Chapter One
“Congratulations, Mr. Morgan. You’re going to be a father.”
Hunter Morgan clutched the phone in one hand, the steaming cup of coffee in the other paused halfway to his mouth. “Who is this?”
“The Spangler-Moore Fertility Clinic. The in vitro was a success.”
“Ma’am, this is Hunter Morgan. Who are you calling?”
“Did you say Hunter Morgan? The sperm donor for the in vitro?”
“No. My sperm was for an insemination on Lauren Ann Morgan, my sister-in-law,” he said. “This is her residence.”
“Insemination? Hold on. Let me check something. The pregnancy test is that of Laura Ashley Morgen. M-o-r-g-e-n.”
Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. “My sister-in-law is Lauren Ann Morgan. M-o-r-g-a-n. She saw her doctor this morning and is not pregnant.”
“Oh, I see what happened. The test results were inadvertently attached to your sister-in-law’s file, probably because of the name similarity. I apologize for having bothered you.”
When the dial tone buzzed in his ear, Hunter hung up. Yet the eerie feeling that had settled heavy in his gut remained.
“Who was that?” Jared asked from the doorway.
“Wrong number.” Hunter joined his brother and sister-in-law in the kitchen, hoping that’s all it had been—a wrong number.
Thank God he’d been in the living room near the phone. After the hell Jared and Lauren had gone through trying to conceive a child and then learning the insemination had failed, a mistake like that call could be emotionally devastating.
The phone call. Something about it made Hunter as uneasy as he’d been his first time before a judge, in his pre-attorney days. He tried to convince himself it was only a mix-up, nothing more than a clerical error. Despite his attempts to dismiss the conversation, parts of it kept coming back to him. The in vitro was a success. Hunter Morgan…the sperm donor for the in vitro?
Lauren hadn’t had an in vitro, but the other woman, Ms. Morgen with an “e,” had. And Hunter, the sperm donor, was the only common thread between the two.
Hunter knew from his own scrutiny of the clinic that an error was unlikely. Still, trouble had always had a way of finding him, even when he hadn’t deliberately gone looking for it. And he knew how conceiving a child could change the course of a man’s life. He couldn’t afford to be involved in another scandal. Not now. Not when he’d worked so hard to gain respect and finally had a shot at becoming the next district attorney, a surefire way of proving he’d changed and was no longer a hell-raiser. He had to investigate.
Hunter poured the remaining coffee down the drain and left his cup in the sink. “I need to pass on lunch.”
Lauren pulled lettuce and tomato from the refrigerator. “Do you want a sandwich to take with you?”
“No, thanks,” Hunter said, noticing Lauren’s slumped shoulders—the only outward sign of her anguish over once again failing to conceive. “I’m sorry. If you decide to try again—”
“We appreciate everything you’ve done. This whole ordeal has been very difficult.” Lauren turned away, but not before he saw the tears pooling in her eyes. “I don’t think we’ll try again for a while. I need some time away from the stress.”
“I understand.”
Jared pulled his wife to his side. “Hunter, you’ve been a good sport about this. It’s not your fault it didn’t work out.”
Then why did he feel responsible? Hunter thought. “I’d better be going.” He headed for the front door, wanting to get outside to draw a breath of fresh air, to get away from the pain etched in their faces. And the guilt threatening to choke him.
Hunter hurried to his pickup and backed down the long drive. He had to know if a stranger had been impregnated with his sperm. Ten minutes later he hurried inside the antiseptic-smelling fertility clinic where the receptionist flashed him a smile.
“I’m Hunter Morgan. Someone called me this morning about Laura Ashley Morgen. Do you know who it was?”
“No, sir, but I’ll see if I can find out.” She picked up the phone and punched in a number.
A moment later, a nurse he recognized hurried toward him. “Mr. Morgan, without a consent, I can’t discuss—”
“I received a call this morning indicating my sperm was used to impregnate a Laura Ashley Morgen. Is that true?”
The nurse’s brows puckered behind her wire-frame glasses. “Wasn’t your sperm designated solely for your sister-in-law?”
“Yes, but what about the call this morning? I want to see documentation ensuring my sperm didn’t go to this other woman.”
“We use a double-check system. A mix-up is virtually impossible.” Opening a folder on the reception desk, the nurse scanned its contents. Her eyes grew wide, then wider still.
Hunter moved closer, his fears confirmed. He muttered a curse and ripped out the page containing his name from the file. Anger shot through him, swift and hot, followed immediately by a rush of painful memories he refused to think about now. He crushed the paper in his fist.
The nurse grabbed for the sheet. “Give me that.”
“Not a chance.”
“I know you’re upset about this. So am I. We’ve worked hard to develop a foolproof system. Something like this shouldn’t happen. I intend to do a thorough investigation. When I find the person responsible, they’ll be fired. I’m sorry about this, but you can’t take that page. It’s confidential. Surely you understand—”
“Lady,” he said, struggling to maintain what little control he had left, “right now this record is the least of your worries. I want to know how this happened and what you plan to do to prevent a recurrence. Give me answers or I’ll shut you down.”
“What about the good we do for so many couples?”
He met her gaze. “It’ll be up to a judge to decide whether this is an isolated case of negligence or common practice and if the potential for harm outweighs the good.” Hunter turned on his heel and stormed from the building, not slowing until he reached his truck. He yanked the door open and dropped onto the leather seat, remembering another day fifteen years ago when he’d learned he was going to be a father. The painful memories of what had followed ripped through him. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel. The sound of paper crumpling drew his attention to the sheet still clutched in his hand. It felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked from the cab of his truck. He inhaled three deep breaths until the ache in his chest began to subside.
A baby. Speculating over how it had happened wouldn’t change the fact that Hunter was going to be a father. Last time he’d been too young and had no say in his child’s future or his own. This time, things would be different. He knew nothing about the woman who carried his child except her name, but by sunset he would know everything.
