Forever in Florida: At the Altar, #0

By Keira K. Barton

When Bradley Carter is hit by a drunk driver, his priorities change and he realizes he wants a family sooner than he expected. Not sure where to start, and sick of women who aren't willing to commit, Brad signs up for Dr. Lachele Simpson's Matchrimony service.

Daphne's life in King, Montana, is turned upside-down after her husband dies in a tragic accident. When Dr. Lachele learns of her dear friend's loss, she insists on helping her find new love with a guy who recently signed up for her services. Dr. Lachele knows they will be perfect together, but can she convince Daphne and Brad that they can fall in love after they meet at the altar?
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Keira K. Barton
• Release date: May 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781393927532

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Copyright © 2018 by Keira K. Barton

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination.. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Erin Dameron Hill/EDH Graphics

Edited by Tristi Pinkston

Printed in the United States of America.

First printing edition 2018.

When Bradley Carter is hit by a drunk driver, his priorities change and he realizes he wants a family sooner than he expected. Not sure where to start, and sick of women who aren’t willing to commit, Brad signs up for Dr. Lachele Simpson’s Matchrimony service.

Daphne’s life in King, Montana, is turned upside-down after her husband dies in a tragic accident. When Dr. Lachele learns of her dear friend’s loss, she insists on helping her find new love with a guy who recently signed up for her services.  Dr. Lachele knows they will be perfect together, but can she convince Daphne and Brad that they can fall in love after they meet at the altar?

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Keira K. Barton

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For Kristi, thank you for being my catalyst.

Prologue

September 2017

Getting into a hot black car in the Florida heat was probably Brad’s only complaint about living in the Sunshine State. His business attire wasn’t exactly made for comfort as it was—add the 100-degree day and the horrendous humidity, and he was sweating in seconds. He immediately started his vehicle and cranked up the AC. He checked his reflection in the rearview mirror. He still looked mad.

Brad looked back at the small yellow house he had just left. He didn’t want to be mad. He wasn’t an angry person, per se—he just would have appreciated a little warning from Stacy that she had an eleven-year-old daughter before she came traipsing in the house after school. It wasn’t the fact that Stacy had a kid that was the problem, but she didn’t even feel a need to disclose that information before they were forced to meet with no warning at all. It wasn’t fair to Stacy’s daughter, and it wasn’t fair to him. He wondered how many other random guys that poor little girl had encountered because of her mother.

Not that Brad was just some random guy, but to the child, he was. Brad could tell right away from the look on the girl’s face that her mother hadn’t said anything about having a boyfriend. He would have loved to meet the girl under different circumstances, like being prepared, for example. Brad would have gotten her flowers, maybe her favorite candy or a stuffed animal—he would have at least known what to call her!

Thinking about it was making Brad more and more angry, so he decided just to let it go. Let it all go. Stacy, the girl, the yellow house—that was the last time they would ever see him. The worst part about the whole experience was that Brad hadn’t even said anything, and he couldn’t go back now and explain. He had just looked at Stacy, dumbfounded. Actually, after thinking about it, he seemed to remember mumbling Excuse me before stepping out into the hot Florida sun, but that didn’t really change things. It was already late September, but man, it was a scorcher today.

Brad drove fast down the interstate, probably too fast. He was just trying to blow off some steam and leave that short-lived relationship in his rearview mirror.

Chapter 1

February 2018

Beeps. Brad woke up to beeps. He blinked a few times, trying to help his eyes adjust to his brightly lit room. He could see that the overhead lights weren’t on—the room was just being flooded with sunlight. It had to be around noon with how bright it was. Dawn was far in the past, and dusk was still only a dream. It seemed strange to him that he instinctively knew this after having been asleep. He then realized that the beeps were machines, and that he was in the hospital.

Why am I in the hospital? He tried to think of the last thing he could remember. It was hot—like really, really hot—and that he was driving away from Stacy’s, but that was all. There wasn’t even a sliver of anything after being in his car on the freeway. He had been driving just after three o’ clock on a Wednesday, though—there had hardly been any other cars on the road.

Because he was feeling so disoriented, it took Brad a while to realize that he could always call the nurse and ask her some questions. She’d know about his case and how long he had been asleep. He fished at the side of the bed for the call button and pressed it, almost afraid to ask the questions on his mind. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to know the answers.

A woman dressed in scrubs who looked to be in her fifties entered the room less than a minute after Brad had pressed the magic red button. He knew it wasn’t magic, but it was amusing that it summoned people so quickly. As she moved closer to his bed, he could read her name tag. Eileen. Brad could see a mixture of surprise and concern on her face.

You’re awake! she declared, more surprised than relieved.

Brad felt a bit confused. Yes? he retorted, a question in his tone.

Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just that you’ve been asleep so long, I thought it was another prank, the nurse explained.

Prank? Brad asked.

Well, the nurses started playing pranks on each other with your call button. Everyone knew you were in a coma, so they would come in here and press the button to see the nurse who was assigned to you run to your room as fast as she could! Eileen laughed so hard, tears started forming in her eyes. She had a giant, beautiful smile, and still looked like she had plenty of spunk to go around, even at her age.

Brad was slightly mortified, more at the fact that he had been in a coma than at the nature of the pranks. So, how long have I been asleep? he asked, trying to keep his cool.

About four months, Eileen answered casually. How are you feeling?

Brad had a hard time thinking of an answer. He wasn’t really sure how he was feeling. After all, he had just been informed that he had slept away the last four months of his life. That meant it was a new year. Brad wondered what month it was—four months seemed so vague when it was days of his life they were talking about.

What’s the date? he asked.

February seventh.

I thought you said four months. Last I remember, it was September. Isn’t that five?

Well, it was the very end of September, Eileen elaborated, so if you want to get technical, I guess it was about four months and ten days now.

Brad contemplated what being asleep for that long really meant. The most obvious was that he had missed the new year and it was now 2018. Also, he was no longer thirty-five—his thirty-sixth birthday had passed on December nineteenth. His niece, Kennedy, had turned four on November fifth, and he had missed seeing her and her sister Katie’s Halloween costumes for Halloween. That was just off the top of his head. He was sure he would find out he had missed much more than that. Why aren’t any of my family members here now? Brad wondered. He doubted Eileen knew the answer to that question, though.

So, what happened in the car accident?

From what I understand, you were hit head-on by a driver who was under the influence. He was going the wrong way on the freeway. You just happened to be the first car he encountered.

Must have been my lucky day.

It actually was, Eileen said in a sober tone. You had no detectable injuries. Seriously, there wasn’t a scratch on you. The doctors attribute your coma to minor brain swelling, but nothing detectable by a CT scan or an MRI. No one could figure out why you were asleep. She sounded like she still couldn’t believe it.

Bizarre. That was the only word that Brad could muster. The reality of his current situation started to set in. He had just slept through the last four months and ten days of his life. For some reason his family wasn’t here with him at the hospital, and he felt intensely lonely. Eileen was kind, funny, and caring—but she was still a stranger.

Brad wished that someone he loved was there by his side, waiting intently for him to wake up. Suddenly the crassness with which he had handled the situation with Stacy and her daughter struck Brad. Knowing that he had just lost