Her Knight Under the Mistletoe by Annie O'Neil

Author:Annie O'Neil
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

MATTHEW WASN’T BLIND.

The tiniest of winces betrayed Amanda’s response to his clumsy attempt to make this incredibly awkward scenario a bit lighter.

No.

“Awkward” wasn’t really the best word to describe finding out mid-shift—mid-patient—from the woman he was trying to stop himself from falling head over heels in love with that said patient was in fact his own flesh and blood.

Blindsided. Overwhelmed. Speechless.

Those would do for starters.

Matthew had thought he’d experienced a full gamut of emotions the day his brother died. Excitement for the holidays. Joy that his brother was home from yet another harrowing tour. Bone-aching grief when his brother’s “quick trip to the attic” had been his last.

What a fool. All Matthew had done that day was begin a lifetime of embodying the darker spectrum of his emotional world—completely turning himself off to the glowing rainbow, the lightness a man could experience when he found out he was a father.

He had a child.

A son.

One he was now holding in his arms.

No matter how vehemently he had vowed never to have a child of his own, never to bear the responsibility for someone else’s life, the elation was impossible to fight. As if it was programmed into him the same way every living soul needed water and food to survive.

Light shadows were darkening under Amanda’s eyes and she was unable to mask her wary expression as she watched him holding their child. Worry did that to a person. And a heavy workload. He could barely manage his own time, let alone imagine juggling a full-time job and parenting.

But Amanda had done this on her own for two years, so he could handle a ten-minute walk in the snow.

As Tristan wriggled amidst the folds of his mother’s medical coat, to snuggle closer into his chest, he was shaken at just how precious a bond it was to have this small, innocent child...naive and full of trust...instinctually believing he was one of the good ones. Someone to trust.

Tristan’s hand reached out, then curled gently round his neck as Matthew wrapped an arm around him, vividly aware of his son’s simple faith that this stranger who was holding him, caring for him, would do his very best never to let any harm come to him. He knew in his heart this was true. For every day he had on earth he would care for and protect Tristan and Amanda with every ounce of fight and drive he had in him.

“Right!” Amanda pressed her fingers to her lips for a moment, clearly processing the sight of father and son together. “It’s still snowing out there—shall we get a move on?”

A few staffers called out to them as they left, with wishes of good health for Tristan, rest for Amanda. There were a handful of curious looks thrown in Matthew’s direction. Had they been strangers at Bankside they would have looked like any other couple worried about their son, intent on bringing him to the family home.

“Look at all the lights Tris...” Amanda

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