Sweet Talk Boxed Set (Ten NEW Contemporary Romances by Bestselling Authors to Benefit Diabetes Research plus BONUS Novel) (72 page)

“Do you have to live halfway across the world?” Walter had asked.

“It’s my job, Walter,” she’d said to him. He’d never really liked her working with Doctors Without Borders as a paediatric nurse, but he’d always supported her despite his misgivings.

“You can get a job anywhere.”

“But it’s my passion, my life,” she’d reminded him. It was the same conversation they always had whenever she returned stateside for a visit.

“Your sister is all alone now, Charlie. She needs you.”

Charlie disagreed. “She’s not alone, Walter. She has you.” She brushed his cheek with her lips. “Promise me you’ll take care of her, okay?”

She shook her head to clear the image of the look in Walter’s eyes before she’d walked away. It was almost as if he needed her to stay, not just for Diane but for himself as well. It bothered her—had continued to bother her while she flew from Seattle to London and then caught a direct flight to the coast of Africa—but there was nothing she could do about it now.

Marcus reached for her hand. “She’ll be okay.”

She nodded. “I know. She’s not alone, and knowing Diane, she’ll push through her grief the only way she knows how—by being busy. I found pamphlets on her desk for charities for teenage mothers and women’s shelters. She’ll bury herself until she realizes she can breathe again on her own.”

“Reminds me of someone else I know.” Marcus winked, and Charlie knew there was no use denying it. Like Diane, she buried herself in her work in order not to feel. It wasn’t until Marcus came into her life that she realized all she’d been missing by trying to protect herself.

Being away from him for a month had been hard, but the few nights in the city after he’d picked her up from the airport had been…almost like heaven.

Charlie turned from staring out at the village ahead to the man beside her; the memory of those nights sent tingles over her skin. He was nothing she ever thought she could have, but everything she’d ever needed. From the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes to the dimples in his cheeks, she could stare at him all day long and never get tired of looking at him.

Marcus had to be the sexiest doctor she’d ever laid eyes on, and he was hers, all hers, for as long as life played fair.

As they drove into the village Charlie looked over all the huts, all the buildings, and the field beyond to make sure nothing had changed. She and Marcus, along with a group of volunteers from Canada, had built this clinic last year, and she was pleased to call it home. Their own hut was located at the back of the clinic, just off to the side and along a small path, and while Charlie would miss the comfy mattress at Diane’s house, she couldn’t wait to unpack her belongings and get settled in.

“Charlie, Marcus, come quick.” Annie Stevens, a friend and co-worker, rushed out the front door to the clinic and reached for Charlie’s hand, pulling her into the building. “It’s Amara. We need your help.”

Momentarily stunned, Charlie stopped in her tracks. Amara was one of the pregnant mothers in the village whom Charlie had been monitoring before she left. But the woman was only seven months pregnant and was healthy.

“She collapsed this morning while at the watering hole and is unconscious.” Annie stood to the side as they entered a small examining room, and Charlie took Amara’s hand in hers and counted her heart rate.

Together, she and Marcus examined Amara and her unborn baby, but it wasn’t until minutes later that Charlie noticed someone sitting in a ball in the corner.

“Naoki.” Charlie dropped to her knees in front of the small boy, Amara’s son, and reached out. He quickly scrambled into her arms, almost knocking her over, and wrapped his arms around her. His face was wet with tears and it broke her heart.

“Naoki”—his name meant “tree of truth,” as he was born beneath the great tree of this village—“how long have you been there?”

“He won’t leave,” Annie said quietly behind her.

Charlie pulled back to look Naoki in the eyes. “Are your brothers and sisters alone?” Naoki’s father had died from a snakebite while out hunting. When the little boy nodded, Charlie stood up with him in her arms. He was so skinny. “Let’s go find them, okay? Dr. Marcus will take care of your mom.”

She didn’t like the look in Marcus’s eyes as he listened to Amara’s heartbeat.

As she walked out of the clinic and down the street, she kept up a constant monologue, Naoki’s face buried in her neck. She was quickly surrounded by other children from the village, and her heart leaped to see their beautiful faces and their joyous grins, to hear their excited chatter welcoming her home.

Naoki dropped down from her arms but kept a tight grip on her hand as they walked together toward his little home. It was a mud hut with grass for a roof, very much like the others in the village. She could see questions in the gazes of the other women who stood at the open doors, children in their arms, and all Charlie could do was give them a smile. She wanted to stop and talk to each woman, see their little ones, hold them in her arms, but the sight of the children, of the babies in their slings, brought back the harsh reality that she would never get to hold her own niece, who had died before she was even born.

If seeing a little one hurt her so much, she could only imagine the pain her sister must be going through right now. Charlie couldn’t even imagine the heartache of losing a baby. In fact, up until recently she’d made the decision never to find out. After living with the heavy burden of her mother killing not only herself but her little infant brother due to postpartum psychosis, Charlie had sworn off ever having her own children—until Marcus.

She’d watched for signs that Diane might be suffering from the disease, but there had been none. In fact, her sister seemed to handle the loss of her husband and unborn child almost too well. Charlie knew it would hit her later, the realization of all she’d lost, but there’d been no sign of a breakdown, which gave her hope.

Ahead was Amara’s small home, constructed out of mud and sticks, and her other children all waited outside the door, the youngest on the ground playing in the dirt. Naoki released her hand and ran ahead, calling out for his sisters and brothers in French, the general language many in the village spoke.

A woman stood in the doorway of the hut, and Charlie recognized her as Amara’s twin sister, Nadia. She had a sling wrapped around her body with her own little one ensconced inside. Nadia must have had her baby shortly after Charlie had left. Without speaking, Nadia opened up her sling for Charlie to see a fussy baby inside, and with that one glance tears filled Charlie’s eyes.

Such a beautiful little girl. “
Belle
,” Charlie breathed before placing a kiss on the infant’s bare head. This was why she became a paediatric nurse—for the babies, to ensure their survival in the rough landscapes, to see them grow healthy and strong. Every child she helped deliver or take care of only solidified that she’d chosen the right path for her life.

“Belle.”
Nadia smiled.
“Oui. Belle.”
With a little bit of adjusting, Nadia released her baby from the sling and placed her in Charlie’s arms. Up until then Belle had been fussing, almost to the point of crying, but the moment Charlie held her in her arms, she settled down.

“Her name. Belle.” Nadia smiled, radiant with love, and it took all of Charlie’s strength to push the image of Diane from her mind. She didn’t want to think about the fact that she should be holding her niece—no, she couldn’t go there. She wouldn’t let herself.

She was a paediatric nurse in a village full of small children. She needed to get hold of herself.

“It means ‘beautiful.’” Charlie couldn’t tear her gaze off the little one in her arms “And she is. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to see her take breath.” She finally looked away and gave Nadia a one-armed hug.

“Her breath was not loud, but she has since made up for it.”

The women here determined a child’s strength and name from the first breath he or she took. The louder the better.

“She is healthy?”

Nadia’s shoulders relaxed. “Yes.”

“May I check?” She could tell from the laughter in Nadia’s eyes that she already knew Charlie would need to make sure for herself.

With soft touches and a skilled eye, Charlie looked Belle over, and the infant did indeed look healthy.

It wasn’t until she’d asked after the child’s bowel movements and feeding patterns, the usual nurse-type questions, that Charlie was satisfied. She would keep an eye on her, though, as well as Nadia. Their Jeep was loaded with extra food, and she’d make sure some of that ended up in Nadia’s hut.

“How is our mama?” One of the children from outside quietly stepped inside and tugged on Charlie’s shirt hem. After she’d been back in the States for so long, it took a moment for her brain to switch to French, a language she was still struggling to learn.

“Dr. Marcus is taking care of her now.”

At her words, she noticed the way everyone around her relaxed a little, even Nadia. The common consensus was that Marcus had the magical touch, and while they would accept his medical treatments, they all believed the meditation he did each morning helped with his healing processes.

Sometimes Charlie believed it too. Marcus had an innate knowledge of how to heal someone, something that went beyond his medical training. He claimed it was from the heart, that his patients knew he truly cared.

“Nadia, can you tell me more of what happened to Amara?”

“Just what Naoki knows. I told her not to get the water today, but Belle was crying and she left before I could stop her.” Nadia gazed down at her daughter.

“Amara is stubborn,” Charlie muttered. She wanted to get back to the clinic, and began to hand off Belle, but Nadia shook her head. “She is sleeping. You have the touch.”

“Walk with me, then, back to the clinic?” She held Belle tight in her arms. This time Charlie did stop to talk to the other women, to gush over their children, and any heaviness she’d felt earlier lifted.

Getting attached to any location was dangerous in her line of work. She’d traveled the world over already, being stationed in South America, various parts of Africa, and even Eastern Europe. But here in the Congo had been the longest mission for her team. She wasn’t sure she could say goodbye again so soon ... not now.

They met Marcus outside the clinic. A group of men were there with him, helping him unload the supplies he’d picked up from the Jeep.

“There you are. I see you’ve met the newest baby of our family too.” Marcus set the box he’d been carrying down and wrapped an arm around Charlie’s waist as he peered at the sleeping baby.

Charlie caught the way Nadia and a few of the other women who walked with them blushed. Marcus had that effect, and he didn’t even know it.

“She’s a sweetheart.” Charlie cooed over the little one in her arms.

She loved children, but babies in particular. When she was a teenager she used to volunteer at the local hospital, and eventually found herself drawn to the children’s ward. The moment she held a newborn baby in her arms for the first time, she knew what she wanted to do with her life.

She couldn’t save her little brother, but she could save others.

“You didn’t tell me about her,” Charlie chided Marcus before smiling up at him when Belle latched onto his finger in her sleep.

“I wanted you to be surprised. I knew you’d fall in love with her the moment you saw her.” He leaned his cheek against Charlie’s forehead. “I said that, didn’t I, Nadia?”

Nadia beamed a smile at him and then glanced toward the clinic.

“Amara is resting.” Marcus said. “She opened her eyes and has a bit of a headache. I’d like to keep her here overnight, if that’s okay?”

“Of course. Of course. But she is fine?” Nadia asked. She reached for Naoki and drew him close to her.

“She will be. And the baby is fine too. I have a feeling she’s not eating enough, though.” At the look on his face, Nadia bowed her head.

“I need you to do something for me, Naoki.” Marcus squatted down and looked the boy in the eye. “We need your mom to be healthy, and that means she has to eat her share of the food too. Can you do that for me?” His face was serious as he waited for the boy to agree.

Charlie shook her head. A mother would do anything to protect her child, even give up her portion of food, and it was a struggle they continually faced in this village. One of their jobs was to provide nutritional support...but if a pregnant woman collapsed because she wasn’t getting enough nutrients, they weren’t doing their job.

“Ms. Charlie, your touch is a miracle,” Nadia said softly.

“Because she’s still sleeping, you mean?” She gazed down at the little one, at her button nose and chubby cheeks. “Does she cry a lot?” Reasons why she might ran though Charlie’s mind, colic being the primary one.

Nadia nodded. “So much. Will you help?”

Would she help? Of course she would. She would do anything for these women, for these children.

“It’s a good look for you,” Marcus stood up and whispered in her ear. “Maybe one day you’ll have our children in your arms, just like this.” He gave her a quick kiss on her cheek and resumed emptying the Jeep.

Charlie’s heart leaped at his words. Children really weren’t a subject they discussed often—every time Marcus would bring it up, Charlie would find a way to distract him. He didn’t know about her past, about her mother, other than that she died young. But now...her heart softened at the thought that maybe now she could actually have children.

Her biggest fear for her sister had been that she wouldn’t be able to handle the deaths of both her husband and her child—but she had. She hadn’t fallen into the dark well of depression like Charlie had feared...which meant there was hope.

Not much was known about what caused postpartum psychosis, but Charlie had always feared it was hereditary. Now her fears had been proven wrong, and she’d come back home to Marcus with new hope in her heart.

As she watched the man she loved unload the vehicle, she started to believe that she could have her fairy-tale ending and live a life full of love.