The Doctor's Bride

Patt Marr

Who Wasn't Trying To Fix Up Dr. Zack Hemingway?Even his boss had handpicked two of his three daughters as perfect candidates for the position of Zack's wife. But it was the other daughter who'd caught Zack's no-longer roving eye. A sweet Christian woman who worked with children in need, Chloe Kilgannon possessed everything he wanted in a wife. Except a willingness to say I do. Why?What was Chloe hiding–or hiding from? Zack had to find out before he lost Chloe for good. For when his own family dropped a life-changing bombshell on him, he knew that some secrets were truly meant to be shared.

The Doctor’s Bride

Patt Marr

Dedication

To my three “adopted” daughters,

Pam Dokolas, Cathy Ebalo and Teresa Soliz,

and to my daughter, J Marr,

for the laughter and faith that we share.

Contents

Acknowledgments

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

Acknowledgments

Love and appreciation go to my daughter, J Marr, for her endless encouragement and editing skills; to my cousin, Paul Lawrence, for his faithful critique; to my husband, Dave Marr, for learning to cook and to Dr. LeRoy Yates for creating the heroine’s medical history.

Chapter One

Beverly Hills, California

C hloe Kilgannon pushed her red clown nose firmly in place and practiced walking in her oversize shoes. When had she last worn them? As a teenager, she’d performed often, but that was a long time ago, and she hadn’t clowned since the last time she’d been home.

Home—that was a place not easily defined. If home was where the heart is, it would be wherever there were children who needed the assurance they weren’t alone. If she’d still had the job she’d done the last eight years, she could have been heading for a new home today. In India there’d been a horrific mudslide. In Australia, a tornado had touched down. In the aftermath of devastation, there were always newly homeless children separated from their families. Organizing their care and assuring them they were still loved had been her job, a job she’d thought she’d always have.

“Hey, Chloe, are you about ready!”

Nurse Sandy Beechum popped into the hospital’s first-floor restroom where Chloe had made her metamorphosis. The two had known each other since Chloe’s teenage clowning days.

“Who do you think you are, and what happened to my friend Chloe Kilgannon?” Sandy said, looking her up and down.

Chloe pointed to the painted flower on her cheek and did one of her trademark jiggle-wiggle moves that she’d borrowed from an excited puppy. The ringlets on her purple wig shimmied, and the bells on her collar jingled.

“Well, if it isn’t Flower the Clown!” Sandy exclaimed, breaking into laughter. “You funny girl, you haven’t changed.”

Chloe struck a pose that made her friend laugh, but she was glad that Flower had a painted-on happy face and wasn’t expected to talk. If she did, she might break down and tell Sandy how much she had changed. Her future would be far different than the one she’d dreamed of.

“All the kids who were able to leave their beds are assembled upstairs in the Sun Room. Is it showtime?”

Chloe made her eyes go wide with anticipation and clapped her gloved hands wildly. She was officially in character, and it was a relief to be somebody else, even for a little while. Flower the Clown could act on any outrageous impulse if it got a laugh.

Dr. Zack Hemingway waited for the elevator, wondering if there was a way to carry a daisy-bedecked basket of sock puppets that wouldn’t make people snicker at the sight of him. He’d tried carrying it like a gym bag, but he couldn’t get a good grip with springy, fresh flowers decorating the handle. Holding the basket with both hands as if it were a pizza came the most naturally.

The elevator door opened, and Zack did a double take. One of the occupants was a