the insemination procedure. A mistake, actually.”

“A mistake?” she echoed.

“Nothing to be too alarmed about,” he assured her. “My office discovered it when the clinic sent a copy of your records here.”

“I still don't understand.”

He hesitated for a long moment. “It turns out that you were not inseminated with the donor sperm you selected, Rowena.”

She stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. “How can that be possible?”

“I wish I knew.” He closed her file. “In my experience with the Orr Fertility Clinic, they have stringent verification procedures. That's one of the reasons I recommended them to you. Unfortunately, a fluke occurred in your case, due either to human error or some kind of computer malfunction. I've contacted the clinic and they're naturally very concerned and trying to discover the source of the mix-up.”

She didn't care about the Orr Clinic. She cared about her baby. “So who is the donor?”

He lifted his narrow shoulders. “That's something that may remain a mystery. Apparently, there is no profile available on the man. At least, not one that has been discovered yet.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “You don't know
anything
about him?”

“I'm afraid not.”

* * * * *

ISBN: 9781460316337

Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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