Daddy's Double Duty
A changed man…How did her instant motherhood make Vanessa’s boss a different man? While caring for the twins she’d inherited, Vanessa Valdez saw rancher Conall Donovan in a new light. Once a coldhearted businessman, he’d dropped everything to help her care for the newborns. And he was suddenly looking at her with passion in his eyes…Though she’d been half in love with him for years, he’d always been out of her reach. Yet now he was a caring man whose touches thrilled her. Vanessa didn’t know why the rugged Conall suddenly wanted her and her new family. But having his arms around her was enough to make her sleepless nights worthwhile…
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“And are you glad you took the job?”
“So far,” Vanessa replied. “What about you? Do you wish you’d offered it to someone else?”
“Giving you the job was one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.” Conall gently smoothed her hair away from her cheek. “And coming on this trip with you was even smarter.”
By now her breathing was coming in shallow sips and she had to swallow before she could finally form one word. “Why?”
“Because it’s opened my eyes. And I’m beginning to see all the things I’ve been missing.”
“Conall.” His name passed her lips as she hesitantly pressed a hand against his chest. “This… you… I don’t understand.”
“That makes two of us.”
“But we…”
“Don’t talk,” he whispered. “Talking won’t change the fact that I want to kiss you.”
Dear Reader,
Being the eldest child of the Donovan family, Conall feels a load of responsibility to make his parents proud, to keep the Diamond D Ranch running smoothly and prosperously, and to set the best example for his younger siblings to follow.
To say he’s a traditional man is almost an understatement. All Conall has ever wanted was to be like his father and raise a large, loving family of his own, and to know his heirs will carry on the custom of raising some of the best Thoroughbreds in the southwest. But dreams have a way of hitting snags and before Conall can persuade the woman he loves to be his wife, he has to learn that having children isn’t an entitlement, it’s a gift. And that being able to father a child is not the sole measurement of a man.
June is the month for brides, but it also has a special day for fathers, too. I hope you’ll travel with me once again to Lincoln County, New Mexico, and celebrate this Father’s Day with Conall and the rest of the Donovans!
Thank you to all my readers and may God bless each trail you ride,
Stella
About the Author
STELLA BAGWELL has written more than seventy novels. She credits her loyal readers and hopes her stories have brightened their lives in some small way.
A cowgirl through and through, she loves to watch old Westerns, and has recently learned how to rope a steer. Her days begin and end helping her husband care for a beloved herd of horses on their little ranch located on the south Texas coast. When she’s not ropin’ and ridin’, you’ll find her at her desk, creating her next tale of love.
The couple have a son, who is a high school math teacher and athletic coach. Stella loves to hear from readers and invites them to contact her at [email protected]
To my late father, Louis Copeland Cook, who always said don’t do anything unless you intend to do it right. I hope he thinks I have.
Chapter One
His secretary was crying!
Conall Donovan stared at the woman behind the cherrywood desk. Vanessa Valdez had been in his employ for more than two months and during that time she’d been nothing but cool and professional. He could hardly imagine what had brought about these waterworks. In the past hour, he hadn’t even yelled once! And even if he had, it wouldn’t have been directed at her. She was the epitome of a perfect, professional secretary.
Cautiously, he approached the desk. “Vanessa? Is something wrong?”
With one slender hand dabbing a tissue to her cheek, the petite brunette glanced at him. At thirty-five, she looked more like twenty-five, Conall thought. And though he wouldn’t describe her as gorgeous, she was an attractive woman with honey-brown hair brushing the tops of her shoulders and curling in pretty wisps around her head. Usually, her large brown eyes were soft and luminous but presently her eyes were full of tears.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a strained voice. “It’s… I… Something has happened.”
“Your father? Has he taken ill?” he demanded.
Vanessa paused and he could see her throat working as she tried to swallow. The sight of her discomposure struck him unexpectedly hard. In spite of her being an old family acquaintance, they hardly shared a close bond. For the most part, the woman kept to herself. The only reason he knew she’d lost her mother two years ago, and that her aging father now resided in a nursing home, was because he happened to attend the same small church where her parents had been regular members. Still, these past months, Vanessa had become a quiet and dependable fixture in his life and he’d come to respect her dedication to this job and the subtle finesse she used with clients in order to make his life easier.
“No,” she answered. “It’s not my father.”
When she failed to elaborate, Conall fought back an impatient sigh. He hardly had time to play mind reader.
“Do you need to take the rest of the afternoon off?” he asked bluntly. There was still a hell of a lot of work that he needed finished by the end of the day, but if necessary he’d somehow manage without her. Even if it meant calling on his mother, Fiona, to fill in for the remainder of the afternoon.
Shaking her head, his secretary sniffed and tried to straighten her shoulders. Even so, Conall could see tears sparkling upon her smooth cheeks and he was shocked at the sudden urge he felt to round the desk and wipe them away.
