Free Royal Seduction by Donna Clayton Page A

into a corner about his dream. You tried to pressure him into settling down. You wanted him to abandon a perfectly viable goal, that of motivating people to better health. Thefact that he intended to find fame and fortune doing just that should have been mere icing on the cake. He’d been so certain he could do it, even when the two of you had still been attending college.
    Hot tears burned the backs of her eyelids as she whispered to the empty room, “But I was pregnant.” That’s why she’d pushed him to give up his dream and settle down.
    God, but she’d felt so alone back then. Just as alone as she felt right now.
    And what did your pushing accomplish? the voice taunted. A horrible argument that had boiled over to the size of the damned Everglades, is all. And it forced him to choose his dreams over you. Your pushing was what left you abandoned and alone.
    A single tear blazed a hot trail down her face.
    Richard had been the love of her life. And he hadn’t been gone a week before she realized her mistake in letting him go. She’d regretted pressuring him. She’d regretted drawing that line-in-the-sand ultimatum.
    She’d searched for him, but had come up high and dry. She’d been distraught.
    Cradling her wineglass between both hands, Carrie sighed. The sound echoed out into the shadows of the stark, cramped, but utilitarian efficiency apartment.
    Her life hadn’t been completely dismal. She’d given birth to a gorgeous baby boy. Jason had been and continued to be the one bright light in her world. Eventually, she’d given up her search for Richard and settled into her role of single mom. Lord above, how she loved being a parent.
    She’d filed for divorce, and had the papers sent to Richard’s parents. The nasty couple had refused to tell herwhere Richard was, so she’d refused to tell them they were grandparents. The papers had been returned with Richard’s signature less than a month later.
    That was when she’d met and married Ralph Martin. He’d been just the kind of man she’d needed, both solid and dependable. He mightn’t have been the most romantic of men, but he’d been a wonderful father for Jason. Carrie and Ralph had spent fifteen years together. He’d suffered with diabetes, and four years ago he’d died of complications associated with the disease, leaving her once again a single mom.
    When Jason had moved across the country to attend UCLA, Carrie’d decided she needed a change of scenery. Being closer to her son wouldn’t hurt, either. So she’d moved to San Francisco and found a job teaching mathematics in a small private school.
    But knowing no one in the large west-coast city, Carrie had begun to ponder her past…and her ex. Soon her thoughts were overflowing with memories of Richard and the times they had spent together.
    That was why seeing him on the TV had stunned her so. Her research on Dr. Richie had pointed to Portland, Oregon, and to the new Healthy Living Clinic he would be running. By the time summer vacation had rolled around, she’d made the decision to spend some time in Portland looking up the famous Dr. Richie.
    Telling Jason of her plans had been difficult. She considered not telling him, but he’d taken on the role of protector since his stepfather had passed away, and he’d suspected there was more to her extended trip than a mere vacation.
    So she’d gently broken the news to her son that she’d discovered the whereabouts of his biological father. Shehad told Jason the truth about Richard Strokudnowski when he’d been a boy, but they hadn’t had reason to discuss him much over the years. She’d been honest about the fact that his father had never known he existed, and about the fact that she’d searched hard for Richard when Jason had been a baby.
    She’d told her son before leaving San Francisco that she now regretted giving up her