Daddy's Double Duty Read Online Free Page A

going out of his way to help her. Which created an even bigger question in her mind. Why? Even if she was his one and only secretary, her personal problems were none of his responsibility.
    â€œI’m okay, Conall. Really. I just feel…silly for causing you and your family so much trouble.” Her gaze turned toward the passenger window as they curved away from the Donovan ranch house. The structure’s stalwart appearance hadn’t changed since she’d left the Hondo Valley more than fifteen years ago. And she liked to think the big Irish family that lived inside hadn’t changed, either—that if she stepped inside, she’d still feel like Cinderella visiting the castle.
    â€œForget it,” he practically snapped.
    She looked at him. “But you—”
    He interrupted before she could say more. “Let it rest, Vanessa.”
    Sighing, she smoothed the hem of her skirt over her knees and stared ahead. One minute everything had been going along fine. As fine as it could be for a divorced woman with her family split in all directions and an aging father too debilitated from a stroke to leave the nursing home. Yet those problems seemed small in comparison to what she was facing now.
    Still, Vanessa realized she couldn’t give in to the overwhelming shock. She had to straighten her shoulders and take up the reins of her life again. But taking them out of Conall’s hands was not going to be an easy task. He was a man who was all about using his power to bend operations to his liking. And she was all about independence. She didn’t want to be beholden to anyone and that included her boss. Yet this was one time that agreeing to a little help might be the sensible thing for her to do. Especially for the babies’ sake.
    â€œYou don’t like accepting help from anyone, do you?” he asked as he steered the truck off Diamond D ranch land and onto the main highway.
    The man must be a mind reader, she thought. “I like taking care of myself,” she answered truthfully, then realizing how ungrateful that probably sounded to him, she glanced over and added, “But this is one time I can’t take care of things entirely on my own. And I am grateful to you, Conall. Please know that.”
    He didn’t say anything for a while and she was wondering if she’d offended him, when he said, “You can tell me if I’m getting too personal, Vanessa, but what about your brothers? If I remember right, you had four of them. Are any of them close enough to help you with the babies?”
    Vanessa choked back a mocking laugh. Her brothers couldn’t care for themselves, much less two needy babies. “My brothers all moved far away from here. They conveniently forgot their parents and only sister. And that’s fine with me, ’cause I wouldn’t ask them for the time of day,” she said flatly.
    â€œThat’s too bad.”
    She heaved out a heavy breath. “It’s probably for the best, Conall. None of them have ever made much effort to become responsible men. The only one who comes close to it is Michael—the one your age. And he’s hardly in the running for sainthood,” she added.
    He didn’t make any sort of reply to that and Vanessa figured he was thinking badly of her. The Donovan family had always been a strong unit. They lived together, worked and played together, and stuck close even when life’s problems crashed in unexpectedly. He probably couldn’t understand why she and her brothers lacked the love and devotion it took to keep the Valdez family bonded. But then, she’d never understood it herself.
    â€œSorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to sound so…judgmental. But believe me when I say there are no relatives around to help. Not with the babies, my father, the home place, anything.”
    In other words, she had her hands full, Conall thought grimly. As he’d