BEVERLEY \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n AUTHOR LINKS \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n EXCERPT\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Myles Redmond was annoyed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Scratch that. He was more than annoyed. He Dear God<\/span><\/i>, It would be fair to say their three-year Myles clenched his jaw as he regarded \u201cWould you stop looking at me like that?\u201d She\u2019d worn a light blue dress for the \u201cAnd what exactly is that?\u201d he asked, his Exasperated, she rolled her eyes and \u201cShe<\/i>,\u201d he stressed through gritted Holly huffed out a sound of deep \u201cShe\u2019s ours.\u201d He was the only father Haylee \u201cI\u2019m sure her biological parents will have Recognizing the pointlessness of arguing \u201cMyles, they have as much a right to know Well, it\u2019s not going to work this time.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The office door behind them opened, and Dr. Small in stature at barely over five feet \u201cGood afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Redmond. The doctor\u2019s greeting was warm and Myles made a move to stand, but she stayed Quelling his instincts, he subsided back \u201cSorry to keep you waiting.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n She was nervous but doing her best not to \u201cWe were early,\u201d Myles said. Fifteen For a beat, her brown eyes bounced between \u201cShe isn\u2019t ours, is she?\u201d Holly asked, Myles turned and narrowed his eyes at his As far as he was concerned, Holly had What kind of parent needed \u201cspace\u201d three His wife, that was who.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Look, he got it. They had hired a At the end of the day, though, he had to How did he know?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Because he already had one failed marriage Dr. Franklin tentatively cleared her throat \u201cComplicated? What does that mean? Either Myles\u2019s jaw locked. According to his Never mind that he was a quarter Sicilian \u201cWould you mind elaborating?\u201d he said, his Dr. Franklin inhaled and treated them to For the first time since they walked into The doctor met Holly\u2019s puzzled stare. \u201cI\u2019m Holly\u2019s gasp cracked the air like a Myles was too stunned to speak, his heart \u201cNo, no. That can\u2019t be right.\u201d Holly turned If he could speak, he didn\u2019t know what he The doctor\u2019s composure\u2014which had remained Swallowing visibly, she continued. \u201cWe had Accompanying his wife\u2019s cry of dismay came Dr. Franklin regarded them, self-reproach Coming into the meeting, Myles had prepared The one Excerpted from ONE IN A MILLION by Beverley Kendall. Copyright \u00a9
\nKENDALL has published over ten contemporary and historical romance novels. She
\nalso manages the romance review blog, Smitten by Books (smittenbybooks.com).
\nBev writes full-time while raising her son as a single mother. Both dual
\ncitizens of the US and Canada, they currently call Atlanta home.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
TikTok https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@beverley_kendall<\/a>
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Pinterest https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/smittenbybooks\/<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwas pissed and currently doing his best not to glare at the woman sitting in
\nthe chair next to him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nhe\u2019d never resented anyone more in his life, and the fact that he was married
\nto her made the nightmare they were living through one hundred times worse.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nmarriage hovered on the brink of failure, and the outcome of this meeting might
\nbe what sent it plunging to its demise.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nHolly, taking in her unsmiling face and rigid posture. His wife\u2019s beauty turned
\nheads everywhere they went but had failed to turn his since she\u2019d de\u00admanded the
\nDNA test.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nHolly huffed, cutting a pair of ice-blue eyes at him. She sniffed and abruptly
\nlooked away, her chin notched a fraction higher as she presented him with her
\nprofile. \u201cWhether you want to admit it or not, we\u2019re doing the right thing.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\noccasion. As if she hadn\u2019t made her hopes for the outcome of the meeting clear
\nenough. Blue was her lucky <\/i>color. Her long manicured nails kept up a
\nrhythmic tapping on the wooden arm of her chair.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ntone like shards of glass.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nflicked a wavy lock of platinum-blond hair over her shoulder. \u201cGod, I hate when
\nyou\u2019re like this. You know exactly what I\u2019m talking about. I can\u2019t believe you
\ndon\u2019t want to know who she belongs to.\u201d She addressed the empty desk in front
\nof them more than she did him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nteeth, \u201chas a name. Her name is Haylee, and she is our daughter.\u201d His voice was
\nlow and controlled while he seethed inside. It didn\u2019t matter what the DNA
\nresults revealed. Haylee was their child. After all they\u2019d\u2014she\u2019d <\/i>gone
\nthrough to have her, how could she say otherwise? That was the thing he
\ncouldn\u2019t understand. His part had been easy. Hers had not\u2014as she\u2019d frequently
\nreminded him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nfrustration, her narrowed gaze taking a glancing stab at his face. \u201cShe\u2019s not
\nours, Myles, and for the life of me, I don\u2019t understand why you refuse to ac\u00adcept
\nit. It\u2019s as obvious as the nose on my face that she belongs to another couple.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nhad ever known, and no test was going to change that.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nsomething to say about that.\u201d His wife had made up her mind and refused to be
\nswayed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwith her, Myles kept his mouth shut and averted his gaze. These days, it was im\u00adpossible
\nto look at her without feeling a profound sense of be\u00adtrayal\u2026and anger\u2014so much
\nanger. Feelings far removed from how he\u2019d felt the day they\u2019d exchanged their
\nwedding vows.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nas we do. Wouldn\u2019t you want to know if you were in their place?\u201d Holly said,
\nher voice cajoling, indicating a switch of tactics. Good cop, bad cop, meet
\nHolly the Bully and Holly the Sweet-Talker, the same woman employing two
\ntried-and-true methods to get her way.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nKelly Frank\u00adlin walked in, saving him from more of his wife\u2019s attempts to
\nconvince him her motivation was altruism, not selfishness.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nand clad in a white lab coat, Dr. Kelly had brown shoulder-length hair and
\ncarried herself with the confidence of the framed Harvard MD degree hanging on
\nthe wall.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nThank you so much for coming in on such short notice.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nrespectful. More im\u00adportantly, she didn\u2019t sound as if she was about to plunge a
\nknife into his heart. That said, it was clear she hadn\u2019t come bearing tidings
\nof joy either.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe act of male courtesy\u2014ingrained in him by his father\u2014by motioning for him to
\nremain seated.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ninto his chair and watched as she quickly took hers behind the desk.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nshow it. As a for\u00admer defense attorney, Myles had learned to pick up on the sub\u00adtleties
\nof body language. She hadn\u2019t blinked once since she\u2019d greeted them, and the
\ndistinct tapping sound that began shortly after she sat down was her nervously
\ntapping her shoe on the floor. Holly\u2019s hands were on her lap.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nminutes, to be precise. Because this was important. The rest of his life hinged
\non what she was about to tell them. Despite vowing to himself that he\u2019d remain
\ncalm, he felt tenser than ever.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthem. Then she blinked and said, \u201cThe DNA test confirmed that\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ncutting the doctor off midsentence.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwife. Why not put up a billboard? I don\u2019t want her. Give her to someone
\nelse.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nchecked out of moth\u00aderhood and their marriage before she packed her bags and
\ntook off to San Diego to stay with her mother after telling him she needed
\nspace.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nweeks after the birth of her daughter?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nsurrogate, so Holly didn\u2019t get to bond with Haylee the way mothers usually did,
\nbut she\u2019d known that from the outset. They\u2019d both gone into this with their
\neyes wide open\u2026and then some. Furthermore, parents didn\u2019t walk away just
\nbecause their child didn\u2019t turn out the way they wanted or expected. That
\nwasn\u2019t the way parenting worked.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nface some hard truths. He was just as much to blame for what was happen\u00ading.
\nWhile he might be successful in other parts of his life\u2014he was a loving father,
\nson, brother, and uncle and a loyal friend, and had been elected president of
\nthe California Bar Associa\u00adtion two terms in a row\u2014he sucked <\/i>when it
\ncame to romantic relationships. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nunder his belt, and it looked like he was coasting for divorce number two. In
\nsports terms, he\u2019d soon be 0-2.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nbefore continu\u00ading. \u201cUnfortunately, your case is a little more complicated.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nshe\u2019s ours or she\u2019s not.\u201d She turned and looked at him as if expecting him to
\necho her demand for clarity. \u201cAlthough I think it\u2019s obvi\u00adous she can\u2019t be.\u201d The
\nlatter she muttered as an aside meant to be heard\u2014just in case the good doctor
\ndidn\u2019t know where she <\/i>stood on the matter.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwife\u2014who\u2019d gone from being the top-producing female real estate agent in
\nSouthern California to self-ascribed geneticist\u2014Haylee couldn\u2019t be the product
\nof two white, blue-eyed parents. If she has a drop of Nor\u00addic ancestry in
\nher, I\u2019m the Queen of England<\/i>, Holly had said in reference to her parents\u2019
\nSwedish heritage and Haylee\u2019s slightly darker complexion, dark brown curly
\nhair, and brown eyes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\non his mother\u2019s side, and his hair was dark and wavy. In her summation of their
\ndaughter\u2019s parentage, it was clear Holly hadn\u2019t factored his genes into the
\nequation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nbrow furrowed in concentration.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nanother unblinking stare. \u201cIt means that you\u2019re right. There was a problem, but
\nnot what I assumed. The error occurred during the egg selection portion of the
\nfertilization stage, not the implantation stage.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe office, Holly ap\u00adpeared genuinely confused. \u201cAre you saying that\u2014\u201d She
\nbroke off, as if unable or unwilling to give voice to whatever conclu\u00adsion
\nshe\u2019d drawn in her mind. Unusual for her. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nsorry to have to tell you this, but you aren\u2019t your daughter\u2019s biological
\nmother.\u201d Her gaze then shifted to him. \u201cHowever, you are her biologi\u00adcal
\nfather.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthunderclap. The deafen\u00ading silence that followed was just as loud.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\npounding so loud in his ears that, for a few moments, it drowned out all
\npossible thought or comprehension.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nto him, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwould say, given the state of his mind. Completely blown.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nrelatively calm thus far\u2014began to show cracks. Based partly on the dates on her
\ndiploma, he guessed Dr. Franklin was in her early for\u00adties, but the depth of
\nthe lines now bracketing her mouth and fanning out from her eyes spoke of the
\ntoll this must be taking on her and made her look years older.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe test run by two different labs. The results are the same.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe realization that his claim to his daughter was as solid as any father\u2019s
\ncould be. Haylee was his. Relief began to seep into every part of his being.
\nSeconds later, it washed over him in a flood. He could breathe again.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nstamped all over her face. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m so very sorry. I don\u2019t know how this
\nhappened. It\u2019s never happened to us before. But I promise to get to the bottom
\nof it and do whatever it takes to make this right.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nhimself for only two possibilities. Either Haylee was biologically theirs, or
\nshe wasn\u2019t. And in the latter\u2019s case, he\u2019d been fully prepared to fight to keep
\nher even if his marriage would be one of the ca\u00adsualties of any battle he\u2019d
\nhave to wage.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthing he never imagined was discovering he had a baby\u2026with a woman he\u2019d never
\nlaid eyes on.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n2025 by Beverley Kendall. Published by Canary Street Press, an imprint of
\nHTP\/HarperCollins.<\/i><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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