Saving Baby Amy

Brought together...and bound forever!

Fiercely independent orthopedic doctor Chloe Delancourt will do anything for her teenage sister, Hannah, and little niece, Amy. So when Amy falls ill and Hannah runs away, Chloe steps in, with the help of gorgeous pediatrician Jon Lambert...igniting an unexpected attraction!

Saving baby Amy brings Jon closer than he ever wanted to get to another woman after his disastrous marriage. But Chloe’s determination and unwavering loyalty remind Jon of what a real family should be...and that this could be his chance to have everything—with Chloe!

When he saw her he got to his feet, whispering so as not to disturb Amy. ‘Sorry. The door was open…’

‘That’s okay. When I heard about the accident I held her a little tighter.’

‘We have to protect her.’

‘We will.’

He’d settled for want, instead of need, and gone upstairs to check on Amy. But now that Chloe was here… Jon reminded himself that she had her own issues about being touched, and that the intensity with which he wanted to touch her would probably be unwelcome.

But she touched him. He drew away and she touched him again, taking hold of the front of his shirt and pulling him towards her. And then she was in his arms. Chloe reached out, curling her fingers around his neck.

One breath. One look.

There was no longer any him or her—just one frozen moment in time which they both owned equally. Chloe seemed to understand everything that was in his heart, every question and every sadness.

Dear Reader,

There are times when I dream of perfection. But in reality I know that it is just a dream. Because, to me, a world without any flaws would hold no challenge—nothing to strive for. And perhaps it’s the way we deal with situations which are less than perfect that is the truest measure of our spirit and humanity.

So a hero who wants perfection isn’t someone I’d normally see eye to eye with. Perhaps that’s why I gave Dr Jon Lambert a particularly hard time in this book, throwing him together with a heroine who resists taking the help he offers and facing them both with a situation that tests Jon to the limit. But, like any true hero, Jon has it in him to rise to the challenge—even if it does mean that he’s forced to re-examine his perspective on life.

When Chloe Delancourt’s niece, baby Amy, is in danger of being abandoned by her mother, Chloe must fight to reunite her family and secure Amy’s future. Jon isn’t her first choice of ally, but she has no choice but to admit she needs his help. And in working together to save baby Amy both Jon and Chloe discover that perfection isn’t something either of them needs in order to find true happiness and fulfilment.

Thank you for reading Jon and Chloe’s story. I’m always thrilled to hear from readers, and you can contact me via my website at annieclaydon.com.

Annie x

Saving Baby Amy

Annie Claydon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Cursed with a poor sense of direction and a propensity to read, ANNIE CLAYDON spent much of her childhood lost in books. A degree in English Literature followed by a career in computing didn’t lead directly to her perfect job—writing romance for Mills & Boon—but she has no regrets in taking the scenic route. She lives in London: a city where getting lost can be a joy.

Books by Annie Claydon

Mills & Boon Medical Romance

Stranded in His Arms

Rescued by Dr Rafe

Saved by the Single Dad

The Doctor She’d Never Forget

Discovering Dr Riley

The Doctor’s Diamond Proposal

English Rose for the Sicilian Doc

Visit the Author Profile page

at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.

To Rosie, with love.

Praise for Annie Claydon

‘A compelling, emotional and highly poignant read that I couldn’t bear to put down. Rich in pathos, humour and dramatic intensity, it’s a spellbinding tale about healing old wounds, having the courage to listen to your heart and the power of love that kept me enthralled from beginning to end.’

—Goodreads on Once Upon A Christmas Night…

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Praise

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

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

HOSPITAL GOSSIP WAS a bit like the wind: unpredictable and prone to sudden gusts in one direction or another. Information could easily end up at the furthest corner of the hospital before it came to the notice of the people involved. So it was no particular surprise to Chloe Delancourt that she’d walked all the way over to the canteen before hearing a piece of news that quite obviously pertained to her.

‘So what’s all this about your boyfriend and a baby?’ One of the other junior doctors joined her at the end of the queue.

‘My boyfriend?’ Jake was long gone, and if he did have a baby it was nothing to do with her.

Petra grinned. ‘All right, so he’s not your boyfriend. Since he’s good looking, single and living with you, that might be classed as an omission on your part.’

‘You mean Jon?’ Chloe had only seen Dr Jonathan Lambert for a total of about ten minutes since he’d moved in two weeks ago.

‘How many good-looking men are you living with currently?’

‘Just the one...’ The ten minutes had been more than enough to notice that he was good looking. And that he had a delicious smile. But apart from that all she really knew about him was that he was a good friend of her brother’s and he kept the bathroom tidy. He’d started his new job at the hospital six weeks earlier than anticipated and had needed a place to stay because the renovations on his own house weren’t finished yet.

‘Glad to hear it. If there was more than one of them, I’d be looking for an invitation to come over for dinner at the weekend.’

Chloe shrugged. ‘Come over anyway, I’m not doing anything tomorrow. It’ll be just the two of us, though, he’s not exactly made his presence felt.’

‘If he’s working nights then I suppose you wouldn’t see much of him during the week...’ Petra was obviously turning the idea over in her head.

‘Or the weekend. He spends every waking hour over at his place. I’ve hardly seen him.’ Maybe Jon was avoiding her. Or maybe he just took the promise that she’d hardly know he was there very seriously. Whatever. It suited Chloe not to get too involved with a face as handsome as his.

‘Well, he’s here now. With a baby.’

‘What kind of baby?’

Petra rolled her eyes. ‘Two arms, two legs...the usual. A little girl, he was calling her Amy...’

‘What?’ Chloe almost dropped her tray and instead thrust it into Petra’s hands. ‘Where is he?’

‘He was in A and E about five minutes ago. Someone said he’d asked for directions up to Orthopaedics—’ Petra broke off as Chloe turned, running for the doors of the canteen.

* * *

Chloe had sprinted across the courtyard and up three flights of stairs, back to her own department. Jon had been up to Orthopaedics and left a message that he was going back downstairs to A and E. By the time she got down to the Paediatric A and E department she could hardly breathe so it was just as well that the receptionist knew what she wanted without Chloe having to say so.

‘That was quick, I’ve only just paged you. They’ve just gone through. Consulting Room Three.’

The pager in Chloe’s pocket buzzed suddenly and she jumped, switching it off. Taking a deep breath, in an effort to slow her racing heart, she thanked the receptionist and walked slowly towards the consulting rooms.

If Amy was here, then where was Hannah? And if Hannah had left her child with Jon that posed a whole slew of other questions that Chloe really didn’t want to think about until she was sure of the situation. She knocked and turned the handle of the consulting-room door before whoever was inside had a chance to answer.

Jon was lifting Amy out of her car seat. He’d obviously dressed quickly, because his shirt was buttoned up wrong, leaving one red checked tail slightly longer than the other at the front. Amy fretted a little, and then seemed to decide that the strong cradle of Jon’s arms was a safe place.

‘What...?’

She hadn’t noticed how blue his eyes were before, or how tender. Or that his light brown hair, falling across his brow, gave him a slightly boyish look. Or that his hands seemed so large and capable next to Amy’s tiny fingers.

‘Sit down.’ Amy stirred slightly at Jon’s words, and then snuggled back against his chest. For a moment it seemed the best place in the world to be. Held in his arms without a care in the world.

But if Amy didn’t seem concerned about the whereabouts of her mother, Chloe was. ‘Where’s my sister?’

‘Hannah’s at your place.’ The tenderness in his eyes seemed reserved just for Amy, and he gave Chloe a more dispassionate look. ‘Sit...’

Clearly something was up, and he wasn’t going to tell her until she was sitting down. She bit back the temptation to tell him that she was a doctor too, and that she’d been working at this hospital a good deal longer than he had. Even if she did feel far more like a slightly panicky aunt than a doctor at the moment.

The dark blue windcheater on the chair next to him had been hanging in her hallway for the past two weeks, and was probably the most familiar thing about him. Chloe moved it, draping it over the backrest. When she sat down, an elusive hint of his scent halted the clamour of her senses for a moment, as if they’d paused to appreciate it. This wasn’t the time, or the place...

His eyes and the slight curve of his lips invited calm. No... Actually, they invited surrender, and that wasn’t something that Chloe was prepared to give. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’

‘Hannah was worried about Amy and she took her to her own doctor this morning. He told her that Amy just had a virus, but Hannah thought it was something more so she brought her to you.’

‘And...?’ Chloe reached across to feel Amy’s forehead. She was a little feverish, and her cheeks were flushed.

‘I agreed with Hannah. So I brought Amy here, where she could be examined and treated properly.’

‘But where’s Hannah?’ Chloe couldn’t keep the frustration from her voice.

‘She’s at your place. She was...a little distressed.’

‘A little distressed?’ Chloe frowned at him. Jon didn’t need to play the situation down for her benefit.

‘She was crying her eyes out, and she insisted on staying behind while I brought Amy here.’ Chloe’s eyebrows shot up and he flashed her a cool smile. ‘It’s okay. I got to know Hannah quite well when she was staying with James. She wasn’t entrusting Amy to a stranger.’

So, however distressed Hannah was, she was still thinking straight. That was something. James had mentioned that a friend of his had helped out a lot with Hannah, spending time with her and letting her talk, but Chloe hadn’t realised it was Jon.

But if Hannah had found someone to talk to in Jon, then Chloe couldn’t see how. He seemed somehow distant, as if Amy was the only person in the room he could trust with an unreserved smile.

‘Then you’ll know that Hannah’s...vulnerable.’ Chloe twisted her lips. Vulnerable wasn’t quite the right word. Hannah could be surprisingly strong and very determined. But she was young. Troubled sometimes.

‘I know that she’s almost ten years younger than you, and that she was only nine when you lost both your parents. That you and James have done your best to look after her, but it hasn’t always been easy.’

‘No, it hasn’t.’ Chloe hadn’t made it any easier. Hannah had always wanted to live with her, and Chloe had worked hard, saving every penny she could and adding to her third of the money from the sale of their parents’ house so that she could afford a home for the two of them. She’d bought the house, and then two months after they’d moved in Chloe had fallen ill. Hannah had gone to live with James instead, but had never really settled.

‘Look, Hannah’s okay for the moment.’

Okay for the moment. Most people had learned to settle for that where Hannah was concerned, but Chloe wanted more for her sister.

‘You do know that Hannah’s still only eighteen? And that Amy’s father isn’t on the scene?’ Hannah had run away two weeks before her sixteenth birthday. Chloe had been too ill to do anything but worry, while James had moved heaven and earth to find their sister. When he had, she’d been living with a boy of nineteen, who had been more than eager to give her up when James had wondered aloud whether Hannah’s queasy spells might be morning sickness.

‘Yes, I know. She’s all right.’ It seemed that Chloe was going to have to take his word for it, because Jon’s face showed no evidence that he really understood the gravity of the situation. His whole attention was focussed on Amy.

‘I’d just feel a bit better if she were here and I could see for myself.’ Her words sounded rather more accusing than Chloe had meant them to.

‘I felt that Amy needed to be looked at sooner rather than later, and that was my first priority. Hannah calmed down when she saw I was taking her concerns seriously and promised to stay put while I was gone.’

‘Yes...I’m sorry. Thanks.’ None of this was Jon’s fault. Hannah had put him in a difficult position and he’d taken the only decision he could. Chloe stretched her arms out towards Amy. ‘I’ll take her now.’

He didn’t move. ‘Why don’t you let me examine her? I can do it now—my shift won’t be starting for another three hours.’

‘And you’re better qualified than me?’ There was something he wasn’t saying, and Chloe guessed it might be that. It was true, after all. Jon’s speciality was paediatric emergencies, and even though he’d only been here a couple of weeks he was already gaining something of a reputation as an excellent doctor.

‘Yes, I am. And I’m not Amy’s aunt.’ He said the words dispassionately. ‘I dare say you’re a lot better at dealing with Hannah than I am. Why don’t you give her a call, while I fetch my stethoscope from my locker?’

Maybe he was just giving her something to do to keep her quiet, because it seemed that he had already come to some kind of agreement with Hannah. But he was right. Chloe nodded and Jon delivered Amy into her arms.

‘She’s two years old. All of her immunisations are up to date and she’s on no medication.’ If she was going to take up the role of concerned aunt then she may as well give Jon all the relevant information. And ask the relevant questions. ‘What do you think?’

‘I don’t know anything for sure yet.’ He got to his feet and walked out of the room, without looking back.

* * *

Jon had woken to the sound of the front door banging closed, and had got out of bed, groggily thinking that he must have overslept if Chloe was home already. And then he’d heard Amy crying and had gone downstairs to find that it was Hannah.

He shouldn’t really have been there at all. But the hospital had asked him to fill in for someone who was sick, six weeks before he was due to start his new job there, and he’d had to find a place to stay in the area. Chloe’s place wasn’t ideal as it reminded him too much of the family that he’d never again be a part of. But the renovations on the new house he’d bought had been the perfect excuse to stay out of her way and only return to her place to get some sleep while she was at work.

Although he’d seen little of Chloe herself, the slightly shabby, eclectic warmth of her home surrounded him. He slept between her sheets, saw her bottles in the bathroom when he went to take a shower and her food in the fridge when he went downstairs to make coffee. And if love had been something he ever wanted to do again, he would already have been a little in love with Chloe’s scent.

But that wasn’t an option. He walked back into the consulting room, armed to the teeth with all the reasons why he shouldn’t get involved with Chloe. She was cuddling Amy in her lap, her phone tucked against her shoulder, her brow creased in concentration.

‘Yes, don’t worry, we’ll make absolutely sure she’s all right. What about you?’

A pause, and then her lips twitched into a smile. It seemed that whatever was being said at the other end of the line was a reassurance.

‘Okay. You’ll stay there until I get back. Promise? Yeah, love you too.’ Chloe caught her phone as it slid from her ear and ended the call.

‘Hannah?’

‘Yes. She sounds all right, but she won’t come to the hospital. She says...’ Chloe shook her head. ‘She’s so terrified that she’s not doing well enough, and that people will think she’s a bad mother.’

Jon nodded. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that particular sentiment, and it was ironic that it was often the most loving and capable mothers who voiced it. But, then, family relationships weren’t exactly his forte.

‘First things first. I’ll take a look at Amy.’ That he could do, and he knew he could do it well.

He was aware that Chloe’s gaze was on him, an intrusion that felt so warm and welcome that all he could do was try to shut it out. Amy was fretting a little, obviously out of sorts, and he concentrated on soothing her, trying to make the examination into a game.

‘I think she may have a urinary tract infection.’ Finally he turned and faced Chloe.

‘Why?’

A fair enough question. She was a doctor too, and he couldn’t completely relegate her to the role of faceless care-giver. ‘She has a fever, but there’s no sign of a cold. Her blood pressure is slightly high, which is a concern, and...’ He shrugged. ‘I changed her nappy pants before I brought her here.’

‘And?’

This was the part where instinct corroborated medical fact. ‘There’s a particular smell that can point to a UTI in young children. Not always, but it’s an indicator.’

She nodded and Jon thought he saw her lips purse slightly. Maybe it was just his imagination. ‘Is that an old wives’ tale?’

‘It was something that a very experienced health visitor told me when I was starting out. It’s been statistically confirmed since.’

‘Which means you need a mid-stream urine sample?’

‘Yes. I think I can get that the natural way, without having to catheterise her.’

He passed this test every day. Concerned parents, who needed to know whether they could really trust him or not. It was only right that care-givers should question him and weigh everything he did up for themselves, but it was different with Chloe. He wanted very badly to make her smile.

Suddenly she did, and the effect left him momentarily transfixed, taking in all the tiny details that he’d forced himself not to notice before. The way her light auburn hair, scraped back away from her face, escaped in curls around her brow. The tiny freckles across her nose, and her pale skin. Long legs encased in a neat, business-like skirt. She was the kind of woman that a man could spend a lot of time watching.

She reddened slightly—enchantingly—and Jon looked away quickly. It was nothing. He was human, and it was just an echo from a long-gone past, when wanting to watch every move a woman made had been something that might lead somewhere.

‘Did your very experienced health visitor give you any clues about how to get a two-year-old to pee on demand?’

‘As it happens, no. But I’ve picked up a few pointers from their mothers. And I gave her a drink as soon as I got here.’

He bent over Amy, smiling at her, and she rewarded him with a smile in return. That’s what he liked so much about children, they were usually a lot less complicated than adults. ‘Right, young lady. Let’s give this a go.’

CHAPTER TWO

HE WAS SO good with Amy. Confident, gentle and playful. The kind of doctor that every parent wanted to see when their child was sick. Chloe knew that a mid-stream urine sample, one that wasn’t contaminated by any bacteria from the skin, wasn’t an easy proposition, and she waited to see what Jon was going to come up with.

He didn’t disappoint. Taking Amy’s nappy pants off and cleaning her carefully, he made a game out of sitting her on a potty and splashing her hands and feet in a bowl of warm water. Even though she was fretful and drowsy, he somehow managed to make her drink a little more and make her laugh at the faces he pulled. When she did finally give in, he seized the opportunity and deftly caught a mid-stream sample in the small container he had ready.

‘Well done, sweetheart.’ He hugged Amy and she grabbed at the sample bottle, almost spilling its precious contents. Chloe took it from him, snapping the lid on firmly, and Jon set about dressing Amy.

‘The urinalysis test kits are over there.’ He nodded towards a cupboard in the corner of the consulting room.

It seemed that, finally, she was going to be allowed to do something, instead of sitting and watching Jon work. Even if sitting and watching him did have its good points. Chloe carefully divided the small sample into two, one for the lab, if needed, and the other for the test strip from the urinalysis kit.

‘You were right.’ She showed the coloured test strip to Jon and his brow darkened. There was a clear indication of the presence of white blood cells and bacteria.

‘I think it’s best if we take her into the children’s ward, for tonight at least. The infection’s clearly putting her under some stress.’

And Amy’s home situation wasn’t ideal at the moment. At least he had the delicacy not to mention that. Or maybe he was just ignoring it, since that was Chloe’s problem, not his.

‘Yes, I agree. Thanks, Jon.’

‘Are you finished for the day?’

Chloe nodded. ‘Yes, I’ve seen all the patients on my list. I had some paperwork to catch up on but that can wait.’

‘Then what do you say to my staying here with Amy and sorting out a bed for her? I think it’s time you went home and had a conversation with Hannah.’