Twins on Her Doorstep Read online

  A knock at the door...

  Will change her life!

  After the heartbreak of losing her husband and baby, GP Sophie Bradford donated her eggs hoping to bring happiness to another couple, instead. Then Dr. Finn Connelly arrives on her doorstep with his orphaned nieces—and her biological twin girls! Sophie had vowed never to risk creating another family, but Finn and her adorable little daughters start to melt the ice around her heart...

  “The first three books of this series are engrossing and fast-paced and this story is no different. Really, right from the beginning, this story had me hooked....”

  —Harlequin Junkie on Rescued by Her Mr. Right

  “Ms. Roberts has delivered a really good read to open this series where the chemistry between this couple was intense; the romance was special...and the words the hero says to the heroine that shows how in love he is with her.”

  —Harlequin Junkie on The Shy Nurse’s Rebel Doc

  Blinking hard, she looked at Finn.

  The china cup looked ridiculously small against his lips as he pretended to drink his tea, but it wasn’t the cup that Sophie was looking at. She was caught by the way his lips were moving, and it was easier to let herself get distracted by that than to think about how she was feeling about these children. Easier to think about how soft his lips looked. To let herself wonder what it might feel like if they were touching her own...

  Then her gaze shifted upward just the tiniest amount. Just enough to find that Finn was looking at her, and she knew that he was aware of what she’d been watching. Worse, he knew perfectly well what she’d been thinking about.

  Exactly as she knew that, in this moment, he was thinking about precisely the same thing...

  Oh, man! That first spear of desire had taken her by surprise, but it was nothing compared to the flood of feeling that blossomed this time. It felt as if the sharp sensation deep in her belly had burst something that was unleashing a tingling warmth spreading through her entire body. Right down to her fingertips and toes.

  Dear Reader,

  Like many people, I’ve always been fascinated by twins. It would have been a dream come true to have had a twin sister when I was growing up and, when I turned to IVF many years later to try to overcome fertility issues, I had a new dream of having twin babies of my own. That wasn’t to be, but the magic of twins has never dimmed for me, and it’s a joy to be able to use some of that magic in my stories sometimes.

  The twins in this story, Ellie and Emma, have a very special role to play in bringing Finn and Sophie together. There’s magic to be found in the bonds that are already there but hidden, and also in the new bonds that are going to change all their lives forever.

  I do hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I loved writing it.

  With love,

  Alison xx

  Twins on Her Doorstep

  Alison Roberts

  Books by Alison Roberts

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  Hope Children’s Hospital

  Their Newborn Baby Gift

  Bondi Bay Heroes

  The Shy Nurse’s Rebel Doc

  Rescued by Her Mr. Right

  Rescued Hearts

  The Doctor’s Wife for Keeps

  Twin Surprise for the Italian Doc

  Christmas in Manhattan

  Sleigh Ride with the Single Dad

  Paddington Children’s Hospital

  A Life-Saving Reunion

  The Surrogate’s Unexpected Miracle

  Harlequin Romance

  The Baby Who Saved Christmas

  The Forbidden Prince

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  Praise for Alison Roberts

  “The emotional connection I had to this story was strong and unique, it squeezed my heart, captured my mind, and will stay with me for awhile.”

  —Goodreads on Their First Family Christmas

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM A NURSE TO HEAL HIS HEART BY LOUISA GEORGE

  CHAPTER ONE

  THIS ROAD WAS ENDLESS.

  And winding.

  It was also quite spectacular along this particular stretch, with surf crashing onto rocks at the bottom of tall cliffs, but Finn Connelly wasn’t interested in the view of the Cornish coastline any more than he had been in any of the sleepy villages he’d already driven through. The GPS told him that the one he was heading for, North Cove, was still about an hour away. Miles from anywhere.

  And who knew? He might get there only to have to turn around and come straight back again. It wasn’t that he thought this was going to be the answer he was looking for, it just seemed like the right thing to do. But after this? He had no idea...

  A glance in the rear-view mirror showed him that the children were sitting quietly in their car seats. They weren’t looking at the scenery, either, which was understandable, but they were so quiet and that was even more worrying than the fact that they’d barely eaten anything the last time they’d stopped on this road trip.

  With every mile that passed, Finn’s doubts about the wisdom of what he was doing were increasing, to the point where his head was starting to ache now. There was the slight ethical problem with this plan as well, although that had been easy enough to push aside when he’d had this crazy idea in the first place. He’d want to know, if it were him at the end of this road, wouldn’t he? Even if it was going to change his life so dramatically?

  ‘You guys hungry yet?’ He turned his head briefly to smile at his passengers. ‘I’ve got apples. And crisps. And those little packets of raisins. You like raisins, don’t you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you thirsty?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘It’s getting colder, isn’t it?’ Finn knew he was on a losing streak but he had to keep talking. To try and make this seem a little more normal, perhaps, when it was anything but. He wasn’t hungry, either. It had been an effort to force down even half his sandwich when they’d stopped for lunch some time back. He’d actually felt slightly nauseated.

  ‘Look at those big, black clouds up there.’ Was he putting too much effort into trying to sound cheerful? ‘You girls warm enough?’

  He risked another glance in the mirror to find four large brown eyes staring at him. How could three-year-olds look so suspicious? Maybe it was just wariness, he told himself. And who could blame them?

  ‘Ellie? Emma?’ He tried one more time. ‘You want me to stop and find your coats? Those pretty pink ones?’

  Two small heads shook slowly in a negative response and Finn suppressed a sigh. It was becoming the standard reaction to being asked anything, wasn’t it? They didn’t want their coats. They didn’t want treats to eat. They didn’t want to be here, with him, and he understood that. This was confusing. Frightening, even. He might be their uncle but he’d only met them for the first time a couple of weeks ago so he was still virtually a stranger.

  Guilt could get added to the worry and the doubts. It wasn’t a pleasant mix .

  There was only one thing that these little girls wanted—the life they’d had until now. Their family. And he couldn’t give it to them.

  Nobody could.

  Was it the weather outside or the trauma of recent events that made him suddenly shiver?

  ‘I’ll put the heater on for a bit,’ he said.

  * * *

  ‘Sophie...how are you, lovie? It’s a bit cold today, isn’t it? I think we’re in for some rain.’

  ‘I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking how you are, Mrs Redding.’ Sophie Bradford smiled. ‘I’m the doctor here.’

  ‘I know, love. But I always see your dad.’ Maureen Redding closed the door behind her. ‘I know you’ve been here for a few years now but I still think of you as that little girl with the wildly curly hair running past my place to get to school.’

  Automatically, Sophie reached up to touch her hair. Those unmanageable corkscrew ringlets she’d been born with were currently saturated enough with product to enable them to be scraped back into a ponytail but she could feel the undulations on her scalp and she knew that, at any moment, a curl could rebel and spring free to make her look unkempt. Unprofessional, in fact. Amazingly, they were standing up to the stress of an unusually busy day and behaving perfectly, for now.

  ‘Dad’s still out on his house calls at the moment but he should be back soon. If you want to wait, he can probably squeeze you in.’ Sophie closed the screen where she’d just entered the notes on her last patient, clicked to bring up Maureen’s history but glanced up with concern a moment later as she heard her new arrival’s rasping breaths. ‘You’re a bit short of puff today, aren’t you?’

  ‘Aye...’ Maureen Redding sighed heavily as she eased her large frame onto the chair and placed her handbag on top of Sophie’s desk. ‘I’ve got the cold that’s been going around and, you know, it’s the same old story...’

  ‘I know.’ Sophie was on her feet. She’d seen enough on screen to know that Maureen’s visits were usually due to exacerbation of her chronic respiratory disease. ‘Let’s have a good look at you and see what’s happening with your oxygen levels and blood pressure. Did you walk up the hill to see us today?’

  ‘Oh, no... It’s hard enough getting to the corner shop for a pint of milk at the moment. Jim, next door, gave me a ride.’

  ‘That was kind of him.’

  ‘He needed to come in himself, to get his prescription for his heart pills. He’s going to wait for me, but I don’t want to keep him waiting too long, so I’m happy to see you, love. Everybody says that you’re a wonderful doctor.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’

  ‘He’ll be having a yarn with your mum, I expect. He said he hadn’t seen her at the markets for a while.’

  ‘Mmm... We’ve all been a bit busy.’

  Sophie’s mother was the nurse in this family-run general practice but, given how full the waiting room had been the last time she’d set foot outside this consulting room, Judy Greene wouldn’t be stopping to chat with Jim or anyone else today.

  She handed Maureen a handful of tissues as the older woman began coughing and warmed the disk of her stethoscope in the palm of her hand as she waited for the spasm to finish.

  Then she paused, frowning. ‘Has that happened before?’

  ‘The blood? Oh, once or twice... Your dad says it’s usually a sign of infection.’

  Antibiotics were likely to be needed, Sophie thought. And a short course of steroids for the inflammation in Maureen’s lungs. A trip to the nearest hospital for a chest X-ray might be called for if there was any indication that this could be pneumonia rather than simply bronchitis. And had any mention been made of having home oxygen available for episodes like this?

  ‘I saw your dad coming out of the pharmacy yesterday,’ Maureen said. ‘He’s looking a bit peaky, I thought.’

  ‘Oh?’ This might be the only general practice in this out-of-the-way Cornish fishing village, Sophie thought, but she wasn’t about to start discussing her father’s state of health with one of their patients. It was a close community but there had to be some boundaries.

  ‘It’s time he retired, isn’t it? I went to school with him so he has to be at least seventy-three.’

  ‘Thereabouts. And he will retire soon. When we’ve found someone suitable to join us. Now, stop talking for a moment, Maureen. I want to have a listen to your chest.’ Sophie had to concentrate on which lung fields were being affected by the fluid and inflammation. Despite the closed door, she could hear the faint wail of an unhappy child in the waiting area, which wasn’t helping.

  Fifteen minutes later, she was holding the door open. The wailing had suddenly become a shriek that made Sophie wince.

  ‘Get Jim to take you straight to the pharmacy. He’ll be going there to fill his own prescription, I expect. Make another appointment in a couple of days, or sooner if you’re not feeling any better, but, if it gets any worse, call us straight away.’

  ‘I will... Ooh, look. There’s your dad.’ She sailed ahead of Sophie. ‘Yoo-hoo! Dr Greene? I wanted to have a wee word with you.’

  Sophie’s father was crouching by a boy who was holding one arm across his chest with the other and glaring at the doctor. ‘Not now, Maureen. Sorry, but we’re a bit busy, as you can see.’ He looked up and Sophie could see the tense lines in his face relax just a little. ‘Ah... Could you take young Toby here through to the treatment room, Dr Bradford? He’s fallen off his skateboard and given himself a bit of a fracture. If you can splint it and make him comfortable, his mum can drive him to the hospital.’

  ‘I could call an ambulance.’ Judy Greene was behind the reception desk.

  ‘No need.’

  Jack Greene got to his feet. Slowly. He did look peaky, Sophie realised. Maybe she’d just got used to how tired he always looked these days and hadn’t noticed that his colour wasn’t so great, either. So pale it was almost grey. He was pushing himself too hard. Working himself into an early grave?

  ‘But I want an ambulance,’ Toby sobbed. ‘With a siren.’

  It was Sophie’s turn to crouch and be on eye level with the seven-year-old. ‘Toby...you’re a big boy now. You know that it’s important that an ambulance is only called for really serious emergencies, don’t you?’

  ‘But...but I’ve broke my arm. Again...’

  ‘I know.’ Sophie’s tone was full of sympathy. She flicked a swift glance up at her father, who gave a single nod.

  ‘Baselines are all good. Simple FOOSH.’

  A fall on an outstretched hand. The sort that often happened when you fell off your skateboard or out of a tree, as young Toby already knew. He had broken his left wrist last year. This time it was his right. But, if his baselines were good, that meant there was no danger of losing hand function from a compromised blood supply or nerve damage. In any case, Sophie knew she could make him a lot more comfortable with a good splint and some paracetamol, and it would actually be quicker for his mother to take him to the nearest emergency department. Even if there was an ambulance available instantly, it was at least twenty minutes away. Thirty, if there was any traffic or the threatening storm broke.

  ‘I’m going to give you a lovely splint that will help your arm stay very still and not hurt so much.’

  ‘And I’m going to drive you to the hospital,’ his mum added firmly. ‘Otherwise, how are we going to get home? Daddy can’t just turn his boat around to come and get us, you know. And a taxi would cost the earth. About as much as that new game you want for your computer, I reckon, and which one of those would you rather have?’

  Reluctantly, Toby followed Sophie, who sent an apologetic glance to people still waiting. Emergencies played havoc with queues but everybody knew that. Old Mr Dobson was getting to his feet.

  ‘I can come back tomorrow if I need to,’ he said. ‘It’s probably nothing a bit of cod liver oil c an’t fix.’

  Maureen and Jim were heading for the door, too, but Maureen paused to touch Jack Greene’s hand.

  ‘I just wanted to say that your Sophie’s a credit to you,’ she said. ‘We’re so lucky to have the next generation of wonderful doctors here in North Cove.’

  ‘Thanks, Maureen.’ But Jack didn’t smile as he gazed around the room. ‘Who’s next, then?’

  There was a painful-looking nappy rash on a baby, an adult with a rash and a terrible headache that was probably the early signs of a dose of shingles. Another patient had chest pain and had to jump the queue, but it was easily resolved with a spray of medication. The twelve-lead ECG Sophie took was reassuringly normal as well.

  ‘It’s not a heart attack, Colin. You need to use your spray as soon as it happens next time, not wait for me to give it to you. You know it comes on when you start moving furniture around, don’t you?’

  ‘I don’t like using stuff unless I really need to. And I was right next door.’

  ‘Get those young lads of yours to do the heavy lifting from now on. And, if you start getting pain more often, or when you’re just sitting around, let me know. I’m also going to book you in for some more tests at the next cardiology clinic at the hospital.’

  The door opened before Colin could touch the handle.

  ‘Sophie? Could you come, please? Now?’

  Sophie’s heart sank. Her mother was a very experienced and calm nurse. She had never seen a look of fear in her eyes like this.

  She raced into the adjoining room after her mother. Was her dad having a crisis with one of his patients? A cardiac arrest, maybe?

  But Jack was alone in the room.

  Slumped over his desk.

  ‘Dad?’ Sophie was by his side in an instant, her hand on his wrist. ‘Can you hear me? What’s happened?’

  She could feel a pulse, thank goodness. A bit faint, maybe, but it was steady.

  And her father responded with a groan as he pushed himself upright. ‘I’m fine,’ he growled. ‘Just a bit of a dizzy spell. Stop making a fuss.’