“No.” His expression pained, he said, “You know, I believed I’d married a woman that loved me, but after a while I realized I didn’t really know her at all. And that made me the biggest fool who ever walked down the aisle.”
A self-deprecating frown turned down the corners of Vanessa’s lips. “Forget it, Conall, I hold that honor,” she told him, then asked, “What finally happened? You two could never come to terms about having children, so you agreed to divorce?”
“I wish it had simply ended that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like I mentioned before, something twisted in Nancy—I don’t know what. I’m not even sure a psychiatrist could tell you. But she became an obsessed woman. She wanted to become pregnant. Anyhow, anyway that she could. She kept hounding me about going to a clinic and selecting a donor. I kept refusing and she continued to hound.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t ask for a divorce,” Vanessa mused. “But love binds and I’m sure she didn’t want to lose you.”
His grunt was a cynical sound. “Nancy probably did love me in the beginning. At least, I want to think so. But after she learned I was sterile, I think all that died. She hung around because she liked being in the Donovan family. She liked the luxuries and privileges, the social standing that went along with the name.”
“I see,” Vanessa murmured thoughtfully, “Was she originally from a poor family?”
Conall shook his head. “No. Her family wasn’t rich by any means, but they were financially comfortable. Nancy was the youngest of three children and I think after the other two grew up and left the nest, her parents doted on her. I’m guessing she learned at an early age that she could bat her eyelashes and quiver her lips and get most anything she wanted. After a while I grew weary of her demands, but I didn’t ask her for a divorce. I wanted our marriage to make it and I suggested that we needed counseling to help us work out our problems.”
“So did she agree? Did you two go for counseling?”
Rising to his feet, he crossed the room and rested his shoulder against the window frame. As he stared out at the busy ranch yard, he spoke in a flat voice. “She laughed and said that all we needed was a baby to make us happy again. At that time I didn’t know what was going on in that head of hers. And I would have never known if Liam hadn’t come to me and told me.”
Frowning, Vanessa asked, “Liam? What did he have to do with any of this?”
Turning his head, he looked straight at Vanessa. “Nancy went to him and begged him to get her pregnant. In her twisted mind, she was sure that I would accept the baby. After all, it would be a true Donovan, she reasoned.”
Vanessa gasped. “That’s—insane! And how did she plan to explain her pregnancy?”
His lips took on a wry slant. “Divine intervention. She believed she could convince me that the medical tests were wrong and by some miracle I had gotten her with child. And if she couldn’t convince me, then she was gambling that I could never turn away from my own brother’s baby.”
“How terribly sad,” Vanessa said pensively. After a moment, she went to him and rested her palms against his chest. “Oh, God, Conall, I didn’t know that any of this had ever happened to you. Maura or anyone in your family never spoke to me about your marriage or why it ended. And I’ve not asked. You must have been so crushed when Liam revealed what Nancy had done. And I can’t imagine what it must have done to him to have to tell you that your wife…well, that she was disturbed.”
He cupped her face with his hands and she was relieved when the dullness in his eyes flickered to a bright and shining light of love.
“Actually, in some strange way the whole incident brought him and me closer. But that was the only good thing to come out of the mess. After the divorce, everything else about me was pretty much numb and I guess I stayed that way until I met you.” He lowered his head until their foreheads met and his lips were hovering close to hers. “For years, I got damn good at hiding my feelings. I didn’t want anyone guessing that I might be vulnerable or hurting. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was anything less than a man. I guess I must have perfected my acting ability. Otherwise, you would have seen how much I love you.”
“Oh, Conall, yesterday evening I got to bring Dad home for a visit and while he was there we had a long talk about you and me. He made me see how stubborn I was being and how much the twins and I were going to lose if I didn’t get you back in our lives.”
Smiling now, Conall rubbed his nose against hers. “Thank God for fathers. Not more than an hour ago, mine pretty much said the same thing to me.”
Rising on her toes, she brought her lips up to his. “And thank God you’re going to be the twins’ daddy. And if they’re not enough to turn your hair gray we can always adopt a whole house full of babies to go with them.”
Wrapping his arms around the back of her waist, he clamped her tightly against him. “Hmm. You’d do that for me?”
“Only if you think you can handle the double duty.”
He chuckled as he pressed his cheek against hers. “Double duty? I think you’d better explain, my darling.”
She sighed as the warmth of his body and the goodness of his love filled her with pure, sweet contentment.
“That you’ll always love me just as much as you love our children.”
His lips moved to the side of her neck where he began to mark a trail of kisses. “You’re going to quickly learn, my lovely, that I always honor my family duties.”
A month later, early autumn had moved in to predict the winter to come. The night air was sharp and clear and sometime before dawn frost would lace the fading roses in Kate’s garden. But inside the Donovan ranch house no one cared about the chilly weather. The lights were blazing, music filled the great room and there was no end to the dancing and plates of good food. Family and friends had gathered to celebrate the marriage of the eldest heir of a horse-racing empire and no expense had been spared for the party.
Two weeks ago, Conall and Vanessa had decided they couldn’t wait for a big, traditional wedding to be planned. Instead they’d flown to Las Vegas and married in a little wedding chapel not far from the spot where they had first kissed. Afterward, Vanessa had insisted they spend their week’s worth of honeymoon, not in Jamaica, where Conall had initially planned to take his new wife, but at Del Mar, where they’d played in the sand and surf and watched Red Garland race to victory in the Debutante.
The fact that Vanessa had remembered how Red Garland held a soft spot in Conall’s heart, much less that she’d be willing to accommodate their honeymoon to catch the filly’s race, had amazed him. And he knew those special days they’d spent loving each other on the California coast would be relived in his mind on each and every wedding anniversary.
Now, as Conall moved Vanessa around the dance floor to a romantic waltz, she gazed up at him, her face glowing. “When your mother said she was planning a little get-together for us, I was expecting a gathering of twenty to thirty people. This reception is incredible. I never expected to see so many people. So much food. So much…everything!”
Happy that she was so pleased, Conall squeezed her hand. There was never a time that Vanessa didn’t look beautiful to him, even in the mornings when her face was puffy from sleep and her skin bare of makeup. But tonight, dressed in an ice-blue concoction that provocatively draped her curves, she looked especially lovely. And as they danced, he kept asking himself why he’d been so blessed, while at the same time thanking God that he had been.
“And I never expected to be enjoying it all so much,” he confessed. “Normally when my parents throw parties, I’d always find an excuse to make a quick exit. But not tonight. We’re going to dance until dawn.”
The sparkling light in her brown eyes warmed him with loving promises. “Just dance?” she teased.
Grinning, he whirled her out of another couple’s path. “Ask me that question later—when we’re climbing the stairs to our bedroom.”
Since th
eir marriage, he and Vanessa and the babies had taken up residence in an upstairs suite of rooms that were connected to his original bedroom. As for the little Valdez house where Vanessa had been living, Alonzo had been able to move back home, thanks to live-in assistance that Conall was only too happy to provide. His father-in-law’s health was continuing to steadily improve and tonight the older man was clearly enjoying being here at the party, chatting with friends and acquaintances and watching his daughter dance with her new husband.
As the music finally paused, she said, “I’m having a lovely time, Conall, but would you mind if we took a few minutes to slip upstairs and check on the twins? A couple of hours have passed since Hannah had them down to meet the guests.”
“You’ve been reading my mind,” he agreed. “Let’s go give Hannah a little break, so that she can come and enjoy the festivities.”
With his hand still wrapped around hers, he led her out of the crowded great room and down a long hallway until they reached a polished staircase. Side by side, they climbed the steps until they reached the second floor. At the end of the landing, Conall tapped lightly on a carved door. When they entered the room, Hannah was sitting at the end of a long couch. The dim glow of a table lamp illuminated the book in her hands.
She looked up in surprise. “Don’t tell me the party is already over.”
“It’s just now getting fired up,” he assured the devoted nanny. “We thought we’d better come see how you and twins have been getting along.”
“In other words, you wanted to come up and play with your son and daughter,” Hannah teased.
Vanessa laughed. “How did you ever guess?”
Laying her book aside, Hannah gestured toward a nearby door that led into a room that had been transformed into a beautiful nursery. “The last time I peeked in they were both asleep.”
His hand still latched around his wife’s, Conall began to urge her toward the nursery. “Get out of here, Hannah. Go on down and enjoy the party. We’ll take care of things up here for a while.”
The woman glanced down at her jeans and fitted sweater. “I’m not dressed for a party. But I will go down to the kitchen and test the food,” she told him. “Whenever you need for me to come back up just let me know.”
As Hannah slipped out the door, they both thanked her before making their way into the quiet nursery.
Near the head of the crib, an angel-shaped nightlight illuminated the slumbering babies and Conall’s throat tightened with emotions as he leaned over the rail and touched a finger to each sweet face.
“I never dreamed I would have one child,” he said murmured. “Now I have two.”
Vanessa’s arm slipped around his back and as always, whenever she touched him, he felt strong and sure of himself. But most of all he felt loved. Utterly loved.
“Whenever we first went to the orphanage to see the babies, you told me then that you were certain you’d never have children. I thought it was because you didn’t want any,” she admitted. “And I couldn’t fit that notion with the Conall I knew and loved.”
Rick’s tiny fist was lying outside the blanket. Conall picked it up between his thumb and forefinger while imagining how his son’s hand would look in a few years after he’d grown to be a man. Other than being a husband to Vanessa, being a father was the richest gift he’d ever been given and he was cherishing every moment with his new family. “I’d already decided that I would never find a woman I could love again, much less one with children. I’m so happy you proved me wrong, my darling.”
After placing a kiss on each baby’s cheek, he pulled Vanessa over to a wide window that faced the southwest part of the ranch. Through the boughs of the pine trees, a ridge of mountains could be seen reaching up to the star filled sky.
Vanessa sighed with pleasure as he pulled her into his arms and kissed the crown of her head. “See that break in the mountain? Way over to the west?” he asked.
Vanessa’s gaze followed his instructions. “Yes, I see it.”
“I want to drive you over there tomorrow,” he said, “I want you to take a look at the view and see if you like the spot enough to build our new home there.”
Leaning her head back, she stared wondrously up at him. “New home? You don’t like living with your family here in the big house?”
“I love living with my family. It’s the only home I’ve ever known. But the Donovan family is changing and growing. Brady and Lass already have a daughter and I suspect they’re already planning for another baby. And who knows, Liam might shock us all and marry again. Plus, there’s Bridget and Dallas. This old house can’t hold us all. Besides,” he added, as his hands moved to the small of her back to gather her closer, “our children deserve a home of their own, one that they can pass on to their children.”
“Mmm. Family tradition. I wouldn’t expect anything else from you, my dear husband.” She slipped her arms around his waist. “I only ask that our new home be simple and homey. And that you make a big fenced yard for our children to play in.”
Smiling, he brought his lips down to hers. “You’re such a demanding woman.”
She kissed him softly, then easing slightly back, whispered, “How long do you think it will be before our guests realize we’re missing?”
With a wicked chuckle, his arms tightened around her. “Long enough.”
At the same time, down in the kitchen, Brady was doing his best to persuade Hannah to join the rest of the merrymakers while Bridget was at the far end of the cabinet, holding one hand over her ear while straining to hear the voice on the other end of the telephone.
With her hand over the receiver she scolded, “Brady! Shhh! I can’t hear a thing.” Turning her attention back to the caller, she finally managed to pick up the sound of a male voice and as she did her face grew pale, and her heart kicked to a rapid thump. “On the res, you said?… Oh…. Yes…. Yes, I remember…. I’ll be there as soon as I can make the drive.”
When she hung up the telephone, she started toward a door that exited to the outside of the house. Thankfully, she’d left her coat and medical bag in her car and wouldn’t have to waste time fetching it or dealing with prolonged goodbyes.
“Sis! Are you leaving?” Brady called after her.
Her hand on the doorknob, she paused to glance over her shoulder. “Yes. An emergency has come up.”
Leaving Hannah, he trotted over to his sister. “Is it that important? This is your brother’s wedding reception,” he pointed out, as though she needed reminding.
Tossing him an impatient look, she said, “You know as well as I do that emergencies don’t pick and choose their times to happen. Explain to the family why I had to go and give my love to Conall and Vanessa.”
“Sure.” He gave her quick kiss on the cheek. “Are you headed to the hospital?”
Shaking her head, she stepped through the door and out into the cold night. “No. But I might end up there,” she called back to him.
Before he could ask more, Bridget hurried away from the house. She didn’t want her brother to know that it had been his old friend Johnny Chino that she’d been speaking with on the phone. And she especially didn’t want Brady to know that she was driving straight to the Mescalero Apache Reservation. He wouldn’t understand why Johnny had summoned her. And frankly, Bridget didn’t, either.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0569-7
DADDY’S DOUBLE DUTY
Copyright © 2011 by Stella Bagwell
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*Twins on the Doorstep
†Men of the West
Daddy's Double Duty Page 18
