The Midwife And The Lawman

The Midwife And The Lawman
Marisa Carroll

If Devon Grant had her way, she'd turn her back on Enchantment. There's simply too much history in that small town.But her sense of honor has her returning to help her ailing grandmother run The Birth Place–even though she's still angry about her grandmother's past actions. And there's also Miguel Eiden, the man who broke her heart ten years before.Then Devon uncovers a secret and must decide what to do and who to trust–because in order to help three innocent children she might have to bend, if not break, the law. Not so easy when the new chief of police is her old love Miguel.

“I don’t know you at all.”

Devon pulled her lower lip between her teeth after she spoke—as though she, too, wished to take back the words. She put her right hand on the floor to push herself to her feet.

Miguel closed his fingers around her forearm and held her beside him. “Devon, have you given any thought as to why you ended up in my bed that night?”

“Shock. Confusion. Sleep deprivation. I was a little out of my mind, I think.”

“Maybe,” he agreed, smiling, although it took some doing to produce a grin. Part of him wanted her to say it was because she was still madly, passionately, forever in love with him. “I think we both were.”

“I didn’t know if my grandmother was going to live or die. I needed comfort. You offered me that.”

“Devon, it went past offering you comfort five minutes after we left the hospital.” The words came out as a kind of growl and her eyes widened a little with dismay.

“I told you, it was an aberration. We were both a little crazy that night.”

Dear Reader,

Babies are such wonderful little creatures. Being able to contribute a story to a series dealing with the women who dedicate their lives to bringing babies into the world was a challenge we were happy to accept.

Midwives have helped women deliver their babies from ancient times, but in the past hundred years, at least in the United States, the craft has fallen into disfavor and is still viewed with skepticism by much of the medical profession.

Today many women are rediscovering the joy of delivering their children with the help of skilled midwives like Lydia Kane and the others at The Birth Place.

Lydia’s granddaughter, Devon Grant, has always known she wanted to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps, but she’s taken a different path to that goal, becoming a Certified Nurse Midwife instead of following traditional ways. Now she’s back in Enchantment working alongside Lydia, and old wounds and new secrets add to the tension between the women, tension that’s intensified further by their differing approaches to their age-old craft.

The reappearance of Devon’s teenage love, all grown up and even more handsome than before, only adds to the complications in her life—and then there are the children she’s taken under her wing at the risk of being arrested for harboring illegal aliens…and wildfire on the mountain…oh yes, and a baby born under the stars.

We hope you enjoy reading The Midwife and the Lawman as much as we enjoyed writing it. We’d also like to add a special thank you to the great authors in this series (Darlene Graham, Brenda Novak, Roxanne Rustand, C.J. Carmichael and Kathleen O’Brien) whose books preceded ours. It was an honor and a privilege working with all of you.

Sincerely,

Carol and Marian

The Midwife and the Lawman

Marisa Carroll

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

For Erika, Jennifer, Allicyn and Matthew and now for Becca and Nicholas, and always for Sarah

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

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

HE WONDERED if Devon would ever come to him again.

Enchantment’s Chief of Police Miguel Eiden put the decidedly nonregulation thought out of his head as his radio crackled to life. It was the day dispatcher, Doris Fernandez, checking in.

“Chief Eiden, did you copy the transmission from The Birth Place?”

He hit the toggle that opened the receiver affixed to his shoulder, frowning a little at the use of his title. Until a few weeks ago Doris would have called him Miguel. Then he’d still been one of the guys. Now he was the boss, and things had changed. “Roger that, Doris.” He’d picked up Devon Grant’s conversation with her grandmother, Lydia Kane, on the scanner speaker. He hadn’t responded, though. That was the last thing Devon would want.

“Shall I send out a ten-fourteen?” Ten-fourteen was code for a police escort.