The Doctor, His Daughter And Me

Leonie Knight

Second chance at first love?When surgeon Ryan Dennison lost control of his car, he couldn’t keep the brakes on his marriage either. His injured wife, GP Tara Fielding, left him, and even though he has remarried and started a family he’s never forgiven himself.Now single dad Ryan is desperate to prove to Tara that he’s the husband she can depend on…now and for ever.

‘Is there room in your life for anyone else to love you?’

Ryan knew he was moving too fast but he had to know. If she said no without hesitation then he might as well give up. Tara could be stubborn, and if she made up her mind about something it was extremely difficult to change it.

But she hadn’t answered.

Her cheeks were pink and she was looking at a point somewhere on the opposite wall. He moved a little closer to her and grasped her hand.

She refocused and mesmerised him with her deep grey-blue eyes. Was it desire he saw in their depths?

‘You mean you?’ she finally said.

‘Yes.’

Tara leaned across, rested her head on Ryan’s shoulder and sighed.

‘Oh, Ryan. Why did you have to come back? I had my future mapped out. I thought I was as happy as I could be. And I honestly can’t think of love. Not now. It’s too hard.’

Ryan gently stroked her silky hair and resisted the temptation to put words into her mouth. She had to say it.

He waited …

Dear Reader

I was born and bred in the city, but have spent nearly two decades living and working in the country. During that time I’ve come to know many true heroes and heroines who have done the best they can to make a go of it on the land. In this story I have tried to impart a sense of the struggle many country people have to deal with as a backdrop to the romance between Ryan, a city orthopaedic surgeon, and Tara, a country GP.

Their journey takes them from a life-changing event in the past, and having to deal with the fall-out of that event, finally to a future full of love, hope and impossible dreams come true.

I hope you enjoy this story.

Leonie K

PS I love to hear from my readers and you can contact me via my website: www.leonieknight.com

About the Author

Originally a city girl, LEONIE KNIGHT grew up in Perth, Western Australia. Several years ago, with her husband, two young sons and their Golden Retriever, she moved south to a small rural acreage located midway between dazzling white beaches and the magnificent jarrah forest of the Darling Scarp. Now her boys have grown and left home, and the demands of her day job have lessened, she finds she has more time to devote to the things she loves—gardening, walking, cycling, reading and, of course, writing. She has spent most of her adult life working in first a suburban and then a rural general medical practice. That combined with the inspiration she gets from her real-life hero makes it only natural that the stories she writes are Medical Romances.

Recent titles by the same author:

HOW TO SAVE A MARRIAGE IN A MILLION

SUDDENLY SINGLE SOPHIE

These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk

The Doctor,

His Daughter

and Me

Leonie Knight

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

Many thanks to Heather and Ian, retired dairy farmers

and a wonderfully generous couple,

who helped me with the details of life on a farm.

Also for Shellee and Margaret.

You are truly inspirational.

PROLOGUE

DR TARA DENNISON closed her eyes, took several deep breaths and tried to relax as the physio’s thumbs dug deep into both sides of her neck. She was close to tears but it had nothing to do with the massage. She’d decided she couldn’t put it off any longer. She would tell Ryan tonight. And then they would both be free … free of the guilt, anguish and pain that held them together in a fragile relationship that had mercilessly sapped the strength from both of them over the past three months.

‘Ouch,’ she said as the pressure on her spine amplified and teetered on the edge of pain.

‘You’re tenser today than you usually are. Is there anything wrong? Soreness anywhere?’

Tara opened h