Daddy's Double Duty (10 page)

She arched her brows at him. “Tomorrow night? Are you having a special meeting or something and I need to attend to take notes?”

He shook his head. “Not even close. Sunday is Grandmother Kate's birthday and the family is throwing her a party. Not anything as huge as we did for her eightieth. But since this is her eighty-fifth we thought she deserved more than just a cake and a few gifts from her family.”

“What does this have to do with me? You'd like for me to pick up a gift or flowers for you to give to her?”

He frowned. “Not hardly. I know how to buy gifts for women. Even one as hard to please as Kate.” His hand departed her elbow and began a hot glide up her bare arm and onto her shoulder. “I'd like for you to attend the party with me. Will Hannah be available to watch after the twins?”

He was inviting her to his family home? As his companion? She couldn't believe it. Sure, as a young teenager she'd been inside the small mansion many times. But that had been totally different. She'd been there as Maura's friend, not as a so-called date for the eldest Donovan son.

“So far I can't get Hannah to take any time off, so she will be available. But I'm not keen on the idea of being away from the babies for that long. I know that probably sounds silly to you, but just being apart from them while I'm here at the office has been hard for me to deal with these past three days.”

He smiled with understanding. “It's not silly. You're a new mother. But it's not a problem, either. You can bring the twins to the party with you.”

Her jaw dropped. “To the party? Conall, they're only a few weeks old.”

“I'm well aware of how old they are. Everyone will love seeing them. In fact, the whole family has been asking about them.”

How could she turn down the invitation now, she wondered, without appearing to be indifferent to his family? She couldn't. “If you think no one will mind,” she said hesitantly.

“Grandmother will love seeing the babies. Bring Hannah, the nanny, too,” he added. “That way you won't be babysitting the whole time. And Hannah is acquainted with Maura and Bridget, so I'm sure she'll enjoy the outing, too.”

Another reason why she couldn't refuse, Vanessa thought wryly. Hannah, the nanny that Conall had hired for the twins, was a lovely widow and worked tirelessly to keep the babies healthy and happy. So far she'd not taken a night off for any reason and Vanessa knew the woman needed a break of some sort.

“All right. We'll be there. But I don't understand any of this, Conall. Why invite me? Now? Since I've come to work for you, your family has held several parties for one reason or another. You didn't ask me to attend any of those,” she couldn't help pointing out.

“Look, Vanessa, whatever you might think or want, the two of us aren't going back to the impersonal relationship we had before the twins arrived. Things have changed with you and with me. Surely I don't have to spell that out to you.”

Things have changed.
That was certainly an under
statement, she thought. If she wasn't with the man, she was thinking about him. And when she was with him all she could think about was being in his arms. She was in a predicament that was very unhealthy to her state of mind and try as she might, she couldn't seem to do a thing about it.

“I think—” She broke off abruptly as the phone began to ring again.

“You think what?” he prompted.

She shook her head. Now wasn't the time or place to say the things she needed to say to him. Tomorrow night would be soon enough to let him know he was sniffing around the wrong tree. “Nothing. I'll be at the party, Conall. With Rose and Rick. Right now I'm going to get this contract in the mail, then go home.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, or maybe it was more kissing he had on his mind. Whatever it was she read on his face, she didn't hang around to let him put his wants into action. She hurried out of the room and purposely shut the door between them.

 

Apparently Mother Nature didn't want to disappoint the Donovans. With Kate's party being held in the backyard beneath the pines and the cottonwood trees, the early August weather couldn't have been more perfect. Even the mosquitoes seemed to forget to come out after night had fallen and the colorful party lanterns were glowing festively over the tables of food that had been served more than an hour ago.

Conall had told her the party was going to be small, but to Vanessa it was anything but. People, most of whom she didn't know, filled the yard and the back porch where Kate was presently ensconced in a rattan chair surrounded by family and friends. Music was
playing and down by the pool the more active guests were laughing and splashing and swimming in the crystal blue water.

Tilting the long-stemmed glass to her lips, Vanessa drained the last of her punch while wondering how soon she could leave without appearing unsociable. She'd already spoken to Kate and expressed her well wishes. She'd chatted at length with Maura and exchanged a few words with the rest of the Donovans. Except for Conall. So far she'd seen him for all of two minutes and that had been when his grandmother had blown out the candles on her cake. After that, he'd disappeared into the house and left her wondering for the umpteenth time why he'd invited her in the first place.

Moving from her spot beneath a giant pine, she started walking toward the far end of the porch where the twins were sleeping in their double stroller. A few steps away, Hannah and Bridget were engaged in a lively conversation, but both women looked around as she approached.

“Vanessa, come have a seat with us,” Bridget insisted. “Hannah was just telling me what it's like at the twins' bath time.”

Vanessa laughed. “I can tell you in one word. Chaos. And in a few weeks I'm sure it's going to get a lot wilder and a whole lot wetter.”

She started toward an empty chair to the left of the two women, but before she reached the seat, a hand came down on the back of her shoulder. At the same time Bridget said, “Conall, it's about time you showed your face around here. Where have you been anyway?”

“Business, as usual,” he answered. “A phone call I couldn't ignore. But that's finished and now I'm
more than ready for a piece of cake. What about you, Vanessa?”

Turning toward him, she tried not to notice how sexy he looked in close-fitting jeans and a black T-shirt that clung to his hard torso and exposed his muscled arms. “I've already had more than my share,” she told him.

“Then you can come watch me have my share,” he said with a grin for her, “but first I want a look at Rose and Rick. Are they enjoying the party?”

“At least they're not howling,” Hannah answered with a laugh.

He moved over to the stroller and squatted on his heels in front of the twins. Rick was asleep, his head tilted toward his sister's. But Rose was awake, her blue eyes wide, her arms pumping through the air as though she could hear the music.

“Hey, little doll, your brother is missing the party. But you'd like to dance, wouldn't you,” he said in a soft voice to the baby girl. Not bothering to ask permission, he eased Rose from her side of the stroller and cradled her in the crook of his arm. Then after letting her tiny fingers curl around his forefinger, he began to slowly two-step around the porch.

“Aww, look,” Bridget gushed, her gaze resting fondly on her brother and the baby in his arms. “She loves that, Conall.”

“So do I,” he replied with a broad grin. “I've never had a better dance partner. She's not even complaining about me stepping on her toes.”

“We need him around when Rose is crying at two o'clock in the morning,” Hannah joked to Vanessa.

Her eyes taking in the precious sight of Conall dancing with her daughter, Vanessa felt her throat thicken with unexpected emotions. Years ago, she'd often dreamt
of Conall waltzing her around a ballroom floor. Back then she could have never imagined him holding her baby, dancing her around as though she was a special princess.

“He wouldn't be any use to you then,” Bridget observed. “My brother sleeps like a rock.”

Dismissing his sister's remark with a chuckle, Conall carried Rose back to the stroller. After he'd placed her back beside his brother, he pressed a kiss on her chubby cheek. “Thank you for the dance, little Rose.”

To Vanessa it seemed as though he remained bent over the babies for an exceptionally long time before he finally straightened and walked back over to her. After placing his hand around Vanessa's arm, he nodded to the other two women. “Excuse us, ladies.”

He guided Vanessa off the porch and across the yard to where a table held a massive three-tiered cake and an assortment of beverages.

“Sorry I had to leave the party,” he said as he gathered a plate and fork. “Have you been bored?”

“No. But I should be leaving soon. By the time Hannah and I get home with the babies, it will be getting late.”

“You can't leave yet.”

She watched him ladle a huge hunk of cake onto the plate. “Why? Is your family waiting to give your grandmother a surprise gift?”

“No. Kate doesn't want gifts. Says she has everything she wants. Personally, I think she needs a man in her life, but then she'd be hell to put up with, if you know what I mean.”

Vanessa folded her arms against her breasts as he began to wolf down the cake. “No. I don't know what
you mean. Kate might be strict and opinionated, but she wouldn't marry a man unless she loved him.”

His brows lifted faintly as he looked at her. “You're probably right. She was crazy about Granddad, which always amazed me because he was a mean old cuss most of the time.”

“I doubt he was mean to her. Kate is too strong of a woman to put up with that.”

“Yes, but—”

“But what?”

His expression was nothing but cynical as he glanced at her. “Love makes people put up with behavior they wouldn't ordinarily tolerate.”

Was he speaking from experience? Vanessa wasn't about to ask. Even though things had changed between them these past few weeks, he wasn't the type of man who poured out his personal life to anyone, including her.

Raking a hand through her hair, she looked away from him and over toward the twins. In spite of the night being pleasantly cool, she felt uncomfortably hot. “You haven't explained why I need to stay at the party a little longer,” she reminded him.

He placed the now empty plate on the table and reached for her arm. “I'll explain as we walk. Let's go to Kate's rose garden. It'll be quieter there.”

As the two of them disappeared into the shadows, Vanessa wondered if anyone had noticed their leaving. But why that should even matter, she didn't know. She was a grown woman and what went on between her and the manager of the Diamond D Ranch was no one's business but theirs. Yet at the same time, she had to concede that other people's opinion of her did matter. Maybe because as a poor girl growing up she'd heard
the nasty whispers at school, she'd heard the gossip that Vanessa Valdez would turn out no better than her worthless brothers. And down through the years she'd worked hard to prove those people wrong, to make herself respectable and successful.

“If you needed to say something to me, you could have said it back there at the party,” Vanessa told him as they trod along a graveled path that was lined with dim footlights and wound through head-high rose bushes.

“Not what I want to say.”

The softness to his voice caught her attention and she paused to swing her gaze up to his shadowed face. Her heart jerked. He looked so serious, yet so sexy that her breath flew away and refused to come back.

“Conall—”

“Not here,” he said. “Let's go sit in the gazebo.”

Maura had told her that the gazebo had been built the same time as the huge ranch house. Now, after more than forty years, the board seats were worn smooth, along with the planked floor. A pair of aspen trees sheltered one side of the structure and as they sat down together on one of the secluded benches, the leaves rattled gently from the evening breeze.

Vanessa welcomed the cool air against her hot skin, yet it did little to chill her racing thoughts. Was he about to suggest that the two of them become lovers? That she become his mistress? She didn't know what to expect. Only one thing was clear to her—sitting in the dark with the heavenly scent of roses wrapping around them was going to be a heck of a test on her resistance.

“When my sisters were teenagers I used to tease them about sitting out here dreaming about marrying a prince or a frog. Whichever they could catch first,” he said with amusement. “But after we all got older, I realized the
place had a nice, calming effect. Now I think I visit the place more than they do.”

“Is that why you brought me out here?” Vanessa asked wryly. “To calm me down?”

He chuckled as he reached for her hand. “That's one thing I like about you, Vanessa, you make me laugh. Something I'd almost forgotten how to do.”

As his warm fingers tightened around hers, Vanessa wasn't about to let herself think she had that much of an effect on the man. To do so would simply be dreaming. And during her doomed marriage she'd learned that a person had to be responsible for their own happiness, instead of relying on someone else to provide it for them.

She sighed. “Sometimes that's easy for a person to do—forget how to laugh.” She glanced over at him, but the shadows were too deep to pick up the expression on his face. “So why are we here instead of mingling with the party guests?”

“I wanted to talk to you about…several things.”

The humor was gone from his voice now and her heartbeat slowed to a heavy dread of drumbeats. “Is this about my job?” she asked.

“Actually, it is.”

He'd never been evasive or short on explanations before and she wondered yet again what had brought about this change in him. Before the twins he'd been cool, work-driven and predictable. Now she couldn't begin to anticipate what he might say or do next. It was more than unnerving.