Adopted: Family in a Million

Adopted: Family in a Million
Barbara McMahon

From hot-shot tycoon to doting dad… When Zack Morgan discovers he’s a father, and that his little boy was given up for adoption, he decides to find him. He has to know his son is okay. Life is a struggle for single mum Susan Johnson, but she loves being Danny’s mother. When Zack unexpectedly comes into their lives, he lights up their world…Zack intended to keep his distance, but he’s found the family of his dreams. Only Susan has no idea who he really is…

He’d only wanted to brush her lipswith his, but once they touched hefelt desire rise.

He wanted more. Susan was willing, and opened her mouth at the first hint from him.

Wrapping her in his arms, he kissed her as he had in the kitchen. Ending the kiss too soon, he rested his forehead against hers. “Thanks again for dinner,” he said.

“Thanks for watching my son,” she replied, her eyes luminescent.

Zack rode the elevator down to the lobby. He wasn’t sure he was going about this the right way. He was beginning to want Susan in a totally different way. And to feel guilty about not telling her of his relationship to Danny. It was becoming complex, when all he’d started out to do was catch a glimpse of his son. Now he knew him—knew he was happy and thriving.

Susan had been unexpected—as were the growing emotions and attachment he was feeling for her. How would she take learning he was Danny’s biological father? Would she send him packing? Become distant but allow him to continue visiting with them?

Or was she beginning to feel something more for him, as he was for her? Could it lead to marriage?

Or would telling her end everything?

Barbara McMahon was born and raised in the South USA, but settled in California after spending a year flying around the world for an international airline. After settling down to raise a family and work for a computer firm, she began writing when her children started school. Now, feeling fortunate in being able to realise a long-held dream of quitting her ‘day job’ and writing full-time, she and her husband have moved to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, where she finds her desire to write is stronger than ever. With the beauty of the mountains visible from her windows, and the pace of life slower than the hectic San Francisco Bay Area where they previously resided, she finds more time than ever to think up stories and characters and share them with others through writing. Barbara loves to hear from readers. You can reach her at PO Box 977, Pioneer, CA 95666-0977, USA. Readers can also contact Barbara at her website: www.barbaramcmahon.com

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Greek Boss, Dream Proposal August 2009

ADOPTED: FAMILY IN A MILLION

BY

BARBARA McMAHON

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

To my dear friend Carolyn Samuels.

Here’s to fun in the sun

and happy memories of days gone by.

PROLOGUE

November

“I HAVE a son.” Zack said the words aloud. The reality wasn’t there. The pain was. He tried to focus on the revelation in the letter and ignore the injuries that had landed him in the hospital with months of healing and physical therapy ahead before he was fit again. Shifting slightly, he reread the letter.

The letter was dated three months ago. Why had it taken so long to reach him? Being on a remote building site in the middle of a Middle Eastern desert probably had a lot to do with it.

Did it matter? What if it had arrived shortly after it had been posted, he would have still been in shock. Would it have changed anything? Would he have been on the phone asking questions instead of being in the vicinity of that land mine?

“I have a son and his name is Daniel,” he repeated softly.

“Did you say something?” A nurse poked her head into the room. “Everything okay? Need more painkiller?”

“I’m okay,” he said, impatient with the interruption. He wanted to read the letter again. Try to understand.

He couldn’t take it in. Alesia Blair had been his steady girlfriend the last time he had been Stateside on leave. They’d had a great few months together, until he had accepted another overseas assignment. There had been no great love between them, but he had enjoyed taking her places where others had admired her beauty. To think of her as dead was hard. She’d relished life.

But she’d never contacted him after he had left. Not even to tell him about their son.

He was grateful to her sister, Brittany, however, for letting him know, however delinquent the notice. She explained she had been against her sister’s decision to keep quiet about the baby. A child should know his father. She’d wrestled with the situation after Alesia’s death and finally decided to write to him, telling him what she knew. He’d railed against fate for Alesia’s silence. How could she not have told him five years ago she was carrying his child?

At least he had the opportunity and means to locate the boy, his only living relative. That thought was amazing. He’d accepted years ago that he’d probably spend his life alone. He had friends, but no one close. His formative years had been in a series of foster homes. Moving from place to place had taught him not to form attachments. Nothing lasted beyond the next move. His job did nothing to change that as an adult. He was a nomad, no home, no family.

Zack had no idea when he had left the United States almost five years ago that Alesia had been pregnant. They had used precautions. She had never contacted him. At first he thought she might. But his job assignment had been for two years. Alesia had been a fun-loving, party girl. Two years waiting for a man was not her style. Yet the pregnancy would have changed all that.

She should have told him. Why hadn’t she?

Her sister’s letter also informed him of Alesia’s death. For that he was truly sorry. She had been pretty and vivacious and fun. Which was probably the reason she’d given their son up for adoption. A baby would have definitely cramped her style.

But I could have taken him. The thought came out of nowhere. Zack didn’t know the first thing about children. He was thirty-four years old and had never seriously thought about getting married or having a family.

His job was not exactly conducive to a happy family—gone two years at a time to inhospitable locales where they fought to bring modern roads and bridges and dams to countries that had progressed little from the beginning of time.

Lying back on the pillows, he tried to imagine his son. The boy would be four now. Zack couldn’t remember back to when he had been four. He had already been placed in his first foster home by that age. There had been other children there, but his memories were hazy. What was a four-year-old like?

That led to wondering what the family who had adopted his son was like. Did they think his father had abandoned him? Did they know Zack had not even known of his son’s existence until he’d received this letter a few hours ago?

He had an overwhelming urge to find his son. See him. Make sure he was happy and well cared for. Even in the foster care system, bad things happened to children. Did adopted families have regular visits from Social Services to make sure the child was being properly looked after? Was Daniel happy and secure in the family that was raising him?

Zack was scheduled to be sent back to the States next week—if he continued to improve. The surgeries had drained him of all energy. He was fighting to recover. But it would be several months before he could return to work. Just maybe he’d have time to find his son to make sure he was all right. To see what he and Alesia had produced.

Did Daniel have dark hair like his, or was it lighter like Alesia’s blond hair? Was he fearful or brave? Adoptions were usually confidential. Did he really have any hope in the world of finding the child he’d fathered?

He picked up the paper and pen the nurse had provided. The least he could do was thank Brittany for letting him know. It had been the right thing to do. And just maybe, it had given him even more reason for getting fit again as soon as possible. He had a son to find.

April

“Here’s the final report.” Ben Abercrombie slid the folder across the desk. “I know it took longer than originally anticipated, but you know adoption records are hard to access. Here’s what I found out. Your son was adopted by T. J. and Susan Johnson of New York City. I’ve located Mrs. Johnson, the husband has since died. Killed by a drunk driver two years ago.”

Zack Morgan reached out for the folder and flipped it open. The first thing he saw was a picture of a small child. It was not a close up, but he could tell the boy had dark hair. He looked so little. Was he small for his age? Zack had no idea how big four-year-olds should be.

Ben frowned as he glanced at the paperwork. “So how did you want this handled? Just show up one day and ask to meet your son?”

Zack shook his head. “Despite what you may think, I have some feelings for the child and the situation. The last thing I would do is give any reason to rock his security.” He thought briefly of the different families he’d lived with. He never knew how long he’d stay. He couldn’t imagine deliberately causing that kind of panic and uncertainty to anyone, much less a little boy.

“I just want to know he’s okay. That he’s loved and the family life he has is good.”