When Morning Comes: A Family Affair Novel

"It'sxa0a perfect contemporary romance that willxa0have you believing in true love. When Morning Comes is so powerfully written, and I guarantee, youxa0won't want to miss it." -- Sizzling Hot Book Reviews (5 stars!) Book Of The Month for June 2012 is WHEN MORNING COMES- RAWSISTAZ.COM"NYT Bestselling author, Francis Ray is a woman with the gift of storytelling. xa0She knows how to weave together a compelling story withxa0charactersxa0that seem to jump right off the page."-Prominence magazine.com" When Morning Comes is an entertaining and touching tale about family secrets and the power of love and forgiveness." —Kimberla Lawson Roby, New York Times bestselling author of The Reverend’s Wife "Family dynamics are at the core of Ray's new series, along with plenty of heartwarming romance. The primary and secondary couples here are smart, caring people and readers will root for them, making this a compelling series starter."-- Romantic Times on When Morning Comes (4 1/2 Stars!) In this unforgettable new series, five men and women who grew up as orphans seek out their lost brothers and sisters, finding love and family along the way. Dr. Cade Mathis learned early that he was not the son of the man who raised him. His adoptive father, a cruel, bitter man had always been quick to tell him that he was a bastard and an embarrassment to the rich society family whose daughter got pregnant with him. So when Cade received a full scholarship to college, he was only too happy to leave the only home he had ever known behind and never looked back. Now a successful doctor and one of the best neurosurgeons in the state, the only thing he still wants are answers about where he came from. What he doesn't expect to find is Sabrina Thomas, the new patient advocate at his hospital or how this woman will lead him to the family he has been searching for and a love he never expected to find. New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Francis Ray is a native Texan and lives in Dallas. INCOGNITO, her sixth title, was the first made-for-TV movie for BET. Her literary fiction series-Taggart and Falcon, the Invincible Women, Grayson Family of New Mexico, and Grayson Friends have consistently made bestseller's lists, and are enjoyed by readers world-wide. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Onexa0xa0Sabrina Thomas clutched the leather-bound notebook to her chest and tried not to be impatient as the elevator in the south tower of Texas Hospital near downtown Dallas stopped once again on its climb to the eighteenth and top floor. But it was difficult.Dr. Cade Mathis, the bane of her existence, would reach Mrs. Ward’s room first and then there’d be hell to pay. Sabrina jabbed the button to close the doors as soon as the last person stepped onto the already crowded elevator. Evenings were always busy at the hospital with the staggered change of shifts and people dropping by to visit after work. Usually she didn’t mind the crowd, but today wasn’t usual.Dr. Mathis wasn’t going to be happy with Mrs. Ward’s decision to postpone her surgery, and he wouldn’t be shy about voicing his opinion.The elevator finally stopped on the eighteenth floor. As soon as there was enough space to allow her to slip through the doors, Sabrina stepped off the elevator, excusing herself as she brushed by people trying to get on. Hurrying down the hall, she almost groaned on seeing Dr. Mathis’s tall, imposing figure. At six foot three, he moved with a smooth, unhurried grace as he entered Mrs. Ward’s room.Sabrina increased her frantic pace.Cade Mathis might be the best neurosurgeon in the country, but unfortunately, too often he had the disposition of a warthog in heat. And no one, at least as far as Sabrina knew, questioned him or went against his medical dictates. The hospital’s board had gone all out to woo him from the Mayo Clinic. Housewife Ann Ward, in her mid-twenties, and her loving blue-collar worker husband a few years older, wouldn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of standing up against him.No one on the staff even tried. As patient advocate for Texas Hospital, it was Sabrina’s job to try. Her eyes narrowed. She’d do more than try.Two steps from the door she heard Dr. Mathis’s clipped, precise voice that could be as lethal and as cutting as the scalpel he wielded so skillfully. She didn’t waste time knocking, she just went in. What she saw confirmed her fears.Ann, in a patient’s gown, was sitting up in bed. Her husband’s work-worn hands clutched hers as he hovered over her as if to protect her from Dr. Mathis. Unfortunately, it would do no good. Dr. Mathis was a law unto himself and listened to no one, but that wouldn’t stop Sabrina.“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Ward,” Sabrina greeted. “Dr. Mathis.”The Wards’ frantic gazes swung to Sabrina, clearly begging her to intervene. Dr. Mathis, hands on his lean hips, didn’t even glance in her direction. Clearly he thought her insignificant. Tough. “Is there a problem?”Ann nodded, swallowed a couple of times before she could get the words out. “I-I just told Dr. Mathis I want to postpone my surgery like I mentioned to you yesterday.”Finally Dr. Mathis’s gaze, cold and cutting, swung to Sabrina. Since she’d been subjected to his disapproval before, she didn’t cower as most of the staff did. Her first responsibility was to the patient. A fact that had put her at odds with her last supervisor, and the reason she had made the difficult decision to transfer from a Texas Hospital affiliate in Houston to Dallas six months ago.“You knew about this yesterday?” he accused.“Yes,” she admitted, aware that her chin had jutted.“And did she tell you why?” he asked, his tone no less cutting.“Her daughter’s birthday party is Saturday, the day after her surgery and she doesn’t want to miss it,” Sabrina answered.Dr. Mathis’s midnight black eyes narrowed, then turned to his patient. “You have a tumor in the brain. Every second we wait to go in is a second too long.”“I feel fine,” Mrs. Ward said, seeming to draw strength from her husband, who now had his arm around her shoulders. “The medicine you’re giving me is helping the headaches and my other symptoms. Clarissa, my little girl, wants me there with her Saturday. I’ve missed so much because I was sick for so long and could hardly get out of bed, let alone play or take care of her. I can’t disappoint her.”“If you don’t have the surgery, you might not live to see her have another birthday,” Dr. Mathis told her.Ann’s lips began to tremble, tears flowed freely from her big hazel eyes. She burrowed into the arms of her husband and sobbed. Her husband looked scared and angry.“Dr. Mathis—” Sabrina began, only to be cut off.“The next time one of my patients makes a critical decision, I’d advise you to tell me and not wait for the patient to call me less than sixteen hours before the surgery,” he said to her, then strode from the room.Sabrina considered throwing the notebook at his retreating back, then wisely went to Ann to try to console her.“What kind of doctor talks to a patient like that?” Mr. Ward asked, his body trembling as much as his voice. “Don’t listen to him, honey. You’ll be there to dance at Clarissa’s wedding. Isn’t that right, Sabrina?”Two pairs of eyes, begging for reassurance, fixed on her face. “I hope you’ll invite me,” Sabrina told them. She’d made it a practice never to lie to patients. They had to trust her. She just hoped the evasive answer was enough.“Let me talk to Dr. Mathis, and I’ll be right back.” Sabrina left the room and went straight to the charting area for doctors behind the nurses’ desk. Dr. Mathis was there, his broad shoulders rigid, his mouth set in a tight line. The charge nurse, standing beside the secretary, kept throwing troubled glances at him. When Dr. Mathis was unhappy, heads rolled. Two other nurses decided they could finish charting elsewhere and moved their carts away. Sabrina didn’t hesitate.“Mrs. Ward was frightened enough without you adding to it.”Dr. Mathis finished making his notation on a chart in quick, slashing motions before looking up. He stared at her as if she were some icky bug that had dared cross his path. The look angered her just as much as the annoying unsteady pulse. He might have the manners of a warthog, but he was as gorgeous as forbidden sin.“It’s critical that Mrs. Ward have surgery sooner rather than later.”Sabrina trusted his knowledge. It was his professionalism that set her teeth on edge. “You could have told her differently.”Dr. Mathis slowly stood, towering over her five feet four inches, his unblinking black gaze locked on hers. “She’s playing Russian roulette for a birthday party that can just as easily be postponed. The surgery can’t.”“She—”“Is dying, Ms. Thomas. Enough time has been wasted already. Patients are too emotional. They don’t always think clearly. I thought it was your job to help, not make matters worse,” he said.Her temper spiked at his accusing tone. Knowing she shouldn’t didn’t stop her from stepping into his space. “Making things worse is your specialty, Dr. Mathis.” She spat out the last word as if distasteful. Clutching the notebook, she spun to see two other doctors there. Disapproval was clearly visible on their shocked faces.Sabrina cursed inwardly. In the short two years Dr. Mathis had been at Texas his reputation as a top neurosurgeon had grown. He was revered as much as he was feared. No matter what Drs. Mims and Carter might personally think of Dr. Mathis, doctors stuck together against the lesser mortals on the hospital staff. Doctors were never reprimanded—and certainly not in public.And before now, she’d had a good relationship with both doctors. Her rash actions might have endangered that relationship. Even the charge nurse frowned at Sabrina.One thing life had taught her early was not to falter over what couldn’t be changed. Head high, Sabrina walked from the nursing station aware that the efficiency of the hospital grapevine would have their conversation all over the hospital in a matter of hours.She didn’t have time to think about it. Right now, a family needed her help. But how? She loved her job as patient advocate, but it wasn’t an easy one. Often there were hard choices to make. Her job was to ensure that patients had the information needed for them to make the best possible decisions.She knew firsthand how important that was. If someone hadn’t been there to speak for her when she was too young to speak for herself, she wouldn’t be alive today.Stopping in front of Mrs. Ward’s door, Sabrina took a calming breath. The patient’s decision had been based on emotions, but reasoning—not anger—was needed to help her decide if her decision was the best one. She opened the door and wasn’t surprised to see Mr. Ward still holding his softly crying wife in his arms. He glanced up.In his gaze she saw helplessness, fear with a good dose of anger. “He had no right to upset Ann like that. I’m reporting him to the medical association.”Sabrina let the door swing closed. “Dr. Mathis is brusque, but he’s also the best neurosurgeon in the state, possibly the country. He was at the Mayo Clinic for three years before coming to Texas two years ago. Patients come from all over the country to see him.”“That doesn’t give him the right to scare my wife,” Mr. Ward said, clutching his wife closer.Sabrina knew he was doing his best to hide his fear. “Despite Mrs. Ward doing better, Dr. Mathis believes it’s in Mrs. Ward’s best interest to have the surgery tomorrow as scheduled.” Sabrina stopped at the foot of the hospital bed.Mrs. Ward lifted her tearstained f... Read more