Series: Safe Harbor Medical (Book 14)

Triple The Trouble

When fertility counselor Melissa Everhart decided to have a baby on her own, she didn't anticipate triplets…or her ex-husband's return to Safe Harbor. Three years ago, Edmond's reluctance to have children tore them apart. But now that he's been made guardian of his niece, Melissa witnesses how tenderly he cares for the little girl.

Though Edmond doesn't believe he's father material, his sudden custody of Dawn leaves him little choice. He turns to Melissa, the warmest, kindest person he knows, for help. They begin to rediscover the love they once shared, but the betrayals of the past trouble them both. Can they find the forgiveness they both need to come together as a family?

Good book. When Melissa and Edmond had married, they had agreed that they didn't want children. Five years into the marriage, Melissa had changed her mind, and tried to talk to Edmond about having a family after all. He was still adamant about it, then went off and had a vasectomy without telling her. Furious and hurt at his actions, she packed her bags and divorced  him, feeling like she had never really known him. Three years later she hasn't found a new love, so she has pursued motherhood on her own. She is now pregnant with triplets.

Edmond has always felt that he isn't father material. As a teen he had felt responsible for his younger sister and when she made poor life choices later, and is now facing prison, he blamed himself. He feels that he failed his sister and there's no way he would want to risk ruining a child's life. Now he's been tasked with taking care of his niece and the prospect scares him. Now that he is living and working in Safe Harbor, seeing Melissa again reminds him how much he has missed her and their relationship. He had hoped that they might rekindle their relationship, but those hopes crashed and burned when he saw she was pregnant. He does ask for her assistance in getting Dawn settled with him, and finds that his attraction to her is just as strong as it had been and his love for her had never gone away.

Melissa is happy to be pregnant, though does have some concerns about raising three babies on her own. Edmond's arrival in Safe Harbor brings back both good and bad memories. They had had a wonderful marriage until the end, but his refusal to even discuss having children had strained it, and his sneaky vasectomy had destroyed her trust. When she finds out that he's become guardian to his niece she is happy to help him prepare. She finds that they are just connected as they had been before, as long as they avoid the topics of fatherhood and her pregnancy.

I felt that both Edmond and Melissa bore some responsibility for the end of their marriage. They had made an agreement at the beginning, and Melissa wanted to change things. However, she brought it up for discussion, and he refused to even talk about it. He never told Melissa why he felt that way, and then to go off and get a vasectomy without telling her was just wrong. I didn't blame her at all for leaving him. Both of them felt that the other had betrayed everything that their marriage stood for. I liked the way that Melissa was trying to move on with her life and pursuing her dream of motherhood. I thought it was really nice of her to agree to help Edmond with Dawn, considering he was being something of a snot about her pregnancy. As they reconnected she realized that she still loved him, but until he could accept her pregnancy, she felt there was no hope. She couldn't understand why he thought he would be a terrible father because he was wonderful with Dawn.

I thought Edmond started out as rather selfish. He didn't want anything to change, to mess up what he saw as a perfect life. He was completely unwilling to listen to what the woman he claimed to love wanted, took steps to ensure it wouldn't happen, then had the nerve to feel betrayed when she left him. I didn't have much sympathy for him at that point. When he arrived in Safe Harbor, hoping to start up with her like nothing had happened, I had to laugh at his surprise. I felt it served him right. I softened a little toward him when he was so determined to do things right for Dawn, but was frustrated by his refusal to think of himself as a father figure. I loved seeing the changes he went through as Melissa showed him that he was fully capable of being everything the little girl needed.

I really enjoyed seeing the way that their relationship developed and grew. Melissa had known all along that he had what it took, but hadn't been able to convince him. I liked seeing her support him and show him what he could do. Her love for him grew even more, but her fears that he could never accept her as she was now were real. Edmond went through some really big changes as their relationship progressed. He had started out wanting things back the old way, and being unwilling to accept her pregnancy. But the more time they were together, the easier it became. He started to picture what it could be like, but his fears would constantly bring him back down. It took accepting that parenting is never a perfect proposition, and some help from his niece for him to realize that maybe he could have it all.