Reunited By Their Baby

He’s back to claim his family...

But can Beth trust him with her heart?

GP Beth Andrews has a wonderful job at The Larches Practice and a baby girl she adores. The only thing missing is her husband! Now Callum O’Neill is back and he’s stunned and delighted to discover he has a much-wanted child. He’s determined to renew his marriage with Beth, but can she trust that this time he’ll stay forever?

JENNIFER TAYLOR has written for several different Mills & Boon series, but it wasn’t until she ‘discovered’ Medical Romances that she found her true niche. Jennifer loves the blend of modern romance and exciting medical drama. Widowed, she divides her time between homes in Lancashire and the Lake District. Her hobbies include reading, walking, travelling and spending time with her two gorgeous grandchildren.

Also by Jennifer Taylor

One More Night with Her Desert Prince…

Best Friend to Perfect Bride

Miracle Under the Mistletoe

The Greek Doctor’s Secret Son

Reawakened by the Surgeon’s Touch

The Larches Practice miniseries

The Boss Who Stole Her Heart

Bride for the Single Dad

Reunited by Their Baby

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Reunited by Their Baby

Jennifer Taylor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07502-2

REUNITED BY THEIR BABY

© 2018 Jennifer Taylor

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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For the other members of the earring club:

Charlotte, Janet and Ruth. With thanks for all the fun and laughter.

Special thanks must go to Ruth for her ‘research’.

Above and beyond, is all I can say!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

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

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

HE WAS LATE. Almost a year late by his reckoning, although, by rights, he should have been here from the very beginning.

Callum O’Neill’s mouth thinned as he paid off the cab and turned to face the cottage that had once been his home. He had sworn when he had left that he would never come back here again. This place held too many bad memories and he had promised himself that he would do his best to forget what had gone on. However, that had been before he had received that letter. Before everything had changed.

Callum could feel his heart thumping as he walked up the path. He knocked on the door, wondering what sort of reception he would receive. He wasn’t expecting red carpet treatment but he was hoping that things would improve once he explained what had happened. It had taken months for the letter to reach him. He had been moving around such a lot as he had helped to set up the programme he had been working on. It was vital to roll it out to as many communities as possible as Malaria was endemic over much of sub-Saharan Africa. It was little wonder the letter hadn’t reached him for such a long time but would Beth understand that? He hoped so. He couldn’t bear to think that they would end up arguing again. They had done enough of that in the past and he, for one, couldn’t bear to go down that route again.

‘If you’re wanting Dr Andrews then she isn’t there.’

Callum swung round. ‘Oh, right. Do you know where she is, by any chance?’ he asked, recognising the elderly woman who had spoken to him as a patient from the surgery. He had worked at The Larches Surgery for almost a year, filling in as a locum GP so he could be with Beth. Their relationship had already been under a lot of strain by then and it hadn’t helped that they were living so far apart—he based in London and Beth in the Yorkshire Dales—so he had made the decision to relocate. Sadly, it hadn’t helped their marriage as much as he had hoped it would. Things had gone too far by that stage and so instead they had split up, which made what had happened later all the more poignant...

‘Why, she’s in the church, of course! Where else would she be?’ The woman frowned. ‘You’re Dr O’Neill, aren’t you? I thought I recognised you. We’ve not seen you around here for a while. Funny that you should turn up today, although maybe you’ve been invited.’

‘Invited?’ Callum repeated uncertainly. ‘Invited to what?’

‘The wedding.’ She sniffed. ‘Although if you ask me it’s far too soon for them to be getting married. I mean, they barely know each other. Still, fools rush in, as my old mum used to say.’

With that, she went on her way. Callum stared after her, feeling shock reverberating throughout his entire body. Beth was getting married again? She was getting married today! His feet were already moving before the thought had sunk in. He raced across the road, taking the path that led to Beesdale Parish Church. He could hear the church bells ringing and put on a spurt. He had to make Beth see that she couldn’t go ahead and marry someone else, not now, not ever! It was as though his mind was crystal clear all of a sudden and for the first time in ages he knew what he wanted, and that was Beth.

The bells had stopped ringing by the time Callum reached the church and his panic increased to epic proportions. The service must have started and he had no idea how long it took to reach the part where the minister declared the couple man and wife. When he and Beth had married it was in a registry office, a no-frills affair that had been over in minutes. Neither of them had cared about the ceremony. The only thing that had mattered was that they could make their vows to love and cherish each other for the rest of their lives. They had been so sure that their love would last for ever, he thought sadly, but it hadn’t worked out that way. As he had discovered, all the promises in the world couldn’t guarantee that.

The thought lent wings to his feet as he raced up the path. The heavy oak doors were closed and he wasted valuable seconds, wrestling them open. He almost fell into the church when they finally gave way and he saw people turn to look at him but he had eyes for no one except the woman in white standing before the altar. She was the only person who hadn’t turned around and his heart ached with a searing pain when it struck him that she was oblivious to his presence. She was too busy looking at the man she was about to marry to notice him.

Callum felt the coldness of defeat sweep over him. In that moment, he realised that he had no right to stop what was happening. He turned to leave, knowing it was the only thing he could do. He’d had his chance and blown it; it wasn’t fair to expect Beth to take him back. Maybe he hadn’t known the truth until that letter had reached him but he had still left her, hadn’t he? Why would she want him back when she had found someone else?

‘Callum? What are you doing here?’

He recognised her voice immediately, heaven knew, he should do when he heard it every night in his dreams. Each time he fell asleep he heard her speaking to him, saw her, touched her, held her, loved her, felt her love him in return. The only difference was that she wouldn’t be looking at him with love in her eyes now. Her love was reserved for another man, the man who was going to do his best to make her happy, as he had failed to do.

‘I asked you a question, Callum. At least have the decency to answer it!’

There was no welcome in her voice, no hint of warmth. That she didn’t want him there was obvious. Callum turned slowly around because what else could he do? Just for a moment his vision blurred before he managed to focus and he blinked as he took stock of the pale pink dress she was wearing and the jaunty little hat with its swirl of purple feathers on the crown...

His gaze flew to the couple standing in front of the altar and he felt the blood drain from his head when he realised that the bride was Polly. He didn’t recognise the groom; he had never seen him before, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that Beth wasn’t getting married today. It meant that he still had a chance, one precious chance to win her back! His heart was in his mouth as he turned to face her. This was the most important moment of his life and he had to get it right.

‘I came to see you, Beth. You and our baby.’

* * *

Beth could feel her legs trembling and clutched hold of a nearby pew. She could hear the murmur of voices as the congregation started whispering together. Were they as shocked as she was to see Callum? Were they wondering why he was here and what he wanted? In a small town like Beesdale, it was hard to keep anything secret—everyone knew that he had run out on her and left her pregnant. Now the thought of her daughter helped to steady her. No way was she going to allow Callum to destroy Beatrix’s life the way he had destroyed hers!

She turned cold hazel eyes on him. ‘Come outside. We can’t talk in here.’

She didn’t wait to see if he was following as she led the way out of the church. It was up to Callum what he did and she had no intention of trying to influence him in any way. She walked down the path, only pausing when she reached the lich gate. There was very little traffic about as most of the townspeople were in the church. Polly was the local midwife and greatly loved; everyone wanted to help her celebrate her special day. Tears suddenly pricked her eyes but Beth blinked them away. She wasn’t going to think about the dreams she’d had when she and Callum had married. That was all in the past and too much had happened since. Their divorce had been difficult enough, but the fact that he hadn’t even bothered to acknowledge their child until today was so much worse.

‘I’m sorry. I know it isn’t enough but I am truly sorry, Beth.’

There was a note in his deep voice that tugged at her heart strings before she pulled herself together. If she gave in and allowed her emotions free rein then she would regret it. She had to focus on the facts, highlight them in neon-bright letters so she would never forget them. Callum had left her. He had left her because he hadn’t loved her any more. He had been so desperate to be rid of her that he hadn’t even contacted her when she had written to tell him that she was pregnant. He could apologise all he liked, but it wouldn’t change anything.

‘It’s too late for apologies, Callum. I’m not interested. The only thing I want to know is what you’re doing here.’

‘Surely that’s obvious,’ he shot back. ‘I came to see you and the baby.’

‘I see. And it’s taken you—what?—over a year to get round to it?’ She gave a little laugh, hoping he couldn’t hear the bitterness it held. There must be no displays of emotion, no hint of any feelings that might make him think that she still cared. ‘You didn’t exactly rush to get here, did you? But there again, I doubt if Beatrix and I were your number one priority—’

‘Beatrix? You mean that we have a daughter?’

‘Yes,’ Beth replied curtly, closing her mind to the shock she could hear in his voice. If she refused to admit to her own feelings then she certainly didn’t want to wonder how Callum felt!

Callum felt his head reel. Ever since he had read Beth’s letter he had wondered about the sex of their baby. To be honest, it had been difficult to believe that he was finally about to become a father after everything they had been through, yet all of a sudden finding out that they had a little girl made it seem real. His breath caught as he was swamped by a whole host of emotions ranging from shock to sheer elation. He had a daughter. A little girl called Beatrix. The thought seemed to rock his whole world so that it was hard to speak. ‘H-how old is she?’

‘Almost ten months,’ Beth replied tightly. ‘Although if you hadn’t been so busy saving the world then you wouldn’t need to ask that, Callum.’

‘That isn’t true!’ He ran his hands through his thick dark brown hair, feeling them trembling as he tried to picture what Beatrix looked like. Was she dark like him or fair like Beth? It was impossible to guess and before he could ask, Beth carried on.

‘Oh, I think it is true, but you just don’t want to admit it.’ She stared back at him, unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even though he understood why she refused to accept that he was telling the truth, it still hurt. ‘If you’d cared back then, you would have contacted me. Even a text message would have been better than nothing, but you couldn’t even spare the time for that. The fact that I was expecting our child meant nothing to you, did it, Callum?’

‘Of course it did!’ He grasped hold of her hands, his fingers biting into hers as he willed her to believe him. ‘It was what we’d wanted for so long, Beth. What we’d struggled to achieve...’

He broke off, obviously recalling what a struggle it had been, Beth thought sadly. She had always wanted a family. Coming from a close and loving family herself, she had never even considered the idea that conceiving a child of her own might prove to be a problem. With two older sisters, who both had children, she had simply assumed that she would have them too. However, as the months had passed, and she had failed to get pregnant, it had seemed increasingly unlikely that she would ever achieve her dream of becoming a mother.

Callum had never been as keen on the idea of them having a child, however. Although he had gone along with her desire to have a baby, she knew it had been more to please her than out of a genuine need to have a family of his own. She had told herself that it didn’t matter, that he would love their child every bit as much as she did when it arrived. She had been so sure it was the right thing for them to do that she had set aside her doubts when the consultant had suggested they try fertility treatment.

Had she been wrong to do so? she wondered suddenly. Wrong to force him into a course of action that he had been reluctant to take? There was no doubt that the strain of keeping to the gruelling regime had put intense pressure on their relationship. Lovemaking had changed from being an expression of their feelings for each other to a duty, passion no longer dictated by their mutual desire but by the readings on a thermometer.

Was it any wonder that Callum had resented it? That they had argued? With the benefit of hindsight, Beth could see that there had been faults on both sides, but it didn’t alter the fact that it had been Callum who had called a halt, Callum who had decided that he didn’t want to be with her any more, Callum who had asked her for a divorce. If he had loved her, really loved her, then he would never have left her. He would have stayed.

CHAPTER TWO

CALLUM COULD FEEL his insides quivering. First there was the shock of thinking that Beth was getting married again and now this. Her hostility was palpable even though he could tell that she was doing her best not to show how angry she felt. That in itself hurt because she had never hidden her feelings before. Whatever Beth had felt, she had been completely open about it.

When she had fallen in love with him, she hadn’t tried to hide it, the same as she hadn’t tried to hide her distress when their marriage had ended. To know that he was responsible for such a change in her was incredibly painful but he couldn’t allow himself to be sidetracked. He had come here for a specific purpose and he had to focus on that. Beth wasn’t going to believe a word he said unless he managed to convince her that he was telling the truth.

‘Look, Beth, I know how it must appear but the situation isn’t as straightforward as you think,’ he began.

‘Save it, Callum. I’ve already told you that I’m not interested.’ Her tone was cold, indifferent even, and something inside him died a little. Even anger was preferable to this total lack of interest. ‘You’ve had months to contact me and never bothered. So why should I listen to you now just because you’ve suddenly decided it’s time we talked?’

‘Because you don’t understand!’

He let go of her hands, feeling the pain of her rejection biting deep into his soul. Heaven knew, he had enough experience of being rejected to recognise it. His parents had never really wanted him. They had both been high-flyers, dedicated to their work, and his unscheduled arrival had been viewed as a disruption to their busy lives.

He had been brought up by a succession of nannies until he was old enough to be sent away to boarding school. Holidays had been a nightmare; both his mother and his father had made it clear that they resented having to waste time entertaining him. It had been a relief to them all when he had been old enough to go away on his own. Skiing trips, diving holidays—he’d done the lot and enjoyed them too. At least he hadn’t felt like a burden. People were being paid to look after him and that made it easier.

The ties had been completely severed by the time he went to university. Apart from the obligatory birthday and Christmas cards, he had no contact with them these days. He didn’t miss them; it was impossible to miss something he had never had.

However, they had taught him a valuable lesson, which was that no one should have a child unless they were prepared to put it first. That was why he’d had reservations when Beth had suggested they should have a baby. He had been afraid that he wouldn’t measure up as a parent, that the genes he had inherited would affect his ability to be a proper father to their child, but he had allowed himself to be persuaded because it was what Beth had wanted so desperately.

Would he have agreed if he’d had any idea how hard it would be? he wondered suddenly. How agonising it would be to watch her suffer such terrible disappointment, month after month, when she had failed to get pregnant? Of course he wouldn’t! He had loved her to distraction and it was unthinkable that he would have allowed her to go through that kind of torment.

That was why he had called a halt and asked her for a divorce. Maybe Beth believed that he had done it for his own sake but it wasn’t true. He simply couldn’t bear to see her torturing herself any longer. How ironic that after all they had been through, she should have fallen pregnant that last night they had slept together.

‘What is there to understand? I wrote to tell you I was pregnant and you didn’t reply. That says it all.’ She shrugged, her expression so cold when Callum forced his mind back to the present that he felt chilled to the bone. It was hard to believe that Beth could look at him that way.

‘But I never received your letter!’ he protested.

‘Then why are you here?’ she shot back and he felt relief surge through him when he heard the stirrings of anger in her voice. It was better to be upbraided than be treated with such indifference.

‘What I meant was that I never received it for months. I was in Africa, travelling around while I helped set up a new malaria programme, and somehow it never caught up with me.’ He looked deep into her eyes, willing her to believe him. ‘It only reached me last month and as soon as I read it, I made arrangements to fly back to England. I got here as fast as I could, Beth—I swear.’

Beth wanted to believe him, she wanted it with a desperation that defied all logic. She had sworn that she would never allow herself to be swayed by anything Callum said but, staring into his deep brown eyes, it was so very tempting... The sound of bells ringing broke the spell. Beth stepped back, her breath coming in fast little spurts as she realised how close she had come to breaking her own promise. Surely she had learned her lesson after what had happened between them? Learned never to believe a word Callum said? If he could tell her that he loved her and then leave her, it proved beyond any doubt how untrustworthy he was.

She swung round, ignoring him when he called her name. She didn’t want to listen to him any more, didn’t want to see him, to be tempted in any way at all. She had to think about Beatrix and the effect it would have on her in the future if she found out that her father was a liar.

She re-joined the wedding party, nodding when Polly asked her if she was all right. She wasn’t all right, by any means, but she wouldn’t say so, wouldn’t ruin her friend’s special day. Polly deserved this after everything she had been through. She deserved every second of happiness that came her way. She had found the man she loved and he loved her too—their future was rosy and golden and would be filled with joy. Just as hers should have been if Callum hadn’t stopped loving her.

The tears came then, hot and bitter as they streamed down her face, but she wasn’t the only one crying. Weddings were an emotional time and a lot of the guests were shedding a tear or two. Beth dried her eyes then took her place on the church steps while the photographs were taken, smiling and pretending to be full of joy on this happy day while inside she felt devastated and angry and so very alone.