Conveniently Wed To The Greek. Kandy Shepherd

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       CHAPTER FOUR

      WHEN DELL HAD been a little girl and people asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she had always replied she wanted to be a mummy. They had laughed and asked what else, but she had stubbornly stood her ground.

      She didn’t know why, as heaven knew her mother hadn’t been particularly maternal. And her father had verged on the indifferent. Both her parents had been—still were—research scientists for multinational pharmaceutical companies. She suspected they would have been happy to stop at the one child, her older brother, and when she’d come along when he’d been five she’d been more of an inconvenience than a joy. Her brother was of a scientific bent like her parents. She, while as intelligent, had broader interests they didn’t share or understand.

      As a child, Dell had loved her dolls, her kitten, her books and food. Her mother was a haphazard cook and by the time she was twelve Dell had been cooking for the family. It became a passion.

      At the insistence of her parents, she had completed a degree in food science. A future in the laboratory of a major grocery manufacturer beckoned. Instead, to the horror of her parents, after graduation she went straight to work as an editorial assistant on a suburban newspaper. She showed a flair for restaurant reviewing and articles about food and lifestyle and her career went on from there.

      At twenty-two, she married Neil, her high-school boyfriend. He supported her in her desire to become a mother. That was when her plans derailed. In spite of their most energetic efforts, pregnancy didn’t happen. At age twenty-seven they started IVF. The procedure was painful and disruptive. The hormone treatments sent her emotions soaring and plunging. The joy went out of her love-life. But three expensive IVF procedures didn’t result in pregnancy. Just debt.

      Then Neil had walked out on her.

      Growing up, Dell had often felt like a fluffy, colourful changeling of a chick popped into the nest of sleek, clever hawks who had never got over their surprise in finding her there. She had become adept at putting on a happy face when she’d felt misunderstood and unhappy.

      The end of her marriage had come from left field and she’d been devastated. She’d loved Neil and had thought she’d be married for ever. She shared her tears with a few close friends but presented that smiling, fluffy-chick face to the world.

      Being suddenly single came as a shock. She’d been part of a couple for so long she didn’t know how to deal with dating. After a series of disastrous encounters she’d given up on the idea of meeting another man. Work became her solace as she tried to deal with the death of her big dream. Accepted that, if IVF hadn’t worked, she wasn’t likely to ever be a mother.

      Then just weeks ago the fertility clinic had called to ask what she wanted them to do with the remaining embryo she had stored with them.

      Dell knew she should have told them she was divorced. That her ex-husband was in another relationship. But they didn’t ask and she didn’t tell. She’d undergone the fourth procedure the week before she’d been fired. All her other attempts at IVF had failed. She hadn’t held out any real hope for this time. But she’d felt compelled to grab at that one final chance.

      Now, the day after her meeting with Alex Mikhalis, Dell lay back on her cool white bed at Bay Breeze racked by the cramps that had always heralded failure. She took in a great, gasping sob then stayed absolutely still, desperately willing that implant to stay put. Her baby. But a visit to the bathroom confirmed blood. She’d failed again.

      She would never be a mother.

      Dell stood at the window for a long time staring sightlessly out to the view of the sea. Her hand rested on her flat, flat stomach. There was nothing for her СКАЧАТЬ