Unexpected Babies

Unexpected Babies
Anna Adams

THE TALBOT TWINSA troubled marriage, an unexpected pregnancy, a terrible accident. Any one of those flings would be hard to handle. Cate Talbot Palmer has to face them all.Cate has decided her marriage is over. Much as she loves her husband, she can no longer live with him. But after she tells him she's going–and before he can even start to win her back–an accident robs her of her memory.Amnesia is frightening: Everyone knows you, but to you, even family members–including your identical twin–are strangers. You have to trust others for your memories and take too much on faith.Then again, maybe amnesia's the perfect opportunity to start over….

Her foot twitched beneath the blanket

Alan went back to her bed. “Cate?”

Her eyelids fluttered. For a horrified moment, he was afraid she couldn’t open her eyes. “Cate,” he said again, “wake up. Uncle Ford, why didn’t you shout at her before?”

“Shall I try again?” Uncle Ford struggled to his feet, maybe to lean closer to Cate’s ear. He might have yelled at his niece, except Dan appeared at his side to help him—or maybe to hold him back.

Alan flashed his son a grateful smile and took Cate’s hand. “Wake up. Please, Cate.” Asking for things didn’t come naturally, and that had been a sore spot between them. But he’d beg freely if he had to. Finally Cate opened her eyes and held them open. He didn’t dare look away. Something different in her expression bothered him—some level of detachment.

She studied each person around her bed. Nothing that made her the Cate he loved was in her gaze. She eyed her aunt, uncle, niece and son with the same strange, dreamy look until she focused on Alan again.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Dear Reader,

Imagine this: You open your eyes and find yourself in a hospital bed, surrounded by strangers who look like a close-knit family. You don’t know your aunt or uncle, your niece or even your twin sister. Worse, you don’t recognize your own son, and when the man who seems to be in charge claims he’s your husband, you realize your own name is a mystery.

This is only the start of Cate Talbot Palmer’s dilemma. Soon she discovers she’s pregnant with twins, but that she hasn’t told her husband, Alan—and she can’t remember why. Add to that the tales people recount of the wild Talbot clan she hails from, and you have the kind of family story I love. Cate must figure out who she really is and learn the truth about her marriage. No longer the “good” twin, or the woman who never rocked anyone’s boat, she wants to live life fully. Her struggle to recover her identity brings upheaval to her family and her marriage.

I hope you enjoy this story of learning to trust a loving stranger.

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, please write to me at annaadams@superauthors.com.

Sincerely,

Anna Addams

Unexpected Babies

Anna Adams

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

To Sarah Greengas, Sharon Lavoie,

Jennifer LaBrecque, Amy Lanz, Carmen Green,

Wendy Etherington, Jenni Grizzle, Karen Bishop,

Theresa Goldman and Michele Flinn—

thank you for reading my unpolished pages.

And to Paula Eykelhof and Laura Shin. Thank you

for the chance and for all I’ve already learned from you.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE (#u2f7a278a-d942-5998-803f-0f53a5b8c736)

CHAPTER TWO (#u76e04e40-7f4b-5d92-969f-cfb696d6f415)

CHAPTER THREE (#udc25f967-ae49-5fa6-8791-03ef839925dd)

CHAPTER FOUR (#u5668c74a-4696-5aec-b286-a217f1132264)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE

CATE TALBOT PALMER opened her car door and stepped into the sand-blown street that paralleled the beach. Above the small, stucco building in front of her a metal sign rattled like faint thunder in the wind off the ocean. The sign read Palmer Construction, Leith, Georgia.

Her husband, Alan, was inside at his desk. Nearly two hours late for the burned five-course dinner she’d abandoned on their dining room table.

Cate ran one hand across her stomach. The stench of dry, overcooked lamb mingled with ocean salt. She swallowed, her throat almost clenching she felt so nauseous. She’d suggested a special dinner tonight because she’d finally decided to tell Alan the secret she’d been keeping. Thank God she hadn’t told him before.

She’d waited for him, staring at a bottle of sparkling grape juice she’d set on the table between their plates as a hint. She’d memorized that bottle while she’d opened her eyes to the facts. She and Alan had both kept secrets for the past sixteen weeks, only she’d been desperate enough to pretend she didn’t see what Alan was doing.

Late nights at the office, fierce silences at home, see-through excuses for the cell phone he’d practically strapped to his hand. Most women would suspect an affair, but Alan Palmer had a different problem.