The Doctor's Newfound Family

The Doctor's Newfound Family
Valerie Hansen

He found his calling ministering to the downtrodden in San Francisco. But in Sara Beth Reese, Dr.Cole Hayward finds something more. The beautiful young woman's spirit and kindness warm Cole's heart, but it's her fearless determination that drives him to action. Sara Beth has vowed to clear the name of her murdered father, and she'll face any obstacle to achieve her goal. Orphaned, alone in the world–except for the three younger brothers in her care–she needs Cole's protection, whether she'll admit it or not. As danger escalates, Cole will risk everything for the right to make this newfound family his to love and protect for a lifetime.

“I should be angry with you, you know.”

“I know,” Sara Beth said, averting her gaze. “But you’re not, are you? Not really.”

There was no way Taylor could overlook the sweetness of her smile or the blush on her fair cheeks. Her hair had become mussed during her ordeal and the loose curls made her look like an endearing moppet. “No,” he said. “I’m not.”

Her grin spread and her greenish eyes twinkled mischievously. “Good. I’d be terribly sad if you were.”

“Sad enough to behave and stay safely away from the city center for a while?”

“Well…” Her soft drawl and the way she was gazing into his eyes made him melt inside like butter on a summer’s day. “Don’t look so worried. I promise I shall behave as well as is sensible.”

“That’s what worries me,” he quipped. When she reached up and gently caressed his cheek, his knees nearly buckled….

VALERIE HANSEN

was thirty when she awoke to the presence of the Lord in her life and turned to Jesus. In the years that followed she worked with young children, both in church and secular environments. She also raised a family of her own and played foster mother to a wide assortment of furred and feathered critters.

Married to her high school sweetheart since age seventeen, she now lives in an old farmhouse she and her husband renovated with their own hands. She loves to hike the wooded hills behind the house and reflect on the marvelous turn her life has taken. Not only is she privileged to reside among the loving, accepting folks in the breathtakingly beautiful Ozark mountains of Arkansas, she also gets to share her personal faith by telling the stories of her heart for all of Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired lines.

Life doesn’t get much better than that!

The Doctor’s Newfound Family

Valerie Hansen

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

—Psalms 34:19

To my editor, Melissa Endlich, who believed in me enough to let me branch out and live a vicarious life in the old West, as well as get into plenty of “trouble” in the present.

Contents

Prologue

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

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Prologue

“A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”

—Psalms 34:19

San Francisco, 1856

Chilling, midnight fog from the bay swirled around the two men standing together in the narrow alley bordering Meigg’s wharf. The taller one was clad in the tailored suit, coat and top hat typical of a wealthy merchant or banker while the other, shivering and nervously rubbing his own arms, wore the canvas pants, homespun shirt and cap of a dock worker.

The man in the tall beaver hat scratched a lucifer and lit his cigar with it, then slowly blew out a stream of smoke that was quickly lost in the mist. When he finally spoke, his tone was smooth and assured. “You understand what has to be done?”

“Yes, sir, Mr….”

“Shut up. No names. And if anyone asks, you and I have never met. Is that clear?”