Wish 01 - A Secret Wish by Barbara Freethy

make love in the middle of the kitchen. Kids aren’t everything.
    No, there was really no one she could talk to – so she drove aimlessly for another ten minutes, circling the Embarcadero, a street that ran around the outside of the city with the bay on one side and the skyscrapers on the other. There were seafood restaurants and tourists still lingering by Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. The city was alive and happy. She tried to take it in, soak it up, and feel better.
    She had to think in practical terms, to stop whining about what she didn’t have and what Colin wouldn’t give her. She had to explore the alternatives. She could try the in-vitro on her own, using donor sperm. But would Colin support that? And if he didn’t, was having a baby worth losing her marriage?
    She could investigate surrogacy; have another woman carry her eggs and Colin’s sperm and hope for a better outcome. She wouldn’t have the experience of being pregnant, but she would have a baby at the end of it. It would be expensive, but she’d give up her business to make it work, if she had to. There had to be a way to get what she wanted.
    Patrick had reminded her that when she wanted something, she usually made it happen. She’d been mentally defeated for too long. It was no wonder Colin didn’t want to go through it all again. Her depression had been hard on him, too. She needed to convince him she could handle whatever came their way, as long as they didn’t give up. She just needed a plan.
    Spotting a small convenience store, she decided to stop for coffee and think for a few minutes before she headed back to the apartment. She would need all of her persuasive skills to convince Colin that a child was still in their future.
    She pulled up along the curb, grabbed her bag, and got out of the car. A moment later she heard footsteps behind her. She suddenly realized how empty and dark this part of the street was. Except for the store on the corner, all of the other shops were closed and some had bars over the windows. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t even considered her surroundings. That was stupid. She’d lived in the city long enough to know better.
    She quickened her pace, but the footsteps were bearing down on her. She could hear the sound of someone breathing heavily.
    Then a hand grabbed her arm.
    Maybe there were worse things than not having a baby.

Chapter Four
     
    As her assailant tried to yank the bag from her shoulder, something inside Angela snapped. She’d been feeling like a victim for too long. She couldn’t let one more thing be taken from her, so she fought back. The figure in the dark hooded sweatshirt and baggy jeans was not that big, she realized, but they were determined. So was she.
    She grabbed her bag and shoved her attacker backward. The hood slipped off her assailant’s head, and she stared in shock as a long, tangled ponytail fell out.
    Her mugger wasn’t a man, but a girl – a young teenage girl with big brown eyes and dirty blond hair.
    As the girl turned to bolt, Angela grabbed her arm. “Hold on.”
    “Let me go. I’m sorry,” the girl blurted out, her eyes round and scared. “I’m just hungry.”
    “So you decided to rob me? How old are you?”
    “Eighteen.”
    There was no way this child was eighteen. “Try again,” she ordered.
    “Why do you care?”
    “Because you just attacked me.”
    “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. Please don’t call the police. I’m really sorry, and I swear I won’t do it again,” she said, struggling to break free.
    “I’m not going to let you just walk away. Where do you live?”
    “Nowhere near here.”
    Angela didn’t believe her for a second. “I need a better answer, or I will call the police.” She paused. “You’re just a child. What were you thinking?”
    “It wasn’t for me,” the girl said. “My sister is sick and I need to buy her some cough medicine.”
    “Where is your sister?” Angela asked, glancing