Baby Business

Baby Business
Brenda Novak

She needs money, a lot of it, to pay for her daughter's operation.Macy McKinney will do anything for five-year-old Haley. Businessman Thad Winters, a widower, wants a child without the complications of a relationship. He's willing to pay for that.He interviews applicants–and hires Macy to have his baby. Once Macy's pregnant, they decide that a temporary marriage will simplify the situation–but it does exactly the opposite!

“I want you to marry me.”

Thad watched several emotions flicker across Macy’s face—surprise, incredulity, anger—but before she could settle on one, he added, “There would be a lot of benefits to the arrangement, for both of us. Before you say anything, just hear me out.”

“No.”

“No, you won’t hear me out? Or no, you won’t marry me?”

“No, period. Our ‘arrangements’ have gone far enough. Don’t you understand that what you want, what we’re doing—having a baby like this—makes a mockery of everything I believe in? You’ve reduced love, marriage and family to…to this. To nothing but emotionless agreements and practical considerations.”

Thad flinched. Love, marriage and family were just as sacred to him, maybe more so. “Think of the baby,” he said. “If we marry, the baby will have my name.”

“So we’d be married but we wouldn’t live together. Is that what you’re suggesting? A marriage in name only?”

Thad cleared his throat, certain Macy wouldn’t like this next part any more than she’d liked the first. “Actually, I was thinking we could live together. Just as roommates.”

“But why? What purpose could there possibly be in—Oh, I get it.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’d be protecting your investment.”

Dear Reader,

Sometimes someone touches your life, and you know that afterward, nothing will ever be the same. It’s incredible, when you think about it, that we have the power to make such a difference to those we meet. Katie, a mere child of five, made that kind of difference for me. As her Sunday school teacher, I watched her fight a battle against cancer. Her courage inspired me. Her death broke my heart. Her life gave me new appreciation for the ties that bind us all, for beauty and for love.

I wrote Baby Business during Katie’s last year. Though its characters are entirely fictional, I hope I’ve succeeded in my desire to share the magic that came from knowing her.

I’d love to hear from you. You can write me at P.O. Box 3781, Citrus Heights, CA 95611. Or simply log on to my Web site at www.brendanovak.com to send me an e-mail, enter my monthly draws, join my mailing list, check out my book signings or learn about my upcoming releases.

Here’s to love and to life!

Brenda Novak

Books by Brenda Novak

HARLEQUIN SUPERROMANCE

899—EXPECTATIONS

939—SNOW BABY

Baby Business

Brenda Novak

For Katie, because I believe in rainbows, too.

And for my own five children, Ashley, Megan, Alexa, Trey

and Thad, because they’re the reason I believe.

CONTENTS

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

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE