A Mommy for His Daughter

by Amy Ruttan

  She’s never had a chance at a family...

  But could happiness be found where she least expected?

  Dr. Evelyn Saunders left her orphan past behind, along with the cold Alaskan climes of Wolf’s Harbor. But an unexpected posting back home brings her up close and personal with single dad GP Derek Taylor. Neither are looking for love, but could this doting dad and his little girl bring Evelyn the happy family she’s longed for?

  Their eyes locked and they didn’t say anything. Against every rational thought in his head, Derek reached out and touched Evelyn’s cheek.

  She sighed when he touched her, closing her eyes, and he bent down, his lips barely grazing hers. His pulse thundering between his ears.

  “Daddy?”

  Evelyn jumped back, as did Derek, when they heard Mo call from the other room.

  She came into the kitchen. “Evie! You came!”

  Evelyn smiled and cleared her throat nervously. “You bet I did. A promise is a promise.”

  Mo looked at his hand. “What happened, Daddy?”

  “I cut it. Just an accident. Dr. Saunders fixed it for me.”

  Mo beamed. “Good job, Evie.”

  Evelyn picked up the box of cupcakes. “I brought you these from Sally’s. How’s your head?”

  “Ooh, yum! My head hurts a little. Do you want to come see my room?”

  Evelyn looked at him as if asking for permission. He appreciated it. He nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “Sure,” Evelyn said. Mo took her hand and led her out of the kitchen while Derek tried to regain some of his composure.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for picking up a copy of A Mommy for His Daughter.

  Alaska is definitely on my bucket list to travel to. I watch just about every documentary and reality show about Alaska I can get my hands on. So when I was thinking of a setting, I knew I had to set this book in Alaska, especially in the Inside Passage.

  Derek is a wonderful hero and father. He loves the small town of Wolf’s Harbor so much, but he’s also conflicted about what’s best for his child. He has certainly put his daughter first since his wife tragically died.

  Evelyn has a lot of ghosts to wrestle with upon returning to Wolf’s Harbor, a place she was forced to leave as a child because a judge determined that it would be best for her. Even though she had more opportunities living with her grandmother in Boston, there’s a part of her that mourns what was lost when she was forced to leave after her parents’ deaths.

  A lot of this book is about coming home and finding family. It’s about finding yourself again in the midst of tragedy and pain. It’s about healing and love.

  I hope you enjoy Evelyn and Derek’s chance at happiness.

  I love hearing from readers, so please drop by my website, amyruttan.com, or give me a shout on Twitter, @ruttanamy.

  With warmest wishes,

  Amy Ruttan

  A MOMMY FOR HIS DAUGHTER

  Amy Ruttan

  Books by Amy Ruttan

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  Christmas in Manhattan

  Navy Doc on Her Christmas List

  Royal Spring Babies

  His Pregnant Royal Bride

  Hot Latin Docs

  Alejandro’s Sexy Secret

  The Hollywood Hills Clinic

  Perfect Rivals...

  Sealed by a Valentine’s Kiss

  His Shock Valentine’s Proposal

  Craving Her Ex-Army Doc

  Convenient Marriage, Surprise Twins

  The Surgeon King’s Secret Baby

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

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  This book is dedicated to everyone who has been lost and has found their way home.

  Praise for Amy Ruttan

  “From start to finish, this book was entertaining...the instant chemistry these two have from the moment they’re introduced together into the story sets the fast pace of the book.”

  —Harlequin Junkie on His Pregnant Royal Bride

  “Beautiful, captivating prose and engaging dialogue. The storytelling in Alejandro’s Sexy Secret is vibrant and unique.”

  —Goodreads

  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

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM REUNITED BY THEIR BABY BY JENNIFER TAYLOR

  CHAPTER ONE

  I HATE FLYING. I hate flying.

  Evelyn closed her eyes and gripped the armrests tighter as the Cessna C207 Skycraft she was flying in was jostled by turbulence. And being in a small plane that only seated seven people meant that the turbulence really rattled her around, making her stomach twist and knot in apprehension.

  Although it wasn’t just the turbulence that was doing that to her.

  She’d thought in the twenty years since she’d been here that her hometown might have built a road from Sitka to Wolf’s Harbor, but no.

  Nothing seemed to have changed. Wolf’s Harbor was still relying on the service of bush pilots and a small airport and harbor to service the larger hub of Sitka. Although there was a ferry service to Juneau, it took three hours to drive to the ferry terminal and another four hours to cross the channel. That was if the ferry was running. The fastest way was still by air.

  Evelyn would have preferred a boat excursion from Sitka to Wolf’s Harbor, but there were no vessels departing on the eight-hour journey from Sitka through Cross Sound and into the small inlet of Wolf’s Harbor. The Cessna had been her only option.

  She didn’t like airplanes, even though she was used to flying. Her grandmother had loved taking trips all over the world, but even though air travel was second nature to her she didn’t like it any better.

  The plane rocked again but the other people who were on the same flight didn’t pay any attention to it. They were calm and just rocking with the turbulence as if it was nothing. Of course they were probably used to it.

  Evelyn was not. She was used to first class. She wasn’t used to a bush plane way of life, nor to this level of turbulence where the pilot would probably have to crab land on the Tarmac because of the wind shear.

  The first time she’d flown on a Cessna had been when she’d left Wolf’s Harbor—or rather when she’d been taken from Wolf’s Harbor.

  She’d never got to go back.

  Of course she’d been only ten when she’d gone to live in Boston. Her father had been killed by a runaway logging truck when he’d gone out one evening. Her mother—who’d died when Evelyn was four—had been Tlingit, and her maternal grandmother and uncle had lived in Wolf’s Harbor, but Evelyn hadn’t heard from them in twenty years.

  When she’d first left she’d written letters to them, but nothing had ever come back. She’d been devastated, but her paternal grandmother had taught her to be tough. To harden her heart against disappointment.

  Besides, it was really her fault that her father had died. It was no wonder her mother’s family had written her off. Her father had been the b
eloved town doctor for years until that accident. It had been for the best that she’d left.

  Still, it had torn a hole in her soul. She’d got world experience, and a great education, but as a child she hadn’t wanted to leave Wolf’s Harbor.

  A social service worker from Juneau had come to take her away. Her father’s estranged mother in Boston had got custody of her. And, as a child, she really hadn’t had a say....

  “I don’t want to leave,” Evelyn protested, clutching her small rag doll and looking back at her father’s log cabin with longing.

  She loved her cozy home in the forest, where she’d used to wait for her father to come home. But he was never coming back. Her father was gone—and all because he had been on his way to see that woman. The woman who wanted to replace her mother.

  “You have no choice,” the social worker said, kneeling in front of her.

  She could see the pain in the woman’s eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Evelyn, but your grandmother in Boston is looking forward to your arrival and she’s your legal guardian now. Your father didn’t have a will and a judge has ruled in your paternal grandmother’s favor. You have to go live with her.”

  “I don’t want to go to Boston.”

  “I know.” The social worker squeezed her shoulder. “I wish you could stay too.”

  Evelyn picked up her knapsack, which held all her belongings, and took the social worker’s hand as they climbed into the taxi cab which drove them to the airport.

  The Cessna was waiting and there were other passengers climbing on board. She gripped the social worker’s hand as she looked back at the town.

  The taxi cab driver—Uncle Yazzie—had tears in his eyes as he waved goodbye to her.

  “Why can’t I stay with my uncle? Why can’t I stay with my grandmother? They can take care of me. I want to stay with them.”

  “Your grandmother in Boston has guardianship over you. The court has decided that you have to go to Boston, Evelyn. I’m so sorry. I know that you want to stay, but you have to be a brave girl. It will be okay.”

  A lump formed in Evelyn’s throat. She was leaving everything she knew, everything she loved, to live with a stranger.

  Uncle Yazzie scrubbed a hand over his face. “Don’t worry. We’ll see each other again soon.”

  Evelyn nodded and tried to fight back the tears as she walked away from the only family she’d known.

  She would never forgive herself for not stopping her father from going out that night to see Jocelyn—the woman he’d wanted to marry. If she’d stopped him he’d still be alive...

  “Ladies and gents, we’re now making our descent into Wolf’s Harbor. Please fasten your seatbelt.”

  The pilot made the same announcement in Tlingit and Evelyn felt sad that she’d almost forgotten her mother’s language. She understood it still, but when was the last time she’d spoken it?

  Evelyn couldn’t remember. Her grandmother had banned all talk of Alaska and anything of her past because it had been too painful for her, and Evelyn hadn’t wanted to make her grandmother upset. Her grandmother had blamed Alaska for taking her son away, for her having had to disinherit him. Alaska had ruined her father’s promising surgical career.

  Evelyn had still loved Alaska, but had said nothing to her grandmother about her love for her former home. She had always been worried her grandmother would send her away, so she’d just tried to please the woman.

  She hadn’t wanted to be alone. She hadn’t wanted to be sent away again.

  That trip to Boston... She’d known then what alone felt like. It had been terrible, and she’d never wanted to feel that way again.

  Except now you are alone!

  And it was her fault again this time.

  She’d been with Nathan for two years, but her career had always been more important to her. Nathan had a great surgical practice in Minnesota, and he wanted to settle down and get married. Only that was the last thing that Evelyn wanted.

  She didn’t want a family. One that could be taken away from her in an instant. One she didn’t deserve.

  There was a part of her that should have felt sorrow over losing Nathan, but she felt numb and a little bit relieved.

  He’d accused her once of being cold. And maybe she was.

  Of course being cold meant that you kept your heart intact. Not feeling was her armor. Her protection against pain. Her grandmother had taught her to guard her heart in order to avoid pain. Emotions were for the weak. And it served her well as a surgeon.

  She took a deep breath and looked out through the small window to see Wolf’s Harbor come into view through the misty summer rain that was clinging to the mountains.

  Her heart skipped a beat and her palms were sweaty, but she wasn’t sure if that was from the turbulence or from seeing the place where she’d been born. A place she’d never thought she’d see again.

  The sight of the boats moored at the town dock and even the vessels that were out on the eerily calm water made her stomach flip in anticipation. It was just as beautiful as she remembered.

  For the first year of her life in Boston she’d dreamed about Wolf’s Harbor, dreamed about her father, and then what she remembered had begun to fade as she’d integrated into life in Boston.

  Her grandmother had been distant and mourning her son’s decision to head to Alaska, and her grandmother’s grief and bitterness had seeped into their life in Boston. So they’d traveled a lot. Boston had been their home base, but she had always felt her grandmother had traveled so she wouldn’t have a moment to grieve for her son. Boston might have been a base, but it had never felt like home.

  She’d excelled in school, to please her grandmother, and had gone to Dartmouth and then Harvard Medical School. During her last year at Harvard her grandmother had died, but Evelyn’s time there had seemed to please her. The more Evelyn had excelled, the more her grandmother had seemed happy with her.

  She’d done her residency in Seattle, and earned a fellowship in obstetrics and neonatal medicine. She’d been searching for a new challenge when she’d been contacted by a surgeon friend in Sitka, who had begged her to come and take over her practice while she went on a three-month honeymoon.

  Evelyn had thought it would be good—she just hadn’t had any idea that part of the practice was a rotation in Wolf’s Harbor that her friend shared with a couple other OB/GYNs and that she worked there every three months. And the day Evelyn had landed in Sitka had been the day she was to start her three-month rotation in Wolf’s Harbor.

  At first she’d thought of not going, of letting her friend down, but she longed to see Wolf’s Harbor again. To help where she hadn’t been able to help before.

  She owed it to her father.

  To her home.

  Not your home.

  She had to remind herself of that. There was no place for her here. Not anymore. All she had to do was step in for the next three months and then she could leave with a lighter conscience.

  Dr. Pearson, the OB/GYN who was finishing his rotation in Wolf’s Harbor, would be waiting for her at the town’s clinic, where he’d hand over the keys to the clinic, and the furnished apartment they used during rotation, and would show her around before he drove back to Juneau.

  The plane landed with a bump on the small gravel airstrip and the props slowed down as the Cessna taxied to the terminal. When it had come to a stop and shut down, the pilot hopped into gear, opening the door as the ground crew pushed over the stairwell, and Evelyn could feel the hatches being opened to unload the cargo.

  The two other occupants—both men—grabbed their duffel bags and headed off the plane.

  Evelyn took a deep breath. You got this.

  She slung her laptop bag over her shoulder and unbuckled. When she stepped out of the Cessna she was hit by the scent of salt water, rain and damp. There was a clanging from t
he buoys out on the mist-shrouded water. It hadn’t changed.

  Home.

  Evelyn closed her eyes to stop the tears that were threatening.

  “Come here, Evie.”

  Her father held open his arms and she ran to him, pressing her face against the soft flannel jacket he wore.

  “I love you, Daddy.”

  Her dad kissed the top of her head and smiled, his blue-gray eyes twinkling.

  “I love you, too, Evie.”

  “Do you need help, miss?”

  Evelyn shook the memory away and glanced down to see the pilot, in a flannel jacket that was similar to the one her father had used to wear, holding out his hand to her.

  She straightened her spine and beamed brightly at him, taking his hand as he helped her down onto the Tarmac.

  “Do you need help with your luggage?” the pilot asked.

  “No, thank you. I’m okay.” Evelyn shifted the weight of her carry-on bag on her shoulder as she walked onto the chip-sealed portion of the airstrip. She picked up her suitcase from outside the plane, where it had been unloaded, and popped up the handle to roll it.

  A gust of wind tossed her hair in her face and she cursed herself for not tying it back before she headed for the small terminal.

  I wonder if anyone will remember who I am?

  A knot formed in her stomach—because it had been twenty years since she had been taken away...twenty years since her father died. She remembered some faces, but she was sure most folks were long gone.

  Like her maternal grandmother.

  And her classmates at the small village school wouldn’t remember her.

  It was for the best that they didn’t.

  It was her fault her father had left that night in the rain and died. She should have stopped him.

  She’d taken away Wolf’s Harbor’s finest doctor. Now she was here to make it right.

  Or as right as she could in the limited amount of time she was here.

  The terminal was quiet. Everyone was dealing with cargo, rather than the few passengers. The other two who had been on her plane were long gone. They had somewhere to go. Loved ones to see.