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      JUDY DUARTE

      always knew there was a book inside her, but since English was her least favorite subject in school, she never considered herself a writer. An avid reader who enjoys a happy ending, Judy couldn’t shake the dream of creating a book of her own.

      Her dream became a reality in March of 2002, when Silhouette Special Edition released her first book, Cowboy Courage. Since then, she has published more than twenty novels.

      Her stories have touched the hearts of readers around the world. And in July of 2005, Judy won the prestigious Readers’ Choice Award for The Rich Man’s Son.

      Judy makes her home near the beach in Southern California. When she’s not cooped up in her writing cave, she’s spending time with her somewhat enormous but delightfully close family.

      To Raema Pace, who not only gave me a personal tour of the lab at our local hospital, but also shares two grandchildren with me.

      And to Emalee and Kaitlyn Colwell, who have brightened our lives and hearts.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Epilogue

      Chapter One

      The playground at Twin Oaks Park was jam-packed with happy kids, and Dan Walker couldn’t feel any more out of place than if he’d walked into a Sunday service at the Brighton Valley Community Church wearing nothing but his boots and his Stetson.

      Of course, the family-style event was just what the pediatrician had ordered, and his five-year-old niece and nephew were having the time of their lives.

      The grounds were hopping with mommies who wiped noses and kissed boo-boos and with daddies who played catch and flew kites. But it had been a real shot in the dark for him to think that he would somehow pick up everything he needed to know about fatherhood by attending a Parents of Multiples outing.

      When Dr. Tomlinson had suggested Dan bring Kevin and Kaylee to play at the park, he’d been desperate and had thought he would give it a try. He figured it might be a good way to check things out without actually becoming a card-carrying member of the group. But being there had only made him feel less confident about doing right by the kids.

      As his niece and nephew dashed around the playground, fitting right in with the sandbox crowd, Dan stood along the sidelines and watched. Too bad he hadn’t decided to go the library instead. He could have checked out a copy of Parenting For Dummies or some other Daddy how-to book. Surely he would have picked up more information by reading than by osmosis at a family outing.

      He supposed he ought to mosey on up to one of the real parents and ask, “How in the world do you do it? What’s the trick?”

      But he’d learned never to admit his shortcomings. In fact, if he ever thought he had a better than average chance of failing at something, he preferred to hit the high road rather than face the risk.

      He chuffed at the irony, since here he was, the least capable adult in the bunch. But apparently Fate hadn’t gotten that memo.

      Last winter, on an icy Manhattan street, his sister, Jenny, who’d been struggling to make her mark on Broadway, had been struck by a car and killed.

      When Dan had gotten the call, he’d been crushed. But it hadn’t been the tragic loss of his twin sister that had torn him up. That had been tough enough. But what had made matters worse was that the two of them had been estranged for years, and her death meant they’d never be able to patch things up.

      And then there were the kids. Jenny had been a single mom, and even though Dan had only been around Kaylee and Kevin once since they’d been born, there’d been a will, and his sister had named him their guardian.

      The fact that she’d done that had been comforting in a sense. It meant that she hadn’t completely shut him out of her life, that she’d known somewhere along the line that they’d eventually mend their rift.

      Of course, who else was she supposed to leave them with? Their father had been a married man, which was one of several reasons Dan and Jenny had butted heads. So, he supposed, her options had been limited.

      Either way, he wasn’t sure what his sister had been thinking when she’d chosen him as the guardian of her children. After all, what in the hell did he know about being a parent?

      At thirty-eight he was set in his ways, to say the least, and with some luck and a good deal of determination, he’d managed to avoid marriage and family himself. Of course, even though wedding bells and a wife were still out, apparently single parenthood wasn’t.

      After the funeral, he’d been prepared to take the kids back to the ranch with him in spite of all his insecurities. After all, he remembered how it felt to be young, homeless and unwanted. But it had been a stroke of luck for everyone involved when Catherine Loza, Jenny’s roommate, had asked to keep the kids with her in New York for a while.

      Dan had been uneasy about leaving them

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