Dr. Sarah Buckley is living her dream. After completing her OB/GYN residency, she is now an attending physician with Atlanta Women’s Health Center. Thanks to her bosses, Drs. Lincoln Montgomery and Cole Ryan, she has finally turned her life around. However, she still harbors a deep dark secret that only those closest to her know. Ten years ago, Sarah met the man of her dreams. He was her first everything, first date, first kiss, first lover. After running away from him, he has haunted her dreams as she has tried to avoid him and her secret.
Harrison Cooper has it all, or so he tells himself. All-star third baseman for his beloved hometown Atlanta Braves, multi-million-dollar contracts and women throwing themselves at his feet, but it was the angel who flew away so many years ago that he can’t let go of. He wears the ring that was to be hers as a reminder of the love he has held onto, but all of the searching in the world has not led him back to her.
The birth of his best friend Rhett’s first child finally leads him back to a chance encounter with the one person he can’t forget or stop loving. As her usual actions, she runs away leaving Harrison with a stinging jaw and at a loss for words. Committed to staying with his team until the end, he gambles his future with the new owners for a chance to talk to Dr. Sarah Buckley.
It’s the bottom of the ninth and the bases are loaded for love. Will they strike out or hit a grand slam, or will the secret Sarah’s been harboring tear them apart forever?
This is the third book in the Doctors of Atlanta Series. Come back to share the laughs, tears and love with the gang as Marcie and Cole tie the knot and maybe Harrison and the Braves will finally be winners again…
PROLOGUE
October 17th, 2013
Sarah loved her life as an attending physician. Everything she had worked for had finally come to fruition. As the attending on call and in charge of the general OB/GYN residents, Sarah took her responsibilities seriously, especially the teaching of the new residents and medical students. Tonight, should have been an easy night, but as with everything related to babies, you could just never tell, and the full moon wasn’t helping.
As Sarah stood at the charge nurse desk, filling out paperwork from her fifth delivery of the night she smiled. Five new lives and five ecstatic families. Her motivation for wanting this job was simple. She loved the look of joy on the new parents faces as they held their bundle of joy for the first time. While she handled most of the deliveries when she was on call, Lincoln and a few of the more senior providers tended to handle the VIP patients and their deliveries, and tonight was no exception. Sarah looked up to see Dr. Lincoln Montgomery stride into the labor and delivery area of the hospital. He looked tired and a little haggard, but she knew it was from the lack of sleep since his wife, Nicole, was overdue and not making life easy on him.
“Good evening, Lincoln. What brings you in tonight?”
“Hey, Sarah. Rhett Akers wife went into labor, and he’s one of my VIPs and well between us, future employees. I needed to come in and do the delivery. They’re so excited about their first baby.”
Sarah smiled outwardly, but groaned inwardly. Rhett was an all-star catcher for the Braves, but most importantly, he was best friends with one Harrison Cooper. The one man she had tried to avoid for ten years, and had been pretty successful up to this point. However, she felt like tonight her luck was going to run out. “Well, boss. Good luck with that.”
“Thanks, you don’t like the Akers?”
“No. I think they’re wonderful. His wife’s awesome. No matter what, she always has a smile on her face and is so complimentary towards the staff. She actually gives the wives and girlfriends a good name. I just wish they were all like that.”
“So, what’s got you twitchy? Before you say anything, I can see through you so I know it’s something.”
“I…hell, Lincoln I’ve been trying to avoid his best friend for ten years, also another future employee of yours, and I’ve been pretty successful. His best friend is Harrison’s father, only he doesn’t know that he’s his father.”
“Well, shit. That sounds…complicated. Just out of curiosity, why doesn’t he know that he is the father?”
“I was told he was already a baby daddy when we were dating, I left him and never spoke to him again. I didn’t find out I was pregnant until after graduation, and I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of leaving a trail of baby mommas all over the place.”
Lincoln studied her carefully before speaking. “This is just friendly advice, but keeping a secret like that can come back to haunt you in the end. However, you’re an adult, and I respect your wishes and right to privacy. Just know that if you need anything we’re all here for you.”
Before Sarah could thank him, she heard Lincoln’s phone ring. As she stood there waiting for him to finish the call, she noticed that his face went white. She didn’t know what the other side of the conversation was, but she was pretty sure it was Nicole telling him that she had gone into labor.
Finally, Lincoln disconnected the call and looked at Sarah. “So, I need a favor. Nicole’s gone into labor. Marcie is bringing everyone here, but I’ll be tied up with delivering Landon. I’m so sorry to put this on you, and if you aren’t comfortable with it, I can call one of the other attendings, but I really need you to handle the deliver for the Akers.”
Sarah took a deep breath and thought about her options. She felt that she had become the consummate professional and there was no need to inconvenience any of her colleagues. Anyway, it wasn’t like Harrison was going to be in the delivery room with them. “No problem, Lincoln. I already know Mrs. Akers and it should be a smooth delivery. I’d be happy to do this for you, so that you can go bring your own bundle of joy into the world. Just remember when you have a girl, she gets named after me.” Sarah said with a laugh.
A little while later, Lincoln took Sarah into see the Akers and explain the situation. They were both very happy to have her do the delivery, but as she was about to leave the room, Rhett gently took her arm and led her over to the side of the room.
“I know you, don’t I? I can’t place it, but I know we have met before and not at the doctor’s office.”
Sarah’s face blanched as she looked into the piercing green eyes of the all-star catcher. She could either lie and try to live with it or tell him the truth and deal with the consequences. After everything she had been through, the one thing that Dr. Cole Ryan had taught her and had stuck with her the most was to love yourself and embrace who you are. Finally, she looked at Rhett and said, “Yes, we knew each other, many years ago when we were at Georgia together.”
Suddenly a look of recognition took over Rhett’s face. “Shit, I mean shoot. Sorry I’m trying to quit the cussing thing with the baby coming and all, but I work around ballplayers all day and they sort of use cuss words as a normal part of their vocabulary. What I meant to say was, you were Harrison’s girlfriend. You’re the one…” Before he could finish his statement, his wife Alexa started screaming as another contraction began to wrack her body.
Sarah went to the bedside and checked the monitors. Everything seemed to be progressing normally. She called the anesthesiologists on call to get the epidural started. Once she was confident that everything was as it should be, she left the room to do her follow-ups on the patients she’d already delivered, but as she walked away, something was niggling at her brain. He had said ‘I was the one who…’ and never got to finish. I was the one who what? Broke his heart, turned him gay. Sarah laughed at that last thought. What did I do? Because he sure as hell broke me and left me with a hole in my heart. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she proceeded to make her rounds and check in with her residents.
After rounds, she went back to check on Mrs. Akers and found that she was progressing nicely already dilated to 10 cm and at a +2 station. She knew it wouldn’t be long, so she had the staff rearrange the bed and get the Akers ready to welcome their daughter into the world. After twenty-five minutes of pushing, crying, and screaming, the Akers welcomed a very healthy girl into the world at 8lbs 7oz and 20 inches long. She smiled as she watched Rhett cut the cord and then placed the baby on Mrs. Akers stomach.
Harrison Cooper had never been so nervous in his entire life, and it wasn’t even his baby. At thirty-one he’d never had to deal with a pregnant female, well not one of his doing. He paced the waiting room looking around at his teammates who were still in town. At least the hospital was nice enough to have a VIP waiting room so they wouldn’t be bombarded with autograph requests and whatnot. Harrison didn’t mind signing autographs and loved the kids at the baseball stadium because he remembered what is was like when he was a kid, but this was not about him or the guys surrounding him. This was solely about Rhett and his baby.
As Harrison paced the room, his mind took an unhealthy journey back in time. He wondered if he would ever find someone who didn’t just want him for his fame and fortune. Sarah was the only one he’d ever been with who cared about him as a person. He’d spent too much time over the last ten years wondering what went wrong with them. For the life of him, he could never figure it out. They’d been so happy, and then one night she slapped him, ran out the door, and never spoke to him again. She was still the last thing he thought about before he went to sleep, and the first thing he thought of when he awoke, but still he wondered what could’ve been. Would they have a child, or hell ten children? Well, not ten children, but would there be a little boy that looked like him, or a little girl that took after her mother. She was the reason he had screwed his way through the minor leagues and every away game they went to, but still none of them could erase her memory. He loved women, but he had a die-hard rule, no brunettes and no doctors.
As he tried to shake off the melancholy mood he was in, he heard it. The voice of an angel or devil depending on the mood he was in. The voice he dreamt of, and had spent ten years looking for. Could his luck be changing? Could karma finally be swinging in his direction? Harrison was unaware that his feet were moving him towards the voice, but in a matter of a few steps, he stood before her. The one he desired, dreamed of and hated. She had matured into her body. She had the curves of a woman, not the girl he had known, but nonetheless she was right there in front of him. All he had to do was reach out and touch her.
Sarah was speaking to her nurse when she felt her body’s temperature spike and a warm feeling suffuse her entire body. She knew what it was and who it was. God, she’d dreaded this day for ten years, and now, it was time to pay the piper for all the things she’d done. That rich deep voice raised goosebumps on her flesh.
Harrison stood in front of her and valiantly restrained his hands from reaching out to touch her to make sure she wasn’t an apparition and that she was really standing right there. Finally finding his voice, he softly said, “Sarah.”
Sarah didn’t know what to do or say as he spoke her name. All her thoughts went back to her son and the fact that he didn’t know he was a father to her child. All the anger surfaced again at what he’d done to her. Unable to stop herself, she raised her hand and slapped him before muttering “Asshole” and running away.
BK Harrell is former Navy physician who has had a long love of writing. He specializes in medical, military and sports romance writing. He began seriously writing while deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 and has never looked back. Whether he is teaching, serving his country, educating people about the fine art of cigars, practicing medicine or spending time with friends and family he uses his diverse background to shape the world around him through words. Currently he writes the Doctors of Atlanta Series, Sapphire Kindle World Novellas and launching in late 2018 Ashton’s Ferry a small-town romance series.
He uses his unique experiences and love of all things Atlanta, University of Georgia and sports to weave intricately detailed stories focused on Atlanta and the surrounding areas. His goal is to bring the same joy and excitement he sees in his own city to the readers and to allow them to experience the city through his eyes.
Dr. Harrell is married to his beautiful wife Erin, a proud graduate of Auburn University, which makes multiple appearances in his books, and their wonderful one son. Dr. Harrell is a native of Augusta, GA and a proud graduate of the University of Georgia, Emory University, and proud to have been a member of the first ever graduating class of Georgia Campus Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He currently resides in the Atlanta area where he practices medicine and raises his family.
