Broken Borders: Regan Brothers, #5

By S. D. Wells

Conor Regan is a thirty-three year old small town doctor. Being the only doctor in town, on call at Grant Hospital and the main care giver for his ailing father has made his life too hectic for romance. After watching four of his brothers find the perfect someone it has made him envious and thinking about his past. He once had a love who followed her dream to join Doctors Without Borders. Heather left taking a piece of his heart with her and making it impossible for him give his heart to another.

Heather Langston is a thirty-three year old nurse practitioner and is looking for a better life. After living years in the jungles of South America she returns to New York only to lose her father in the 911 tragedies. Broken hearted and feeling helpless she must decide where to go next.

She never forgot about Conor Regan, her one true love. When she discovers he is looking for a nurse practitioner, she takes that as a sign to reconnect with the man who once stole her heart.

When Conor first lays eyes on his new nurse practitioner he has mixed emotions. One stormy night they reconnect and it starts off a steamy romance that they both need. Everything is perfect until trouble comes looking for them. How will they survive the murky waters of her past? Can Conor protect her? Can this couple have the happiness they deserve?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandra Wells
• Release date: Jan 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386825104

S. D. Wells

I am married with 3 grown children. I was raised in Dallas, Texas and have always loved to read and write. I have been married since April of 2001 to my best freind. I have experince loss of my own in my past. My eldest child died in 2006. I am a Christan and am strong in my faith. To me family is important as are freinds and God.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

April 26, 1997 ~ Boston, Massachusetts

Conor Regan slid into a booth and then pulled the jeweler’s box from his pocket. Smiling, he flipped open the top and fingered the stunning princess cut diamond ring. He was a man in love and on a mission to make his Ladybug his for as long as he had breath. Sighing, he closed the box and put it in his pocket as he stared out the window. Heather and he had met their junior year in college and it took a lot of work on his part to get her to finally go out with him. Chuckling, he remembered all too well how happy she had been when he produced the rare box of truffles she seemed to enjoy.

As he understood it they were only made and sold on the west coast, which made her irritable when she couldn’t get them. Conor wanted to win her over, so after a little help from a friend of hers, he had found a place that would ship them to him. Even now he had an ongoing membership to have an order sent to him on a monthly basis. It might have been expensive but for his Ladybug he’d do anything to make her smile.

Soon he would be heading back to Wisconsin to take over Doc Wilson’s practice. The man was ready to retire and would be turning over not only his practice but his home as well. The older man was moving his wife to Florida where the couple would spend their golden years.

Conor planned to remodel the house for him and Heather because she was all he would ever need in life. They would run the practice side by side and someday bring a bunch of new Regans into the world.

The server came over and asked to take his drink order. Good evening, Doctor Conor. Where is that lovely lady of yours?

She is meeting me here tonight. She had a meeting with her professor.

Would you like me to get your drink order in now?

I’ll just have vodka on the rocks and when she gets here...

I know. She'll want an apple martini.

Chuckling, he nodded and looked out the window hoping to catch sight of his Ladybug. Laughing, he remembered the night he gave her that nickname.

It was a cold October evening and they sat together on the sofa each lost in their own studies. He looked over at her and chuckled at the sight of her snuggled in the big red sweater that she had had for as long as he had known her.

She looked up and frowned. What are you laughing at?

You know what you look like snuggled in that sweater?

What?

A ladybug.

How do you figure that?

After setting her book aside, he pulled her in his lap and began to finger her long, dark chocolate hair before gently stroking her cheek. Let’s start with your hair. It’s long and beautiful and dark like a ladybug’s head. Your beautiful wide caramel colored eyes also reminds me of a ladybug and with you snuggled in that red sweater you look like a ladybug.

I see and how is it you know so much about ladybugs?

You’ve seen the garden at the farm. She nodded. Every spring a little family of ladybugs makes a home in one of the many plants near the pond. My mother was fascinated by them and I guess I inherited that fascination.

I see and you think I’m as cute as a ladybug?

Ladybugs are not cute they are gorgeous and fascinating creatures.

You think I’m a fascinating creature?

And gorgeous, don’t forget that part. She laughed and moved to straddle him as she began to strip off their clothes. They didn’t waste time by going to the bedroom, Heather took what she wanted right there on the sofa and Conor gladly let her.

He was brought out of his trance as the server set his drink in front of him. Looking back out the window he saw Heather climbing out of cab wearing the sexy black dress that he loved and a red coat. His Ladybug loved the colors red and black.

I’ll bring her martini, the server stated. He nodded and stood as he watched Heather rush into the restaurant. When she reached him she squealed as she threw herself in his arms.

I take it the meeting with Professor Bryant went well.

Yes and you are not going to believe what she said.

What?

They have a group of doctors and nurses that have been chosen to go and work with Doctors Without Borders! And they chose me, Conor! I can’t believe it! Conor’s heart dropped as he watched her spin around in a circle.

Forcing back tears, he smiled and hugged her. I’m so proud of you, Ladybug. Are you going to take it?

I don’t know. I wanted to talk to you first. I mean I know we have plans.....

How long will you be gone?

Only a year. They are leaving June fifteenth, two weeks after graduation. I won’t take it if you tell me not to, Conor. I love you and want to make you happy.

I know, Ladybug but this has been a lifelong dream of yours. I can’t stand in the way of that. Besides it’s a year, once you are done you can come to Wisconsin and we can start our life together then. In the meantime I will fix up the house for us and build the practice.

You don’t mind me going?

Like I said it’s only a year and we can write each other often. Right?

Yeah, I love you so much, Conor Regan.

Smiling he stroked her cheek before lightly kissing her lips. And I love you, Heather Langston. Now let’s sit down and place our orders.

What was the surprise you had for me?

Oh I just said that so you would wear that sexy black dress, he lied.

She giggled and as she slid into the booth she pulled him with her. You can help me take it off later.

My favorite part about that dress is how easy it is to take off. She giggled again and reached under the table to stroke his thigh. Yeah he could ask her to stay but he knew that if he didn’t let her go that she might someday resent him. It was only a year and he could wait to make her his bride.

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June 15, 1997~ 10:25 am ~ Logan International Airport

They stood outside gate twenty four waiting for her group to board the plane that would take them to South America. Conor had his own plane to board but he made sure he had enough time to say one last goodbye to his ladybug. He had already shipped his things back home and once there he would start building his new practice as well as their home.

Conor, she whined into his chest, I’ll miss you.

I’ll miss you too, Ladybug.

Maybe I shouldn’t go.

Now we talked about this. You can’t pass this up. If you do, you will always wonder what if.

I know but I feel like I’m abandoning you. I feel like I’ll never see you again.

It’s only a year, Heather. It will be hard but I can survive a year without your cooking and your sexy body. She laughed and looked up at him. That’s better. Now no more tears. He then brushed his lips against hers as his fingers combed through her hair. Since the day he found out she was leaving, he had been trying to memorize every inch of her because he too felt like she would never come back. A part of him wanted to demand that she not go but that would be selfish. With a sigh, he pulled back and kissed her once more. They are calling for your flight, Ladybug.

I know. Give your family my best and will you put flowers on Hannah’s grave for me?

I will.

Do you think Dillon will be okay?

It will take time but I think so. Dad says that Dillon just accepted a job as the town’s youngest police chief.

Wow, good for him. I just hope he will someday see that it was not his fault.

We all do. Now you need to go or you will miss your flight. He kissed her once more before letting her go. As she disappeared down the ramp he let the tears finally fall. To him it felt like he was saying goodbye forever. With a heavy heart he turned and walked toward his own gate. With any luck he could bury himself in work and start building the home he was sure she would never see.

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Nothing you give is lost to you or anyone but cherished and preserved in Heaven. By: Unknown Author

ONE

September 11, 2001 ~ 10:19 am ~ King’s Hill, Wisconsin

It had been a long morning for Conor Regan. He had been working non-stop since even before the clinic had opened earlier that morning but, thankfully, the flow had died down. Now he sat with his head buried in a mountain of paperwork that he had been putting off. Being the only doctor in the area made his life hectic but it also made him not think so much. Watching Aiden, Brendan and Dillon each get married only made him think about a past he had long forgotten. Now with his brother, Frank,  getting engaged only made him dream of a certain nurse practitioner and that kept him up at nights.

After saying goodbye to her at Logan International he had returned to Wisconsin to take over the practice and fix up their home. Once she was settled in her new position they exchanged letters weekly. After her one year contract was over she had been asked to stay on for another year and Conor, being the dope he was, told her it was okay. The weekly letters started coming once a month and then they just stopped. He had sent three more letters before he finally gave up. Her silence told him that whatever chance they had, died the day she got on that plane. He had spoken to her mother and the older woman told him that she had met someone else. Why had she not told him that in a letter? Conor spent the next couple years protecting his heart from ever getting hurt again. Sighing, he closed up the folder he had been working on and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Conor, have you been paying attention to the news? Jenny, his head nurse, questioned.

Nope. I’m trying to get caught up on paperwork. Why? What’s going on?

Instead of answering him, she just flipped on the television and handed him the remote. It’s not good news, that’s for sure. Conor watched news reports about planes crashing into the south and north towers of the World Trade Center and then another crashing into the Pentagon. Doesn’t Heather’s father work for the NYPD?

He does.

They are saying when both towers collapsed that police, fire fighters and paramedics were in there. Nodding, he looked back at the TV and said a silent prayer for the man who he once thought would be his father in law.

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Staten Island, New York

Heather stood with tears in her eyes as she watched the news feed. When she had talked to her father that morning they had made plans to have dinner together that evening. She had spent almost two years in a foreign country before she returned to New York to help care for her dying mother. Though she tried to contact Conor, he had never responded to any of her letters. Eventually, she had received word that Conor had met someone else and her heart broke. Shaking her head, she pushed the past aside and concentrated on the present. The news report said that when the towers collapsed several first responders were still trapped inside. After trying her father’s phone several times, she had finally called the station. They confirmed that he was in the North Tower when it had gone down.

Swallowing back tears, she turned away from the TV and fell to a nearby chair. Her mother had died just last year of cancer and now her father was gone, too. There was no proof that he was dead but something in