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thought I would lie to you, pretend an affection I did not feel, if you gave me a child?’

      She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘I wondered.’ Surely, after all that had passed between them, she had not had lost him again? Trust was so important to him and so fragile and she had shown she doubted him. Her hand went instinctively to her belly. She shouldn’t have said anything yet. It was to soon, she could be wrong and then he would think—

      Avery paced back to stand in front of her. He looking down, his face shadowed. ‘I wonder if perhaps we are being too hard on ourselves,’ he said. ‘We are going to make mistakes, hurt each other, I am certain. But that is part of it, part of growing together. Love cannot be a magic potion, can it? One moment we are just two fallible human beings full of faults and fears, the next we are in perfect harmony? No, this isn’t a fairy tale, this is real life and real love.’

      He reached out and pulled her gently to her feet. ‘I love you. You love me. We will work it out, Laura. We will learn how to trust and how to tell each other of our fears. We will learn to argue and make up and not see that as a sign of failure.’

      Her hand was still pressed over where she hoped his child lay. ‘I may not be...’

      Avery caressed her cheek. When he spoke his voice was husky. ‘I think you are.’ He laid his hand over hers. ‘But if not, then we have time and love and what will be, will be.’ He bent closer to look into her face. It was shadowy under the bed canopy, but the candlelight threw his face into relief, showed her both the strong man she loved and the tender lover she was coming to know. ‘Are you crying? Oh, Laura, my love.’

      She found her voice from somewhere. ‘Only because I am happy. Ever since Alice was born there has been an empty, hollow place inside me. When I found her again it was filled and yet, somehow, something was still missing. I was not complete. Avery, I am complete now, with you.’

      When he pulled her into his arms and kissed her there was no need for words. Impossibly, when she had given up all hope of happiness she had it all. A husband she loved, who loved her. Her daughter and the hope of all the years ahead would bring.

      ‘Tomorrow, shall we pack and go to Wykeham Hall?’

      ‘Start afresh?’ Avery asked. ‘Yes, my love. That house has been long neglected. It is waiting so we can make it ours. Let’s go and build a home together. Raise a family.’

      As he embraced her she saw their shadows, strong against the subtle silk of the wall hangings. Two figures entwined, two hearts as one, Laura thought as Avery began to kiss her and her eyelids fluttered closed. Finally at peace.

      * * * * *

       Risk of a Lifetime

      Caroline Anderson

      A risk worth taking?

      When exceptionally handsome Dr. Ed Shackleton strides into the E.R. on his first day, Dr. Annie Brooks is left struggling to regain her racing heart! Men are off the menu for single mom Annie, but avoiding this brooding doc proves impossible….

      With the fear of a hereditary illness hanging over him, Ed ruled out love a long ago. Yet a fling with Annie leaves him wanting much more. Can Annie convince Ed that true happiness is always worth the risk?

      She’d come to a halt, pausing in front of a small detached bungalow in a leafy avenue just around the corner from his rented house.

      “This is me,” she said, and he opened the garden gate and walked her to the door. The porch light wasn’t on and the area was shaded from the streetlight by a tree, creating an intimate little space.

      Too intimate.

      Suddenly the air was filled with tension, crackling with electricity, heavy with expectation and suppressed emotion. His? Hers?

      Both?

      He couldn’t kiss her. It would be crazy. They were colleagues. He’d told his grandmother that. Hell, he’d told Kate that, and he didn’t want to muddy the waters at work.

      But he wanted to kiss her.

      Despite all his best intentions, despite the serious talking-to he’d given himself the night before, he wanted to kiss her.

      And she wanted to kiss him. He could feel it in the tension coming off her in waves, in the hesitation, in the breathless sense of anticipation….

      Dear Reader,

      We always think It’ll never happen to me—but sometimes, of course, it does. Because “it” always has to happen to someone. And of all the things to happen an inherited disorder is probably one of the most insidious. From the moment of diagnosis in a family member the threat of potentially developing the condition, whatever it might be, hangs over those who are possibly afflicted with the defective gene—and the fallout of this emotional minefield can be devastating.

      Ed is in this position, and the decision to have the genetic screening test and find out the result can be only his. But no man is an island, no matter how hard he might try to isolate himself from the love and concern of those around him. He’s doing okay, though, he thinks—and then he meets Annie, and everything changes.

      This is the story of a man who’s made some tough decisions, who’s never ducked out of his responsibilities or taken the easy route, and the woman who loves him enough to help him through the hardest step of all, whatever the outcome. I give them to you with my love. Take care of them. They’re very special to me.

      Caroline

       Dedication

      For my fellow Medical Romance™ authors,

      an incredible support group of amazingly talented women who never fail to say the right thing or

      tell me what I need to know.

      Girls, you rock!

       Praise for Caroline Anderson

      “An engrossing, enthralling and highly enjoyable tale that will move you to tears and keep

      you riveted…. Moving, heartbreaking and absolutely fantastic, with Wedding of the Year Caroline Anderson is at her mesmerizing best!”

      —www.Cataromance.com on St. Piran’s: Wedding of the Year

      “This lovely reunion romance is rich

      with emotion and humor, and all of the

      characters are exquisitely rendered.”

      —RT Book Reviews on Mother of the Bride

       CHAPTER ONE

      ‘OH, MY...’

      ‘What?’

      Annie looked up at Kate, registered the slack jaw and widening eyes, and started to turn her head.

      ‘Don’t look!’ Kate hissed, dragging her eyes back to the notes.

      ‘Don’t look at what?’

      ‘Total hottie heading this way. Absolute classic TDH. He can’t possibly be our new SpR, we don’t get that lucky.’ Her eyes flicked up again briefly. ‘OMG, he is gorgeous! I think I’m in love.’

      She fanned herself theatrically with the notes, and Annie

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