Free His Baby Dream (Safe Harbor Medical) by Jacqueline Diamond Page A

for you.”
    “Sure it is,” Patty responded, blithely indifferent to a few leaves clinging to her short blond hair. “If a tiny piece of vegetable falls into the mix or somebody eats a banana and breathes on it, it’s health food.”
    Harper certainly had interesting friends, Peter thought as they watched Mia blow out her seven candles. The children crowded around eagerly for their perfectly square slices, although a few chose apple pie instead. Peter decided to skip dessert. Patty took a slice of each—to make up for him, she declared.
    “I take it you aren’t in the health care field,” he said.
    “That’s my husband’s department,” she returned cheerily.
    “He’s a doctor?”
    “Embryologist. Alec Denny.”
    “I’ve heard of him.” The name Alec Denny, Ph.D., appeared on the roster of fertility program specialists. This woman’s husband might even be the one who would inject Peter’s sperm into the eggs. Safe Harbor was a small world.
    And I’m likely to get caught if I’m not careful.
    Finally the gifts had been opened, the punch bowl emptied and Peter’s instruction sheets distributed. Parents arrived to claim their kids, while Harper’s friends removed trash, stowed food and cleaned the kitchen. The only remaining traces of the party were a few surviving clusters of balloons and the vinelike streamers draping the patio.
    Two little girls—Kimmie, who’d let Peter in at the door, and her stepsister, Berry—remained to play with Mia and her kitten. Their parents had phoned to say they’d bought new patio furniture on their shopping trip, and they’d be along as soon as they finalized arrangements.
    “Actually, I’m glad,” Harper told Peter as she set up her laptop on the kitchen table. “Having the girls here will keep Mia occupied. Otherwise she’d be bouncing off the ceiling.”
    “After all that exercise?” He stretched, feeling the effects of the afternoon’s intense activity. “At camp, the kids do wear out eventually.”
    “That must be a relief.” Harper activated her photo editing program. “But at this age, I’m sure they get a second wind. Unlike high school students.”
    “What makes you say that?” Peter rested his elbows on the table.
    “If I remember correctly, teenagers mostly want to sleep all day,” she responded.
    “A certain percentage of kids are kinetic—they learn best in motion.” It required all Peter’s patience and creativity to manage those students. “I fantasize about conducting classes on the athletic field. I’d be tempted to haul trampolines into the classroom if it wasn’t for the liability.”
    “Spoken like a coach.”
    “True.” He grinned at her accuracy.
    “You enjoy athletics, don’t you?”
    “As a sideline.” Sports camp presented a welcome change, for a few months. “I find teaching science more satisfying, though.”
    From the hallway came a burst of giggles. “Sounds like they’re having fun. Kimmie and Berry are sweet kids.”
    “And your daughter’s a charmer,” Peter said.
    It struck him that now would be a perfect time to mention that he was the dad who’d chosen her. He could allay her disappointment and invite her to...what? Become best buddies with his surrogate, Vanessa? And how would that change her relationship with him?
    It went against Peter’s nature to blurt such an important revelation without considering the consequences. He had to weigh the possibility that he might regret doing so.
    Might regret it for the rest of his life, if she became too emotionally involved.
    His attention shifted to the screen displaying row after row of pictures. Harper clicked on a stunning image of dewdrops shimmering like silver beads on a spiderweb. Close up, the wheel-spoke design of supporting threads and laddered rows achieved an astonishing symmetry.
    “That’s a remarkable shot,” Peter said.
    “I went out several mornings in a row before I spotted it.” Harper switched to another photo, in different