Prince and Single Mom Read Online Free Page A

easing, and knew coming here to the ranch today had been the right choice. As a pediatrician in the only hospital of his country’s capital city, he dealt with more than just healthy children coming in for vaccinations and check-ups. He’d dealt with all manner of trauma in the four years he’d been a doctor. And sometimes—blessedly rare times—he lost patients.
    Yesterday had been such a day, and the sorrow of the child’s death cut deep.
    So today he’d traded hats, as he liked to call it. Today he was not on call, nor acting in the capacity of doctor—although that is how most of the children, especially from the orphanage, thought of him. Today he wore the hat of his father’s son, using the family farm as a means of outreach to children from all walks of life. Some would be from the schools, some from the orphanage, and even some from the resort.
    Despite the fact that he preferred his role as doctor, sometimes being the Prince helped to recharge his batteries.
    Philip didn’t know what made him look up right then. He’d been focusing on helping Anna, one of the little girls visiting from the orphanage, find a comfortable seat on the horse’s back. But he did look up, and felt his pulse begin to race. The minibus from the resort had arrived, and the children and counselors from the day camp began getting off. He noticed a blond-haired little boy, whose eagerness communicated itself in the way he hopped from foot to foot. Then a pretty auburn-haired woman got off the bus, ruffled the boy’s hair and took his hand. Her hair wasn’t professionally cut or styled. She wore very little makeup, and he didn’t think her clothes were designer quality. She was, in fact, so completely not the sort of woman he would normally notice. But he not only noticed, he was instantly attracted in a way that went beyond the physical. Something about her, about the way she smiled at her son as if he were the center of the universe, touched Philip in a unique way. Madonna and child , he immediately thought. Shaking his head at the fanciful notion, he smiled and returned his attention to Anna.
    “How does it feel now, petite?”
    “All right, Doctor. But…what if he decides to run off with me?”
    Philip chuckled, then held up the reins. “I won’t let him, Anna. Do you want me to lead you around the paddock?”
    “Well, I guess just one time will be all right.”
    Philip gave her his best smile, and slowly began to lead the animal in a wide circle. Anna had been coming on outings to the farm ever since she had been orphaned five months before, but this was the first time she’d been lured into participating in anything. Although physically healed, he knew it would take a long time for her to recover emotionally from the car crash that had killed the rest of her family, leaving her alone in the world. But the staff at the orphanage, from his sister Sophie, the home’s administrator, down, loved and cared about the children who lived there. Anna would be well again, in time.
    He completed the circuit of the pen and brought the horse to a halt.
    “Thank you, Doctor. May I please get down now?”
    “You may. Did you like that, Anna?” he asked as he lifted her down from the animal.
    “Yes, thank you. And now I must say thank you to Francois.”
    He continued to hold the animal still as Anna gravely walked to its head and thanked it for the privilege of riding it. Then she turned and walked to the gate, going through when a young man opened it and then proceeded slowly to the porch. Once there, Philip knew, she would sit quietly and wait until it was time to board the bus to return to the Home. He looked forward to the day she felt free enough to run and laugh and play with the other children.
    The skin along his arms pebbled with goose bumps, stirring him away from his contemplation of the little girl. He had actually forgotten about the woman as he’d been helping Anna. But now he could see her and her son leaning