Revisit this heartfelt story of surprise parenthood from New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods.
The stick turned blue on Jane Dawson’s pregnancy test just in time to stop her biological clock from running wild. But there was just one small problem—she’d unwittingly thrown her former flame into daddyhood!
Originally published in the 2010 A Mother’s Touch anthology.
Sherryl Woods Booklist
The Sweet Magnolias
Stealing Home
A Slice of Heaven
Feels Like Family
Welcome to Serenity
Home in Carolina
Sweet Tea at Sunrise
Honeysuckle Summer
Midnight Promises
Catching Fireflies
Where Azaleas Bloom
Swan Point
Chesapeake Shores
The Inn at Eagle Point
Flowers on Main
Harbor Lights
A Chesapeake Shores Christmas
Driftwood Cottage
Moonlight Cove
Beach Lane
An O’Brien Family Christmas
The Summer Garden
A Seaside Christmas
The Christmas Bouquet
Dogwood Hill
Willow Brook Road
The Devaney Brothers
The Devaney Brothers: Ryan & Sean
The Devaney Brothers: Michael & Patrick
The Devaney Brothers: Daniel
The Calamity Janes
The Calamity Janes: Cassie & Karen
The Calamity Janes: Gina & Emma
The Calamity Janes: Lauren
The Adams Dynasty
A Christmas Blessing
Natural Born Daddy
The Cowboy and His Baby
The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter
The Littlest Angel
Natural Born Trouble
Unexpected Mommy
The Cowgirl and the Unexpected Wedding
Natural Born Lawman
The Unclaimed Baby
The Cowboy and His Wayward Bride
Suddenly, Annie’s Father
The Cowboy and the New Year’s Baby
Dylan and the Baby Doctor
The Pint-Sized Secret
Marrying a Delacourt
The Delacourt Scandal
Rose Cottage Sisters
Three Down the Aisle
What’s Cooking?
The Laws of Attraction
For the Love of Pete
The Paternity Test
Sherryl Woods
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
PROLOGUE
Next Saturday’s baby shower would be the fifth Jane Dawson had been invited to in the past three months. Every time she turned around, it seemed, another friend or another co-worker was having a baby. She was being overwhelmed by the sight of rounded tummies, radiant faces and silver rattles.
She’d become such a regular at Annie’s Baby Boutique that Annie routinely called when something special came in. They’d become fast friends, and the boutique had become Jane’s favorite after-school haunt for a cup of tea and some girl-talk.
As a result, Jane’s biological clock was ticking so loudly, she was sure it could be heard throughout her hometown. She would be thirty in July, not so old for having babies these days, but definitely getting up there, especially with no prospective father in sight.
Once again back at Annie’s, this time specifically to buy a present for Daisy Markham’s shower on Saturday, Jane rubbed her fingers over the cheerful yellow gingham liner in an antique carved oak crib that was Annie’s latest treasure and sighed heavily. She’d been sighing a lot lately. Wishing, too, and dreaming.
It was getting more and more difficult to hide her envy, as well. Oohing and ahhing over one more hand-knitted pair of booties, one more tiny outfit, might send her over the edge. Today, she thought looking at the crib, could very well be the day.
“What do you think?” Annie asked, glowing with pride over the refinished piece. She still had streaks of wood stain and polish on her hands. Her no-nonsense short hair was mussed and she hadn’t gotten around to so much as a dusting of powder across her face, much less any lipstick.
“Is that not the most beautiful crib you’ve ever seen?” she demanded.
Jane tried to hide her own yearning to possess that crib—to have a reason to possess that crib—and nodded. “It’s lovely.”
“Can you imagine?” Annie asked indignantly, buffing the already gleaming surface. “I found it stuck way back in a dim corner of an antique place out on Route 3. You should have seen it. It had been painted half a dozen times at least. Stripping it, I went through layers of white, blue, pink and several more of white paint. It was caked on so thick, it wasn’t until I got almost down to the wood that I saw the carving.”
The shop’s owner rubbed her fingers lovingly over the intricate design. “A little angel. Have you ever seen anything so precious?”
“Never,” Jane said, her yearning to claim it deepening.
Annie grinned. “Well, I know it’s too extravagant for a shower present, but I just knew of everyone who comes in here, you’d appreciate it the most. I had to call the minute I put it in the store. Sometimes the urge to share my finds overwhelms me. I hope you don’t mind that I left a message at the school. It’s not like I’m trying to make a sale. I know perfectly well you don’t need a crib.”
Something inside Jane snapped at Annie’s offhand remark. “I’ll take it,” she said as if to prove her wrong. “Just the way it is with the yellow gingham liner and all. Put it on my account and send me the bill.”
Almost immediately she regretted the impulsive words as Annie gaped.
“But—”
Jane cut off the shocked protest. “You can have it delivered to my place, right? John will bring it by Saturday morning, won’t he?” she said, referring to Annie’s husband, who frequently helped out with deliveries on weekends.
“Of course, but—”
“Thanks,” she said, cutting off her friend’s questions, logical questions for which she obviously had no rational answers. “I’ve got to run. I have a PTA meeting tonight. All the teachers have to be there early to greet the parents. We’re trying to butter them up so they’ll help us raise the money to upgrade the cafeteria. Don’t forget to wrap up that little pink sweater and bonnet for Daisy’s shower. It’s Saturday afternoon. You can send the package along with the crib.”
“Of course.”
Jane felt Annie’s puzzled, worried gaze follow her as she left the store and walked up the hill toward the old brick school.
Not until much later, after the PTA meeting, after she was back home and sipping a cup of tea, did she concede that Annie might have cause to wonder what an unmarried, uninvolved woman was going to do with a baby crib. Hopefully she could come up with a plausible explanation before everyone in town concluded that she’d turned into an eccentric old spinster whose hormones required serious adjustment.
* * *
Annie’s devoted husband, still handsome and fit at fifty, delivered the crib at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. He set it
