Daddy's Double Duty. Stella Bagwell

their mother if something happened to her?”

      Vanessa nodded glumly. “At the very beginning of her pregnancy Hope asked me to be their godmother. I agreed. How could I not? The two of us had been good friends for a long time. We… went through some tough times together. And I wanted to reassure her that no matter what, I’d see that the babies would be well cared for. But I also kept telling her that she was going to be okay—that everything with her and the babies would be fine. I wanted her to concentrate on the future she was going to have with her children.” Tears once again filled her eyes. “Oh, Conall, I didn’t think… I refused to believe that Hope might die.”

      Conall hated himself for not knowing the right words to ease the grief that was clearly ripping her apart. But he’d learned with Nancy that he wasn’t good at dealing with women’s problems.

      “None of us ever wants to consider losing someone we’re close to, Vanessa. But we can’t go around thinking the worst. Where would that get us?”

      Where indeed, Vanessa wondered dazedly. Swallowing at the painful lump in her throat, she rose to her feet and wandered aimlessly across the room.

      For years now, she’d desperately wanted children. But as she’d struggled to obtain a degree in business management, she’d set aside having a family. Then when she’d finally achieved that goal, she’d slowly begun to work her way off the casino floor and into the business offices. First as a simple file clerk, then on to secretarial assistant, then a jump to office manager, and finally a great leap to personal secretary to the CEO of Lucky Treasures. During that climb, she’d met her now ex-husband, and she’d believed her dreams of having a family of her own were finally going to become a reality. But Jeff had turned out to be nothing but a hanger-on, a man only too happy to let his wife support him while he went his free and fancy way.

      Vanessa supposed it was a good thing that children had never come from their short marriage. But since the divorce, she’d grieved long and hard for what hadn’t been and prayed that someday her fate would change. Still, she’d never expected to become a mother in this shocking fashion and the news was almost too much for her to absorb.

      “I suppose you’re right, Conall. We can’t dwell on what might go wrong. But I—” She stopped in front of the huge picture window that framed a view of the mountain ridge that ran along the north edge of the massive horse ranch. “Right now I’m… stunned. In the next few days, the lawyer expects me to be in Vegas to pick up the babies! There’s so much I’m going to have to do! I live in my parents’ house. Do you remember it?”

      Vaguely, Conall thought. It had been a long time since he’d driven through that mountainous area northeast of the Diamond D, but he did recall the tiny stucco home where the Valdez family had resided for so many years. The place had always needed work. And to give him credit, Mr. Valdez had done the best he could on a carpenter’s salary. But his four sons had been the worthless sort, never lifting a hand to help their parents or themselves. As far as Conall knew, Vanessa’s brothers were all gone from the area now and all he could think was good riddance. She didn’t need any of them trying to mooch her hard-earned money.

      “Yes, I remember,” Conall told her. “Are you living there by yourself? I mean, do you have enough extra room to accommodate the babies?”

      “It’s just me living there,” she replied, “so there’s enough room. But the place isn’t equipped to handle two infants! You see, I came back to Hondo Valley, so that I’d be around to see after my father’s needs. I know he has great medical care in the nursing home, but he needs my emotional support—especially now that Mama is gone. And since I’m divorced now I never dreamed about raising a family there! Dear heaven, there are so many things I’ll have to change—buy—to make a nursery for the babies!”

      She jerked with surprise when she felt his hands fold over the back of her shoulders. She’d not heard him walk up behind her, but even if she’d been warned of his approach, his touch would have been just as jolting to her senses. Conall Donovan was like no man she’d ever known. For a time, when she’d been a sophomore in high school and he a senior, she’d had an enormous crush on him. He’d been one of those rare guys who’d possessed brains and brawn. He’d also been a perfect gentleman, who’d been nothing but nice and polite to his sister’s poor friend. Now after all these years, he was her employer, and she’d done her best to forget about the crush. Until a few minutes ago, when he’d touched her for the very first time.

      “Tell me, Vanessa, do you want these babies in your life?”

      The question caused her to whirl around to face him and just as quickly she wished she’d kept her back to him. The man’s presence was always overwhelming, but up close like this, it was downright rattling her already ragged senses.

      Nearly black hair lay in undisciplined waves about his head, while one errant hank teased a cool gray eye that peered at her beneath a heavy black brow. His features were large, rough and edged with a haggardness that could only come from working long, hard hours without enough rest. His clothes, which ranged from faded jeans to designer suits, always fit his tall, well-honed body as though they’d been tailored for him. And probably had been, she thought wryly. He was certainly rich enough to afford such an extravagance.

      As far as Vanessa was concerned, she always thought of Conall Donovan as dark, dangerous and delicious. And something totally beyond her reach. And standing only inches away from him like this only reinforced those descriptions of the man.

      Nervously licking her lips, she attempted to answer his question. “Of course I want the babies! There’s nothing I want more.” She didn’t tell him that during her short marriage she’d wanted children, but her husband had insisted he loved her too much to want to share her with a child. Now Vanessa very nearly gagged when she thought of how phony those words had been. Jeff hadn’t loved her. He’d only loved himself. But Conall didn’t want to hear about the personal mistakes she’d made. Besides, they were far too humiliating to share with a man like him.

      “I’ve always wanted children. And I want Hope’s twins to be loved. I’m positive that I can give them that love and raise them as if I gave birth to them myself. But I’m not sure how I can handle all the changes I need to make right now. I have very little time and—”

      “Whoa! Slow down, Vanessa. Let’s take one thing at a time,” he said. “What do you need to do first?”

      Behind her, the phone began to ring again, but the subtle change in his expression was telling her to, once again, forget the telephone.

      Turning her palms upward, she tried to breathe normally and assure herself that this man’s sexual aura wasn’t going to suffocate her. “I suppose the first thing is to go to Vegas and collect the babies. They’ve already been released from the hospital and placed in temporary care at a Catholic orphanage.”

      With a dour frown, he turned away from her and began to pace back and forth in front of her desk. Momentarily relieved by the space between them, Vanessa drew in a much-needed breath.

      “I’m sure they’re being well cared for,” he said suddenly. “But I’m certain you’ll feel better once we fetch the children back here as soon as possible.”

      We? Where had that come from? This was her problem. Not his. But that wasn’t entirely true, she reminded herself. Conall was depending on her to keep his office running smoothly. Bringing two infants all the way from Vegas and getting them settled was going to chop into her work time. Naturally, this whole thing was going to affect him, too, she thought sickly. And what was that going to do to her job? A job that she’d quickly come to love, and now, more than ever, desperately needed.

      “I’m sorry, Conall. I suppose I’ll have to ask for time off while I make arrangements to fly out and collect the twins. If you feel you need to let me go permanently,” she added ruefully, “then I’ll understand.”

      Stopping in his tracks, he scowled at her. “Let you go? What the hell, Vanessa? Do you think Donovans fire our employees whenever they need help?”

      Seeing