Reunited with Her Hot-Shot Surgeon
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Amy Ruttan
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Only one surgeon can save her patient — The one she left behind. Pearl Henderson and Calum Munro were best friends, too focused on becoming orthopedic surgeons for a relationship — until one night led to an unexpected pregnancy. But when they tragically lost their unborn baby, Pearl ran, the guilt too hard to bear. Returning to San Francisco for a high-profile case proves time's a powerful healer. But it's also intensified her attraction to the man she had never wanted to leave…
PROLOGUE
“YOU DON’T HAVE to do this.”
“I have to. It was the plan.” Pearl continued to pack her bags, fighting back the tears stinging her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry in front of him.
“Why?” Calum asked, confused.
“We agreed to get married because of the baby. The baby is gone, so I’m going to continue with my plans. I’m going to take the job I was offered after residency.” She hoped her voice didn’t shake as she packed.
Calum had always said that they’d get married for the baby. After they finished their residency, around the time Pearl had gotten pregnant, he’d been offered a job here in San Francisco. Pearl hadn’t, but there was a job in New York City. She’d originally turned it down because she was pregnant, but now that was a moot point.
She had always had reservations about getting married. He knew her parents, had met her mother, so he got why she didn’t want to get married. Or at least understood why there was no point now the baby was gone.
When she’d fallen pregnant Pearl had been scared. Marriage had seemed like a safety net. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
She loved Calum, but when they’d started this relationship over a year ago they had both made it clear from the start that their careers came first.
“Pearl, we can still stay together.”
She stopped packing and stared at him. She wanted to believe Calum, but she knew how he felt about marriage, too. And it was hard to look at him, because she still loved him, so she looked away, because if she looked at him he might convince her to stay, and just prolong eventual heartbreak.
“So I stay and we do what? We still get married?” she asked.
He hesitated. “Eventually...”
Pearl sighed. “It’s best I go. That job I was offered in New York City is still waiting for me.”
“So that’s it? You’re taking that high-profile job? The one your father suggested you take?” There was derision in his voice.
She didn’t give a lick about the fact it was high-profile or paid well. She needed to get away. The pain was too much. Everywhere reminded her of the baby, how she was almost happy. How she almost had her happily-ever-after and the family she wanted. The family she always longed for growing up with toxic parents. Parents she could never please. The only good times in her life had been with her late grandmother and Calum.
But she and Calum had both wanted very different career paths when they first met. She wasn’t going to hold him back any longer.
“You don’t have to run off and leave just because we don’t have to get married,” Calum said.
“Why? We both had plans for our career. You don’t have to marry me now. I know that you were doing it because of some sense of duty, but there’s no point now—the baby is gone. You’re off the hook. Me leaving or you leaving for work was going to be the eventual and natural end to this relationship.” She continued to pack and tried not to cry. She didn’t want the tears that were burning her eyes to fall.
She wanted to keep those tears to herself. She’d learned to keep them to herself. They were hers and she wouldn’t burden Calum with them.
She wanted a family. She wanted happiness, but that was a dream she’d learned to give up long ago.
“You really think that I wanted to marry you because of some outdated sense of duty?” he asked hotly.
“Didn’t you?”
“Yes. At first, I suppose, but...” He trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck, not saying anything else.
“Why else would we eventually get married then? You told me you didn’t want a family when we both got together. We agreed on that. So why else?”
His expression hardened. “Things changed this past year, Pearl.”
“What changed? Nothing changed for me except the baby and that’s gone. It’s back to the way it was.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.” Only she was lying. She was giving him an out.
She was giving herself an out. She was too afraid to continue. She knew what happened when surgeons married, when one was forced to change career trajectory for another.
She knew from painful experience what happened. Calum would eventually resent her for holding him back.
And she’d resent him.
Are you sure?
“I’ve accepted the job, Calum. I’ve got to go.” She zipped up her luggage.
“Fine. Then go. It’s clear where your priorities lie.”
He left, slamming the door, making her cringe.
This was for the best.
Although, she wasn’t so sure.
