Dr. White's Baby Wish by Sue MacKay

than thankful. Harper can be very stubborn at times and I know she’d never have come home with me tonight.’
    â€˜I must be stark, raving mad,’ Cody muttered as the front door closed behind her. Outmanoeuvred was what he really was. It didn’t sit comfortably. Not at all.

CHAPTER THREE
    N OW WHAT WAS he supposed to do? Nearly five in the afternoon, a beautiful woman hopefully sound asleep in the room next door—which was not how he usually spent time with women in their homes—and he had absolutely nothing to do. He was not going to check up on Harper. What if she was awake? Or, worse, woke while he was in her room? She’d be calling him a pervert at the very least.
    Staring around, he took in the multitude of framed photos hanging on the walls and standing on bookcases and the sideboard. They were mostly of kids, boys and girls—very young, middling and nearly teenaged, he guessed. Laughing, smiling, pulling faces, dressed in school uniforms, in shorts and shirts, ski outfits, swimming gear and playing cricket. Basically all about having fun. With Harper right amongst them—laughing and smiling. Cute, and nothing like the serious woman who kept everyone in the department on their toes as she worked alongside them.
    The kids’ room was where he was supposed to sleep tonight. So, Harper had children. Where were they? And where was their dad? He obviously wasn’t Jason. Why hadn’t Harper wanted her brother to know what had happened at work today? And where did George fit in? Questions tumbled over and over in his brain, cranking up his agitation. It irked him he didn’t know these things about Harper.
    It really riled him that he wanted to find out.
    Cody’s chuckle was bitter. He’d loved Sadie deeply, and her death had made him wary of being so vulnerable again. Even nearly five years down the track he couldn’t look back at those dark days without curling in on himself. Sure, he’d love a family, had bought a house suited for one, but to step up and take a chance? He was so not ready. The day might come when he was, but today wasn’t it. He sighed. Nor was tomorrow.
    Cody pushed the past aside and took another scan of the photos. No man seemed to be especially close with Harper, as in ‘in a relationship’ close. There were two men hugging her and some kids in many of the photos. Presumably one was Jason. The other could be another brother. Both guys were holding women with love written all over their faces, Gemma being one of them. So was Harper single or not? In any relationship? Divorced? There were those kids who apparently used the spare room, so there had to be a father out there, which meant a man in Harper’s life in one way or another.
    Harper’s bedroom hadn’t looked as though she shared it with anyone. It was too feminine, and not one item of clothing was male, there was no comb or shaver on the dresser, or the bits and pieces he’d expect on the bedside table on the opposite side of the bed to the one Harper had crawled into.
    The mystery was no clearer in the second, tiny bedroom where two single beds with bright quilts, one with fire engines and the other with frogs printed all over them, took up most of the space. More photos were interspersed with pictures of everything from lions to TV cartoon characters. Hell, he’d be having nightmares sleeping in here.
    He was meant to be sleeping in here.
    He might check out that couch. Except it was only a two-seater and he was six-five tall. Even these beds weren’t going to be long enough but he’d be able to manoeuvre himself into a more comfortable position in one than on the couch.
    On his hip his phone vibrated, giving him a much-needed diversion, though he didn’t recognise the number on the screen. ‘Yup?’
    â€˜Now I know you’re definitely back in town.’
    He recognised the voice of his old mate instantly, despite not having