Daddy's Double Duty (6 page)

Conall dropped his attention to his plate as he shoveled up a forkful of egg and wondered why he felt so disappointed. It wasn't as if he was a green teenager and she'd turned him down for a date. Last night, after he'd left her at the door of her room, the idea of offering her housing had entered his mind and once he'd gone to bed, he'd lain awake for some time imagining how it would be to have her and her new little family close by. He'd liked the idea so much that he'd rushed over here early to tell her about it. Now, seeing how she didn't want his help, he felt deflated and foolish.

“I understand that you women have your own ideas about things,” he said. “I can accept that.”

Even though her sigh was barely discernible, he heard it. The sound put a faint frown between his brows as he wondered why anything she was thinking and feeling about him should matter. Hell, she was just his secretary. Just because she'd become the sudden mother of twin infants didn't make her any different than the woman who'd worked in his office for the past two months, he reasoned with himself.

Yet this whole thing with the babies had forced Conall to see Vanessa in a more personal way. And last night, when he'd succumbed to his urges and kissed her, something had clicked inside him. Suddenly he'd been feeling, wanting, needing. All at once he'd felt the dead parts of him waking and bursting to life again.

Conall realized it was stupid of him to hang so much importance on one kiss. But he couldn't put it or her out of his mind.

“I'm glad,” she said, “because I don't want to appear ungrateful.”

He smiled at her. “Good. Because I have another offer for you. Especially since you turned the last one down,” he added.

Her brows lifted with faint curiosity and Conall couldn't help but notice how the early morning sun was kissing her pearly skin and bathing it with a golden sheen. Last night, when he'd touched her face and laid his cheek against hers, he'd been overwhelmed at the softness and even now a part of him longed to reach across the table and trail his fingers across her skin, her lips.

“Don't you think you've already offered me enough?” she asked dryly.

Reaching for his coffee, he tried to sound like he was discussing business with a client. “Not yet. This is something essential to you and to me. I don't want to lose you as a secretary, so while you're at work you're going to need child care services. I insist that the ranch provide you with a nanny. Two, if need be.”

She fell back against her chair and Conall could see he'd shocked her. Clearly, she'd not been expecting him to offer her any sort of amenities simply because she was a Diamond D employee. In fact, she acted as though it would be wrong for her to accept anything from him. Which was quite a contrast to his ex-wife, who'd grabbed and snatched anything and everything she could, then expected more.

“Don't you think you're going a little overboard?” she asked after a long moment.

“Not really. When I think back through some of the secretaries I've endured in the past, hiring a nanny to keep a good one like you is nothing more than smart business sense.”

Actually, there was nothing businesslike going
through Conall's mind at the moment, yet he was playing it that way. Otherwise, he knew Vanessa would balk like a stubborn mule at his suggestion.

“Things have happened so quickly I've not yet had time to think of day care for the babies. There might be someone in Hondo to care for the twins while I'm at work,” she said a bit tentatively. “Or Lincoln.”

He smiled to himself. “Vanessa, we both know you'd be lucky to find a babysitter in either community. And making such a long drive every morning and evening with the babies wouldn't be practical.”

She absently pushed at the egg on her plate. “Sometimes a person has to do things that are…well, not the most convenient.”

“Why would you need to do that when I can hire someone to watch the babies right in your home? You wouldn't have to disturb them or drag them in and out in the weather. As far as I can see, it's the perfect solution.”

She nodded briefly and he could see a range of emotions sweeping across her face. She clearly wanted to resist his help and Conall couldn't understand why. If he'd ever been harsh or cold with the woman, he didn't recall it. And though they'd never visited about things out of the office, he'd never treated her with indifference. He could understand, up to a point, her wanting to be independent. But now wasn't the time for her to worry about showing off her self-reliance. She had more than her own welfare to consider now. Maybe the only way she could think of him was as her boss, instead of a friend offering help. The idea bothered him greatly, although he couldn't figure why it should. He'd stopped caring what women thought of him a long time ago.

She let out a deep breath, then lifted her coffee cup
from its saucer. “I'll be honest, Conall. I've been trying to budget in my head and the cost of child care is going to take a big hunk out of my salary. I'd be crazy to turn down your offer of a nanny. At least until the babies get older and I can get my feet planted more firmly.”

Relief put a smile on his face. “Now you're making sense. I'll start making calls as soon as we finish breakfast.”

“There is one condition, though, Conall.”

He paused in the act of reaching for a second piece of toast. “Yes?”

Her brown eyes met his and for a split second his breath hung in his throat. He was slipping, damn it. None of this should feel so important to him. Yes, the babies were adorable and yes, Vanessa's kiss had been like sipping from a honeycomb. But Vanessa and the children weren't supposed to be his business or responsibility.

Her answer broke into his uneasy thoughts. “I also want to have a say in who you hire for the job.”

In spite of his internal scolding, Conall began to breathe again. “I wouldn't have it any other way,” he assured her.

 

By the time they finished the last bit of business at the lawyer's office, picked up the babies and boarded a plane back to Ruidoso, Vanessa felt as though she'd gone around the world and back again. The excitement of becoming an instant mother had finally caught up to her, along with the fact that she had no idea of how to deal with this new and different Conall.

The cool, aloof boss that she'd worked with for the past two months appeared to be completely gone. On the flight home, he'd been attentive, reassuring and helpful. When Rick had stirred and began to cry, he'd insisted on
cradling the tiny boy in his arms and feeding him one of the bottles the nuns had prepared for their flight.

Seeing the big rancher handle the baby with such gentleness had overwhelmed her somewhat. He was such a man's man and she'd never seen him display much affection toward anyone or anything, except his grandmother Kate and the baby colts and fillies that were born every spring on the Diamond D.

She'd often wondered if his hard demeanor was the thing that had sent his ex-wife, Nancy, running to other pastures. But seeing him interact with her new son had given Vanessa a glimpse of a Conall that she'd never seen or knew existed. There was a soft side to him. So there must have been another, more complicated reason for his divorce.

For weeks now, Vanessa had told herself she didn't want to know what had happened to end her boss's marriage. After all, it wasn't her business and she'd had her own heartbreaking divorce to deal with. But now that Conall had kissed her, now that she'd seen for herself that he could be a hot-blooded man with all sorts of feelings, she'd grown even more curious about his marriage and divorce.

Trying to shove aside the personal thoughts about Conall, Vanessa glanced over her shoulder to see the twins sleeping soundly in the two car seats they'd purchased back in Las Vegas for the trip.

“I doubt the twins will feel any jet lag,” Conall commented as he skillfully steered the truck over the mountainous highway toward Tinnie. “They've slept for nearly the entire trip.”

She straightened in her seat and as she gazed out the window, she realized she was nearly home. So much had happened since they'd left for Vegas that she felt as
though she'd been gone for weeks instead of two days. “That's what newborns mostly do, sleep. Unless they have colic and I'm praying that doesn't happen.”

He glanced her way. “You know about babies and colic? I thought you were the youngest of the family.”

“I am. But my mother used to reminisce to me about her babies. She said two of my brothers cried with the colic until they were six months old and she hardly got any sleep during that time.”

“I don't suppose she had anyone to help, either. I mean, your dad worked hard and probably needed his rest at night. And she didn't have any older daughters to help out with a crying infant.”

“No. My mother didn't have much help with anything. But she was a happy woman.” Wistful now, she glanced at him. “I wish Mama could've seen the twins. She would have been so thrilled for me and so proud to have been their grandmother.”

To her surprise he reached over and touched her hand with his. “I figure somewhere she does see, Vanessa.”

Many of her friends and acquaintances had expressed their sorrow to Vanessa when her mother had died unexpectedly and she'd appreciated all of them. Yet, these simple words from Conall were the most comforting anyone had given her and she was so touched that she was unable to form a reply. The best she could do was cast him a grateful little smile.

He smiled back and she suddenly realized he didn't need or expect her to say anything. He understood how she felt. The notion not only surprised her, but it also stunned her with uneasy fear. She couldn't allow her feelings for this man to tumble out of control. She had to keep her head intact and her heart safely tucked away in the shadows.

Minutes later Conall parked the truck near the short board fence that cordoned off the small yard from the graveled driveway. After he cut the motor, he said, “Give me the keys and I'll open up before we carry the babies in.”

Vanessa dug the house key from her purse and handed it to him. “I'll be unstrapping the twins,” she told him.

When he returned, he gathered up Rose from her car seat while Vanessa cradled Rick in the crook of her arm.

Nudging the truck door shut with his broad shoulder, he said, “I'll come back for your luggage and diaper bag later. Right now let's get the babies inside and settled.”

Vanessa started to the house with Conall following her onto the tiny porch and past the open door leading into a small living room.

Pausing in the middle of the floor, she glanced around with faint confusion. “Someone has been inside and left the air conditioner on,” she said. “I told Maura where the key was but when I last talked to her she didn't mention driving over here.”

A sheepish expression stole over his lean face. “I confess. I sent Maura over here to…take care of a few things. I guess she had the forethought to turn on the air conditioner so it would be comfortable when you arrived.” He inclined his head toward an arched doorway. “Are the bedrooms through there?”

Vanessa wanted to ask him what sort of things Maura would be doing here. She'd already arranged for a young neighbor boy to feed the goats and the chickens. But seeing he was already changing the subject, she let it pass. She'd be talking to Maura soon enough anyway, she thought.

Nodding in response to his question, she walked past him and he followed her through the doorway and into a tiny hall. As she made a left-hand turn that would lead them to the bedrooms, she said, “My bed is queen-sized so I guess for now, until I get a crib, I'll have to put the twins with me and surround them with pillows.”

“Vanessa, why don't you put them in the spare bedroom?”

“Because there's only a narrow twin bed in there. And everything in there needs to be dusted badly.”

“It couldn't be that dusty. And a small bed might work better. Let's look at it.”

Vexed that he wanted to argue the matter, she paused to frown at him. “Conall, I told you—”

“Just humor me, Vanessa,” he interrupted. “Let me see the room. That's all I'm asking.”

How could she deny him such a simple request when he'd just interrupted the past two days of his life to help her? Not to mention absorbing the expense of the trip.

With an indulgent shake of her head, she muttered, “Oh, all right. But I'm beginning to think you'd have been better suited to raise mules than Thoroughbreds, Conall.”

He chuckled. “I have a lot of Grandmother Kate in me.”

The door to the spare bedroom was slightly ajar and she reached inside to flip on the light before pushing the door wide.

Glancing around at him, she pointed out, “Your grandmother Kate is wonderful. Not stubborn.”

“That's what I mean.”

The grin on his face made her heart flutter foolishly and she quickly turned her attention away from him to push the bedroom door wide.

“Oh!” The one word was quietly gasped as she stared in complete shock. The dusty drab room that she'd been planning to refurnish one day had been transformed into a fairy-tale nursery. Twisting her head around, she said with stunned accusation, “You knew about this!”

He motioned for her to step inside the room. “Perhaps you should take a look before you decide to chop off my head.”

Dazed, she moved slowly into the room while her gaze tried to encompass everything at once. The walls had been painted a soft yellow and bordered with wallpaper of brightly colored stick horses. A classic crib made of dark cherrywood with carved spokes stood in one corner while on the opposite wall a matching chest and dresser framed a window draped with Priscilla curtains printed with the same theme as the wallpaper. Behind them, in another available corner, a full-sized rocking horse made of carved wood, complete with a saddle and a black rag-mop mane and tail waited for little hands and feet to climb on and put him in motion.