The Doctor's Unexpected Family: (Inspirational Romance) (Port Provident: Hurricane Hope) by Kristen Ethridge Read Free Book Online

and flowed through her mind. Please God, don’t let her ever know. Don’t ever let her know how much has changed. Don’t let her childhood be scarred by this.
    Pete flicked on his blinker and made a left turn into Seagull Cove, a community of older beach homes. Angela had always loved this area. The homes were painted in a variety of cheerful colors. A light shone on a two-story teal house on the corner and caught Angela’s eye, making the muscles in her cheeks twitch. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like to smile.
    The smile slipped away almost as soon as it appeared. 
    Pete turned into a driveway and pulled forward under the stilts of a faded green house with a large deck out front.
    He looked behind him as he put the truck in park. “She crashed, huh?”
    “Before we even hit the Open Water Highway. It’s more than an understatement to say she’s been out of her routine and off her schedule lately.”
    Pete nodded.  “Then let’s let her sleep.”
    “I can’t just leave her out here, Pete.”
    “I didn’t mean leave her out here, Angela.” He gave a short laugh as he hopped easily out of the truck.  “I’ll carry her in.”
    Angela opened the door and tried to get out as quietly as possible. “Are you sure you can get her?”
    Pete handed her his keys as he laughed again. The unmistakable sound of amusement echoed off the beams holding the little beach house about twelve feet off the ground. For the second time in less than five minutes, Angela thought about how much she missed laughter and smiles and a time, not so long ago, when things seemed easier.
    “I have carried more than one pregnant woman in labor at the birthing center. I’m pretty sure I can get a what—five-year-old?”  Pete opened the door to the backseat and gently leaned over Celina and unbuckled the seatbelt.
    “She’s six. And you did that like a pro. I always manage to wake her up when I unbuckle the seatbelt.”
    Pete slipped his arm behind Celina’s neck and the other under her knees and with a deft twist had her seamlessly out of the car. As he turned back toward Angela, he grinned. “I guess I have the winning touch.”
    He had a winning smile, there was no doubt in her mind about that. It set her at ease, at least for the moment.
    “Can you unlock the front door, and get my bag out of the bed of the truck? I’ll carry her in. I’ve got a guest room—I’ll put her on the bed in there, then we can come back out and get your things.”
    Angela picked up Pete’s blue bag and ran up the stairs ahead of him and Sleeping Beauty.  Pete passed her, holding Celina, and another thing she hadn’t realized she’d missed took up residence in her mind.
    Cologne. She hadn’t run across many men who didn’t smell like sweat and drywall dust these days. But Pete Shipley smelled like bergamot and cinnamon. It had been almost six years since she’d been around a man that made her nose want to do a double-take and drink in his scent.
    Pete’s neighborhood made her smile and his cologne made her long for a time so long ago she’d thought she’d forgotten it. She couldn’t help but wonder what other surprises she was in for.
    Or if coming out here was a big mistake.
    What on earth had she been thinking, leaving people she trusted—even though the idea of temporary shelter was precarious at best—to come out to the other end of the island with Dr. Pete Shipley, even if he was Gloria Rodriguez’s boss? She’d battled her own blood sugar most of her life, she could have gotten through for another few days. Things would be better once the immediate stress settled down. Stress always aggravated her condition. Celina was scared of the shelter, but they’d have been together. It wouldn’t have been like the night of the hurricane.
    She could have calmed her daughter’s fears.
    Or at least she should have tried instead of picking up the phone and calling this doctor she hardly knew and whose smile was a distraction she