Free Best Friend to Perfect Bride (Contemporary Medical Romance) by Jennifer Taylor Page A

experience, it rarely happens so I wouldn’t hold out too many hopes on that score.’
    ‘Your grandparents never changed their minds?’ Bella said quietly, hearing the echo of pain in his voice.
    ‘No. Oh, Mum tried to persuade them to see sense, but they were adamant that they wanted nothing to do with her or me. I never met them, in fact.’
    ‘How sad. Not just for you and your mother, but for them too. They could have had the pleasure of watching you grow up if they hadn’t taken such a rigid stance.’
    ‘Obviously, they didn’t see it that way. The shame of their unmarried daughter having a baby outweighed everything else.’
    ‘I can’t understand why people feel like that,’ Bella admitted. ‘Oh, I know my parents were more interested in their careers than in me, but I’d like to think they would have supported me if I’d found myself in that position.’
    ‘There wasn’t much chance of that happening, though, was there?’ Mac observed drily.
    Bella’s brows rose. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Nothing. Forget it. Right, I’d better get back. Thanks again for the loan of your car.’
    He started to go back inside but Bella knew that she couldn’t let him leave without explaining that cryptic comment. She caught hold of his arm, feeling a flutter of awareness run through her as she felt the warmth of his skin seep through her fingertips. It was all she could do not to release him immediately, but she needed to know what he had meant.
    ‘I want to know what you meant,’ she said firmly, determined that she was going to put a lid on all these crazy feelings. All she was doing was touching his arm, for heaven’s sake, not making mad, passionate love with him! The thought wasn’t the best she could have come up with, but she stood her ground. For some reason it seemed vitally important that she found out what he was talking about. ‘Well?’
    ‘Tim told me that you’d refused to have a baby.’ His eyes met hers and she felt chilled to the core when she saw the condemnation they held. ‘It was obvious how upset he was and I don’t blame him. Having a child could have been exactly what he needed to keep him on track.’
    ‘Is that what Tim told you? Or is that your expert opinion?’ Bella laughed harshly, more hurt than she could say. Once again Mac was blaming her for what had happened and it was even more hurtful after last night. She’d thought that he was starting to accept that she wasn’t solely at fault for the demise of her marriage but she’d been wrong. All of a sudden the need to set him straight overcame everything else.
    ‘Don’t bother answering that—it really doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is why I refused to have a baby. I don’t suppose Tim explained that, did he?’ She didn’t give him a chance to answer. ‘I refused because there was no way that I was bringing a child into the world who wasn’t really wanted. Oh, maybe Tim claimed that he wanted a baby but he only wanted one
after
I told him I was leaving him. He’d always refused to start a family before that, told me that he had no intention of having children when they would only tie him down. However, once I asked him for a divorce, he changed his mind.’
    She stared back at him, wondering if he would believe her. Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t, but she intended to tell him the truth. What he made of it was up to him. ‘I refused point-blank and I don’t give a damn if you think I was wrong to do so. There was no way that I was prepared to have a baby just to try and save our marriage. That was well and truly over, believe me!’
    She swung round, ignoring Mac’s demands for her to stop. Walking over to her car, she got in and drove out of the car park without a backward glance. She wasn’t sure how she felt, if she was honest, whether she was more angry than hurt by his continued refusal to believe that she wasn’t solely to blame. However, what she did know was that she wouldn’t