The Daddy Dilemma by Karen Rose Smith Harlequin Everlasting Love Silhouette Special Edition Silhouette Romance Harlequin Silhouette Romance novel Contemporary Romance

The Daddy Dilemma
Karen Rose Smith
Silhouette Special Edition, Dads in Progress series, Book 1
0373248849

Sara donated her eggs to an infertile couple. The compensation she received helped to pay for her mom's bone marrow transplant. Six years later after an accident that left Sara unable to have children, she searches out the widowed father of her child in Rapid Creek, Minnesota.

Should she interfere in his life and be Kyle's mother? Or should she fade into her own life again so she doesn't upset the peace Kyle's father Nathan and his son have found?

"...a highly readable tale of family and of blossoming love mixed with passion between a cautious man and a lonely woman..." Jane Bowers/Romance Reviews Today

As Sara Hobart lay on the surgical center gurney, she knew she'd done the right thing. She'd had no choice.

Her friend Joanne, who worked at the fertility clinic, sat by her bed, her black ringlets tumbling around her face as she declared vehemently, "No one should be denied treatment because they can't afford to pay. With the ten thousand for donating your eggs, you'll have enough to give the hospital to go through with your mother's transplant. Right?"

"Along with the fund-raising money, we'll have enough. We can tell her doctor to begin treatment. Thank you so much for helping me. For being here today. I never thought I'd do anything like this--" Emotion tightened her throat. Her mom deserved every chance to prolong her life and Sara would do anything in her power to make it happen.

Joanne patted Sara's hand. "You're not only helping your mom, you're giving a childless couple a chance to conceive. Your eggs are going to a worthy recipient."

Of course her friend couldn't divulge the name or names of the couple she'd be helping. Their criteria had been simple: eggs from a healthy woman, twenty-eight or younger with 1300+ SAT score. A law student, Sara had fit the bill. When Joanne had given her the idea, it had been a godsend.

"The couple you're donating to already had two in vitro attempts that failed," Joanne further explained.

Sara never would have considered going through this procedure if her mother hadn't gotten ill. But bone marrow transplant treatment was considered experimental with her mom's rare blood disorder and it was more expensive than Sara had ever realized. Although Sara had written appeal letter after appeal letter, the insurance company had denied coverage. Because her mother didn't have time to wait any longer, Sara had decided the only thing to do was to raise the money herself. Joanne as well as other friends had helped with the fundraisers in their small town ten miles outside of Minneapolis, but they'd come up thousands short, even for the downpayment.

When Sara had been accepted as a donor by the clinic, she'd told her mom and they'd both cried tears of relief...and of hope. Sara couldn't imagine a world without her mother in it. She'd never had a father, never had uncles or aunts or cousins. She and her mom only had each other and were best friends. But Joanne was a very good friend, too. In fact, she was taking the afternoon off to drive her to her apartment.

Sara pushed her blond hair from her temple, ready to take the next step to make her mom well. "When I get home, I can make the call to the financial services director at St. Bartholomew's hospital. Mom can start treatment as soon as they can fit her in."

The hope in Sara's heart made her smile. She wanted children someday. After she became a partner in a law firm, she'd think about it. She prayed her mother would live to see her grandchildren...as well as to celebrate each milestone with Sara for many, many years to come.

Six Years Later

Sara opened the heavy oak door into Pine Grove Lodge, anxiety tightening her chest, her heart pounding hard. She wasn't sure she should be here, but she had to find out if Nathan Barclay's son was her son. He might not be. Her eggs might not have been instrumental in giving the Barclays a child. But the dates lined up--her donation and Kyle's birth. She had to know for sure. Her accident and hysterectomy in June had devastated her...until during her recuperation, Joanne, who'd left the fertility clinic a few years ago to take a more lucrative position elsewhere, had revealed Nathan Barclay's name.

Moving into the great room, Sara found no one standing at the long mahogany counter.

A door opened at the rear of the room and a tall, broad-shouldered man carrying an armful of logs came in and kicked the door shut with one booted foot. As he passed the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and caught sight of her, he smiled. But it was a forced smile that didn't light up his eyes that were the same color as the gray November sky outside.

Sara recognized Nathan Barclay from the photograph she'd found in an article about him and his dad restoring this resort in their hometown of Rapid Creek, Minnesota. Still reeling from her mom's death a year ago and the accident that had taken away her ability to have children, she'd Googled him on the Internet, and she'd found more than she'd ever imagined. Most important, she'd learned he was a widower and had a son who was five.

She hadn't made an impulsive decision that could affect several lives. After her recuperation, she'd returned to her law firm, working seventy to eighty hours a week. But after two months, she'd decided to use vacation time, packed a suitcase, grabbed her laptop and headed to the Wisconsin Dells to think. Two days into her get-away, she'd found herself driving to Rapid Creek, searching for answers.

"If you're looking for a room, I'm sorry, but we don't have any vacancies. This time of year we're usually full." The innkeeper's voice was deep and resonated through Sara, making her anxiety grab a stronger hold.

Straightening her shoulders and taking a deep breath, she waited only a heartbeat before replying, "I'm not looking for a room."

At her words his dark brows quirked up. Turning away from her, he lowered the armful of logs onto the hearth. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it would burst from her chest.

Finally, Nathan Barclay brushed off his hands and crossed to her. Merely two feet away, she noticed strands of gray at the temples of his dark brown hair, lines above his brows and around his eyes and mouth.

"If you don't need a room for the night, how can I help you?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Almost six years ago on January 23rd, I donated eggs at the Brighton Fertility Clinic in Minneapolis. I found out your wife benefitted from that donation. I'm wondering...I believe..."

Forgetting her training as a lawyer, too personally involved to weigh her words, she plunged in and asked, "Did your wife conceive from that in vitro procedure?"

The man before her had his guard in place. His eyes were dark with stormy outrage. "How could you possibly have gotten my name? That information is confidential."

"How do you know my son's name?" Barclay's voice was rough and he was looking at her as if he should call the police.

More determined than ever to find out if she was Kyle's mother, if she had a legitimate claim, she stretched out her hand in a pleading gesture. "I'm a lawyer. I have easy access to databases. If you'd let me start at the beginning--"

"I don't want you to start anywhere. I want you to leave. If it's true you donated eggs at Brighton, then you also signed a release form relinquishing any rights. So if you think I'm going to pay you another cent, you're sadly mistaken."

She shook her head. "I don't want money. I...I was in an accident and had to have a hysterectomy. I looked you up on the Internet and found out you're a widower. When I searched public records, I discovered your wife died in childbirth and so did Kyle's twin brother."

"You had no right to invade my privacy!" After a long silent pause and a penetrating look into her eyes, he said firmly, "I'm not going to let a stranger just waltz into our home."

Trying to keep her composure, reminding herself calm reason could possibly make a dent in Nathan Barclay's armor, she took a folded sheet of paper from her coat pocket and handed it to him. "Here are my credentials and a brief background. I've also provided references. My friends and neighbors don't know why I'm here, but they can tell you anything you need to know about me."
He took the sheet of paper and glanced at it, then asked in a low voice, "What do you really want?"

"Just like that. I give you my word. I know I have no rights here. I just want to meet him." Because if she did, she'd know, wouldn't she? Wouldn't instinct tell her if Kyle was hers?

His gaze raked over her shoulder-length blond hair, her jeans, sneakers and rose cable-knit sweater. She knew he was trying to assess whether or not she was a danger to him. But his gaze passing over her made her feel self-conscious and...warm.

"Miss Hobart, your word means nothing to me. You said you're a lawyer. If you are, you know the document you signed was valid."

Yes, it was. She didn't need a custody lawyer to tell her that. She motioned to the paper she'd given him. "I've written the name of the bed-and-breakfast where I'm staying on the back of my references. I'll be there until Friday."

Silence echoed from floor to ceiling in the large room. Finally, he asked, "And after Friday?"

"I'll be returning to Minneapolis." When his stone-cold expression gave away none of his thoughts, she added, "Please put yourself in my shoes, Mr. Barclay. Since my accident, my life has been in turmoil. Actually, it's come to a standstill. I need to meet Kyle to move on."

After he folded the sheet of paper she'd given him, he shoved it into the pocket of his Western-cut shirt. "I think you should go."

Sara could see that nothing else she said would move him or change his mind. All she could hope for was that he'd try to put himself in her shoes and call her before Friday.

After a last look into his eyes, dark gray now with the turbulence she'd obviously caused, she gave him a slight nod and retraced her steps to the front door. As she left Pine Grove Lodge, she prayed Nathan Barclay would help her explore the good possibility that she was his son's biological mother.

If he didn't, she might never meet Kyle and learn whether or not he was her son.

THE DADDY DILEMMA, Karen Rose Smith, Silhouette Special Edition, February 2008, ISBN:978--0-373-24884-1

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