The Royal Baby Bargain by Robyn Donald

Author:Robyn Donald [Donald, Robyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

That night after dinner Caelan said abruptly, ‘Tell me about Gemma.’

Abby put her cup of coffee onto the table beside her chair. Feeling her way cautiously, she asked, ‘What about her?’

‘Why did she leave her mother’s house to go to Palaweyo? She must have known it was no place for her to have a child.’

Abby chose her words carefully. ‘She didn’t know she was pregnant when she arrived; she’d come to think things over, she said.’

‘What things?’

‘Whether or not to marry Mike.’

He looked surprised. ‘I didn’t realise it had gone so far.’

Abby said quietly, ‘She’d only been there a week when Mike called, telling her about the rescue. She pleaded with him not to do it, but he told her he had to and that he loved her. Then we heard of his death. I was so worried—she went all silent and distant, as though to get the courage to keep going she had to call on all her reserves.’

He said harshly, ‘You should have got in touch with me.’

‘I wanted her to call you.’ Abby couldn’t look at him; guilt still cast its dark pall over her. If she’d given in to the temptation to go behind Gemma’s back and call Caelan, his sister would still be alive. ‘She said she’d run to you for every little thing in her life, and that now she had to deal with this by herself.’

He said something under his breath and she flinched.

‘Caelan, I’m so sorry.’

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ he said evenly. ‘Yes, I’d have liked you to contact me, but she was an adult and your friend. It would have been a betrayal.’

Incredibly relieved, Abby swallowed to ease a dry throat. ‘When she found out she was pregnant it seemed to give her the courage to keep going. I insisted she get the doctor at the hospital to check her out. He said she was fine, so I thought it was safe to let her stay.’

Caelan said harshly, ‘I wish I’d known.’

‘Gemma said you were under tremendous pressure with a really bad problem in some part of the corporation.’

Abby thought she’d strained every bit of condemnation from her voice, but he glanced at her as though she’d directly accused him. ‘A rogue manager in South America was siphoning off funds to acquire his own cocaine enterprise; he had links to a terrorist cell. Several of my people were kidnapped by them, a couple killed. It took time and effort to lure them out of the jungle and into custody, but if I’d known Gemma needed me I’d have been there for her.’

Abby believed him. ‘She knew that. And she achieved some sort of peace in Palaweyo, even while she grieved for Mike. I wouldn’t say she was happy, but she managed a sort of quiet contentment. And when his son was born she was—awed, and stunned at how much she loved him, how hugely important he was to her, how he changed everything. She’d started talking about taking him back to New Zealand when the cyclone struck.

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